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!