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Do you know you’ll have a day this week when you’ll be running around all day? Do the kids have a full schedule of after-school activities that have you driving from one ball field to the next? That’s the perfect day to plan a slow cooker meal.
Pick a one pot dish like beef stew, chili or a chicken and rice casserole with broccoli and get it going in the morning. Just put the ingredients into your slow cooker, turn it on low and go about your busy day. When you get home, be ready to walk into a home that smells like home-cooked dinner. Grab some crackers, make some toast and dinner is ready to be served. It doesn’t get much easier than that and all it takes is a little bit of prep work in the mornings.
If your mornings are too crazy or you just can’t see yourself assembling a slow cooker meal at 7am (it really isn’t that bad), do it the night before. You can either toss everything into a large plastic storage bag, or mix it right in your slow cooker crock insert and store it in the fridge overnight. In the morning just put it in the slow cooker and turn it on.
Of course this type of meal prep takes a little bit of planning. Start by trying a variety of different slow cooker meals and find out what your family likes and doesn’t like. Pay particular attention to those recipes that don’t call for a lot of prep work before everything is ready to go into the slow cooker.
Once you have your list of meals, write out the recipes and keep them somewhere handy. When you know you need to plan one or two slow cooker meals for the week, go through that stack of recipes. Make sure you shop for everything you need well ahead of time. Don’t forget to check on seasonings, spices, and other shelf stable stuff that you don’t’ usually buy.
If you’re already planning your dinners and making out your shopping list based on what you’re planning to cook for the week, this will be an easy process. Just plan a slow cooker meal a few days per week. If you’re not meal planning yet, give it a try and at least plan these particular meals.
Prep what you can as soon as you get back from the store. For example, if you know you’ll make beef stew in the slow cooker tomorrow and it calls for browning the meat before you add it, go ahead and do that now. Then store the browned beef in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble your stew in the morning. The same goes for chopping veggies. Believe me, you’ll be glad you did in the morning.
Ready to Ramp Up Your Skill Level?
If you’re looking to get the ultimate advance plan skills for using your slow cooker to make your busy days easier, you’ll want to check out the awesome freezer-to-slow-cooker plans at Freezeasy. These meal plans combine the smartest and best methods of meal planning, batch cooking, and freezer meals into one! AND, you can make a whole bunch of meals in just an hour!!! Check out what they have right now:
Slow cooking and planning slow cooker meals is all about making it easy for you to get delicious home cooked meals on the table even on the busiest of days. Give it a try. I think you’ll find it a huge help not to have to worry about throwing something together when you finally walk in the door at 7pm. And no matter what you make, it will be healthier and better for your family than the fast food you usually pick up on crazy days like this.