What's For Dinner Week 2

So after a crazy back to school week and figuring out schedules we think we have our routine down. One of the things that made the transition easy was meal prepping. If you haven't had an opportunity to check out my first post I am finally putting all my pinterest pins to use. I am committing myself to reviewing each of the blogs that have put out easy crock pot meals in hopes that I myself may become a Betty Crocker and start concocting my own recipes, however, that has not happened yet so pin I must.
Last weeks meals were all amazing and if you haven't check out www.mynaturalfamily.com you definitely should. The recipe I enjoyed the least was the lasagna. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't awesome either. The recipes I highly recommend are the sun dried tomatoes recipe and the santa fe chicken. You can use tortillas or chips with the santa fe and we put the sun dried tomato recipe over a bed of pasta. These were big hits in my house.

Now onto this week. I will be adding pictures tomorrow when I officially start prepping (its college football day so watch I must). I am making 8 of the 12 recipes and I went to the grocery store and spent $120! Now what is so amazing about this is that I am not only prepping for this week, but slightly into next week as well so this is truly amazing stuff. Please check out this site. She gives so many great ideas and there are other recipes she shares as well. I just wanted to make what I had room in my fridge for. I also want to add that some items I already had so my $120 bill may be more inclined to be higher if I didn't have the extra ground turkey (substituting ground beef) and chicken from prior purchases, but I think it all evens out. I hope this makes your meal planning easy this week. Pictures to follow tomorrow!!!
http://www.graciouslysaved.com/2013/08/12-easy-paleo-ish-crock-pot-meals.html

Here are the recipes: 

Taco Chili

Ingredients:

1 lb. cooked ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1 can corn drained

1 can black beans drained

1 can navy beans drained

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes

1 small can diced green chiles

1 package taco seasoning

Directions: Place all ingredients in freezer bag and freeze until ready. 

Write on bag: 1 can diced green onions, shredded cheese

   1. Thaw slightly, place in crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. 

   2. Serve with shredded cheese, chopped green onions and fritos.

Thai Chicken Wings with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

2 lbs. chicken drumsticks or wings

1/2 cup bottled salsa

1/4 cup Peanut Butter (almond butter for Paleo)

3 T lime juice

3 T soy sauce

3 T water

2 T freshed chopped ginger

1/4 cup sugar

2 cloves garlic chopped

Directions: Place all ingredients in bag and freeze until ready to cook. 

Write on bag:

   1. Thaw slightly and place in slow cooker. 

   2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Crockpot Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onions

Ingredients:

1lb. Italian Sausage Links

1 large green pepper

1 medium onion

2 cups diced tomatoes

2t. onion powder

2t. garlic powder

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in freezer bag and freeze. 

Write on bag:

   1. When ready to cook, place all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours or   
       high for 4 hours.

   2. Can serve on rolls or with whole wheat pasta

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil

1 T corn starch

1 medium onion chopped

1 can chopped green chilis, drained

2 cans white beans (drained)

2 t. cumin

2 t. chili powder

1 lb chicken tenders

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

Directions:

Place all ingredients except chicken stock in large freezer bag, toss to coat and freeze. 

Write on bag: 2 cups chicken stock

   1. When ready, place ingredients in slow cooker, add chicken stock and cook on low for 4
       5 hours. 

   2. Remove chicken, shred & return to crock pot. 

  

Honey Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken tenders

3 T olive oil

1 cup honey

2 T sesame seeds

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

Directions:

Place all ingredients in freezer bag, toss to coat and freeze. 

Write on bag:

   1. When ready, place in crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 

   2. Remove chicken & shred, and then return to sauce.

   3. Can serve over hot cooked rice or serve as lettuce wraps..

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lg bag of carrots

1 red onion cut in chunks

2 lg cans of pineapple (undrained)

4 garlic cloves

4 chicken breasts

1 cup teriyaki sauce

Instructions:

Mix all items together. Split between 2 bags, lay flat and freeze

Write on bag: 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

   1. When ready to serve add ¼ cup teriyaki sauce to crock pot.

   2. Cook on low 8 hours-can serve over rice or lettuce

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced

1 ½ lb lean stew meat, cut in 1 inch chunks

2 cups water

2 tsp beef bouillon or 2 cups beef stock

1 ½  cups V-8 juice

⅓  cup barbeque sauce

3 clove of garlic

1 lb carrots cut up

Salt & Pepper to taste

Optional- bunch of celery

Directions:

Add onion, meat, water, beef bouillon, V-8 juice, BBQ sauce, and garlic clove into your freezer bag.

Write on the bag: 4 medium potatoes (cut in 1 inch cubes-omit for Paleo)

   1. Dump contents of the freezer bag into your crock pot.

   2. Add 4 medium potatoes, cubed.

   3. Cook on high 6-7 hours or low for 8-9 hours.

Crock Pot Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef, browned

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped pepper

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon pepper

3 cups beef broth

4 cups diced potatoes (skip for Paleo)

8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

Combine the beef, onion, pepper, spices, tomatoes, broth and potatoes in bag.

Write on bag: ¼ cup flour (almond flour=Paleo), 1 cup milk (almond milk for Paleo)

   1. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

   2. About 30 minutes before it is time to eat, combine the flour and milk. Whisk until no   lumps remain. Stir into soup. Add cheese and stir again. Cover and cook until soup is 
   thickened…about 30 minutes.