OPOC = One Prep One Cleanup (the BEST part about cooking this way!)

Yesterday I spent a total of 5 hours Planning, Shopping, Chopping, Bagging and Freezing 15 meals for my family to eat this month. While 5 hours seems like a really long time, it really breaks down to this:

45 minutes: searching for recipes, making a shopping list of ingredients

15 minutes: matching coupons to a few of the items needed

1.5 hours: driving to store, shopping for list, driving home

2 hours: organize items, chop veggies, put together bags by recipe

30 minutes: place bags in freezer, clean up and...done!

Although 5 hours seems like a chunk of time, I estimate I save at least 30 hours over the course of a month from having to plan, prepare and cook dinner! Well worth it for me!

Here's where we begin:

I plan my meals and list right here and break down the days by date...so for October, under Mondays, it looks like

{Monday}

Oct 1

Oct 8

Oct 15

Oct 22

Oct 29

A link to my favorite (*pretty*) grocery list / meal planner!

If you want to make ALL of these recipes and try my 5 hour marathon, here's what to do!

Meats:

Veggies:

Before:

After:

helpful tips: Label Each bag before adding ingredients

after adding ingredients to bags, make room in your freezer for a bunch of yummy meals!

The best part: ONE CLEANUP! Here are the dishes that I had to clean. Once. there was a whole separate bag of cans and veggie scraps that were discarded. But this is it!

Now...on to the recipes!

Here are my favorite recipes from my One Prep One Cleanup Crocktober Fest!

Beef Stroganoff

{Recipe is for 1 meal since no bag freezing is necessary. Double if you'd like 2 separate meals}

4 lbs Chuck Roast, cubed in 2-3" cubes
12 oz Uncooked Wide Egg Noodles
2-16 oz can Condensed Mushroom Soup
2-8 oz can Beef Broth, plus 1 can filled with warm water
8 oz Sour Cream
2 tsp Salt, pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
*In crock pot add meat cubes, salt and pepper, and then uncooked noodles on top of meat.
*Then add beef broth, water, sour cream, and mushroom soup.
*Cook on low heat for at least 6 hours

The soup, broth & water will make a tasty broth with the sour cream, meat and noodles.

***

Crock Pot Taco Chili:

{Recipe is for 1 meal since no bag freezing is necessary. Double if you'd like 2 separate meals}

2 onions, chopped
2 cans black beans
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans corn
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 packet taco seasoning
1 T chili powder
6 boneless chicken breasts

Cook on low for 10 hrs or high for 6. 30 min before serving remove chicken and shred-return and stir. Serve with cheddar cheese on top! All done:)

****

Pulled pork:

{Recipe is for 1 meal since no bag freezing is necessary. Double if you'd like 2 separate meals}

2lb pork roast
1 can root beer
1 bottle BBQ sauce
Add pork to crock, pour in rootbeer
Cook 6-7 hrs on low

-Drain, shred, stir in BBQ sauce, done! Serve on buns.

***

Beef Stew

{Ready 2 Freezer Ziplock bags and place 1/2 recipe in each}
4lb cubed stewing beef
8c potatoes
8c carrots
2 onions
4c celery
4tsp quick tapioca
2 cans tomato sauce
4 T brown sugar

-To cook: Add 1c water , low, 4-6 hrs serve over rice

***

Chicken Fajitas

{Ready 2 Freezer Ziplock bags and place 1/2 recipe in each}

3 boneless chicken breasts
One jar of salsa
Chicken broth
Fajita seasoning
One onion
One pepper

-To cook: low for 5-6 hrs. Serve in soft tortillas

***

New this time around:

Smoky Turkey & Black Bean Soup from here: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

{Ready 2 Freezer Ziplock bags and place 1/2 recipe in each}

1.5 pounds turkey cutlets

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach (no need to thaw)
2 cups frozen corn
2 small onion, peeled and diced
2 (15-ounce) can black beans (use the whole can; there's no additional salt added)
2 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes (the whole can)
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoon liquid smoke
8cups chicken broth
(salt to taste if needed at the table)

-Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours; I cooked ours on low for exactly 8 hours.
Remove turkey cutlets with tongs, and shred the meat completely. Return to the pot and stir well.

***

Cranberry Dijon Roast from: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

{Ready 2 Freezer Ziplock bags and place 1/2 recipe in each}

4-5 pounds meat (pot roast, pork roast, tri-tip, shortribs, chicken thighs)

2 (14-ounce) cans cranberry sauce (I used jellied; your choice)

2 small onions, finely diced, or 2 heaping tablespoons dried onion flakes

8 cloves garlic, smashed (peeled first!)

4 tablespoons soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat free are gluten free)

4 tablespoons prepared dijon mustard

-Cook on low for 7 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Serve with rice or quinoa and something green.

***

Orange Beef: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

{Ready 2 Freezer Ziplock bags and place 1/2 recipe in each}

3 pounds beef round steak, sliced or beef stir fry strips

1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce (LaChoy or Tamari wheat-free)

2 teaspoons ground ginger

6 tablespoons honey (not pictured, the kids stole it to use on their pancakes.)

1 cup orange juice

2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced

2 green bell peppers, seeded and sliced

6 green onions, sliced

1 small head bok choy, cut in 1-inch chunks

cooked white or brown basmati rice for serving

-Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, high for 3-4, or until meat is fully cooked and super tender. Serve over rice with the crock juice.

Kayden's Room Transformation

It took Kris and I (mainly Kris's grunt work, and my head-overseer pointy-finger work) about a week and a half to move Kayden into her big girl room and make way for girly #2.

We were really excited to find all of our furniture at On a Whim antiques in Lucketts and sell my old college furniture on Craigslist! Here's how it all went down:

Painted the closet grey, removed shelf, raised it up higher, added the lower shelf, painted trim and doors white and added oil rubbed bronze hardware.

Painted whole room bubble gum pink and the breadboard trim white along with the ceiling. Hung Kayden's name sign about 28 times before Kris got it straight:)

Headboard from On A Whim: $165 - bedding from Home Goods