15 crockpot recipes for the freezer

What, you thought I had disappeared? Abandoned my blog? Think again! What really happened isn't very exciting, but it's true none the less. I got pregnant with baby number two, baby number one turned into an insanely busy toddler, and I was working 40-50 hours a week. Therefore any spare time that I had to myself included just sitting staring at the wall in exhaustion. Seriously. The last thing I could muster was blogging.

But I'm back! I have so much to blog about. I've got to write about my second c-section experience, my new beautiful baby, my old beautiful baby, and life with two kids.

First I am touching base on food. I am by no means Martha Stewart. In fact, I can't remember the last time I cooked my family a meal. Did I mention I've been exhausted? But today something awesome happened. I prepped 15 meals for the crockpot. You might think 'big deal', but I could not be more proud of myself! I have 15 meals in my freezer right now that I can thaw and cook whenever we need them. Seriously a big deal.

It all started when a good friend of mine told me about a website that showed you how to buy, prep, and cook meals for your crock pot. She sent me the link and I procrastinated for about 2 months. I wanted to prep these meals before the baby came, but instead I waited until after he was born. Not the smartest thing I have ever done, but also not the dumbest. Here is the website:

http://www.mamainspired.com/2013/01/mass-crock-pot-dinners.html

The first hurdle was the grocery shopping. Not only was it a large list, it would be the first time we were shopping as a family of four. But I was determined, and with Henry only 6 days old we loaded the boys into the car and went on our very first family grocery trip. My plan was to divide and conquer. I gave Brent and Will the meat and produce list while Henry and I grabbed the rest. We got all of our ingredients in 30 minutes! Bam, super success. The whole grocery list cost 161.00, and I'm sure you coupon people could make that a lot less. I'm just thankful that we made it out of the store alive. Now, before you leave for the grocery make sure you take a close look at the list. She doesn't give you exact measurements for things like chicken and beef broth and some of the seasoning. We also didn't have enough chicken because she gives you how many lbs you'll need, but the recipes call for a certain number of breasts. Make sure you count how many breasts you will need!

Next up was the prep. We came home from the grocery, put everything away, and took a nap with the kids.

Then the next day we took another nap.

And the next day.....more napping.

3 days later and success! We got up and prepped everything. We did it a little differently then she recommends. We first labeled all of the bags. Some of the recipes call for adding things with just an hour left in cooking, so I wrote those instructions on the bags as well. We then put the meats in the bags, that way we could disinfect everything before prepping veggies. Veggie prep was the most time consuming part. Cutting up 5 lbs of potatoes took me forever. Once veggies were prepped I opened all of the canned goods and measured my seasoning. Then I put everything in the bags, sealed them up, and put them in the freezer! Bam!

She said it took her about 2 hours of prep. It took us about 3 hours because of a nursing break for the new babe and trying to entertain an 18 month old.

The recipes look pretty yummy! Hopefully this will help other busy moms!