Crock Pot Challenge: Complete

You may remember last month I posted about the "Crock Pot Cooking Challenge". The idea is to take one day and prepare 40 freezer meals to make in the crock pot. I finally was able to do it yesterday. Here's the report.

We had some some things to do around the house and by the time I ran to the store with my long list it was after 1PM.  It was good to have the master list compiled for me, but I had to change some of the items. (For instant the list calls for 48 chicken breast. . . I converted it to 25 pounds.) The list was good to have, when I got home I discovered a couple things were missing, mushrooms and salsa.  Also I have some left over cans of tomatoes that I never used and ranch packets. When I do this again I will be sure and double check the list more carefully

The grand total was $250. I was really pleased with that. It ends up being $6.25 for each meal that feeds a family of 4 with some left-overs. Thursday is left-over night and I know there will be left overs. All the boneless-skinless chicken (breasts & thighs) was on sale for $1.99/pound. The steak for the Fajitas (just one recipe) was the most expensive at $5.99/pound. I did use things I already had in my pantry (honey, balsamic vinegar, spices, cream of mushroom soup. . .) so if you need those things the price per meal would be more.

I made it home and rolled up my sleeves to go to work.

The first thing I did was write on the freezer bags, I wrote each recipe and also added any special instructions (ie, serve with rice, add cream cheese 30 min. before serving. . . ) The next thing I did was add all the meat to the bags. Some of the meat was already cubed (stew beef) but I seemed to spend a lot of time dicing chicken. Some chicken breasts I made into tenderloins, and others I just used the whole breast because it needs to shredded.

Now that the meat was done, I completed each recipe.  I added the seasonings and veggies, sealed the bag and when I completed a page of recipes (about 8 recipes . . . 16 meals) I would put that group in the freezer.  Then go on the next page.

The whole thing took me about 4 1/2 hours. I started at 3PM and ended at 7:30PM. I did take a small break for dinner but by the end, I was slow moving. I think I could do it in 4 hours if I had done it earlier in the day. Next time I will do it in the morning. I was tired of dicing veggies (especially onions!) by the end. But the final product is awesome! A freezer full of meals that are already prepared.

Today we are having the Hawaiian Chicken for dinner. I am looking forward to trying our meals and seeing which ones are keepers.  Hurray for the simple life, I can't wait to have dinners already made and just waiting for me.