Slow Cooker Meatballs

This is officially my new go-to meatball recipe, thanks to Can You Stay for Dinner. 

I'll give you a few tricks that I used, but it was 99% straight from the recipe! I made enough meatballs that I froze it into two meals, each for two adults.  This way, the meatballs are frozen, can be thawed while you're away at work, and you're just some boiled water away from dinner! 

1. I used 97% lean beef - since I wanted to use the sauce, and not have the whole thing be too greasy
2. I used 1/2 cup parmesan - since we like ours cheesy!

All the ingredients (Notice the LARGE pile of Cheese) 

3. I used 1 whole onion

4. **Most Important** Use one of the Crock Pot Liners and safe yourself hours of cleaning time

 Have fun, and happy dinner! 

Beefy Baked Ravioli

This is another freezer stock recipe that I got from our friend Kari, and is one of my favorite ways to freeze Ravioli! This way when you thaw it out, it's all ready with the pasta, meat, and sauce! And hooray for one container dinners! 

Beefy Baked Ravioli


Ingredients
- 1 lb ground meat
- 1 package frozen ravioli (25oz)
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce
- 1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack
- 1 cup shredded parmesan

Directions: 
1. Crumble and brown ground meet in sauce pan (add garlic powder, onion powder, etc)
2. Drain and stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes

3. Spread 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of baking dish
4. Top with half the ravioli, and sprinkle with half the cheese
5. Layer sauce, ravioli, cheese, and sauce again

6. This will take about 6 hours to thaw, and can be baked in the oven at 450 for 30 mins! 

Cilantro Lime Pesto Chicken

The pesto part of this is super easy to make, and great on top of pasta, chicken, fish, pork, burgers, you name it! 

The recipe is via Newly Woodwards, so I won't re-post the whole recipe! I did make a few tweaks, so I've listed those below! 

1. I used about twice the amount of lime juice, and twice the amount of garlic 

2. When I mixed it in the food processor, it was a little runny, so I added 1/2 a cup of fresh basil leaves

3. Rather than baking the chicken, I put raw chicken in the pans, and topped it with the pesto, and froze it! 

I haven't tried the frozen meals yet, but we did eat the leftover pesto on burgers, and on some leftover pork! 

Beef Stroganoff

This is a simplified version of the Beef Stroganoff my mom used to make when I was little.  This crock pot version is much simpler than the cook all day, oven version, but still wonderful! 

I apologize that I didn't take any photos until the end, but I promise you can't mess this up! 

Ingredients: 
- 1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef cubes
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can cream of celery soup
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock
- 8 oz white mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup sour cream


Directions: 
1. Take cubed beef, and toss with flour to coat. 
2. Lightly brown meat with onion, garlic, salt, and pepper
3. Place meat and onion in bottom of slow cooker
4. Combine remaining ingredients, except sour cream, and pour over meat
5. Cook on low heat for 6 - 8 hours
6. Turn off slow cooker, stir in sour cream, and serve. 


*Note: if you need to reheat, do so over low heat - do not boil. Best served over egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes*

Souperfly - Taco Soup

This is a two-fer, it's part of Souperfly Soup Day AND it's part of stocking Mom's freezer. 

::warning, I only took photos of the beginning, and forgot to take one at the end::

This is a recipe from a friend of mine for Taco Soup.  It's sort of like a mix of tacos and chili, and is incredibly easy! The ingredients are basic, and can absolutely hang out in your pantry until you decide to make it.  I made mine on the stove, but I know it works great in the crock pot for 4 or 6 hours as well. 

1. Combine ground beef and onion in soup pot.  Cook & drain any drippings. 

2.  Add taco seasoning, water, tomatoes, beans, and corn to sauce pot, and mix well. 

3. Bring all ingredients to a boil, and then simmer for 20 - 40 mins.  

To serve, you can add Veleveeta, Cheddar Cheese, green onion, and serve over rice or with tortilla chips! 

This made two freezer containers, and each one will serve 2 - 3 adults.  So, I'd say 4 - 6 servings! 

Taco Soup

Ingredients: 

1 lb ground beef

1 small diced onion

1 package taco seasoning

1 cup water

2 cans petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos (14 - 15oz cans)

2 cans chili beans (15 oz)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (15oz)

1 can creamed corn (15 oz)

Instructions:

- Crumble & Cook beef and onion in sauce pan

- Drain any drippings

- Add the remaining ingredients to sauce pan

- Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 - 40 mins

- Eat :) 

Mission: Fill the Freezer

With everything going on with my Mom, I've been trying to be as proactive as possible over the last few weeks.  We're keeping fingers crossed that Mom will continue to feel well, and that with all of her friends and family, there will be plenty of helping hands.  So far, Mom has only missed 1 day of work (Chemo Session 1), but as of Monday (October 17) Dad has been switched to mandatory 6 days a week, 12 hour shifts. 

I made sure I remembered how to use my Dad's lawnmower, I've got all the directions, doctor information, and details memorized, but my mind kept coming back to food.  If Mom wasn't feeling well, and Dad was at work 9am - 9pm, were they going to be eating Subway for dinner?  Uh, not my parents.  My mom and dad both love to cook, and eat (haha), so it has become my personal mission to fill their freezer - and it's a big old, stand alone freezer.  With a little help from some friends, armed with great recipes, and a little more than $100, I am well on my way.  I need to edit some photos, but I've already made 8 different recipes, and 2 dinners of each - so we're at 16 dinners, for two people! Plus, I pre-scooped and froze some peanut butter cookie and chocolate chip cookie dough, so they can just grab a few balls of dough and throw them on a sheet pan!

I'm hoping to finish some food posts in the next week or two, and hope some of you will enjoy the same recipes, whether you're stocking a freezer or not!