First timers.... Just 5 average families trying to live a healthier lifestyle.....

Last week a group of ladies and myself decided to have a crock pot meal prepping party.  We decided to meet on Sunday 8/25/13.  We are all extremely busy women, with extremely busy families who want to be able to provide the same quality of meals to our family members and ourselves, that we would be able to do if we did not run such chaotic schedules. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our lives. But there has got to be something better; a better way than eating out, or doing the "What the heck is for dinner OMG there are not enough hours in the day, nothing is defrosted, I can't believe we are eating dinner at 9:30pm again" mad dash! Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.

 

So, we gathered some crock pot recipes and created a shopping list and menu.  We each went shopping individually, and then brought all of our groceries to one house to sort, chop, and prepare.
The goal of this was to get 12 dinners per family, prepared and ready to freeze, so that in the mornings everyone could just put their meal of choice in the crock pot, set on low, and have dinner ready when they got home. We also decided (because of the brilliance of Christina) to pre-make breakfast tacos, and freeze them so we could all have a somewhat healthier breakfast in about a minute.

This being our first time, it took quite a while to accomplish, however, I think we are all more prepared and have ideas about how to be more efficient next time. For example; pre-printed labels for the baggies, a food processor, lots of large bowls, and pre-cut frozen diced onions.  (sorry Meghan)  I am sure there are a lot of other things we can improve on as well...

All in all, the day went really smooth. We all pitched in and at the end of the day we met our goal.
I am not going to lie, it was hard work. But, when you add Great friends, and mimosas to a day of hard work, and top it all off with the knowledge that we can all go about our lives for the next two weeks and not have to "prepare" a meal... Well, that is just about as good as it gets!

 

 

 
I have to give credit to Sarah for letting us crash your house with this super project and for being so incredibly organized. To Stephanie, for chopping, even when you didn't have to! To Anne Marie for your sharpie work and excellent penmanship! To Meghan for chopping up all of those torturous onions ummm... and washing dishes like a pro! And to the Brown girl, Christina, for making breakfast tacos that would make any taqueria proud! ;)  I love you gals!
 
Everyone in our group is a cross fit athlete, (**Disclaimer** these are not Paleo dishes) and we all work out together.  One of the reasons we decided to do this was because when we leave the gym at 7 or 8pm not only are we exhausted, but we stink, and we're hungry!  lol.  Some of us have kids to bathe, we all have work bright and early, and the household chores never stop. 
 
If you are planning on making some of these meals, please note, the majority of them should be served with side dishes that need to be made the night of, or in advance and frozen separately.  We will all be posting throughout these first two weeks about our likes, dislikes, faves, ideas, and future recipes. Below is the Menu, shopping list, and recipes w/ cooking instructions.  All of these can be cooked either on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Menu:

Teriyaki chicken

Beef Stroganoff

Shrimp Creole

Parmesan Chicken

Pulled pork ribs

Chicken Tacos

free day grill day

Chicken enchiladas

Sweet & Tangy Meatballs

Chicken tortilla soup

Savory Chicken

Sausage and Peppers

Teriyaki chicken:

free day grill day

Breakfast:  pre-made breakfast tacos

cereal

bagels

Recipes:

Teriyaki chicken:
Medium – Large bag of carrots
Red Onion into Large Chunks
2 large cans pineapple (un-drained)
4 Garlic Cloves
4 Chicken Breasts
1 cup teriyaki sauce
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze Directions for Bags: Serve over hot rice
Sausage and Peppers
6 Italian Sausage (or chicken sausage)
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 large red onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans Italian diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze Directions for Bags: serve over hot noodles or fresh French bread with mozzarella cheese
Savory Chicken
4-6 chicken breasts
2 cans stewed tomatoes
4 Tbsp. white wine (or extra broth)
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste, 2 bay leafs
4 cups broccoli (added while cooking)
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze Directions for Bags: Add broccoli during last 30 minutes.
Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
Approx 36 meatballs (homemade is great)
16 oz. grape jelly
20 oz. BBQ sauce
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze Directions for Bags: Serve over hot rice with a side of veggies or baked beans
Chicken Tacos
4 -5 chicken breast
1 Bell Pepper
1 red pepper
1 large red onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans
2 cans Rotel tomatoes
Sour cream
Cheese
Jalapenos Sliced
Tortillas
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, freeze Directions for Bags: serve on warm tortillas with cheese and sour cream.
Chicken enchiladas
1 /2 of the left over chicken from Chicken tacos
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can rotel
Sour cream
Cheese
Jalapenos Sliced
In pan place 10 regular sized tortillas u-shaped (like a taco) add chicken, sour cream, jalapenos and cheese. Roll up If you roll in the correct direction they will hold each other shut. Add enchilada sauce and drained can of rotel on top. Bake for 30 min @ 375.
Chicken tortilla soup
1 /2 of the left over chicken from Chicken tacos
left over chicken stock from Chicken Tacos
1 - jar of HEB cheese enchilada soup or Hatch tortilla soup
Sour cream
tortilla chips
Cheese
top with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips
Pulled pork ribs
2 - packages pork ribs (or one small pork roast)
1/2 bottle barbecue sauce
1 can Dr pepper
potatoes
serve over mashed potatoes
Parmesan Chicken
4-5 chicken breast
Italian bread crumbs
1 jar spaghetti sauce
Romano cheese
garlic
1 cup fresh mushrooms
Parmesan cheese
spaghetti noodles
add chicken breast, spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, garlic. Before you start the noodles, add bread crumbs and cheese to the pot of the items in crock pot and put the lid back on. Boil the noodles add butter and garlic and serve.
Shrimp Creole (Paula Deen's Recipe)
1/2 cup diced green bell peppers
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 (14-ounces) can tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deviened shrimp
add shrimp 10 min before serving, serve over rice
Beef Stroganoff
2 lbs. Beef tips
1 package Lipton onion soup
1 can cream of mushroom
1 lg yellow onion
1- pint sour cream
egg noodles
add sour cream 10 min before serving, serve over noodles
Steaks NIGHT (Our night off)
Steaks
bacon wrapped jalapenos
asparagus
banana peppers
garlic
butter
mesquite marinade
Breakfast Taco
Egg
Cheese
bacon or sausage or charizo
potato
tortilla
cook all ingredients, wrap up in tortilla, then saran wrap, then freeze.
Heat in microwave when ready to eat.

Shopping List:

QTY	Meat	QTY	Seasoning
8 - 10 lb	Chicken	1	Italian seasoning
2 lb	Beef Tips	1	Salt and pepper
6 - links	Italian sausage	2 pk	taco seasoning
2 bags	Meat balls	1	chili powder
4 lbs	Pork spare ribs	1	white sugar
2 bags	Shrimp	1 pk	Lipton onion soup
8 pk	Steaks
2 pk	bacon wrapped jalapenos
1 link	charizzo
1 pk	bacon or sausage
2 - 3 lbs	hamburger meat
QTY	Veggies	QTY	Misc.
1 bag	carrots	1	teriyaki sauce
4 large	Red Onion	1	white wine
4 large	Yellow Onion	1	grape jelly
1 lg jar	Garlic (minced)	2	BBQ sauce
4	Bell Peppers	1	HEB cheese enchilada soup
2	Red pepper	1	Dr pepper
1 lg bag	Broccoli	2	spaghetti sauce
1 jar	Jalapenos	1	hot sauce
1 bag	potatoes	1	Worcestershire sauce
1 bunch	celery	2	mesquite marinade
2 bunch	asparagus	1	banana peppers
1 bunch	cilantro
1 ctn	Mushrooms
5 ea	Squash and Zucchini
1 lg bag	frozen corn
QTY	Cans	QTY	Dairy
2	Pineapple	4	Sour cream
2 lg	diced tomatoes	3	taco Cheese
2	stewed tomatoes	1	Romano cheese
1 lg	chicken broth	1	Parmesan cheese
4	rotel	2	butter
1	enchilada sauce	1	Milk
1	tomato sauce	1	Cream cheese
1	lg cream of mushroom	2 dz	eggs
1	black beans
QTY	Grains & Nuts	QTY	other household needs
3	Tortillas
1	tortilla chips
1	Italian bread crumbs
1	spaghetti noodles
1	egg noodles
1 lg	rice
2	cereal
2	bagels

Sounds pretty good Doesn't it?

If you try these... Please post comments with whether or not you liked it! :)