Every so often, I like to clean out my refrigerator. It makes room for new groceries and reminds me what ingredients I have on-hand for future meals. I came up with the idea to use some of my half-empty condiments in crockpot freezer meals and was so excited about it.
I ended up making five crockpot freezer meals, each with about two pounds of meat and one cup of sauce. Here’s what I made:
- Chicken breasts + BBQ sauce
- Chicken breasts + Italian dressing
- Pork roast + salsa
- Beef roast + grape jelly, ketchup, and allspice (one of my favorite recipes from my No Cook Freezer Meals cookbook)
- Beef roast + pickle juice, butter, ranch seasoning, and au jus seasoning
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE RECIPES AND GROCERY LIST
We’ve tried all of these meals before and they’re absolutely delicious. I chose the meats that we were hungry for, but I think you could mix-and-match based on your family’s preferences.
I love that I was able to turn the simple sauces in our refrigerator into something new. I used up four of the bottles completely and was able to recycle their containers. That means I was able to clean out my refrigerator AND make dinner at the same time.
Since I already had the condiments on-hand, I only had to buy the meats and seasonings at the grocery store. Most of the meat was on sale, so I only spent a total of $34. Now I’m stocked with five dinners for busy weeknights!
I serve my crockpot freezer meals with simple side dishes like rice or rolls and a salad or steamed broccoli. Yum.
(I use these baggy stands when I’m prepping meals.)
I have to say that is was really easy to make these meals. I literally dumped the meat and sauces into gallon-sized plastic freezer bags and sealed them. It probably took me 15 minutes total and the only clean-up was two measuring cups, a measuring spoon, a serving spoon, and a knife. Woot!
If you’re new to crockpot freezer meals, the recipes in the printable pdf above will walk you through the process step-by-step. My freezer cookbooks also include a ton of tips and recipes.
Thoughts or questions? Leave comment below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. I’d love to hear from you.
So damn clever chica x
[…] from New Leaf Wellness shows you how to make Five Crockpot Freezer Meals Made from Items in Your […]
[…] from New Leaf Wellness shows you how to make Five Crockpot Freezer Meals Made from Items in Your […]
What are the recommended cook times on these?
It varies per recipe, but if you open the pdf you can see the cooking instructions for each one listed. I usually cook chicken for 6 hours and roasts for 8 hours.
Do you use sweet pickle juice or dill pickle juice for the Mississippi Roast?
Dill. Good question!
I had a question: i have prepped and froze your 31 freezer to crockpot recipes. Most of them require a cook time of 4-6hrs on low, I am wondering can I cook them for longer (roughly 7-8 hrs) on warm??
No, I do not believe that is a safe temperature for meat. I would either buy a slow cooker with a timer or use a smaller one with a longer cooking time (like 2.5-4 quarts).
You can also buy a timer to plug your Crock Pot into, that way it will turn off after cook time and stay warm (as long as the lid remained close). You can bypass buying a new CP with this!
I find that the food in my crockpot gets cold an hour after it’s turned off.