Tuesday Ten: The Best Freezer to Slow Cooker Meals

I don't know about y'all, but cooking is something that I truly enjoy. However, sometimes when I get home I just lack the motivation and energy necessary to make a great home-cooked meal. A friend in our small group mentioned that she had done a day's worth of meal prep or a month or two worth of meals and that a couple months later, they were still eating! When you have just two adults in your household, the meals can truly last for quite some time; the recipes are usually for a family of four. The slow cooker is so wonderful for winter time, as it is so wonderful to have a warm and hearty meal to enjoy.

A shopping cart full of meal prep materials...and People magazine, duh.

I went shopping back in early November and spent less than $200 at the store, probably about 2-2.5 hours in the kitchen, and then we had about 12 meals. We were able to make many meals out of a few of them because the servings were so generous. This time around it took me about 3 hours- but those hours in the kitchen prepping are so worth it! When it is time to make a meal, I simply take it down from the freezer and then put it in the slow cooker the next morning and voila! It's like magic. So easy. If you've got questions, let me know! Some of these recipes are not necessarily freezer to crockpot, but I prepared what was needed and then froze them anyway. So far it has worked out just fine! You'll also want to have some easy sides such as rice, barley, or roasted veggies on hand for certain meals. We've been trying to eat clean during the week (and then kind of eat whatever on the weekend, within reason) so I bought mostly organic ingredients. For us, we eat out about twice a week- once on date night and after church on Sunday. So when you supplement the freezer meals with a couple nights out and an oven pizza here or there- you've got some pretty good longevity! Pinterest is a real pal, but these are some of our favorites and some that we are looking forward to enjoying in the near future.

Meatball Veggie Soup before

1. Meatball Vegetable Soup

2. Lemon Pepper Chicken

3. Balsamic Beef Roast with Carrots

4. Sausage Spinach Tomato Soup

5. Chicken Chili

Meatball Veggie Soup...after :)

6. Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

7. Chicken Teriyaki

8. Clean Eating Jambalaya

9. Lime Shredded Pork

10. Beef Fajitas