Prepped Dinner for a Month!

I'm a planner, and as I reach the end of my pregnancy (one of three excuses why I've neglected my blog for 8 months) I've felt the need to make sure we get as organized as possible. Yes, most of this is nesting but a majority is because we aren't just expanding by one, but by 2! On top of that, A has many goals for the year that will have him busy and out a bit more than usual. The best way I can help and support our family at the moment is making sure our lives cant run as smoothly as possible. One of our BIGGEST problems is dinner. Every single day is us spending hours deciding what to eat for dinner, hoping something is defrosted or we even have food at that, and for a while it ended with us just ordering in. Not only do you end up spending way more, honestly its just exhausting. To ease the annoyance of this, I wanted to prep a months worth of dinner for us.

Many people halt at the thought of this, myself included. For a few reasons. One, our freezer space is...well non existent. Part of living on base is a small freezer, and most freezer meals I came across are casseroles which take up SO much space. Another big reason that I was hesistant is because I assumed it would be an expensive thing to do. Boy was I wrong.

For this months of dinners, (That we personally won't use until after the girls are born, but are more than useful for any busy household) I calculated a dinner for every other day. But only for Monday-Friday. Most of these meals will yield enough for leftovers, if not its still cutting back your cooking significantly. For weekends, I figured that would be a "cheat day" for A (most of these meals are relatively healthy so he can eat them too), as well as maybe a night out or just a "make your own dinner night". This means I needed 9 meals. Every single one of these are crockpot meals because it makes storing them in Ziploc bags in the freezer convenient and its nothing I have to preheat or stand over.

The Meals: (in no specific order)

1. Cheesey Chicken, Potato and Broccoli

2. Teriyaki Chicken

3. Chicken Noodle Soup

4.Jambalya

5. Beef & Black Bean Chili (can easily be made vegetarian or swapped for ground turkey)

6. Pot Roast

7. Red Pepper Chicken

8. Italian Wedding Soup

9. BBQ Ribs

Most of these I will have to make Rice for the day of, but that's simple and not very time consuming. This isn't the order I would personally make them in either. When deciding the order, I take into account the meant and texture so I'm not making 3 chicken dinners back to back or eating soup for a week. Below is the grocery list based of the recipes, but take into account this does not include the rice side (Which we always have a huge bag of at home) or the frozen veggies or salad we would use as a side.

The Grocery List:

Produce:

2 x Green Bell Peppers

1 x Broccoli

12 x Carrots

2 x Garlic

5 x Celery

5 x Onion

3 x Red Bell Peppers

1 x Jalepeno

1LB x Potato

1 Bunch x Mustard Greens or 1 head of Escarole

1 bag x Frozen Corn

Meat:

3 lbs x Pork Country Style Ribs

12 oz x Frozen Mini Meatballs

8-9 lbs x Chicken Breast

1 x Andouille Sausage

1 lb x Ground beef (or Turkey)

1 lb x Frozen Shrimp

2 lb x Boneless beef Chuck Shoulder Roast

Misc:

1 can x Cream of Chicken Soup

4 oz x Velveeta (I could only find 8 oz so my price is based off of this)

19 cups or 6 28 oz cartons x Chicken Stock

1 box x Egg noodles

2 cans x Black beans (15 oz)

42.5 oz x Canned Diced Tomatoes

1 28 oz x Canned Tomatoe sauce

26 oz x Beef Stock

1 box x Soup Pasta

1 x Onion Soup Mix

My Grocery total: $120. (This is off of my local Walmart, with grocery pickup, so I actually had a little extra of Veggies, it also does not include the seasoning because we already have it all and I didnt want to use the fresh herbs so they aren't in there either)

The Recipies:

Crockpot cheesey chicken,potato and broccoli:

2-4 chicken breasts

1 large green pepper chopped

2 cups broccoli chopped

1 lb. red potatoes sliced thin

1 tsp. paprika

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/4 lb. 4 oz. VELVEETA®, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Add all ingredients except for cheese in a gallon

freezer bag. Seal bag and place in freezer. When ready to use thaw in

fridge overnight. Cook 6 hours low. Add cheese and cook on high for 5 minutes. Stir melted cheese in.

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Teriyaki Chicken

1 and 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, sliced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup Teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

3 carrots sliced

1 green bell pepper sliced

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1 cup chicken broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

To Cook:

Place thawed contents in a slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4 hours. Optional:

To thicken sauce at the end, whisk together 1/2 cup of the cooked sauce with 2 tablespoons cornstarch and pour

back in the slow cooker. Turn cooker on high for an extra 10-15 minutes so sauce can thicken. Serve on top of rice

and garnish with sesame seeds if desired.

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Chicken Noodle Soup

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

3 stalks of celery, sliced

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp rosemary

1 teaspoon salt

8 cups chicken stock

8 oz. egg noodles ( Do not put in freezer bag)

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

During the last 15 minutes, remove the chicken breast. Shred with a fork.

Add the chicken breast back in, as well as the egg noodles. Cook for the last 15 minutes.

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Jambalya

1 Andouille sausage, sliced

1 lb. frozen deveined shrimp, thawed ( Add the day of )

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 onion, diced

2 celery ribs, diced

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon cajun seasoning

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups white rice, measured dry

Place thawed contents in a slow cooker.

Do not add the shrimp yet! Pour in the chicken stock and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, or low from 6 to 8.

Add shrimp to the slow cooker during the last 30 minutes

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Beef & Black bean chili

1 pound ground beef

28oz can tomato sauce

2 cans black beans (15oz each), drained and rinsed

14.5oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1 2/3 cup frozen corn

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Add all ingredients to freezer bag, and seal.

Thaw. Cook on “low” setting in slow cooker for 6-8 hours.

Break apart ground beef and stir.

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Pot Roast

1.5-2.5lb boneless beef chuck shoulder roast

1 package onion soup mix

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

1 large potatoe cubed

2 carrots, sliced

26oz beef cooking stock

Place thawed contents in a slow cooker.

Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on “low” for 8-12 hours.

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Red pepper Chicken

1–2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat trimmed

1–2 medium-sized red bell pepper, sliced

1 small yellow onion, sliced or diced

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a gallon-sized plastic freezer bag.

To cook, thaw and add to crockpot. Cook on “low” setting for 3-4 hours in a 6-quart crockpot or 6-8 hours in a 4-quart crockpot.

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Italian Wedding Soup

12oz bag of frozen mini meatballs

1 small onion, diced (one cup)

1/2 pound carrots (about 4 large carrots), peeled and thinly sliced

1 head of escarole or one bunch of Mustard Greens, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning

8 cups of chicken broth

1/2 cup uncooked pasta (add day of)

(Add all except broth and pasta)

The night before cooking, move freezer bag to your refrigerator to thaw.

The morning of cooking, add contents of freezer bag to crockpot with 8 cups of Chicken broth.

Cook for 6-8 hours on “low” setting or until carrots are soft.

Add pasta and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

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BBQ ribs

2-3 lbs boneless pork country-style ribs

3 cloves garlic minced

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup bbq sauce (dont add to freezer bag)

salt and pepper

1. Add all ingredients to a gallon sized freezer bag or container for instant pot.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

TO SERVE: After cooking in Instant Pot or Slow cooker, remove ribs, discard juices.

Place meat back into pot, add bbq sauce and stir gently to coat. Serve.

Some Notes:

I added the chicken broth to some of the bags that it would fit, while others, I will just add the day of. Most people say they can lay theirs flat, these bags were not laying flat, but that's not a big deal to me. Also, You can add all the seasoning to the bag, I didn't but thats mostly because I'm 8 months pregnant and could not stand sitting at the table any longer!

I also strongly recommend writing a use by date on the bags! That would be 3 months from when you put everything in the bag!

And my last tip, add the meat to the bag last. I do this because when you dump it all into the crockpot, it insures all the ingredients and moisture will be on top of the meat!

Enjoy!

xo

-B