Recipe: Beef Tips in Gravy

Apparently, I did not want Crockpot food tonight. Sometimes, you just don't feel like it.

Me: Whose idea was this Crockpot crap anyway?
Wade: Yours. You're a Crockpot crackpot!

Yuk, yuk, yuk. He thinks he's so funny.

I was not super thrilled about trying tonight's Crockpot meal. This may be why it's the only one we haven't tried out of this batch. But it's the one that is full of processed sh. . . tuff and sodium. I will be the first to admit that it's less than healthy. So, save your judgment, I judge myself. Anywho, here we go. Sense the enthusiasm.

Beef Tips in Gravy

1 1/2 lbs cubed beef (stew meat)
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 14 oz. can beef broth or stock
salt and pepper

Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve with rice or noodles.

Commentary on the Process

Using processed stuff makes it super easy and super fast. It really doesn't get much easier. Open some cans, dump them in the bag. Add the meat. Freeze. Thaw. Throw in pot. Turn to low. Come home. Peek in pot. Wrinkle nose. Stir in attempt to make ugly Crockpot food look more appetizing. Cook noodles. (We opted for noodles because every other recipe calls for rice, and we wanted to change it up a little.) Stir in an attempt to make ugly Crockpot food look more appetizing again.

I actually decided the gravy was too thin and thickened it a bit with flour and water (mix together, strain into Crockpot, stir). This worked pretty well. Then, I served it up with green beans. Voila. Dinner was served.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: A
Taste: B (me)/A (Wade, but he is still alive, so still no A+. However, he did say that this was his favorite so far.)
Quantity: 2 servings, plus another 2-4 in the fridge
Notes: It was filling when we ate it. I was full fast. However, about a half hour ago (it's 9:40 pm now), I was really hungry again. We're talking REALLY hungry, to the point of 'hangry' (hungry and angry at the same time). Wade was also hungry, but more annoyed with my hangry whining. Other than that, it was okay. Wade really liked it. I thought it tasted fine, but I couldn't help but focus on the processed part of it. Oh well. It is what it is.

Commercial Interruption: Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's Super Num Num Chicken Fried Rice

NOTE: This is NOT a Crockpot recipe, but it is OH-SO good.

We interrupt this Crockpot extravaganza with this message. FAIL.

I failed today. I forgot to put my Crockpot beef tip thing IN the Crockpot before I left for a friend's house this afternoon. . . AND the new Five Guys was closed for training. SOOOO. . . I opted for one of my all-time favorite Pinterest finds: Better-Than-Takeout Fried Rice. And it really is as good or better than takeout, at least, we think it is.

Chicken Fried Rice

4 c rice, prepared
1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked
1 c peas and carrots, frozen
1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 c soy sauce

Prepare rice according to package instructions to yield 4 cups cooked rice. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, peas, and carrots.

Stir fry until tender. Crack eggs into pan and scramble, mixing throughout vegetables.

Add rice, chicken, and soy sauce to pan.

Stir in soy sauce and remove from heat.

Commentary on the Process

I used white calrose rice in my happy rice maker.

Then, I diced the onions. I hate dicing anything, particularly onions. However, I love this fried rice so much, that I do it. This time, I used the frozen carrots and peas, but picked out most of the peas and gave them to my 11-month-old daughter. I hate peas; she loves them. My husband also hates peas. He said, "At last! We have someone to give our peas to!" For the record, I've also diced fresh carrots in the past. It's a bit labor intensive.

I sautéed, cooked and mixed. I used low-sodium soy sauce. I served it up. De-lish.

Stupid auto-rotate.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: B
Taste: A — Wade says that he is reluctant to give anything an A+, "I would have to have a heart attack and die because it was so good. Then you would have to give it the A+ because I would be dead." We love this rice, but he is not dead.
Quantity: 2 good-sized servings tonight, 4 lunch-sized servings
Notes:I think it needs a little more soy sauce than it calls for. I tend to add some when I eat it. Otherwise, no complaints, makes great leftovers.

Leftoverability: Recipe #7

The Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's chicken makes tasty leftovers, especially when it is paired with leftover Fujiyama fried rice. We got two good-sized servings and have another serving or two in the fridge. For some reason, I think the Asian dishes are better as leftovers. Pretty good stuff.

And I'm thinking I deserve a promotion for this one.

Recipe: Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's Chicken

It was an intense debate.

Me: I think I will call it General Darcy's chicken.
Wade: Uhhhh. (long pause) Don't you think that's a little ambitious?
Me: What?
Wade: Maybe Colonel Darcy.
Me: Like SANDERS? NO.
Wade: Major? Captain?
Me: Oh, come on. I think I rank higher than that. General!
Wade: Nah.
Me: Lieutenant Colonel.
Wade: Really? Oh, fine.

So, there you have it. Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's chicken a.k.a. General Tsao's chicken. This was a Pinterest find, which links to Joy and Passion in the Journey

Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 t minced garlic
3 T brown sugar
1 t ground ginger
2 T soy sauce
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes (or more if you like hot)
1 16-oz package stir fry veggies

Place chicken in bag. Combine remaining ingredients (except veggies), mix well and pour over chicken. Freeze. Recommendation: Put quart bag of chicken, with the bag of veggies, into a gallon bag.

Thaw chicken bag. Cook on low 5-6 hrs. Then add frozen veggies. Recover and cook on high for 1 hr or until veggies are hot and chicken has reached desired tenderness. Serve over rice.

Commentary on the Process

It went together fairly easily. As mentioned in one of the first entries, there was a lot of garlic peeling. That got a little old. However, other than that, pretty simple, pretty fast.

I apparently bought stir fry veggies with noodles and didn't realize it until I poured the bag in the Crockpot and thought, "What are all those white squiggly things?" Then I looked at the bag. Wait. Then I READ the bag. Lo Mein Stir Fry Vegetables. Ohhhh. Whoops. I just picked the bag that looked like it had mostly carrots and broccoli and very few (if any) peas.

Thank you auto-rotate!

Also, I did not follow the cooking instructions very well. Or at all.

Cook on low 5-6 hours.

I cooked on low for 9 hours.

Add frozen veggies and cook on high for 1 hour.

I added veggies and cooked on low for 1 hour. Apparently, I can't read. Or I choose not to read. Whatever. I think it turned out fine. Of course, I used my happy rice maker for the rice. Lieutenant Colonel Darcy's chicken was served.

I left out the photo of the chicken before I added the veggies. Like I said before, Crockpot food ain't pretty.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: B+
Taste: B
Quantity: 2 servings, plus ~2 servings for leftovers
Notes: I actually liked it with the lo mein noodles, but Wade and I felt like it needed more sauce. We added a little soy sauce, and it was fine. We think it's a repeat.

Final Words

Me: I'm a little upset you demoted me.
Wade: I didn't. You never rated General.

Leftoverability: Recipe #6

Greek-inspired roast for the win. Woot. Delicious the first time, delicious as leftovers. We've gotten five servings out of it thus far, and there's still some left, probably one or two servings. Wade actually put his meat in a quesadilla today because, well, he will put anything in a quesadilla. Man loves him some tortillas and cheese. He said that was good too. Versatility is good.

I think we are up to seven bags (including the red beans and rice that was thrown in) and 35+ servings (the + represents the never-ending chicken that didn't get eaten. Eleven bags left.

Recipe: Greek-Inspired Roast

Once again, "Holy deliciousness!" There was only one glitch. . . I took the roast out of the freezer on Monday early evening and stuck it on the counter to thaw. I put it in the fridge before I went to bed. Tuesday morning, when I went to put it in the Crockpot, it was still frozen solid. As. A. Rock. So, we had Round Table last night. This made my Round-Table-Loving-Hubby VERY happy.

Now my mom tells me you can throw a frozen roast in a Crockpot, and it will still work, just cook it a little longer. Aren't Crockpots wonderful?

I actually know where this recipe came from. I found this one on the Stacy Makes Cents website. She didn't freeze hers, but freezing works fine. . . as long as you thaw it long enough. I did make a couple of modifications, e.g., I threw the onions in the bag raw.

Greek-Inspired Roast

3 pounds beef roast
1/3 cup olive oil, butter, or other fat
3/4 cup onion, chopped
6-7 whole cloves
5-6 peppercorns
1 two or three inch-long cinnamon stick
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour half of the oil in the bottom of a large skillet and brown the roast on the skillet, using tongs to carefully flip it over and brown it on all sides. Pour the rest of your ingredients in your Ziploc, seal and freeze.

Thaw. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over brown rice.

Commentary on the Process

Super easy. Brown the roast, throw a few things in the bag. The original recipe called for tomato juice, but said that diced tomatoes work fine. I actually changed it to diced tomatoes. I like the chunkiness, and I am far more likely to have diced tomatoes on hand than tomato juice. Simple, simple, simple. However, it should be noted that I did not double this recipe, so I only have one roast bag. I might double it next time. Yes. There will be a next time.

Blogger has decided my photos are oriented wrong and kindly auto-rotated them for me. Wasn't that nice? I don't feel like figuring out how to fix it at the moment. So just turn your head slightly. . . I DESPISE WYSIWYGs!

Anyway, I threw the roast in this morning and set my rice maker to "Brown" -- went to music class, work, came home. Served. DELISH.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: A
Taste: A
Quantity: 2 servings, and I am guessing 2-4 more.
Notes: Easy. Delicious. The brown rice makes a difference. It's soooooo good.

Leftoverishness

Yes, the cilantro lime chicken is delicious. We gave it an A+, but it NEVER ends. We got eight servings out of it, and I am pretty sure the bowl is STILL full. I think maybe it refills itself. Either I have a magic bowl or magic chicken, not sure which. But I just can't eat it anymore. . . Perhaps put the recipe in four bags, rather than two, if there are only two of you!

Leftoverness: Recipe #5

The mongolian beef actually made four-plus servings. Wade and I each took a lunch this week, and there is still one small serving in the fridge. Like the orange chicken, I think it's actually better as leftovers than fresh. I think we are doing pretty well so far. . .

Adobo chicken: 4 servings (3 servings, plus I added some chicken to the leftover red beans and rice, so I think we could at least claim 4)
Red beans and rice: 5 servings
Pork and veggies: 6 servings
Orange chicken: 3 servings
Mongolian beef: 4+ servings
Cilantro-lime chicken: 2 servings and counting (haven't had leftovers yet)

Total: 6 bags, 24+ servings (and counting) and a little more than $100. . . not shabby considering that I have 12 bags left.

Recipe: Cilantro Lime Chicken

Holy deliciousness! I haven't had any of my Crockpot meals make me jump up, turn around and pick a bale of cotton yet. Some of them were good, but not "kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic" (my Friends obsession is showing). The cilantro lime chicken changed all that. Jump. Turn around. Cotton. Awesome.

I am still searching for my source of a good portion of my recipes and starting to feel bad that credit is not being given where credit is due. Although, I am NOT claiming these recipes as my own. If you've been following my blog, you know about the zucchini fiasco. I am no master chef. Until I find my mystery source, I will keep posting the recipes here.

Cilantro Lime Chicken

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 T olive oil
2+ limes, juiced
2 c cilantro
1 large bag of frozen corn
4 minced garlic cloves
1 finely chopped red onion
2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 t cumin or chipotle powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Take ingredients and split everything into two containers. Mix bag by shaking, seal, label and put in the freezer.

Cooking instructions: Cook in Crockpot on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve with hot tortillas and dress with sour cream, guacamole, and/or cheese.

Review

In retrospect, I don't think that naming this section 'Review' was right. It's not really the review. It's more like a commentary on the process. Ooooh. That rolls right off the tongue, 'Commentary on the Process.' Yes. I am going with that.

Commentary on the Process

I have to say, that this recipe annoyed me when I was making my list. Every other recipe called for X pounds of chicken. This recipe gave me a number. It did NOT fit into my spreadsheet. I do not like it when things do not fit into my spreadsheets. Or my labeled bins. Or alphabetical order. But that's a different story. . . Anyway, to solve this problem, I created another line item: Chicken breast - 6-8 quantity, rather than 4 lbs. It annoyed me. Apparently, it still does.

I did not double this recipe because it already makes two bags. I think next time I will though. It's that good and relatively easy to throw together. I used three limes and the cumin (I didn't have chipotle) and did not finely chop the onion (more of a chunking). TIMESAVER ALERT: I also threw the chicken breasts in whole. The recipe didn't tell me one way or another, so I went the easy route. I will say that this made an awfully pretty bag with the cilantro and red onion and corn. Not that that matters.

Okay, so, took the bag out the night before, threw it in the Crockpot, set it on low, and took my daughter to our first mommy-and-me music class! After work, I got home, turned the pot to warm, got out the cheese, tortillas, and sour cream and sliced some avacado. I then took the lid off the pot and stared at the chicken for a minute, debating whether to shred the chicken or serve it whole. I decided to shred it. It took a minute or two, tops. Definitely no need to chop the chicken before putting it in the bag. Dinner was served.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: B+
Taste: A+
Quantity: Wade and I each had two tacos last night, and there is still a bunch in the fridge. I am guessing at least two more meals.
Notes: Delish. Loved it. DEFINITE redo.

Recipe: Mongolian Beef

We love mongolian beef, particularly mongolian beef from a hole-in-the-wall local restaurant, so trying Crockpot mongolian beef was a no brainer. I was actually pretty excited to try it. However, again, I am unable to locate the source of the recipe. If I find it, I'll let you know. I just don't recommend holding your breath.

Mongolian Beef

1 lb. stew meat
2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, thickly sliced
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. fresh minced ginger
1/2 cup hoisin sauce

Dump all ingredients into a labeled freezer bag, seal, mix up, freeze flat. Defrost, then cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with rice.

Review

Chuck roast was on sale, so that is what we used. Wade played butcher and cubed the meat. I prepared everything else. It went together in a snap. Easy peasy. And even the mixture going into the freezer smelled good. Gotta love hoisin sauce. Nummy nummy in my little Asian tummy.

Last night, I took the bag out of the freezer and thawed it on my trusty green tray. This morning, I dumped the bag's contents in the pot, turned it on and set my happy little rice maker.

End of the day, I came home to my delicious-smelling house and steamed some broccoli (you'll find that my veggie repertoire is limited). . . and VOILA! Dinner is served. I did throw some sesame seeds on top for good measure. I am loving my Crockpot.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: A
Taste: A ("My inner Mongol gives it an A," Wade says.)/B (me)
Quantity: Two healthy-sized portions tonight, and I think enough for one more.
Notes: It's important to note that Wade gave this recipe his first A. That says something. I, on the other hand, poured a generous amount of sauce on the rice, but found the sauce to be a little too sweet for my taste. I ended up adding more rice to try to even it out, but it was still a bit on the sweet side for me. I also thought the meat was sort of a funny texture, but I can't help but wonder if that's because I end up cooking things longer than eight hours. Next time I think I'll try it on a short work day. Wade thinks we should consider a programmable Crockpot. In the end, I think it's a redo, I just wouldn't serve as much sauce.

Leftoverability: Recipe #4

For the record, orange chicken makes tasty leftovers. Three servings out of that bag.

Recipe: Orange Chicken (for Real)

I really like coming home to Crockpot meals. When I open the door, I am greeted by the delicous aroma of a home-cooked meal, and I can pretend, just for a few precious moments, that I have a sweet, wise-cracking maid named Alice who is working hard in my kitchen to have a hot meal prepared for me and my family. . .

Okay, it may not be Alice, but at least I get the hot meal.

Anyway, Wade got his orange chicken tonight. We're talking REAL orange chicken, not the orange chickens that are really pork and veggies. And when I got home tonight, it SMELLED like orange chicken. Yum. Unfortunately, this is one of the recipes that I found and haven't been able find again, so I am not sure what the source is. If I stumble across it again, I'll post it.

Orange Chicken

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite-size pieces)
3 T olive oil
juice of 2 oranges
zest from 1 orange
1/4 c of orange juice
1 t fresh ginger
3 T soy sauce
2 T sriracha
chopped peanuts (for topping)

Mix together ingredients, except chicken and peanuts, and pour into Ziploc. Add chicken and freeze.
Thaw, then cook for 6-8 hours on low. Serve with rice.

Review

Winco didn't have boneless, skinless thighs, but they did have skin-on, bone-in thighs. So, I used those. I am pretty lazy, so I removed the skin and threw the whole thigh in. It just wasn't worth my effort to cut a bunch of raw chicken off the bone. I figure that we are slow cooking the meat, so it should fall off the bone when it's done anyway. Right? Right. Moving on.

The recipe went together pretty easily. There's quite a bit of juicing and zesting, although Wade did those parts, and he was pretty fast. He also peeled and grated the ginger. What a great hubby.

The only issue I had with the recipe was with the orange juice. It calls for the juice of 2 oranges and 1/4 c of orange juice. I wasn't sure if the quarter cup was in addition to the other juice or if it was the other juice. I figured extra orange is good, so I decided it was extra.

In the end, I got three bags out of a tripled recipe, and I used extra chicken. I think I used closer to two pounds a bag, but I also used bone-in chicken.

This morning, I turned the Crockpot on low, set the delayed timer on my new rice fancy-pants rice cooker that sings me "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" when it starts (no, seriously) and ran off to work. Then, I returned home, pretended Alice was in the kitchen for a minute and checked the pot.

It should be noted that Crockpot food isn't pretty. But, my orange chicken looked okay for Crockpot food, but a little oilier looking than I expected. So, I skimmed off some of the fat and turned the pot to 'warm' until Wade got home. Finally, I steamed some broccoli, my rice cooker sang and dinner was ready.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: B
Taste: B (from me), C (from Wade)
Quantity: We got two servings out of it tonight, and I have enough for my lunch tomorrow. In retrospect, I think I'd make a recipe and a half for one bag for leftovers.
Notes: Throwing the whole thigh in worked just fine. NO NEED TO CUT INTO BITE-SIZE PIECES. HA. Also, Wade was expecting pork and veggies. Oh wait. We did that. Actually, Wade thinks he was expecting more of a glazed orange chicken, which this isn't. It's chicken with an orange sauce. It's not that it was bad, it just didn't meet his expectations. I, on the other hand, liked it. I'd redo it. Wade might not. On a side note, he loves the rice from the new fancy rice cooker. Not bad for the guy who just told me he didn't like rice, apparently he only likes with a side of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" -- oh well.

Update: Pork and Veggies

We did get one more meal out of the pork and veggies over the weekend, although there wasn't much meat left. All in all, we got six servings out of that bag. Pretty good, I think.

Leftoverability: Recipe #3

We had leftover pork and veggies for lunch. Wade pointed out that he is not a big fan of rice, so he primary had pork and veggies. It was basically just a pork stew and not bad served this way. I had it with the rice, and I liked it as leftovers as well. Good reviews for the pork and veggies all around. It definitely will make another appearance in the Richardson Crockpot. I think there is enough for one or two more servings in the fridge too.

Recipe: Pork and Veggies

Wade was oddly quiet when he was eating tonight. He made some comment about eating orange chicken. I told him that he wasn't eating orange chicken. It was pork and veggies. . . "Ohhhhh. I thought it was kind of weird orange chicken." Yes, yes, it is weird orange chicken. Because it's pork and veggies. There's not a single drop of orange anything in it.

"So, how do you like it now that you know it's not supposed to be orange chicken?"

"I like it. . . I never said it was bad."

"It's bad orange chicken."

"Well, yes, it was bad orange chicken."

Glad we got that cleared up. Moving on. . .

I don't work on Thursdays, so I've been smelling the pork and veggies cook all day. The smell made me think of restaurant arroz con pollo. I couldn't WAIT to dig in!

I found the pork and veggies recipe on Love My Nest, which I found via Pinterest.

Pork and Veggies

1 pound pork roast, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 carrots, sliced 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce 1.5 T apple cider vinegar
1 t salt
2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Combine ingredients in a large ziptop bag, freeze. Thaw contents of bag and place in a slow cooker. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over hot rice.

Review

This recipe had the most veggies (YAY!), but required the most chopping. Actually, it wasn't that bad. I did a lot of wedging and didn't worry about unformity or anything like that. Apparently, when I make freezer meals, my OCD goes right out the window. Thank goodness. For ease, I used baby carrots and pre-sliced mushrooms. If you want to save a little money, you could definitely go with regular carrots and whole mushrooms. I also added zucchini. Yum.

I took out the bag last night and threw it on a tray to thaw in our extra fridge, just in case it leaked. However, that was unnecessary, as the tray was clean this morning. It was a little more frozen than I thought it'd be, but I was going to be home all day, so I figured it didn't matter. I threw it in the pot. Woohoo.

I cooked it on low for about eight hours and served with some leftover rice in the fridge.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: B+
Taste: A- (but an F as orange chicken)
Quantity: Again, we got two good-sized servings out of it and put away quite a bit in the fridge.
Notes: I don't recommend adding the zucchini. There's a reason that it wasn't included in the original recipe. Mushy, mushy, mushy. Chef Ramsey would yell at me and make me cry for that stroke of non-brilliance. While the other veggies were a little mushier than I wanted, they still tasted good. And the pork was de-lish. Bottom line: I liked it. As pork and veggies, not orange chicken. I'd definitely make it again.

Sunny Days

This week, the weather has been beautiful. Spring has finally arrived, and, thanks to my freezer Crockpot adventure, I've been able to enjoy it!

I was able to come home from work, take my daughter for a walk in the sunshine and play with her on a blanket in the yard. I didn't have to stand in the pantry for ten minutes, wondering what to make for dinner. I didn't have to take time to stop at the grocery store on our way home. I didn't have to stick her in her walker so that I could make dinner. I was able to spend my time with her. The adobo chicken may not have been great, but the time I get to spend with my daughter was!

Tonight: Pork and veggies! Can't wait to try it.

Leftoverization

Short post. We had leftovers again tonight, a little begrudgingly. We aren't really huge leftover people. However, I cut the rest of the adobo chicken off the bone and threw it in the red beans and rice to address the lack of meat problem. It was actually pretty good. We got four dinners out of two bags. It likely would have been more because I apparently don't learn and over served us every night. I'm guessing we could have gotten at least one additional meal if I would have served better. Tomorrow night, a new bag!

Leftoverability: Recipe #1 and #2

Tonight, we had leftovers to test what I call the "leftoverability" of the two recipes we've tried. I had leftover adobo chicken (or is it chicken adobo?), and Wade had leftover red beans and rice. The chicken is not pretty as leftovers, that's for sure, and it's so-so for taste. Again, we weren't super thrilled with the taste anyway, so it was unlikely to wow us on round two. However, the red beans and rice, according to Wade, were just as good as the first time. To quote him, "My unsophisticated pallet did not know the difference." Another point for the red beans and rice, especially when Wade is not big on leftovers.

That makes three good-sized servings of each dish, and there are still more leftovers in the fridge. Tomorrow will most likely be leftover night as well. Wade will be disappointed. He was pretty excited to try a new bag tonight when he got home tonight. Poor guy.

Recipe: Adobo Chicken

We selected our first meal to try by default. I suspected that the adobo chicken bag was leaking, so we figured it was best to start with it.

I found the chicken adobo recipe on the Stacy Makes Cents website. Her version is fresh, not freezer to Crockpot. That may make a difference. I also lacked the little Lego man. That may also make a difference. I also split the recipe between two bags to make two dinners. That may also make a difference, but I'm not sure how.

Crockpot Adobo Chicken

1 chicken or its equivalent, cut up (or whole if you’re lazy) skinned or not
1 1/3 cups soy sauce
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
1 garlic bulb (yup, the whole thing)
4 bay leaves
cracked pepper

Put the chicken in the Crockpot with or without the skins. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, and water, and pour them over the sauce.

Peel the garlic and thinly slice the cloves.

Toss in the garlic and bay leaves. Add about 20 turns of cracked pepper.

Set the crock pot on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. When done, stir the sauce and taste it.

Serve over white rice.

The Review

I used chicken hind quarters that were on sale for 98 cents a pound or something equally ridiculous. I also threw in some chicken breast I had leftover from another recipe for the heck of it, and I used low-sodium soy sauce. The recipe itself is pretty easy, particularly if you just throw the whole hind quarters in the bag, skins and all. The biggest time sucker: the garlic. That's a lot of peeling. A LOT of peeling.

On Sunday afternoon, I took it the bag out of the freezer and placed it in a bowl, just in case it was leaking. Sunday evening, I dumped the contents in the Crockpot bowl, put the lid on it and stuck the bowl in the fridge. I leave the house by 6:20 am and wanted to just be able to drop the bowl in the warmer before I left. My other easy peasy shortcut—put the dry rice in the rice cooker before leaving in the morning. (Add water and hit the button in the evening!)

When I got home in the evening, I was greeted by the most delicious smells! I threw the water in the rice cooker, some baby carrots in the steamer and called it good. Twenty minutes later, we were in business. I was able to spend all that time I usually spend making dinner with my darling daughter, and we had a delicious-looking, delicious-smelling dinner ready to go. Sweeeeeet.

Note that we added a bunch more sauce after the picture was taken (per the original recipe).

Ratings

Ease of preparation: B
Taste: C
Quantity: Again, we got two good-sized servings out of it and put away quite a bit in the fridge.
Notes: The little bit of boneless, skinless breast I threw in was super dry. We were a little surprised. The legs and thighs were much better, but the texture was a little funny. I don't know if that is because I cooked it longer than 6 hours (who has a 6-hour work day?) or for any of the reasons I mentioned above. . . We liked it, but I am not sure it's a repeat (minus the leftovers and second bag in the freezer).

And that's the way Sue "Cs" it. Oh wait. That's a different show.

Chop Chop!

As promised, the next step was chopping and bagging. I started by washing all my veggies, then proceeded to chop them.

TIME SAVERS: I used baby carrots rather than regular carrots because I am a little lazy and didn't want to peel them. I figured three baby carrots were equal to one big one and portioned them out accordingly. Regular carrots are probably more economical, but I decided that was a sacrifice I was willing to make. This was also the case for the pre-sliced mushrooms.

Also, as mentioned previously, I am all about quick and easy, and I figure that diced onions are not really any different than wedged onions. If there is a difference, I do not have a fine enough palette to tell, and it's a huge time saver! I went with wedges.

I added the veggies to their designated bags as I went to ensure the portions were correct.

Next, I added the remaining ingredients for each bag (minus meat)—seasonings, sauces, etc. I was very careful to seal the bag when I finished adding liquids. When each bag was ready for meat, I moved all the bags onto one counter and got out all the meat.

Wade and I then chopped, washed our hands, sliced, washed our hands, chopped, washed our hands, sliced, washed our hands . . . I got a little lazy with the adobo chicken and threw the legs in the bag whole, same with the orange chicken and the thighs. The roast, of course, didn't need to be sliced, and the cilantro-lime chicken didn't specify, so I left it whole. (Always looking for the easy way out, I guess.)

I added the meat to the bags as we went, and finished a type of meat one at a time. First we did all the chicken recipes, then beef, then pork. I learned to put the bag you are working on in a large bowl when you are adding meat! I did not do this at first and ended up with adobo chicken juice (or whatever you call it) EVERYWHERE. From then on, I used a bowl. This worked really well.

Soon enough, we had completed our bags, and they were ready for the freezer!

Freezing them was tricky for me because we have a very limited amount of space. I found that keeping them in the fridge and freezing them a few at a time over a few hours worked well. This way, they weren't as squishy and didn't slide around on top of each other. This is the finished product.

It took around five or six hours to do all the prep work (minus the garlic). Now, we will see if it was worth it. Next up, Monday night dinner!

Commerical Interruption: Red Beans and Rice

This is a quick commercial interruption from my Crockpot-freezer-food-process jubilee. Last night, I actually realized that I forgot to include a recipe for red beans and rice that I'd meant to include. I was a little disappointed, soooo. . . I made it tonight. I doubled the recipe, cooked one on the spot and put the other in the freezer. Although, it should be noted that I left the water out of the freezer version and made sure I included that instruction on the bag.

The recipe is from Cooking Light. A printable, Pinterestable, Facebookable, Tweetable, emailable version is available on the My Recipes website.

Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice

3 cups water
1 cup dried red kidney beans
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 (14-ounce) package turkey, pork, and beef smoked sausage, thinly sliced (such as Healthy Choice)
1 bay leaf
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups hot cooked long-grain rice
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Combine first 12 ingredients in an electric slow cooker. Cover with lid; cook on high heat for 5 hours. Discard bay leaf; stir in salt. Serve over rice; sprinkle servings evenly with green onions.

The Review

The recipe is wicked easy. I think I threw together the double batch in 20 minutes. However, it should be noted that I do not finely chop anything. I am all about quick and easy. Finely chopping isn't either. I cooked it on high for exactly 5 hours, and it is pungent, smelled up our whole house and the garage!

I cooked the rice in my rice cooker, then scooped the beans and sausage on top of the rice, rather than mixing it all up together. I made sure I got lots of the juices from the Crockpot into the bowl and mixed it up well. I then served it alongside some leftover homemade cornbread. Yum! Now, I just have to see how the freezer version turns out later. Stay tuned.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: A
Taste: B+
Quantity: We got two good-sized servings out of it and put away quite a bit in the fridge. I am guessing that we, our little family of 2.5, can get two or three meals out of it.
Notes: I like spicy, but I might cut down on the red pepper a smidge next time. Wade and I also think we'd add extra sausage next time, hence the B+ rating. However, we like meat. Nom nom nom.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Setting Up

I was pretty anxious to get started when we returned home from the grocery store at 7:30 pm on Friday night. (Are we party animals or what?) However, I knew that I would end up biting off more than I really wanted to chew (see my first post and reference to the "wild hair") so I settled for peeling garlic. This actually ended up being a really good idea because my recipes called for a LOT of garlic. Apparently, I am Korean or something. I like garlic. I am seriously considering purchasing a garlic peeler or pre-peeled garlic next time. I kept hearing Phoebe from Friends telling Monica to "Get your garlic peelers off me!" I finished peeling more than two bulbs of garlic and went to bed!

I tend to get up early so I can get things done before my daughter wakes up, and Saturday was no exception. I woke up at 6 am and got started. I was actually pretty excited (call me a nerd if you want to), so I really didn't mind. My awesome hubby got up at 7 am to lend his hand too.

The first thing I did was label all my bags with a Sharpie. I wrote the name of the recipe, the date and any relevant cooking/serving instructions.

Then, I laid out the kitchen. Thank goodness for a big kitchen! I grouped the ingredients per recipe. I created an order of assembly and figured I would move ingredients that were used in multiple recipes as I went. Olive oil started at recipe #2, when I was done with that, I moved it to recipe #5, and so on. I did NOT lay out the meat. I wanted to get everything prepped, and then do the meat last. Then, it would be out of the fridge for a shorter amount of time, and I didn't have to deal with all the cross contamination issues.

My apologies for the broken-up process, but now it's almost my bedtime (I have to be up at 4:30 am), but I will be back with the chop-and-bag process tomorrow!

A Simple Start

I was inspired to re-enter the world of blogging after my recent foray into Crockpot freezer meals. At first, I resisted because I know it's been done—over and over and over again. However, I've found that there are a lot of people who are interested in doing it, but they never get around to it. It seems that, sometimes, we just need to hear it from a friend or a friend of a friend, or we just need to stumble on the right collection of recipes. So, here I am. Perhaps my little blog and venture will inspire someone else and allow them to spend more time with their families or just make their lives a little easier.

Getting Started

I've been interested in trying this whole cook-one-day-eat-for-weeks concept for awhile, but the thought of locating recipes, making shopping lists, shopping, chopping, bagging and freezing seemed overwhelming. Not only that, but I am currently lacking in freezer space. So, I wasn't sure if now was the best time to start. However, I decided that I would give it a shot this weekend. I tend to do that. I get what people would refer to as a "wild hair" and decide to go for something. Sometimes, I regret it later. My husband regrets it when it involves him, like the time I brought home new flooring from Costco. . . but that's another story for another day.

A Quest for Recipes

To get started, I combed Pinterest and the Internet at large, looking for recipes. I tried to identify recipes that were simple, used similar ingredients and had little to no broth, cream of something soup or the like. In the end, I found eight recipes that I wanted to try. I'll admit, one contained those ingredients that I avoided. I actually may regret that decision now because the more I think about it, the more unhealthy I realize it is. Oh well. C'est la vie. I just won't use that recipe next time.

These are the recipes I identified:

1. Cilantro-lime chicken
2. Pork and veggies
3. Beef tips and gravy
4. Greek-style roast
5. Orange chicken
6. General Tsao's chicken
7. Mongolian beef
8. Adobo chicken

In retrospect, I should have been better about keeping track of where my recipes came from. I copied and pasted them from webpages into a Word file, not paying much attention to the source. Of course, at that point, I hadn't intended to blog either. So, tracking down the sources will be a trick. I apologize in advance if I don't give credit where credit is due on this first set of recipes, but I will definitely do better in the future!

I've decided to provide recipes when we try them, rather than all at once. I may change my mind later though. Right now, I just want to explain the process.

A Shopping We Will Go

After I had pasted them all, I printed the recipes and then used Excel to make my shopping list. I planned to double all of the recipes, except the roast and the cilantro-lime chicken (it was already doubled). I divided my list into sections: meat, fresh produce, frozen produce, canned goods, spices and other. Then I alphabetized the items under each section (a little OCD, I know) and updated quantities as I went through each recipe. For example, if I entered 'chicken breasts - 3 lbs' for recipe #1, I changed it to 'chicken breasts - 5 lbs' when I got to recipe #6.

After I completed my list, I printed it off and checked my kitchen for the things I had on hand. I had oranges, canned tomatoes and a few basics (olive oil, salt, pepper).

Next, my husband and I went shopping. He, for the record, was all for this Crockpot adventure because he recently restarted school and anything that would save us time on weeknights is a good idea. We did our shopping at Winco. You have to bag your own groceries, but the prices make it worth it.

During our trip, we had a few issues with meat quantities, but adjusted as we went. For example, I needed 2 pounds of pork roast, but could only find 3-pound packages. So, I decided to triple the recipe instead of double it. This also meant I needed another pepper and onion. I also decided to add zucchini to that recipe so that we would get more delicious, oh-so-good-for-you veggies. I also bought what was on sale. Instead of buying boneless, skinless chicken thighs, I bought the bone-in, skin-on thigs because they were only about $1 a pound. How do you beat that? I figured that I would just make it work.

In the end, I had what I thought would make 16 bags, and it cost us just under $100. I thought that was pretty good!

As my 10-month-old daughter is now fussing, I will continue later. Next up: The set up!