Crockpot Freezer Meals

Freezer meals have been my jam lately. In the middle of January, 8.75 months pregnant, I took a weekend and got my freezer stocked full of meals we could easily make over the next few months. I’ve successfully stretched them out over his first 6 months of life and its time for me to fetch a new set of recipes and start digging in.

When I was planning for my freezer meal packing, I did all kinds of research. Basically, I just went to Pinterest and started digging. My husband had a Saturday where he had to work which made the perfect day for me to make a mess in my kitchen and stuff all my bags.

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Crockpot Freezer Meals | Tips and Feedback from our experience filling our freezer with meals before the baby came.

For the purposes of this post, when I’m saying freezer meals, I was really looking for freezer crockpot meals; things I could layer together in a Ziploc bag, freeze and then just dump into the crockpot and let it do all the cooking. I’ve since learned about freezer meals where you precook things like casseroles and put them together and then just put them in the oven when you are ready to eat them. Those types of freezer meals may be part of my next round, but my whole goal here was to eliminate as much cooking as possible.

I spent about 2 hours grocery shopping (with my organized list).
I spent about 4 hours prepping food.
I spent about $185 total for what equated to about 40 meals for 2. (that’s considering most would feed 4)

I thought I’d round out a post with the additions or changes I’d make to the meals we used as I prep to get ready for another round.

A few general rules or guidelines we considered:

Mr. McKinney does not like beans. So, any of the recipes I came across like chili, etc just had to go out the door so I don’t have any feedback on them. But, if it were me those are the hearty types of dishes I would jump all over.
In general, I try to sneak in extra veggies when possible, so some of my notes below will include adding some options you could do. Or, to serve canned or frozen veggies on the side.
Anytime it called for rice, we tried to use quinoa or mostly cauliflower rice.
Anytime it called for pasta, we tried to use spaghetti squash or frozen zucchini or butternut squash noodles. I did use pasta at times because I wanted to clean out my pantry.
If you thaw out in the fridge only overnight, you will still likely have frozen stuff in the morning. So, I usually set the next day’s in the sink the night before and then put it in the freezer when I went to bed.
Invest in crockpot liners, they will make dinner clean up so much easier!

In my Pinterest research, I found so many options. But, I narrowed it down to 2 sets of things that I knew we would eat. That is, except for the bean chili. What I loved most about this author was that she not only offered the recipes and such, but she also included the shopping list. That was huge for me. I did have to do a little reorganizing and adapting, but it was awesome to have this tool. And, if I do it again, it would be worth driving to an area where I could do grocery pick up and make it that much easier on myself.

The 2 sets of recipes I use are 10 Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals and 30 Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals (which is a list of 10 meals you make 3 times). This really is her forte and I was all in.

TIPS:

you can purchase these fancy bag holders that keep your gallon size bags standing. If I did this a lot, I’d totally get those, but since it was a one time (or first time) thing, I just used big gallon-sized bowls and stood my bags up in those so they would not tump over.
write on the outside of your bags or label them before you start assembling. It will be too hard to do once you have all the food in them.
In the freezer, clear packing tape will peel off and you will lose your labels which is frustrating because you can’t tell what things are when they are frozen in a plastic bag!
most are planned to cook on low for 8 hours in a normal size crockpot. Pay attention to instructions if otherwise noted. I burned a dish in the middle of the afternoon. It became a drive-thru night.
When putting ingredients in the bags layer them – veggies on the bottom, sauces and spices in the middle, and meat on top. This way they go into the crockpot in reverse with meat on the bottom.
Some places in my feedback, I suggest adding fresh potatoes – you cannot cut those and freeze them, they will have a chemical reaction so those will need to be cut and added when you put them in the crockpot.
In general, the recipes list chicken by the ounce. That’s great, but for some of these you really need to know the number of chicken breasts, so I’ve tried to indicate that below if it’s helpful.

MEAL FEEDBACK:

Southwest Chicken Chili – use 2 chicken breasts, add hominy and shredded carrots, ad 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can green chilies
Honey Chicken – use 4 chicken breasts, served with a frozen Asian blend or cauli rice
Turkey Tacos – double the recipe because it really only makes for 2 and you can use this so many ways. Serve with tortillas or over rice or cauli rice like Chipotle rice bowls. (I blogged about how this has been one of our favorites and we have made it several times and shared with others)
Bourbon Chicken – not our favorite – use 3 big chicken breast or 4 normal sized, serve with potatoes. Maybe use balsamic vinegar instead of apple cider. The Mr just didn’t like this one. And, I would not put the green beans in the crockpot but would make fresh or canned on the side or a different green veggie.
Honey Lime Chicken – we are a fan of any of them that are Asian flavors. Add shredded carrots to boost the veggie count.
Chicken Taco Soup – one of our favs. I replaced the beans with hominy and added 1 Cup shredded carrots and 1 Cup of Verde salsa.
Italian Chicken – this has probably been the fav. We’ve made it multiple times and shared it with others. Use 4 chicken breasts. Eat half and make the leftovers into a spaghetti bake casserole for a second meal. Top with cheese and bake in the oven. 1 cook, 2 different meals.
Tomato Basil Chicken – similar to Italian Chicken. Use 4 chicken breasts and same suggestion above. We likey!
Beef Teriyaki – didn’t have any flavor. We will eliminate this one.
Sweet and Sour Meatballs – cook 4 hours on low. 6 was too long an some burned. Serve with spaghetti squash or lo mein/ rice noodles.
Hamburger Vegetable Soup – I really liked this one. It needs salt and some seasonings, but in general, this was one I loved. You could even add more veggies to it.
Meatball Vegetable Soup – we liked the hamburger Veg soup. Something about the meatballs in the soup was weird. But, I’m thinking kids might like that part. Or if you could find the little meatballs like they have in other canned dishes. Add 1 bag frozen veg for stew or 2-4 potatoes and carrots. Add 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. It tastes like Sirloin Burger soup to me. I loved it.
Spaghetti and Meatballs – add 1 bag of frozen spinach and carrots to make more of a bolognese and more hearty.
Hamburger Veggie Soup (in the 30 meals link) -use 32 oz. beef broth or 5 bouillon cubes and 4 Cups of water. Add 1/4 C Worcestershire sauce, onion flakes, garlic powder, black pepper. A pot roast seasoning mix might have all that in it. Also, add 4-5 diced real potatoes or a can of diced potatoes. Just needed to be a little more hearty for us.
Pot Roast – it was ok. It needed more seasoning. I usually use a French Onion Soup mix when I make a roast so I would suggest adding that. And, it needs more than 1 cup of water. Maby beef broth would have helped instead. I also added 4 diced potatoes when I put it in the crockpot.
Korean Potstickers Stirfry – I saved this one for a time my mom was here. I really liked it, but it was really more work than necessary. It was not a crockpot meal, but we enjoyed it. I don’t know that I’d make it often. I love dumplings, but Mr. McKinney is not the same kind of fan.

I’ve talked before about the incredible hospitality that we had surrounding little man’s birth. Many of these meals are great things you can make ahead and keep in your freezer to take to folks when they have a surgery or new baby. Or, just make a batch with that specific need in mind. Then, they can freeze it and use it when it best fits their needs.

Check out the next set of meals I’m contemplating on my Meal Planning Pinterest Board and follow along there for more ideas. Have you done any freezer meals? How did it go. I’d like to host one of those freezer meal parties. Any success with those?