New Recipes: Teriyaki Pork Chops and Beef Tips n Gravy

Unfortunately I don't have any photos to share..... but, I do have recipes!

This past weekend, I stocked up on a few groceries and decided to throw together a couple more freezer meals while I had the stuff -- and the time.

Teriyaki Pork Chops
4-5 pork chops (I chose the boneless chops)
salt and pepper to taste
2 minced garlic cloves
2 tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth

Combine all ingredients in Ziploc. Freeze. Thaw the night before. Crockpot it for 4-5 hours high or 6-7 hours low.  Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.

(I took this same recipe and prepared a freezer meal with chicken as well. So - two meals with one recipe. We haven't tried this version of Teriyaki chicken yet.)

I dumped the bag in the crockpot on lunch and set it to low. Once home that evening, I whipped up some mashed potatoes and veggies and served the pork chops like I normally would. The juice was too runny for any sort of gravy.

The chops were super tender --- and full of flavor throughout. Em and I both enjoyed this recipe --- and will be making it again.

Beef Tips n Gravy
1 1/2 lbs of stew meat
1 pkt dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom
1 (14oz) can of beef broth
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in Ziploc. Freeze. Thaw the night before. Crockpot it 8-10 hours on low, 4-5 hours on high. Serve with/over mashed potatoes.

THIS RECIPE IS YUMM-O-LISCIOUS!!  I was late getting it dumped into the crockpot...2pm... so worried that it wouldn't be done when I got home from work. I was right. Even though I set it on high, when I got home around 5 and checked it - the meat was done, but not tender. So, I went on with the evening taking care of other things around the house. At 7pm I checked it again - PERFECT! The meat chunks were tender and dinner was ready! I whipped up some mashed potatoes and heated a can of carrots and TA-DA! Dinner was served....and dinner was YUMMY!

This recipe ended up making a lot of gravy. Well, and a lot of food too. Em and I enjoyed it for dinner, then I savored it again for lunch the following day. I kept the remaining gravy and had it over mashed potatoes again the following night for dinner. So - next time, I may try it with 2 pkgs of stew meat instead of just one.

This is comfort food to a T!  Em enjoyed it ... but I'm not sure she enjoyed it as much as I did.  This will definitely be done again!

New Recipe - Chicken Fajita

Chicken Fajitas

We've tried several different "recipes" for fajitas.... and haven't been pleased with any of them yet. Until now. This was a freezer meal .... and I was "snowed in" today... so I decided to crock pot it this afternoon/evening for dinner. Em isn't here to enjoy it with me --- but, that's her loss, I suppose.

The flavor was spot on with this recipe --- not to spicy, not too ....chemical tasting... We've experienced that before with the packet fajita seasonings. The chicken cooked up tender - as it does so perfectly in the crock pot.  The only complaint I had --- the onions and bell peppers were a little... chewy, maybe? Their skin didn't "break down" so well .... so there was some chewing going on. Next time I'll see about cutting them differently. I chopped them in bigger pieces and strips because I figured they'd do better for fajitas. BUT --- I'll go smaller next time. I don't want to leave them out -- because, again, the flavor is good.

I wrapped these in wheat tortillas....sprinkled some shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. They were yum! And there's enough for lunch tomorrow.  We will be enjoying this one again!

New Recipes - Chicken Teriyaki and Honey Garlic Chicken

So this past week we tried two of our freezer meals --- Chicken Teriyaki and Honey Garlic Chicken.

The Chicken Teriyaki was really good. I dropped it in the crock pot on my lunch break and it was ready for dinner when I got home. We had this with plain white rice. It was my plan to pick up some broccoli - but forgot once I got home and settled. So - next time I'll make sure broccoli is on the list - it would've made a nice compliment to this meal.

 

It's nothing pretty to look at -- but it was good. The chicken was nice and tender, the sauce was great --- although we agreed, it could be thicker and saucier.   We both enjoyed this meal -- and will be fixing it again... next time adding more chicken to the bag (there was an excess of sauce).

 

Next was Honey Garlic Chicken. Same thing... I tossed this in the crock pot on lunch one day...and dinner was pretty much ready when I got home from work. The plan was to serve this meal with rice as well ----- but --- an odd thing....we were out of rice. Neither of us have any clue as to how this happened..... I don't recall using the last of the rice. And, we have a "rule" that whenever we're low or run out of something - we jot it down on a list....and.... well.... rice wasn't on the list.  It disappeared somehow.  But... I digress.... No rice... so we had to improvise a little. We had a little bit of mashed potato flakes remaining in the box...(no worries, they're on the list)... so I stirred them up and fixed up a quick box of mac n cheese. I know - carb overload - but, I was thrown off a bit with the disappearing rice....and...well... to be honest, I wasn't sure how this honey garlic chicken would turn out. But, I've got mac n cheese leftovers for lunch, so all is good.

This one turned out looking much prettier. And... it was good, too! Again, the sauce was really runny... Em and I agreed it needed to be thicker and saucier. There was a garlic-y twang too it --- almost a little too salty. We will have this one again....but I'm gonna check the recipe and if it calls for a pinch of salt or something along those lines, I'll adjust. Again the sauce was plentiful - so we'll add more chicken next time.

 



 

I think this makes us down to only 2 more freezer meals remaining..... bbq chicken and fajita chicken. I'll be browsing pinterest soon to see what we'll put together for the next go around. This has been an easy way to cook .... throwing the bags in the crockpot mid day and having dinner ready after work. Perfect for my busy schedule right now!



2 New Recipes.... Cilantro Lime Chicken and Alfredo Chicken

This past week we tried two different freezer meals.... Cilantro Lime Chicken and Alfredo Chicken.

The Cilantro Lime Chicken was pretty good. We shredded the chicken a bit and wrapped it up, along with the beans and corn mixture, a little shredded cheese and some sour cream, in a tortilla and had....wraps/burritos/tacos of sort. There was a little leftover so I nibbled on it for lunch the following day. I think we'll be doing this one again. Em enjoyed and so did I. I didn't get photos to share....but will make sure I do next time.


The Alfredo Chicken was pretty good as well. I boiled some penne pasta noodles and mixed them with the crock-pot mixture once I got home from work. I added a big spoonful of sour cream, to help add to the creamy-ness --- the mixture looked to be more runny than creamy Alfredo. Topped it with Parmesan cheese and called it dinner. Emily liked and so did I. We'll probably do this freezer meal again, but probably use a different brand of Alfredo sauce....and I'll probably add a touch of salt to it.

 

This recipe made plenty! There were plenty of leftovers.... so we may scale down the recipe next time around.

Freezer Meal - Orange Chicken

Well... this was one of the freezer meals that I prepared earlier this year. The night before I placed the frozen bag in the fridge to defrost. The next day, I came home from work during lunch and dumped the bag into the crockpot. Once home from work - dinner was ready - per se.

Boiled some plain white rice and heated some frozen wonton appetizers in the oven. Dinner was served.

My take: ehhhh.... not so great. The "sauce" was more of a thin liquid than "sauce" as I was expecting. I'm not sure I liked the mix of orange and onions and such. The chicken was moist and tender and flavorful --- but not sure I liked the flavor.  I don't think we'll be doing this one again.
Ems take: "a 2 out of 10".  She wasn't impressed either.
Overall take: we're tossing this recipe and not planning on doing it again.

I hope the remaining 6 freezer meals are better!! Stay tuned to see!

New Recipe - OMG! Crock Pot Chicken

I came across this recipe on Pinterest...looked good, sounded good... so I thought I'd give it a try.

The recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Can cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 Packet of dry Italian Dressing
• 1 Packet of dry Ranch Dressing
• 1 8oz pkg of Cream Cheese

Instructions

1. Throw everything in the crockpot on low and cook 6-8 hours.
2. After about 4 hours of cooking I usually stir everything together- but if you're not home it's no big deal.
3. Just stir about 20 minutes before serving to really mix together the cream cheese and dressing packets.

 

 

 

So ---- seems I have to tweak almost every new recipe I try...

My tweak: I did only one package of dry Ranch dressing. The dry dressings are so strong to me --- so I couldn't imagine having both packages in there. And, well, I didn't have 2lbs of chicken --- maybe closer to 1lb.

 

Once it was done, I served it over white rice...making sure to add some "gravy" to my bowl.

 

 

My take: It was pretty yummy. I like chicken 'n rice meals --- this one was good.

 

There was enough leftover for Em and I to have it for dinner the next night.

 

Her take: She liked it.

 

We'll probably do this one again. 

 

 

 

7 Chicken Freezer Meals

As I've mentioned in an earlier post, I'm addicted to Pinterest. I can spend hours scrolling through the DIY/crafts section.... then spend a few more hours scrolling through the recipes. I currently have over 900 recipes pinned.  How many of them have I tried since I've been on Pinterest (3-4 years, at least)...oh... maybe 2 or 3...at the most 5.  Sad, huh?  So -- my plan, this year, is to TRY MORE recipes!! I found a pin that has several recipes for freezer meals. I scrolled through and wrote down a few that I thought Em and I would like. I came up with a total of 7... and they all ended up being chicken recipes. That's ok. Chicken is good for you, right?

So, here you have it.  7 "EASY-to-throw-together-and-pile-in-a-Ziploc-freezer-bag-with-the-plans-to-throw-them-in-a-crockpot-later" freezer meals. Each of these listed below don't have "serving sizes" --- I've catered them to a meal for two.... so mainly each bag has 2 large chicken breasts or 4 small breasts. For each of these recipes... it directs you to thaw the night before and drop in the crock pot the next day for 4-6 hours on low. (I'll know more about how THAT works once we get into cooking these meals)

BBQ Chicken
chicken breasts
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cup bbq sauce
(added about 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper, cuz I had some left over)


Chicken Terriyaki  (plan to serve with white rice)
chicken breasts
1 cup soy sauce (used the "light")
1 cup sugar
1 tsp garlic salt


Honey Garlic Chicken
chicken breasts
5 garlic cloves
1 tsp oregano
3/4 cup soy sauce (used the "light")
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup bbq sauce (calls for spicy honey, but just used regular)
1/3 cup honey
pinch salt
dash pepper

Orange Chicken (plan to serve with white rice)
chicken breasts
1 orange
1/4 cup soy sauce (used "light")
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup honey
1 tbsp. minced ginger (I omitted)
1 tbsp. minced garlic

Chicken Fajita (plan to serve between tortillas)
chicken breasts
2 bell peppers (sliced into strips)
1 onion (sliced into strips)
1/2 cup chicken broth (I used a whole can)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt


Chicken Brocoli Alfredo (plan to serve over noodles)
chicken breasts, cut into chunks
16oz frozen broccoli (I used 12oz, that's how the pkg comes)
16oz alfredo sauce
1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used about 3/4 bell pepper)


Cilantro Lime Chicken
chicken breasts
juice from 2 limes
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
16oz frozen corn (I used 12oz, that's how the pkg comes)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
pinch of salt
dash of pepper
*I would probably add a little bit of chicken broth to this recipe... it's not really "juicy" -- so when we drop it in the crock pot, I'll be adding some broth to it.

In preparing all of these freezer meals, the main thing I learned...and I'm glad I did... was to do the Cilantro Lime LAST. My hands smell strongly of lime and cilantro... which isn't a bad thing, but I'm afraid if I would've done it first, then the rest of the meals would've had a hint of lime and cilantro.

After about 3-4 hours in the kitchen, each bag is labeled and tucked away nicely in the freezer .... ready for the crockpot!  I can't wait to try these new meals! I actually think Em was a bit excited as well!  I'll be posting our reviews as we try them.