Crockpot Freezer Meals

 As be begin the process of doing some home remodeling, I began to realize that I would need to get creative to keep us fed and within our grocery budget (i.e. not eating out).  Not only would I have to come up with meals that could be assembled ahead of time and frozen, but ideally, they would also use the Crockpot in case the kitchen remodel prevented me from using the oven. Due to some dietary restrictions, the recipes below are the ones on which I landed.

The plan is to prep and freeze them in freezer bags, doubling each recipe, so that I will, ideally have enough meals for around a month.

Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup from The Family Freezer

Crockpot Balsamic Chicken with Pears and Mushrooms from Once a Month Meals

Crockpot Shredded Chicken Quesadillas from The Family Freezer

Crockpot Barbeque Chicken from Sweet Peas and Saffron

Crockpot Red Pepper Chicken from The Family Freezer

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs from Sweet Peas and Saffron

The Best Dang Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken from Sweet Peas and Saffron

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chicken Curry from Sweet Peas and Saffron

Crockpot Bacon Balsamic Chicken and Vegetables from The Family Freezer

Honey Bourbon Chicken from Mommy's Fabulous Finds

Healing Chicken and Rice Soup from Pinch of Yum

Instant Pot Coconut Tandoori Chicken from Pinch of Yum (includes Crockpot instructions)

Sheet Pan Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki from Pinch of Yum (Not a Crockpot recipe)

Slow Cooker Spaghetti and Meatballs from Creme de la Crumb

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken and Veggies from Damn Delicious

Easy Crockpot Meatball Stew from Family Fresh Meals

Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs from Lauren Grentman

Enjoy! Jennifer

Perfect Pizza Dough

A couple of notes on this.  I usually double this recipe and it makes two good sized pizzas (I use 13x18 sheet pans).  I've tried with both bread flour and All Purpose.  Because of the extra stretchy gluten in Bread flour, All purpose is easier to stretch out to cover the entire pan. I also sneak in some grated Parmesan cheese from time to time. 

Ingredients

• 2½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp basil
• ½ tsp oregano
• 2 teaspoons sugar (optional, I no longer use)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil + more for coating
• ¾ cup warm water
• Heaping tablespoon yeast

Instructions

Dough

1. Place flour in mixer bowl.
2. Top with salt, sugar, herbs and yeast.
3. Add water and oil. Should make a soft dough that isn't sticky at all.
4. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Cover dough with a light coating of olive oil.
6. Cover mixing bowl and let dough rise until at least doubled - a couple of hours. It's okay if it goes longer.

Preheat

1. Preheat the oven to 475°.

Rolling the Dough

1. Gently put the dough on a lightly floured surface.
2. Next stretch, and toss your dough to fit your pan. 

Topping

1. Place dough on pan.
2. Spread with sauce of choice.
3. Top with meats, vegetables, and cheese.

Bake

1. Turn oven temperature to 450°
2. Bake for 8-15 minutes.
3. Cut and serve

November Christmas Prep

     Every year, I try my best to be ready for Christmas long before it arrives. If I don't, I'm a frazzled mess and no one can really enjoy the holiday season. I truly believe that November is the month to prepare for Christmas and December is the month to enjoy Christmas. We take the entire month of December off of school and kill our bucket list. We bake cookies. We make gifts. We watch all of the holiday movies. It's wonderful.
     That said, I have to have a list or nothing gets done. I found a really great one on Pinterest, but when I went to look for it last year, it was gone. I was on the verge of panic when I talked myself down and decided to make a list of my own. That's what I'm sharing today. I hope it helps facilitate a restful and memorable Christmas season for you and your family.

Cream cheese and jam strudel

I just realized that I blog for me. I blog all of those recipes that I make or modify that can't be found elsewhere. I write them here so that when I want make them again, I can find them all in one place. Otherwise, I'd totally forget that they exsist.
Case in point, I'd forgotten that I made crock pot bread until I jumped back on today to share this recipe and saw that I'd made it when my stove gave up the ghost. Someday, I hope to have my full faculties back. Today is not that day.
I love strudel. Crispy on the outside, sweet filling on the inside. I do not love the amount of time and effort that goes into a really good one, so I've come up with a cheater recipe. It is seriously one of the easiest things I've ever baked. It doesn't hurt that it looks totally impressive and tastes delicious.
The secrets are frozen puff pastry and jarred jam. Add in some sweetened cream cheese and you feel like a pastry chef.
So, here is all you need:
1 frozen puff pastry (thawed according to directions)
4oz cream cheese, softened
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 TBSP jam (I used seedless blackberry, but any flavor works)

You see how I snagged the first piece before my kids even knew it was out of the oven?

Preheat the oven to 375°. Place the thawed pastry on a piece of parchment paper large enough to fit a jelly roll pan. Using a rolling pin or flat-sided glass, roll it out to about 12"x16". Gently lift the parchment and pastry onto a jelly roll pan. Slice each side into one inch wide strips, leaving the center third for the filling.

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth. Spread down the middle of the pastry. Top this with the jam, spreading until smooth.

Criss cross the strips, alternating sides. Seal up the ends by crimping them together. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

We especially enjoy this while warm, topped with homemade whipped cream.

This is one of those goodies that can come together in about 30 minutes. It's great for busy weeknight desserts, unexpected visitors, or lazy Saturday morning breakfasts.

Enjoy!

Slow cooker bread

My oven gave up last week. Luckily, my stovetop is still cooperating. Let's just say that my Crock Pot and I have gotten really close.

Then it snowed. As we all know, snowy weather is baking weather. I was craving fresh baked bread. No dice.

Then it dawns on me, why can't I bake bread in my Crock Pot? I go scouring the internet looking for a bread recipe. As luck would have it, I find a healthy one with whole wheat flour, oats, and wheat germ. I mix it up. It bakes nicely, and....it's dry.

Round two. I skip the internet recipe, but use the same baking method. Bingo!

Ingredients:

1 TBSP yeast
1/4 cup warm water (~110 degrees)
1 cup warm milk
1 large egg
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp salt
2 3/4 - 3 cups flour

1. Turn your slow cooker in high. Grease a 1.5 quart glass mixing bowl and set aside.  Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add this to a large bowl with milk, egg, oil, honey, and salt. Stir to combine.

2. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time and stir until a dough ball forms. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, adding additional flour if needed, until it is smooth and elastic. Turn the dough into the mixing bowl and LOOSELY cover with foil.

3. Place 1/2 cup of water and a flattened, crumpled ball of aluminum foil or a metal trivet into the bottom of the slow cooker. Set the covered mixing bowl on top. Cover and cook on high 2 hours 45 minutes.


Unfortunately,  I didn't take any pictures, because it went straight from the Crock Pot onto the dinner table. Though I certainly recommend allowing it to cool before cutting it.

Because I love a good shortcut, I use an extra large bowl to do my mixing and I then knead it in the bowl so I don't have as much clean up to do.

Now, I will say that this is not as fluffy and soft as bread baked in an oven, but it's easier and a wonderful stand in for times when you want bread and your oven is on the fritz or, say, it's really hot outside.

Best of luck! Let me know how yours turns out!

Meal Planning

I'm still alive over here! Apparently, I'm a fits a fits and spurts kind of blogger. I recently made a large meat purchase and thought it might be helpful to know what I cook to keep our budget so low. I currently budget $350 per month for 5, sometimes 6 (we have one away at college eight months out of the year).

OK, here's what I bought:

10lbs. ground beef $1.99/lb

10lbs. Country pork ribs $1.49/lb

10lbs. chicken drumsticks $0.89/lb

10lbs. chicken leg quarters $0.49/lb

7lbs. boneless skinless checken breast $1.69/lb

4lb chuck roast $3.49/lb

TOTAL: Just under $75

By making a trip to the grocery (Aldi's and Sam's) for some staples and adding that to the items I already have in my pantry, fridge, and freezer, I was able to plan out 29 meals. I also plan in leftover days (about one every 5-7 days) and we buy take and bake pizza on Sundays (with a coupon), so I actually have enough meals to last us about five weeks. So, with keeping chickens, thus having fresh eggs always on hand and adding in breakfasts and lunches for the weeks, you can see how I keep our costs so low.

So, above you see our menu for that period of time. I don't necessarily go down the list in order, but try to mix it up, so that we aren't left with beans and soup at the end of the month. I also try to scan the menu every few days and make sure that the recipes that use fresh produce are made before the produce goes bad. Pretty simple system.

And I made my menu board out of a frame from the dollar store and a pretty sheet of scrapbook paper. It hangs on the wall in my kitchen and I erase each meal as we eat it.

Gardening - Plants or seed?

You've gotten your raised bed set up...now what? I recommend that if you are a first time gardener, you buy plants to start. Success in your first year makes you more likely to continue on to your second year. It will cost you more up front, but will give you a jump start as you figure everything out.

Of course, there are also those plants that grow just well by plunking a seed in the ground and calling it a day. Below is a list of common backyard vegetables and herbs and whether you should buy plants/start seeds or sow in the ground.

Buy plants/Start seeds:

Basil               Broccoli               Brussels Sprouts            Cucumbers            
Eggplant        Squash                Sweet potatoes               Tomatoes  

Sow in ground:

Beans            Carrots            Corn            Garlic            Kale            Onions
Peas              Potatoes         Radishes    Spinach

To save even more money on your garden, seeds are the way to go. Buying through seed catalogs will give you a greater selection and larger quantity of seed for your dollar. You will also be able to buy heirloom seeds to grow vegetables that you could never find in a store because they don't transport well. They often taste better, as well. However, for a very small garden, the seed packets sold through seed catalogs often have more seeds than you can use in a season and you will need to store them. Shipping can also be cost prohibitive. When just starting out with one raised bed and starting your own seeds, it is fine to buy the small packets at your local garden center.

There are as many ways to start seeds as there are people who garden. You can start them in trays in a window sill. You can grow them under lights in your basement. You can start them in eggshells, egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, and on and on and on. Here is my two cents on starting seeds. I have tried a few different trays and some egg cartons, with not much success. I am terrible about over-watering and under watering. I also lack the space in areas where they will get enough sunlight to not have them in the way of everyday life. So, I'm trying something new this year. I have been saving milk jugs for a few months. I am going to cut them open, add soil and seeds, tape them back together. I will then set them outside without the lid, so that they can get some moisture, in an area that gets lots of sun - essentially making little individual greenhouses. The bonus to using this method is that I won't have to harden off the plants to acclimate them to the outside conditions, like I would have to do with plants started inside.

I will start the first of my seeds this week (February 15). Here is my schedule:

Week of February 15:
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Tomatoes
Week of March 1st:
Basil
Eggplant
Lettuce
Week of March 15th:
Cucumbers
Squash
Week of April 5th:
Sweet Potato slips

It is very easy to get excited and plant a bit of everything or what you picture you should be growing. I say take stock of what your family eats most and plant that. You could grow the most beautiful radishes around, but if your family hates radishes, your time and effort were wasted.