Freezer to Crockpot or Grill 2

Sunday night, I hurriedly whipped up a batch of 3 freezer to crock pot recipes and 1 freezer to to grill recipe. Some notes about making these recipes:  I show these packed flat, but when I put them in the freezer, I tend to stand the bags upright and make them as round as I can so that they will fit the shape of the crock pot.  I use a 5 quart crock pot/slow cooker.  If you have a smaller, 1-2 quart slow cooker, you might want to divide these into two bags.

I cook these recipes straight from the freezer.  I do not thaw them first, as I've found that sometimes the recipes with flour in them will clump.  It's perfectly safe to cook from frozen, and the food comes out just the same as if it were thawed.

To remove the frozen chunk from the bag, I either run hot water over the outside enough to loosen things, or run hot water into a plugged sink and submerge the bag for a few seconds to loosen the contents.

Finally, it helps to stir things and let it cook just a little bit more right before you're ready to serve.  This distributes all the ingredients well and makes sure nothing is clumped. Some of these recipes make their own type of gravy, so it's important to stir before serving to make sure everything's where it should be. 

Here are the recipes I used:

Mango Chipotle Chicken for the Grill

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 bottle Kraft Mango Chipotle Dressing and Marinade

2 tablespoons Poultry/Chicken Seasoning

Place chicken in a 1 gallon zippered freezer bag, add ingredients, squeeze air out of bag, then seal and “massage” to distribute seasonings well.  When it’s grill time, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw in the refrigerator, then place on grill, cook to desired doneness and enjoy!

Smothered Pork Chops

3-4 boneless pork tenderloins/chops (See earlier postregarding savings on meat)

1 large onion, cut into rings

1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup

About 1 tablespoon Montreal/Canadian Steak seasoning 

4-6 peeled and sliced potatoes when ready to cook

Season pork tenderloins with steak seasoning, and layer with onions in 1 gallon zippered freezer bag.  Add cream soup and remainder of steak seasoning.  Squeeze air out of bag and seal.  Freeze.  When ready to cook peel and slice 4-6 potatoes and place them in the bottom of the crock pot.  Then place the entire block of frozen food on top of this in the crock pot and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours.   Serve over noodles or toast. 

Easy Beef Tips

3 pounds stew meat (See earlier post regarding saving on meat)

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon pepper

1 packet onion soup mix

½ medium onion, chopped

1 can beef stock (or 1 cup water plus 1 beef bouillon cube or 1 Tbsp. bouillon granules)

Place flour and pepper in 1 gallon zippered bag.  Shake to mix.  Add stew meat into bag, reseal, and shake to coat stew meat well.  Reopen bag and add in remaining ingredients.   Squeeze out air, and seal. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours.  If this seems a bit thin/watery, remove the lid from the crock pot, turn the crock on high, and cook another hour to allow some of the water to evaporate. Serve over noodles or rice.

Pepper Steak

2-3 pounds beef stew meat (See earlier post regarding saving on meat)

½ cup flour

1 tsp. pepper

1 large onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic (I use the already-minced garlic and use 2-3 teaspoons)

2 green/bell peppers, cut in strips

2 14 oz. cans Italian or plain diced tomatoes with ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

2 cubes beef bouillon or 2 Tbsp. beef bouillon granules

4 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. Montreal/Canadiansteak seasoning

2 Tbsp. A1 steak sauce

Place flour and pepper in zippered freezer bag.  Shake to mix.  Add stew meat and shake to coat pieces thoroughly.  Add remaining ingredients, remove air, and seal.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low 6-8.  Serve over noodles or rice.