What's cooking?

I decided about a week or two ago that I wanted to try and make meals ahead of time.  The whole "what do YOU want for dinner?" conversation was getting a bit tiring.  Not to mention the many daily trips to the store to get what we needed for that particular dinner was getting a bit costly.

So, after much research on the web I came across a website that had a few really great meal ideas and some that didn't help much at all.  I looked for crock pot meals that I thought the whole family would like. I gathered the recipes and created a massive shopping list. The hubby and I ventured out to our local grocery store grabbed two carts and had at it.  After about an hour and a half we were done. When I tallied the receipts to see what we spent on the meals it was only about $100 that included the Ziploc bags. NOT BAD!

I made 7 meals and divided them in half for a total of 14 meals. I will provide you with the recipes a long with the grocery list of everything you will need. I was fortunate that the store we went to had pretty good sales on meat but I also had a ton of coupons.

The meals:
Chicken Cacciatore
Savory Chicken
BBQ Pork
Sweet and Tangy meatballs
Teriyaki Chicken
Peppers and Sausage
Lazy Day Stew

Printable Recipes Are Here

The day after I shopped was prep day.  I gathered all the vegetables and chopped and sliced what was needed.

After chopping all the veggies I got the gallon sized bags and labeled them.  I also put on the bags any instructions that were needed.  Cook times, temperatures any additional ingredients and what to serve it with.

Next, I took out the meats and put them in appropriate bags. ***I should mention I did end up buying the frozen chicken breasts as it was just too costly to buy the fresh ones.***

 

After the meats are in the bags, add the vegetables, and finally any other ingredients needed. Mix in the bag and squeeze as much air out as you can.

Easy Peasy!  For the hour or so I spent planning and 3 hours of prep, having to clean up only one big mess in the kitchen was worth it.   Not to mention the extra time now we can actually spend doing something other than cook!  **side note** I did add more meat to a few of the recipes to accommodate a few super hungry appetites!

Next time, I am going to try to add casseroles to the mix.  This was a first time for me so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Come back and let me know how it worked out for you and what changes you made.  Hope you enjoy the recipes and give it a try!