Freezer Meals for Summer!

Well, it's JUNE already, so I guess that I need to embrace all things summer! With swim team this year (a first for us) and Alpha theater camp (a first for us) and continued learning going on, I realized I needed some time to plan and prepare and pray (for things to run smoothly!).

It was a blessing to me that my Amelia friends asked me to come and put together some freezer meals with them. This gave me a date and time to focus my efforts. I used this website with 10 Organic Freezer meals.  I liked her site because I could get all of the ingredients from ONE place (Costco); no multiple stops with six kiddos for me! I also like that most ingredients were organic, and whole foods. I don't normally buy canned beans, chicken broth, or potstickers... but these little concessions were worth it to me to have pulled together meals for some nights we'll need them.

I spent about 30 minutes at Costco, and spent $165. This included everything I needed (minus spinach, garlic, and some spices I already had at home), and after making the meals I had olive oil, spices, honey, frozen vegetables, canned beans, and dozens of bags left over. These seem like cost- efficient meals to me!

I decided to swap out her recipe for Monster Burgers with another recipe she has for Turkey and Black Bean Chili (on the same site; her 12 Crockpot Freezer Meals from Costco list).

Everything packed up neatly and went to Amelia with me, where my four friends helped me assemble meals. It was fun!

We made:
4 meals of Turkey and Black Bean Chili
4 meals of Hearty Turkey Tomato Vegetable Soup
2 meals of Italian Chicken
2 meals of Asian Chicken and Vegetable Potstickers
= 12 Meals

What a great feeling of accomplishment! Love seeing these meals in the freezer and knowing that every Sunday dinner is already made and there are meals for when I'm out of town, meals to give to others, and meals for crazy busy nights. Sounds like I need to make some more meals!

Crockpot Chicken and Vegetable Wild Rice Soup

an adaptation from Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Yield: Serves 8-10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 1/2 hours-6 1/2 hours
This is a hearty chicken soup with veggies and blend of wild rices

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 and 1/2  cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed and drained
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme to add at the end of cooking
Salt and black pepper, to taste
2- 3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or stock and water mixture)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. In a 6 quart slow cooker, combine onion, carrots, celery, garlic, wild rice, mushrooms, chicken, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken stock and water.
2. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low heat setting for 6 to 6 1/2 hours or on high-heat setting about 3 1/2 hours. Remove the bay leaves. Add the parsley and fresh thyme and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.