My Slow Cooker is my Best Friend

My slow cooker is my best friend during the school year.  Mine sits on the counter from Sept-June right next to my Keurig.  Two very important appliances in this girl's life.  If you haven't used one or have yours sitting in the closet, don't walk...RUN and get one.

With all the after school meetings, evening open houses, sports practices, Girl Scouts and daily life, I try to keep my dinners healthy, yet simple.  A typical meal includes a protein, veggie and a starch.  The girls get fruit added to their plate.  I usually prepare the protein in my slow cooker leaving veggies and a starchy side to prepare in about 20 minutes.  As the days get cooler, I use the slow cooker to cook full, "warm my belly" meals.  Every ingredient goes in and dinner is served right out of the pot.

My weekly goal is 4 homemade meals M-Th with dinner out on Fridays, salad/sandwiches for lunches, in-laws for dinner most Saturdays and oven cooked family meal on Sundays.  So how do I manage to accomplish this?  Well it does take some planning, bulk shopping, and an entire Sunday. I use the last Sunday of the month to create freezer meals for the month.  If it can be assembled or prepared ahead of time I do it and freeze it.

I begin by pulling out the calendar and make a list of all the meals that are needed for the month.  12 slow cooker meals is my minimum.  After I have selected the monthly meals I make a grocery list of the items I don't already have.   At the top of my list and a HUGE time saver is to stock up on Reynolds Slow Cooker Liner Bags.  I know that it's probably a waste of money, but for me it saves time cleaning the slow cooker after dinner.  I save the leftovers and toss the bag.  Every extra minute I can save for my family is well worth the money.

 

Here are a couple FREE templates to use to help you with meal planning.

Weekly Meal Planner from Heartmade

Printable Menu Plan & Grocery List by Craft Sew Create

General Grocery List:
Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners- about $2 and change for 4 bags
ziplock gallon size bags
chicken breast
ground beef
pork chops
basic seasonings ( I make homemade taco mix)
tomato sauce
pasta
frozen veggies

I do my shopping wherever the sales are that week.  If the sales aren't great, my go to store is BJs where I am able to buy family packs of meats and bulk items.  I portion out 4 chicken breasts and pork chops per meal and a pound of hamburger for each chili and meatball meal.  I don't cook seafood as I'm the only one who would eat it.  I tend to get seafood as my dinner out meal.

Some of my favorite slow cooker meals are:
meatballs
chili
soups
pulled pork
shredded chicken
chicken teriyaki, savory chicken, sausage & peppers (same site for all three)
beef tips
beef stew
pot roast with veggies