10 Meals in an Hour™: Part 11

Here at Living Well Spending Less we are 100% committed to bringing you easy recipes that taste great and don’t take a lot of time, effort, or expensive ingredients to throw together. As a busy mom, I also want meals that can be made and frozen ahead of time to save time on hectic weeknights, especially as part of a Sunday Prep plan. My goal is to spend less time in the kitchen, not more, but I still want to be able to provide tasty meals that my family loves (and avoid eating out when we can!)

Over the 2 1/2  years we have shared 10 different 10 Meals in an Hour™ plans, which have each included 5 great freezer recipes that can be prepared together in about sixty minutes.

Today I am sO excited to share with you another NEW series of awesome freezer to crockpot recipes.

As usual, in order to make the cut, each recipe must meet ALL of the following criteria:

• Deemed delicious by both our kids and our husbands!
• No pre-cooking required
• Freezer friendly
• Easy to cook
• Uses budget-friendly ingredients and pantry staples

In this one post you will find everything you need to prep 10 awesome freezer meals in about an hour of hands-on time (not including grocery shopping.)   Just think, in just one quick weekend session you could have almost two weeks worth of absolutely delicious, family-friendly meals all ready to go!

Before you begin, you will need to gather your tools & supplies and also make sure that you have all your groceries on hand. I find it is easiest to go grocery shopping the day before I do my cooking. To save time unloading, only put away the items that need to be refrigerated. Finally, make sure your kitchen counters are cleared of clutter and sanitized and empty your dishwasher and sink of any dishes. (Check out this post for more tips on freezer cooking like a pro!)

10 Meals in an Hour™: Part 11

Here are the five recipes we will be making:

• Easy French Onion Soup
• Chicken & Vegetable Noodle Bowl
• Easy Chicken Curry
• Spinach & Sausage One Pot Pasta
• Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Here are the supplies you will need:

• 10 gallon size zipper freezer bags
• Avery 8163 shipping labels or permanent marker
• large mixing bowl
• cutting board
• sharp knife
• garlic press
• can opener
• dry measuring cups
• liquid measuring cups
• dry measuring spoons
• liquid measuring spoons
• colander

 

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Produce

• 2 small yellow onion
• 4 cups sweet onions or Vidalia if in season, sliced
• 1 bag of shredded slaw mix (cooking day only)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 6-10 cloves garlic
• 1 red chili pepper
• 1 bunch of green onions
• 1 bag carrots
• 1 large lemon
• 1 9oz. bags of fresh baby spinach (cooking day only)
• Thyme (fresh or dried)
• celery

 

Pantry Staples

• Honey
• Ginger Paste
• Garam Masala
• Sriracha sauce
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Black pepper
• Chili powder
• Salt
• Sesame oil
• Sesame seeds, toasted (cooking day only)
• Soy sauce
• 1 container homemade cream of chicken soup

 

Canned/Dry Goods

• 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes or 2 15oz can diced tomatoes with chilies
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
• 9 32oz. cartons chicken stock
• 2 cartons Beef stock

 

Dairy

• 1 cup plain yogurt (cooking day only)
• Butter
• Pecorino Romano
• Gruyère

Meat

• 6-8 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
• 2 packages chicken Italian sausage, chopped
• 1 rotisserie  chicken

 

Frozen

• 2 16oz. bags mixed vegetables
• 2  16 oz. bags of frozen  vegetables (Broccoli, Carrots & Water Chestnuts)
• 3 7 oz. packages of frozen sliced mushrooms

 

Starch

• 1 container refrigerated crescents (cooking day only)
• 1 box of rice noodles (cooking day only)
• 1  20 oz. package of cheese tortellini (cooking day only)
• Rice
• Italian bread, sliced (cooking day only)
• Naan (optional, cooking day only)

 

PRINT

Be sure to print the following recipes:

• Easy French Onion Soup
• Easy Chicken Curry
• Spinach & Sausage One Pot Pasta
• Chicken & Vegetable Noodle Bowl
  
• Easy Chicken Pot Pie

PREP

1. Prep your bags—either print labels using these ready-made printable labels or use a permanent marker to label each bag with the name of the recipe, date prepared, and cooking instructions. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! While you might think that you’ll remember what is in every bag, I promise you will forget!
2. Cut sausage into bit size pieces and set aside.
3. Chop onions and set aside.
4. Wash and chop green onions and set aside.
5. Clean and chop peppers and set aside.
6. Peel and mince garlic and set aside
7. Open up all the cans needed for prep day and set aside.
8. Prep raw chicken and chop into bit size pieces, then pull chicken from rotisserie for pot pie.

PREPARE

1. Prep Easy French Onion Soup using instructions found here. Divide onions and stock into 2 freezer bags, press out excess air, and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
2. Prep Easy Chicken Curry using instructions found here. Divide chicken into 2 freezer bags then divide sauce over chicken, press out excess air, and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
3. Prep Spinach & Sausage One Pot Pasta using instructions found here. Divide sausage mixture into 2 freezer bags, press out excess air, and seal well.Place bags in refrigerator.
4. Prep Chicken and Vegetable Noodle Bowl using instructions found here. Divide chicken into 2 freezer bags then divide vegetables and stock mixture evenly over chicken, press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
5. Prep Easy Chicken Pot Pie using instructions found here. Place chicken into 2 freezer bags and cover with vegetable mixture, then press out excess air and seal well. Place bags in refrigerator.
6. Once all prep is complete, place all bags in freezer until needed. After you’ve made your meal plan for the coming week, consider setting an alert on your phone to remind you to take your bag out to thaw the day before you plan to make it.

Want more 10 Meals in an Hour? Check out the entire series!

1. 10 Meals in an Hour
2. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 2
3. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 3
4. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 4
5. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 5
6. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 6
7. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 7
8. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 8
9. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 9
10. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 10
11. 10 Meals in an Hour Part 11

Have you tried making 10 meals in an hour yet? What tricks or tips can you share?