BUSY BUSY BUSY! Easy Crockpot/ One-Dish Recipes

Moxie42

I usually find tons of amazing recipe ideas on Pinterest but I feel like I keep coming across the same things- stew and chili in the crockpot, and roasted chicken & veggies for one-dish meals. I like those things, and do make them, but I'm trying to find more variety, but with easy-to-find, quick-to-prep ingredients. I'm not opposed to casseroles either but I'm generally avoiding pasta and rice, though I have lots of beans, lentils, split peas, etc.

I'm about to start an extremely hectic schedule and I'm pretty bad at time management as it is. I'm trying to be well-prepared by having lots of recipes at hand. Any other ideas regarding time management, food prep tips, etc. are welcome. Some days I will have very little time at home (hence the crockpot, so it can cook while I'm at work). Other days I have plenty of time at home, so long cooking times in the oven are perfectly fine- the need for easy/quick prep is because although I will physically be at home, I will be working most of that time.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

zdyb23456

Some of my easy meals... I will cook and portion out into containers so that I only have to reheat for dinner.

Sautéed cabbage with smoked turkey sausage (like Hillshire farms).

Rotisserie chicken and steamed vegetables (I weigh out 200 grams of steamed rice).

Venison (super lean) Mississippi roast with a baked potato.

enterdanger

I get tired of crockpot and casseroles, but the kids and I don't get home from work until after 6:30 and they are young enough that they go to bed by 8:30. Not to mention my 10 week old needs a bottle during that time. That doesn't leave a lot of time for cooking dinner so, I've found that I need to have staple items I can quickly purpose into a meal.

I cook a lot of my meats and freeze them cooked. I've got about 5lbs of cooked chicken breasts cut in 4oz servings and frozen. I'll be using some tonight to make chicken and cheese quesadillas for dinner. I also cook and freeze ground beef. Tacos are mad quick if I just have to heat the meat in sauce. I also make and freeze pizza dough. Let the dough defrost in the fridge overnight. Pizza cooks for 10-12 minutes on 475 and is much healthier when I control the amount of cheese and toppings.

I save my vegetable scraps when I'm chopping up veggies for things. Once a week I have enough to throw them in a big dutch oven with water and some herbs and boil for an hour. Then I strain through cheese cloth and freeze the stock I won't use within a week. This lets me make veggie soup with awesome broth in 30 minutes or less.

Don't forget breakfast for dinner. Always easy. Always fast.

Moxie42

Great ideas guys, thanks! I defintiely need to be better about freezing things and just taking them out to re-heat. Idk what my block on that is but I need to just get over it, lol!

I never thought about making veggie broth with scraps- such an awesome idea! And breakfast for dinner! I'm not a huge breakfast person but I can eat pancakes anytime, haha. I looooove venison but not sure where I can get it around here, at least not for a reasonable price. What makes a roast a "Mississippi" roast? I wonder if I could do it with beef or lamb?

kittens2cute

My favorite is taco chicken....4 frozen chicken breasts (boneless/skinless), 1 jar of salsa, 1 package of taco seasoning, and maybe a little bit of water. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred. You can use it anywhere you like taco flavored chicken

annacole94

Sheet pan meals are the newest easy category on Pinterest. I made this, and it was SO GOOD. I would have been impressed if I got it in a restaurant level good. And quick and easy, too.
https://cafedelites.com/2016/05/16/sheet-pan-chili-lime-salmon/

Zombielicious

Slow Cooker Coq au Vin is delicious, especially over garlic mashed potatoes (or roasted garlic cauliflower mash)



• 9 chicken drumsticks (preferably frozen - you can cook the chicken longer without drying it out)
• 4 fl. oz, Pinot Noir
• 2 packages Beefy Onion Recipe Soup & Dip Mix (2 packages come in a box)
• 1 bag Frozen Pearl Onions
• 28 oz Baby carrots, raw
• 1 container (222.00 gram), fresh sliced mushrooms
• 3 tbsp White flour


Place frozen pearl onions, baby carrots, and sliced mushrooms in the bottom of the crock pot. Place frozen chicken on top, pour wine over the chicken, and sprinkle with one package of beefy onion soup mix. Cook on low for 8 hours. Once done, transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm. Transfer liquid and vegetables to a large pot, add second package of soup mix and three tablespoons of flour; let it reduce into a nice gravy.



Nutrition Facts

Servings 9.0
Amount Per Serving

Calories 274
Total Fat 7 g 11 %
Saturated Fat 3 g 13 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 90 mg 30 %
Sodium 1214 mg 51 %
Potassium 584 mg 17 %
Total Carbohydrate 24 g 8 %
Dietary Fiber 5 g 19 %
Sugars 7 g
Protein 23 g 46 %
Vitamin A 299 %
Vitamin C 15 %
Calcium 3 %
Iron 8 %

Moxie42

These look great, thanks guys! I love salmon, and the chicken ideas are definitely different from my usuals- very excited to try these out! Being able to use frozen veggies and veggies that don't require prepping, like baby carrots, will be a huge help on the days I'm particularly busy.

Are there any accommodations that need to be made if cooking chicken from frozen, other than needing a longer cooking time? Does it water down the overall dish? I feel like it "shouldn't" but I haven't had much luck cooking from frozen before, though I haven't tried cooking from frozen in a crockpot, which I imagine would work out much better!

AigreDoux

I cook chicken from frozen all of the time in the crock pot. Mostly cause I forget to take the chicken out to thaw. I literally just open the bag and dump the chicken in on top of whatever else, without even touching it, haha!

A few I do fairly often:
Salsa chicken - jar of salsa, taco seasoning, canned chopped green chiles, boneless chicken (can be frozen). Add frozen corn, canned black beans, lime juice at the end of cooking.
Curry chicken - onions/garlic/ginger, curry powder, boneless chicken (can be frozen). Add a touch of coconut milk, lime juice, chick peas, a few raisins and cashews near the end of cooking.
Asian pork - soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, pork loin roast. Add mushrooms and baby spinach at the end of cooking

You can kind of add whatever vegetables you feel like. I often add some preshredded carrots to any of the above, baby spinach at the end. I serve most of it with rice and steamed broccoli.

I haven't found that cooking with frozen chicken waters down the dish at all.

I do often simmer the result for a few minutes at the end of cooking and find this cuts the watery-ness that slow cooked food often has without adding too much time. That and adding some acid at the end for a bit of freshness.

Rusty740

Here's a really easy one we call Beef Dip Surprise. The surprise is that it's pork, but it's much cheaper than a roast beef.

Put a pork loin, whatever size you want, you'll just have leftovers, but around 1 lb is what I'd suggest so the juices turn out right.

1 lb Pork loin (we even do ours from frozen)
3 tsp powdered beef broth.
4 cups water or so, enough to almost submerge the pork loin.
optional onion/garlic.

Put it in on high for 4 hours, or low for 6-8 it doesn't much matter as long as you have plenty of water.

When it's done, slice up the pork and put it on a bun for your sandwich. Use the juices as the dip. Have some vegetables or a salad with it, baked frozen fries are nice and easy too.

curvesfordays8907

I like ham and bean soup in the crock pot.
After soaking beans, strain and put in Crock-Pot add a chopped onion and garlic a pound of ham sliced and cover with water or reduced sodium chicken broth and cook on low for 6-7 hours. I also throw in a bay leaf or two and season with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.

Also love a pork roast with potatoes carrots and pearl onions over butter noodles.

Moxie42

I'm loving all the ideas, thanks! I definitely feel better knowing that cooking from frozen is perfectly fine. I really don't know what my hang-up about that was, but it's time for me to work with what I've got and break out of my comfort zone!

annacole94

Salmon works from almost-frozen, too. I throw the sealed pieces into a bowl of water to thaw while I preheat the oven and chop veggies. Once I'm ready for them, I take them out and throw on the tray. They're usually kind of half thawed after about 10 min? Add an extra 3-5 min in the oven and they're great. I buy it at Costco, so the pieces are all individually wrapped.