No Potato Beef Stew

New Recipe Wednesday - Crock Pot Freezer Meals for Two

I know some of you have been patiently waiting for this blog. Here it is finally. I'll take every Wednesday in September and October and share a crock pot freezer meal for two.

I really cannot take credit for any of these meals. I did some searching and came across Mixing With Michelle. If you click the link it will take you to her THM Crock Pot Cooking Menu Session 1. She gives you 10 recipes that you can prepare ahead of time and freeze to later make in the crock pot. Her recipes typically feed 5-6 people. The THM stands for Trim Healthy Mama. It is a whole eating plan. You must at some point click the link to read in more detail. But I digress, I typically only cook for two. Whether it be for my husband and I or maybe my youngest son, still living at home and I if hubby is out of town. Now if you couldn't resist and clicked the link you saw that Michelle creates a shopping list for all of these 10 meals. And I thought I'm game, I'll buy all this stuff cut the recipe in half and have 20 freezer meals. It took me that afternoon and the following afternoon with interruptions to prepare all 20 meals. Not bad considering the night before I wanted a meal all I had to do was thaw and the next day throw it in the crock pot. If you want to do it in this fashion, you got it, click the link. In hind site I would have tried some of the meals first to see if we liked them before diving in head first. So I am going to give you a recipe by recipe format. If later you loved what you ate and want to do the shop, prep and freeze for 20 meals go for it. We still have 3 meals in the freezer and I did this last winter. :)

Here we go...

No Potato Beef Stew for 2

1 lb Beef Cubed
1 cup chopped onion
2 large peeled and diced turnips (optional)
1/2 can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp dried thyme
2 medium carrots chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tsp dried parsley
2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar
3 cups green beans
1 cup beef broth
salt and pepper as desired

Place all ingredients into a gallon zip lock bag (EXCEPT the broth)  that you have labeled with a sharpie as to what it is. I also added cooking instructions to make life even easier on the day of cooking it.  Freeze bag. On cooking day add broth and cook for 4 hours on low.

I have to tell you, either my crock pots cook at a higher temp than most but I always cook for less time than what the directions suggests. If you can keep an eye on it so as not to overcook it. I rated each recipe after we had eaten it. This one was a little bland. It was just good. Not great. Not excellent. Just good.

This is what my kitchen looked like when I made all 10 recipes, thus 20 meals according to the THM plan. Day 1.

And day 2.

It was fun. But again, I suggest you take the recipes one at a time and taste test first. 

Check in next Wednesday. We'll make Chicken Curry with Cabbage and Peppers. 

Linda