Made 44 protein-centric freezer crockpot meals yesterday!
So I found a blog called "Who needs a cape? 40 freezer crockpot meals in 4 hours". I am on the iPad and can't figure it how to copy the link and insert it here, but you can just search the title and it will come up. There was a master shopping list, and pictures of the steps taken to make all the meals. There are printable recipes for 19 meals which you double (one you triple). I ended up with 44 meals because I found I could triple several of them since the chicken breasts I got from the butcher were huge! All of the meals are protein focused, and I didn't find that I needed to modify anything to suit my diet. There was no carb involved at all either.
Our evenings have been very hectic, so I thought I'd give it a try. I got all of my meat at a local butcher who had way better prices than anywhere else I checked. I thought Costco was the way to go, but to give you an idea, their chicken breasts were about $13.50/kg, where as the butcher had free range chicken on sale for about $7.50/kg, and every other cut was cheaper too. The rest of the stuff I bought at Food Basics. My total grocery bill was $422,which makes each meal (for a family of 4) is just over $10.
I am not going to lie, the process was quite a bit of work, and at many a point I wondered if it was worth it, but now the next day when I look at my freezer, I feel like a rock star! The blog said "40 meals in 4 hours. Bahahahahaha! it was more like fourteen hours!! Like I said, it was a ton of work, but it was easy enough. And the best part? All I have to do is defrost a bag a day or two ahead, then throw the contents into the crock pot in the morning, and voila! Dinner is ready when we get home. All I have to do is make a few quick sides. Definitely worth a try for anyone with a crock pot.
Here is a picture of just half my "stash". The other half is in the deep freeze. It actually does not take up that much space once you let out the excess air and flatten them out.
Referral Sent: March 19, 2010
Surgery date with Dr. Denis Hong: December 9, 2010
Sounds great! Living on one's own is a real bummer when trying to choose what to eat each night. When our house gets sold and my husband is FINALLY done work I can premake a bunch of meals.
I agree with the butcher being great and their meat is so much tastier. I use to get my meat from the St Jacob's market and I when I stopped traveling there I really hated buying meat from the grocery store. Perhaps I'll need to visit my in-laws once in a while just to get to the market too. It would be 1.5 hour drive and then I would be a good daughter-in-law too.
Lost 100 lbs in a year post op with a VSG. 
I could not believe the price difference. I always knew the quality would be much better at a butcher, but I also assumed that the price would be high. Not so! (at the place I found, anyway). And, he gave me a deal since I was buying such a large order. When I got to the till, the cost was $322.00, and I was a little sick to my stomach, thinking, what if I can't do this? There was so much meat, I had to get them to carry it out to my car, and my hubby to carry it in for me. Among the purchases were 48 chicken breast halves, about 30-35 chicken thighs, a 5 pound pork roast, a huge flank steak, 20 drumsticks, 8 pounds of stewing beef....etc.... AND, the chicken they had on sale was free range organic (for under $8/kg)
They were super helpful too, I didn't have to wander the aisles. I just handed them a list and came back to pick it up after I did my grocery store shopping. So nice!
Referral Sent: March 19, 2010
Surgery date with Dr. Denis Hong: December 9, 2010
