Freezer meals!

I love freezer meals! Who doesn't? I do this from time-to-time, whenever the mood strikes. Or whenever I'm over run with vegetables fresh from my garden. Hooray for fresh veggies! I recently tried the following new recipes. I had not planned on doing a big batch, so I didn't think to photograph my successes. Next time.

I'll update here as I pull them out, and let you know how they turned out!

Chocolate zucchini muffins (Uh oh! Cannot find this recipe!)

Crock pot chicken in a hurry (with wings and thighs)

Crock pot chicken cacciatore
Result: It's not the fanciest recipe so I wasn't expecting too much, but I was still pretty disappointed. I used veggies fresh from my garden, and my favourite tomato sauce (I haven't canned my own yet). It smelled awesome but it was really bland. 2/3 girls liked it, which is great, but I'll pass next time.

Crock pot marinated pork
Crock pot pork loin and veggies

Crock pot italian turkey soup
Result: Delicious! We're not big bean-eaters, but everyone at this up! Addison asked for seconds! I made it according to directions, and froze in two freezer bags. I served one bag at a time, and it was not enough. Next time I will double it and use two bags as one serving.

I also froze six cups of caramelized onions, an additional ten cups of shredded zucchini, and made amazingly awesome delicious yummy lemon zucchini loaf. The latter, however, did not make it to the freezer before it was eaten entirely. This may have happened twice. I've heard it freezes well. I need to try again when I'm home alone, so my family can't sneak in.

Slow cooker BBQ ribs

I don't cook ribs often, but this recipe is fantastic. There was a fair amount of sauce leftover that could easily be used for grilling.

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs

Servings: 8
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 7 hours 10 minutes
Ease of difficulty: Crock pots recipes are fool proof
Variations: We were out of hot sauce, so I omitted that.
Source: Allrecipes

4 pounds pork baby back ribs
2 cups ketchup
1 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 dash hot sauce

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place ribs in shallow baking pan. Brown in oven 15 minutes. Turn over and brown another 15 minutes; drain fat.

In a medium bowl, combine the ketchup, chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce. Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs and turn to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until ribs are tender.

 

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

I love my crock pot.

Servings: 4
Time: 4-6 hours
Ease of difficulty: As easy as it gets. Throw three things in the crock pot and let it do its thing.
Variations:
Source: Real Mom Kitchen

• 6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
• 1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
• 10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 4 lbs peeled, cubed potatoes
• 5 Tablespoons real butter
• 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 6 cloves roasted garlic (directions are below)
• 1- 1 1/2 Cups warm milk
• 1 Tablespoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, or to taste

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.

Scoop mashed potatoes onto serving plates and top with pork chops and soup gravy from crock pot. I put a little parsley on top to serve.

I didn't make the delicious-sounding potatoes that are listed with this recipe, but I will as soon as parmesan cheese goes on sale! The pork was great with whipped garlic potatoes. Even Addison loved it! Added bonus!

Pineapple Grilled Pork Chops

This one is as easy as it gets, and I always have these staples in my kitchen. It's an easy go-to meal at the last minute.

Pineapple Grilled Pork Chops
Servings: 4
Time: 15-20 minutes
Ease of difficulty: Easy peasy
Variations: Use any cut of chicken
Source: Allrecipes

• 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple rings, juice drained and reserved
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 pork chops
• 1 pinch ground black pepper 

Mix together the drained pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and garlic powder together in a large plastic zipper bag, and smush the bag a few times with your hands to mix the marinade and dissolve the sugar. Place the pork chops into the marinade, squeeze out any air in the bag, seal it, and refrigerate overnight. Reserve the pineapple rings. 

Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil the grate. Remove the chops from the marinade, shaking off excess, and grill until browned, the meat is no longer pink inside, and the meat shows good grill marks, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Brush several times with marinade and let the marinade cook onto the surface of the meat. Discard excess marinade.

While the meat is grilling, place 4 pineapple rings onto the grill, and allow to cook until hot and the slices show grill marks; serve the chops topped with the grilled pineapple rings.