Meals Quick and Easy

Here are some good recipe sites for you!
Once a month cooking:
http://www.realfood4realpeople.com/oamc.html
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/oamc-freezer-make-ahead
http://snider.mardox.com/OAMC.htm
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/oamc/oamcprep.html
http://www.menus4moms.com/bulk/index.php

rockpot recipes:
http://www.natalies-recipes.com/website/CrockPot.aspx

my fav crock pot meal is vegetable beef soup. About 7/8 AM throw the cubed beef, a packet of Lipton Onion soup mix, a can of tomato sauce (small or large depend on how tomato-y you want the soup to taste),and some salt and pepper into the crockpot and enough water to fill with water up to about an inch and a half from the top. Put on high. Around 4-ish the meat should be tender enough to fall apart on a fork. Skim the fatty stuff off the top and add 2 bags of frozen veggies. I don't like lima beans so I get the kind with out the yuckies. By 5:30 6 PM you have a filling meal. Make sure you get some good crusty italian bread to dip into the soup.

i started doing "freezer cooking" when i was pregnant with my second child. it has been a lifesaver!!! when meat is on sale, i buy extra and cook it and freeze it.

example, pot roast, i buy 2 and make them together in the crock pot. then i let them cool, skim off the grease and put meal sized portions in quart sized freezer ziplocks. i label them with the date and contents and into the freezer they go.

i also do this with pork roast. i buy 3 pound containers of ground beef and cook it and freeze it in pound bags, then it's ready for sauce or whatever. i also premake meatloafs, 4 at a time and then cut in half, equals 8 meals!!!

i make hamburgers ahead of time, but put them in the freezer uncooked. i put uncooked chicken and steak in freezer bags in meal sized portions with marinade on them, then i defrost them in the fridge and the meat marinades as it's thawing out.

i also make mashed potatoes by the 5 or 10 pound bag and freeze them in meal sized portions, if you're going to make mashed potatoes, it only takes a few more minutes to make a ton of them, but making them every week is so time consuming. i do the same with macaroni and cheese and pancakes.

i know many of these things i could just buy prepackaged at the store, but i like to know what is going into my family's bodies, and this way they don't get all the processed junk.

i got this idea because my cousin goes to "super suppers". it's a place where you make a month of meals in a couple hours and then take them home and put them in your freezer. it is very costly so i tried doing it myself at home. i found a good website and great inexpensive cookbook on 30daygourmet.com.

i hope this helps you, it sure did help me, i'm hooked, my freezer is loaded with ziplocks and great meals that are ready in a snap. i usually put each precooked item in the microwave for 5 minutes at a time. dinner is usually ready in 20 minutes or so and i only have to wash the dinner dishes and 2 microwavable pots!!! and the best thing about this is that it's all food that i know my family loves, and it's all homemade!!!!!

it has really made my life alot easier and if you have any questions or want more ideas just email me, i have lots more suggestions!!

Larissa,
I wanted to first say that you are amazing to have taken care of twins by yourself for 4 years. I have twin 19 month olds that are hard to take care of with other people around! I couldn't imagine being on my own to do it, so God bless you for getting through that and I'm happy to hear that you have met a wonderful man and have another baby!
As for the recipe, I have a good mac n cheese crockpot recipe. We had a food day at work and I was looking for a good side for the main dish we were having and someone suggested mac n cheese. Well I knew there were recipes out there for ones that you can make in the crockpot (I wanted something that was going to be hot and fresh), so I started asking around and looking on the internet. Someone gave me the following recipe that is so easy to make and turned out really good! Here you go, I hope you enjoy it:
Crock Pot Mac'n Cheese

I lb Macaroni, half cooked
I lb. Velveeta cheese (cubed)
1 stick butter
8 oz. extra sharp cheese – grated (Cracker Barrel extra sharp - White)
1 quart milk

Salt & Pepper to taste

Put above ingredients into crock-pot on HIGH for 3 to 5 hours.

Once the cheese melted, I made sure to stir it up and then I would go in and stir it like once an hour (I had it on for like 4 hours and I had to turn the crockpot down b/c it started to burn a little). I'm not sure how it would be to leave it during the day or without stirring it every so often, but I'm sure it would be fine. If you like yours really creamy, I would cook it lower and put more milk in it.

HI L.,
For my dinners there is this great place that just opened in phila that ships (I live in nj) I was tried of food shopping and having the same meals . So this place comes up with the menu and ingredients all you have to do is cook it !
Awesome food !!! whiskandspoon.com check it out !!
Hope this helps J

Hi Larissa,

I would be lost without my crockpot. I use it alot. I make whole chickens, with veggies then it all cooks together and taste tummy. I do the same thing with a beef roast. I cook pork roasts in there. I also made Pulled pork wwhich was a breeze. all i did was put the pork roast in with the seasonings that I wanted added some water left it cook all day on low about half way through the day added some bbq sauce and by dinner it was yummy. I have made ham in it also. Its great for doing frozen meatballs. Just cut up some peppers and onions and add it to the sauce and hmmmmm its good. there are a ton of websites and cook books out there that you can get too just for crock pots/slowcookers. Oh another easy one is hotdogs and sauerkraut.

I’ve made several dinners in the crock pot:

Spaghetti sauce with meatballs or Italian sausage – to serve over pasta or with hard rolls

Meatloaf

Chicken cooked with vegetables and broth or chicken noodle soup – to serve over rice or pasta

Vegetable beef soup

BBQ ribs and chicken

Pork roast with carrots and potatoes

Beef stew

I try to cook two meals at once and have successfully frozen meals for later use:

Meatloaf, pork roast, stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, spaghetti sauce, chili, vegetable soup, beef stew.

My mother buys fresh Italian bread when it goes on sale. She cuts it and wraps it in packs of 5 or 6 slices (double wrapped in plastic wrap then once in foil). She pulls out a pack when she needs it and it thaws quickly. I was amazed at how good it tastes.

Hi L.,

I have put everything in the crock pot. Roasts, spaghetti sauce, chicken, etc. They all come out fine. I have also found that if I do some meals when I do have time, and freeze them, that helps alot too.

Good luck with everything!

One of the most difficult issues we have every week is trying to put food on the table. We can easily go through the motions at times and get in the car and drive our lovely little ones from school to gymnastics and back to home but to create a meal at the end of the day, that requires planning and thought...who has time or energy for that!

I am a foodie through and through but not every meal can be gourmet and if it was, my kids would never eat! So I try and use fresh local ingredients that are in season to prepare delicious meals to keep my kids sitting at the table. Well, my oldest is 4 so I pretty much have to tie him down to his chair to keep him seated but you know what I mean.

Please check out my Market Menu each week for what is on sale in our local grocery stores and a listing of great menu ideas that you can make for your family.

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