Monster Smoothie

Hi y'all! I will be posting next week sometime my newest frozen crockpot meal additions, but for now, I wanted to share a quick smoothie recipe.

I don't always feel like I am getting enough fresh fruits and veggies during the day (especially veggies), so here is my solution. I have heard that the addition of spinach to fruit smoothies adds nothing but nutrients (no taste), and it is so true! Basically, this Monster Smoothie includes the regulars: any fruit you want, a splash of dairy, soy, or almond milk, a tablespoon of greek or regular yogurt, honey, etc, BUT with the addition of nutrient-rich Spinach. Here is the actual recipe. Feel free to change or adapt as you wish. I change it up depending on what fruits look good at the store that week, or what needs cleaned out of my fridge. This makes a GREAT breakfast, and keeps you feeling full and satisfied. Enjoy!

1 banana, roughly chopped (I usually use 2 bananas)
4 or 5 strawberries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 small peach, peeled and roughly chopped
1 heaping cup (or more) fresh spinach leaves, thoroughly rinsed
splash vanilla soy milk (or dairy or almond)
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt (or regular)
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup crushed ice

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

xoxo,
Emily

Freezer to Crockpot Meals Part II

Hi y'all! I'm so excited to share these new recipes with you, I don't even know what to say in my intro today! I ran out of frozen crockpot meals last week, and knew it was time to prep some more for this month. My in-laws are in town for a visit right now (yay!), and my sweet mother-in-law assisted me in the kitchen today while bagging these up.

I could not, for the life of me, find many recipes for meals that involve prepping, freezing, thawing, and crockpotting (now a word). I easily found both regular freezer meal and crockpot recipes, but not the combination of the two. So, I decided to create some recipes myself based loosely on regular crockpot recipes I have wanted to try. Here is what I tried today. I will update when I actually heat and try them, to let you know what needs to be changed. The following recipes provided 8one gallon sized freezer bags of food, which will be enough for about 20 meals. Let me know if you try them. Enjoy!

xoxo,
Emily

No-Peeking Peking Chicken

8 bone in chicken thighs
salt and pepper
3/4 cup chopped scallions
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cups soy sauce
3 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. ginger
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 bag frozen corn kernels
1 bag frozen snow pea pods
1 red pepper chopped

Chicken and Corn Soup

1 lb red potatoes
1 lb sweet potatoes
4 lbs chicken thighs
4 cups chicken broth (which I will add the morning of)
4 scallions
4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
1 bag half ears of frozen corn
2 red peppers chopped

Roast and Vegetables

2 lb chuck roast, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 large onion cut into 8ths
1 bag baby carrots
1/2 teaspoon celery or onion salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, DO NOT DRAIN
2 cans condensed tomato soup
2 beef boullion cubes, softened
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn, DRAINED
6-8 small red potatoes, cubed

Garlic Chicken

2 pounds chicken thighs
2 cloves minced garlic
4 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 medium onion
2 large green peppers
1 red pepper
1 zucchini

Mix all of the ingredients for each recipe together and divide evenly into two, 1 gallon sized freezer bags per recipe. Seal, and freeze. On the day of, thaw the bag on the counter for about 30 minutes, dump into the crockpot, and cook on low for 6-8 hours.