Money Saving Mom®

Guest post from Sarah of Sidetracked Sarah

A couple of years ago, I was browsing Pinterest, when I ran across a genius idea that I now know as Crockpot Freezer Meals. If you’re not familiar with Crockpot Freezer Meals, here’s a quick description.

1. Find several of your favorite slow cooker recipes (I prefer to do 6, which works out to be a week’s worth)

2. Prepare/chop all the ingredients for those recipes at once.

3. Assemble each individual recipe into a gallon size freezer bag.

4. Label that bag with the name of the recipe and any individual instructions and lay it flat to freeze.

5. Get the bag out the night before you plan to cook it (if possible) and then follow the cooking instructions on cooking day.

What I love about this plan is that I get freezer meals, without the processed freezer meal taste.

The recipes that I originally found were not a fit for my family, so I set out to find recipes that would work better for us. I was absolutely amazed at the results!

My family was better fed than they had been in a long time. We were eating dinner on time and not at erratic hours. Dinner preparation time was shortened by a lot!

Typically, I can assemble 6 meals in about 1-2 hours, depending on how complicated the recipes are.

Summer time is a great time to be using your slow cooker because it won’t heat up your house.  Here’s 3 recipes that will help you get your freezer meals started!

Crockpot Sausage & Peppers

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. sweet or hot Italian sausages
• 2 onions
• 3 red, yellow or green peppers, cut into 2″ slices
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 T. dried Italian seasoning
• 1/4 t. pepper

Instructions (to cook immediately):

• Brown the Italian Sausages in a skillet. (I usually start with them whole, then slice them up while they’re cooking. They stay intact and keep their shape better that way).
• Layer half of the onions on bottom of slow cooker, then add half of the peppers.
• Put all of the browned sausage on top of that, followed by the rest of the onions and peppers.
• Mix together diced tomatoes, tomato paste and beef broth and pour over the top.
• Cook on low for 6 hours.
• One hour before mixture is done, add the spices. Stir.
• Cover and cook an additional hour.

Instructions (to freeze and cook later):

• Brown Italian Sausages
• While browning, slice peppers and onions.
• Place onions, peppers, and sausage in freezer-safe bag.
• Mix together diced tomatoes, tomato paste and beef broth and place in a 2nd freezer bag.
• Label & Freeze
• Follow instructions on cooking day.

**It helps to at least have the sauce thawed out when you’re putting it in the slow cooker, but not required.

Crockpot Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• ½ c milk
• 2/3 c bread crumbs
• ½ chopped onion
• 1 t salt
• ½ t sage
• 1 ½ lbs ground beef
• ketchup or BBQ Sauce to cover with while cooking

Instructions (to cook immediately):

• Mix all ingredients into 1 loaf (except Ketchup or BBQ Sauce).
• Pour sauce over the top.
• Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

Freezer to Slow Cooker Instructions:

• Chop 1/2 of onion.
• Mix all ingredients together, except Ketchup or BBQ Sauce.
• Form into loaf.
• Place in gallon size freezer safe bag.
• Label & Freeze.
• On cooking day, follow cooking instructions above.

Crockpot Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 4 pound pork roast (shoulder or butt)
• 2 large onions
• 1 cup Ginger Ale
• 1 bottle BBQ Sauce (your favorite flavor)
• BBQ Sauce for serving (optional)
• Hamburger Buns

Instructions (to cook immediately):

• Slice onion and place in bottom of the crock pot.
• Put in the roast and cover with the other onion.
• Pour Ginger Ale over the top.
• Cover and cook on low for about 12 hours (for older crocks) or about 8 hours (for newer crocks).  I like to do mine overnight.
• Once cooked, remove the meat, straining the onions, but discarding the liquid.
• Shred the meat with 2 forks.
• Discard any fat, bones or skin.  Most of the fat should have melted away.
• After it’s nicely shredded, return the meat and onions to the slow cooker and cover it with the BBQ sauce, stirring it in to cover the meat well.
• Cook another 4 to 6 hours on low.
• Serve on hamburger buns.

Instructions (to freeze and cook later):

• Slice 2 onions
• Place Onions and Roast into gallon size freezer safe bag.
• Label & Freeze.
• On cooking day, follow cooking instructions above.

Please Note:  It is best to have your recipe thawed out, by removing it from the freezer and putting it in the refrigerator the night before.

Each recipe serves approximately 6 adults.  

Sarah loves finding ways to make life easier for herself and others. She blogs about it at Sidetracked Sarah. She has 8 weeks of Crockpot Freezer Meals on her blog and she’s giving away a free one week printable menu to subscribers.