Ho Hey...or should I say "Ho Hum" Yum?

So now that things have settled down and I've returned to the normalcy of my routine life, I thought I'd use this blog to report on the last of the crock-pot freezer meals I made.

Remember:  you will put all ingredients into freezer bags and freeze them UNCOOKED.  You'll defrost the meal in the refrigerator 24 hours prior to cooking it in the crock pot.

Each recipe is enough for two meals, so divide them among two freezer bags.

 Italian Pork Chops

2 onion, chopped

12 pork chops (thick)
4 tsps Italian seasoning
8 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 28 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
4 TBSP balsamic vinegar
4 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1" pieces

Divide among 2 freezer bags.

Cook on Low 8-9 hours.
*Add 2 TBSP cornstarch and 2 TBSP cold water to cooking juices at the end after removing meat and vegetables.

This meal had a really good taste to it, but I was not crazy about the meat.  I'm not certain if it was because it was pork in general or because my cut of pork wasn't the greatest (I used a bone-in mixed variety).  A thick cut or even sirloin cuts might produce better results.  Or maybe chicken or beef sirloin would be better.

 Chicken Cacciatore

2 lbs chicken breast

2 26 oz chunky vegetable spaghetti sauce
2 zucchini, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2 onion, chopped

Divide among 2 freezer bags.

Cook on Low 6-8 hours.
Serve with spaghetti noodles.

The zucchini was a bit mushy, making it hard to identify it in contrast to the green peppers.  My husband even asked me what the green stuff was (and he likes grilled zucchini).  But overall, this was a good, basic meal.

Mongolian Beef

2 lbs stew meat

4 tsp olive oil
2 onions, thickly sliced
2 TBSP minced garlic
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup hoisin sauce
1 tsp ginger

Divide among 2 freezer bags.

Mix ingredients together.
Cook on Low 6-8 hours.
Serve with rice.

I really liked this one.  It had a unique taste that made it more than just another beef meal.  However, my husband was a bit turned off by the bold flavor--he's not a big fan of onions and garlic anyway.  I do think that adding some veggies, particularly broccoli, would be good, so I might add that into it after cooking the second batch--or, if I make a fresh batch in the future, I might add frozen broccoli and see how it turns out.

Honeyed Pork BBQ

32 oz carrots
2  3 lb pork sirloins
1 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Divide among 2 freezer bags.

Cook on Low 8-10 hours.

If you don't like BBQ pork, then you won't like this one.  But we do, so this is a good staple for us. The only thing I'd suggest is cutting back on the carrots, as we didn't eat them all.

So that's all of the crock-pot freezer meals I tried.  I've still got the second batch of each in the freezer, so I won't be trying any new recipes until I've completed those.  But if any of you run across any that look good, please let me know!