Freezer meals #5

I've been having all kinds of success with freezer meals lately.  Most of the ones I do are for the crock pot.  I just freeze the ingredients in a gallon zip loc, plop it into the crock pot frozen, and by the time I get home from work the house smells fab.  Clean up is really easy, too, and I don't even buy those fancy schmancy crock pot liners.  Here is my recent 15 minutes of meal prep for the freezer:

Cafe Rio Chicken
2# boneless, skinless thighs
1/2 c. zesty Italian dressing
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 pkt of Ranch dip mix
1/4 water
1/2 t. each chili powder and cumin
Low, 6-8 hours.  Serve in flour tortillas with all the fixings.

Mississippi Pot Roast (from Plain Chicken)
3 lb. roast
1 pkt. Ranch dressing mix
1 pkt. au jus mix
6 pepperoncini peppers
1 stick butter
(I also added a couple of tomatoes diced because they were about to be too soft to use for salads)
Cook on low 8-10 hours.

Maple Dijon Chicken (from Plain Chicken)
2 lb boneless,skinless chicken thighs
2/3 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 t. white vinegar
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. dried rosemary
The directions for this were for the oven - I will either do that, or the crock.  Thawed, it should take about 40 minutes in a 40 degree oven.  Frozen in the crock, I would think 6 hours or so.  I'm going to serve this with couscous.

Cranberry BBQ Chicken (my own creation!)
2 lb boneless skinless thighs (that I happened to have)
a handful or two of fresh cranberries - which I had left from the holidays
a cup or so of BBQ sauce (which used up a jar from Southside Market)
1/4 brown sugar
I'm going to cook this 6-8 hours in the crock and serve with a mashed sweet potatoes on the side.

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It might look like sloppy chaos in here. but these bags are easy to look through, and the contents are easy to fit into the crock.  And the difference it makes in us getting a hot meal on the days I work are well worth the effort!

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