With the weather being so hot I find that the last thing I want to do these days is cook. I hate to heat the house up and if I do cook I like to either cook on the grill or crockpot. The other dilemma is that I am starting to can more and the kitchen is tied up most of the day so it is really convenient to have a meal in the crockpot or one ready to pop in the oven at the end of the day. So for several days I have been working on crockpot meals or freezer meals. The first I made was a big pot of spaghetti sauce with some fresh tomatoes, green peppers and mushrooms. With the spaghetti sauce I was able to make 3 casserole dishes of stuffed shells with leftover spaghetti sauce for spaghetti. I froze up the extra sauce so that all I have to do is thaw it out and warm. Pasta and a side salad along with some of my frozen garlic bread from the freezer and a meal is done.
My next endeavor was to go online and find some recipes for frozen crockpot meals. The one above is a combination of onions, carrots, diced chicken breasts and my canned pineapple made from zucchini. Most of these recipes are a combination of different recipes online and I have personalized them to my family and their likes and dislikes. As I cook them I will pass them along if they are good : )
This one is a lemon pepper chicken breast.
This is a BBQ chicken breast also for the crockpot.
My plan is to set up my little card table on the back porch and place my crockpot out there on hot days and just let her cook.
Just another way to get supper on the table while trying to give the air conditioner a break. It will be great to throw these in the crockpot and let them cook while I am getting my gardening done.
Anyone else tried these freezer/crockpot meals?
I am taking all recommendations.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
That's a great idea in this heat. The lemon pepper chicken sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI have purchased an electric pressure cooker and love it. It turns out like a crock pot meal in a fraction of the time. I can go from frozen to a complete meal in usually under 60 minutes. As for crock pots, my kids love when I put chicken, a jar of salsa and a jar of cream of something soup together with some seasoning and veggies. They use this on bread or tortillas, pour over pasta, its endless what they do with it!
ReplyDeleteOhhh. I have just been researching freezer/crock pot meals. I would love to get all my cooking done one day a month!!! Keep the recipes coming!!!!
ReplyDeleteLori
I love the idea of putting the crockpot out on the porch. I can't believe I never thought of that before! Our temps in Central Alberta have been 30+ degrees celcius, so I am going to try this and keep any extra heat out of the house.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Crystal
I use the crock pot a lot, too. Here is one of our favorites: http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/2011/07/really-easy-and-fast-tostadas-with.html
ReplyDeletewow, great idea!
ReplyDelete