10 Crockpot Freezer Meals

I had a Friday off a couple weeks ago, so mom & I decided to take on making freezer meals. We found this collection from Grace and Good Eats on Pinterest. 10 meals for under $100? Let's do it!

So we headed to get our groceries, split the grocery list provided at the bottom of the recipe list - here. (I also added the grocery list at the bottom of this post with some measurements on items that did have any)

Then it was back to my house. Folding table covered in groceries, the little sis writing instructions on the ziploc bags and mom & I filling them up all over the counter tops & island.

So in 3 hours we had made this list 3 times. That's 30 meals, 3 hours & under $300!

Seriously, walking into my house after a long day at work & smelling the crockpot with these healthy meals is a great feeling!

Grocery List: 

Produce

2 limes

1 bunch fresh cilantro

6 medium onions

8 garlic cloves

1/2 red onion

1 lb. carrots

8 cups diced potatoes

6 Peppers (Green, Red & Yellow)

Meat

2 lbs. ground beef

6 1/2 pounds chicken breasts

1 ½ lbs. lean stew meat

1lb. Italian Sausage

1-1/2 lbs. flank steak

Canned

3 cans corn

2 cans black beans

8 oz. can tomato sauce

4 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes

2 small can diced green chilies

2 cups beef stock

1 ½ cups V-8 juice

3 cups beef broth

2 cups chicken stock

Seasonings

2 pkgs taco seasoning

2 tbsp. sesame seeds

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp.  sesame oil

⅓ cup barbeque sauce

2 16oz jars of salsa

Dairy

8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

8 oz. cream cheese

Pantry Staples:

5 tbsp. Olive Oil 3 tsp. Cumin

Salt

Pepper

4 tsp. Chili Powder

2 tsp. Onion Powder

2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tbsp. Corn Starch
1 cup Honey

Operation: Garage Organization - Part II

When scanning Pinterest, I had seen that someone took an old file cabinet, painted it & used it as a sorter in their garage. I was skeptical of this, because I didn't think it would be tall enough to full hold a broom up.

But I had an old file cabinet at my discretion, so I decided to give it a try. I took out the drawers, wiped it all down, getting the old dust & grease wiped off. Then used 2-ish bottles of flat Rustoleum to cover the entire cabinet shell & extra where the rust was starting to show a bit. Once dried on, I hauled it into the garage & set it on some extra fence post pieces & tried it out. It's surprising how deep a file cabinet is when you set it on the backside & it works perfectly as a sorter for our garage items & sports supplies.

BEFORE

 IN PROCESS

AFTER

IN USE

Operation: Garage Organization - Part I

We have a lovely finished garage, meaning all the studs are dry walled in & finished, as is the ceiling. There is a lot of extra space in front of the garage, which is whey I hadn't worried about the lack of storage on the walls until just recently. I wanted to get my bike up off the ground & a few other things the dogs felt were necessary to carry into the yard on occasion. So started the planning, the sketching & the estimations.

After about a week of planning, and brilliant plans that then were cancelled due to issues we'd find, between my dad's idea, mixed with my discovery, I sketched up a plan using the Fast Track System from Rubbermaid. It is a modular system that will let you add hooks & have the ability to move them around as well as add shelves into it.

The sketch looked great, I headed to Menards with the exact number of every item I would need, folded down the seats & used my car like a truck & brought them all home. What I thought would be a 2 hour project took on a new life when it took us parts of 3 days due to not having a charged drill, the right size drill bit & troubles finding the studs. But we succeeded, we rescued a lot of ground space by getting things off the ground & I had to open the door several times in the hours after completion just to look at it, because I was so happy it worked out.

BEFORE

 AFTER