$5 Dinners

[Pollyanna]

http://www.5dollardinners.com/slow-c...ples-rosemary/

Has anyone tried this? I'm finding I have even less time to cook this year because by the time we are done schooling we have a short break and then have to start getting kiddos the their activities. I'm thinking this might be a great way to go and I like the price (I guess it would be $10 dinners for us but still a bargain). So what say you all? Is it worth it? How does the food taste?

[LynnAlicia]

That sounds really good! DH and I make enough food on Sundays for the rest of the week. We don't mind eating the same thing every night, beats cooking every night. Most weeks we use the crockpot for chicken, pork or beef. Super easy and delicious.

[ladymoreta]

It sounds good! I love crock pot meals, but DH isn't a big fan. I imagine we'll do more as the kids get into more activities.

[lovelight]

I haven't tried that particular recipe, but love my crockpot. It's been a real lifesaver with a newborn. We made a stroganoff one that was super tasty.


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[Ladybug]

Bookmarked! Thanks for sharing I love the crockpot! It's a sanity-saver.

[spotty_dog]

I have never had real success from the crockpot, but activity nights drive me insane so I am willing to try again!

But...can you really get 3 pounds of chicken, 1-2 pounds of apples, and a lime for under $5 where you live? (I grow onions so I won't count those.) No Costco membership here...I think I need to work on my shopping skillz, because our chicken pretty much never goes below $1.29 any more and in-season apples are down to about $1.99.

And doesn't it negate the slow cooker thing if you have to cook brown rice for an hour before you can eat? Maybe you could do it if you had a rice cooker, I think they have a keep-warm feature...hm, hm. This might finally be my excuse to get a rice cooker.

[MrsK]

I tried these freezer to crockpot meals last week. I bought frozen chicken breasts on sale for about $6/3lb. Most of the other ingredients (bell peppers, onions, salad dressing, taco seasoning, hamburger buns...) were on sale last week too. It was super-easy to assemble. I put the meals together in freezer bags with the chicken still frozen. I bought what was on the shopping list but ended up with enough ingredients for 14 meals so I did some recipes twice. I gave a few meals away to three friends who have newborn babies. When it's time to cook, I defrost the bag in the fridge before putting dumping it in the crock pot. So far, I've cooked three of these for my family this week (first week of school insanity) and they have all been hits. We tried the Chicken Cacchitore, Chicken Ranch Tacos, and BBQ Chicken sandwiches so far. I'm planning to make more when chicken goes on sale again. In the meanwhile, I'm looking for other freezer-to-crockpot recipes.

recipes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...HZ0gqkmBE/edit
shopping list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...HtujJjsKY/edit

[MrsK]

BTW, the best thing about the recipes I just posted is that they all use chicken breast. So much easier to make 10 meals with the same meat than to be browning beef, cutting up steaks, cubing chicken, etc. for 10 different recipes. Ground beef is on sale this week (labor day cook outs), so my plan was to make 10 ground beef freezer-to-crockpot meals this week -- looks like it will be things like barley soup, tacos, meatballs, chili. Then I'll have 20 (less, because I gave away/used some of the chicken meals already) different meals.

[spotty_dog]

I totally bought a rice cooker today with my birthday Amazon card. I'm unreasonably excited about this. I also bought an America's Test Kitchen slow-cooker cookbook. The reviews said they were more finicky than usual "throw stuff in and forget it" recipes, but I'm okay with that. I only need them to be unattended from the time we leave for karate at 4:25 until the time we get back at 6:15. I am completely cool with browing and sauteeing and adding ingredients and such before that time frame.

But I also remember how deliciously convenient it was when I had some freezer meals ready when DD was born. So I'll look into the freezer packs too, thanks!!

[BonBon]

SD, I bought that book last winter. Never cracked it open!

I love freezer meals so, so much. I've got the "Don't Panic..." books and like pretty much all the soups. Nothing like having a freezer full of food ready to go!!

[scrub-jay]

I'm in love with my pressure cooker, I need to figure out how to adapt these meals. I've made the slow cooker BBQ Hawaiian chicken in the pressure cooker, cook time = 10 minutes. No joke. It took about 10-15 more to depressurize, but I could've done quick release.

[SoonerTexan]

And doesn't it negate the slow cooker thing if you have to cook brown rice for an hour before you can eat?

I cook enough for 2-3 meals at a time and freeze it!

I love crock pot meals. DH says they all taste the same and doesn't like them.

[Pollyanna]

I cook enough for 2-3 meals at a time and freeze it!

I love crock pot meals. DH says they all taste the same and doesn't like them.

Good idea on freezing the rice! It's then like the TJs rice (hopefully).

I have to agree with your dh. I love the ease of the crock pot but find most of the recipes are kind of more of the same. I try to just do simple meat in ours: Chicken breasts with a package of taco seasoning and 1/4 water, London broil with a bottle of BBQ sauce, or pork tenderloin with a few different seasonings. I'm hoping these recipes aren't just more of the same crockpot meal with an added pineapple or creamed corn, lol.

[spotty_dog]

I do like Easy Indian Chicken and find it flavorful but I have to make some adjustments to keep the chicken from overcooking and to handle the layer of fat that develops.