Because Mom's Need a Break...

...especially when a new little one arrives!

I have a friend who just had a baby.

I'm supposed to go see her tomorrow, but that might have to be post-poned.

Bitsy is still sick.

I have a meal for her that I'd love to bring her.

I know what she's feeling right now!

The idea of planning and cooking a meal is something I couldn't didn't want to think about in those first few weeks after Bitsy graced us with her presence.

Luckily I had planned ahead a little and I had a handful of freezer meals ready to throw in the crock pot and of course friends brought us food and all that simplicity made life a little easier!

So now it's my turn to return the favor and I'd like to show you this very simple freezer/crock pot meal!

What You'll Need:

 1 large bag of carrots

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 red onion

garlic

teriyaki sauce

2 cans of pineapple chunks

(not pictured...boil in the bag rice....I normally make rice in a rice maker, but since this is for a friend and second day rice doesn't seem to taste as good...I figured I'd leave the rice for her to cook)

 You'll need 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce for each freezer bag.

I measured out that 1/2 cup was 5 ice cubes and since this was going to be frozen anyway I figured it'd be less messy if the sauce was already frozen before I bagged it.

 Also you will use the juices from the pineapple...so again to keep it nice and tidy I popped holes in the can and drained it into an ice tray.

One can filled 7 cubes.

 Next write on your freezer bag, nothing worse than remembering to write it after it's full of food!

 Now split your large bag of baby carrots between the 2 freezer bags.

 Cut that red onion into big chunks and split between bags.

 Add your 2 chopped garlic cloves per bag.

Then place 2-3 chicken breasts in each bag.

I did 3 per bag (one is for my friend and one is for us...so 3 means she'll have extra or leftovers for lunch another day...so convenient to just reheat and eat!)

 Don't forget about your frozen juice and sauce.

 Throw those in your bag last...

Don't they look pretty?

Now the trick is to get as much air out of your bag as possible before you close it up.

This is much easier since you don't have liquids sloshing around!

Once you close it...lay it as flat as possible and place in the freezer.

The flatter it is the more you can stack and the less room you give up overall.

When you are ready to cook...simply take it out the night before and place in the fridge to thaw some.

Cook in your crock pot on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.

All you'll need to do with the rice is get some water boiling and boil it according the the directions on the box (10 minutes I believe).

And there you have it.

Whether you are expecting, need to bring a new mommy a meal, or just want to plan ahead for your family..this is an easy way to preplan!

I hope you all had a Blessed Tuesday!