10 Meals in an Hour™: Part 9

Here at Living Well Spending Less we are 100% committed to bringing you easy recipes that taste great and don’t take a lot of time, effort, or expensive ingredients to throw together. As a busy mom, I also want meals that can be made and frozen ahead of time to save time on hectic weeknights, especially as part of a Sunday Prep plan. My goal is to spend less time in the kitchen, not more, but I still want to be able to provide tasty meals that my family loves (and avoid eating out when we can!)

Over the past 2 years we have shared eight different 10 Meals in an Hour™ plans, which have each included 5 great freezer recipes that can be prepared together in about sixty minutes. (You can find the previous plans here: Part 1 , Part 2, Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5  , Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8. They have been a huge hit, not only with our own families, but with many of your families as well, and we’ve absolutely loved hearing how much you all are enjoying these tasty recipes!

Today I am s0 excited to share with you another NEW series of awesome freezer to crockpot recipes.

As usual, in order to make the cut, each recipe must meet ALL of the following criteria:

• Deemed delicious by both my kids and husband
• No pre-cooking required (aside from browning sausage)
• Freezer friendly
• Easy to cook
• Uses budget-friendly ingredients and pantry staples

In this one post you will find everything you need to prep 10 awesome freezer meals in about an hour of hands-on time (not including grocery shopping.)   Just think, in just one quick weekend session you could have almost two weeks worth of absolutely delicious, family-friendly meals all ready to go!

Before you begin, you will need to gather your tools & supplies and also make sure that you have all your groceries on hand. I find it is easiest to go grocery shopping the day before I do my cooking. To save time unloading, only put away the items that need to be refrigerated. Finally, make sure your kitchen counters are cleared of clutter and sanitized and empty your dishwasher and sink of any dishes. (Check out this post for more tips on freezer cooking like a pro!)

10 Meals in an Hour™: Part 9

Here are the five recipes we will be making:

• Slow Cooker Sausage & Peppers
•  Simple Corn & Clam Chowder
•  Honey Sriracha Chicken
• Slow Cooker Stroganoff
• Easy Garlic Chicken

Here are the supplies you will need:

• 10 gallon size zipper freezer bags
• labels or permanent marker
• large mixing bowl
• cutting board
• sharp knife
• garlic press
• can opener
• dry measuring cups
• liquid measuring cups
• dry measuring spoons
• liquid measuring spoons
• colander

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Produce

• 1 small yellow onion
• 3 sweet onions
• 1 8oz. package baby Portobello mushrooms
• 4-5 green bell peppers
• 2 8oz. bags baby carrots (optional: for cooking day only)
• 6-8 red potatoes (optional: for cooking day only)
• 1 jar minced garlic
• 20-30 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch celery
• fresh thyme
• fresh parsley
• 1 bunch of green onions

Frozen

• 2 15oz. bags frozen white corn

Pantry Staples

• Dried Parsley
• Olive Oil
• Soy Sauce
• Honey
• Sriracha sauce
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Black pepper
• Salt

Canned/Dry Goods

• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream-style corn
• 2 bags egg noodles (optional:one per cooking day only)
• 1 box rice (optional: for cooking day only)
• 29 oz can tomato sauce 
  28 oz can crushed tomatoes
   2 32oz. carton chicken stock
• 3 32oz. carton vegetable stock
• White wine
• Red wine
• Oregano Vitality Essential oil (optional)
• 4 6.5oz. chopped clams, drained(cooking day only)

Dairy

• 2 16oz. container sour cream
• Butter
• 1 cup whipping cream (cooking day only)

Meat

• 6-8 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
• 2 pounds ground beef or vegetarian crumbles
• 2-3 20 oz. packages mild Italian sausage
• 4-6 slices of cooked bacon (cooking day only-optional)

Bread

• Italian bread (cooking day only)

PRINT

Be sure to  print the following recipes:

• Honey Sriracha Chicken
• Slow Cooker Stroganoff
• Easy Garlic Chicken
• Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers
• Simple Corn & Clam Chowder

PREP

1. Prep your bags—either print labels using these ready-made printable labels or use a permanent marker to label each bag with the name of the recipe, date prepared, and cooking instructions. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! While you might think that you’ll remember what is in every bag, I promise you will forget!
2. Brown sausage and set aside
3. Chop onions and set aside
4. Chop green peppers and set aside.
5. Sauté peppers and onions for sausage and peppers recipe, set aside.
6. Peel and mince garlic and set aside
7. Open up all the cans needed for prep day and set aside.
8. Prep raw chicken

PREPARE

1. Prep Simple Corn & Clam Chowder using instructions found here. Divide soup into 2 freezer bags, press out excess air, and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
2. Prep Slow Cooker Sausage & Peppers using instructions found here. Divide sausage into 2 freezer bags and cover with sauce mixture, press out excess air, and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
3. Prep Easy Garlic Chicken using instructions found here. Divide chicken into 2 1-gallon freezer bags, then divide garlic cloves and thyme into bags over top of chicken. Then divide broth mixture over top of chicken. Place bags in refrigerator.
4. Prep Slow Cooker Stroganoff using instructions found here. Divide mixture into 2 freezer bags, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
5. Prep Honey Sriracha Chicken using instructions found here. Place chicken into 2 freezer bags and cover with mixture, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
6. Once all prep is complete, place all bags in freezer until needed. After you’ve made your meal plan for the coming week, consider setting an alert on your phone to remind you to take your bag out to thaw the day before you plan to make it.

Want more 10 Meals in an Hour? Check out the entire series!

1. 10 Meals in an Hour
2. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 2
3. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 3
4. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 4
5. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 5
6. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 6
7. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 7
8. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 8
9. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 9
10. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 10
11. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 11

Have you tried making 10 meals in an hour yet? What tricks or tips can you share?

P.S. The new Living Well Planner has a  SIMPLIFIED MEAL PLANNING section. It gives you the option to plan just one meal a day, or all three. Check it out HERE.