Snow Day Activity

Well, I never thought that my snow day activity would generate requests for recipes! Mostly these are made up recipes from various attempts over the years. But I will try and explain how we did it!
Here's how it all went down! Gaga and I went out and bought lots of meat and veggies on Friday in order to put together some crockpot meals in advance of her Shoulder Replacement Surgery, March 5. Since it was looking more and more likely that we were going to have another snow day Monday we put it all together today and I posted a picture on facebook cause, "dang, I was proud of my idea of getting ahead and all that,  y'all!" (Hint...most snow days I spend being bored and getting nothing done!) Now all we have to do is take them out of the freezer and put them in the crockpot. Another hint...take them out the night before and let them thaw overnight in the fridge.

So we put together 6 meals today:
2 each of Hawaiian Chicken
2 each of Drip Beef
1 Beef Stroganoff
1 Pepper Steak

Clean off a large counterspace to work on. Gather all ingredients and supplies. Label your gallon size freezer bags for each meal. Chop and peel and cut up all your veggies and the meat according to the recipe. We used multiple bowls and containers to hold everything pre- assembly.

For each Hawaiian Chicken:
Four large chicken breast cut in large chunks ( buy large bag at Costco)
2 green peppers cut in bite sized chunks
2 red peppers cut in bite sized chunks
2 - 3 cups fresh carrots cut in bite sized chunks
1 bottle Hawaiian sauce/marinade - get it at Wally or Giant
1 can pineapple chunks
At end of cooking cycle add corn starch and a little juice from pot back to pot to thicken sauce.

For each Drip Beef:
1 Pot Roast ( buy at Costco - has 2 large roasts per package)
1 jar pepperoncini peppers,  juice and all
2 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
2 cups beef broth

Serve this beef shredded on toasted rolls with provolone cheese. And that juice...YUM!

For each Beef Stroganoff:
2 - 3 lbs cubed beef - slice in strips
*2 small cans mushrooms (save juice to mix with beef granules)
*2 tsp(or more) beef broth granules- may need to add a little warm water to dissolve
*1 can cream mushroom soup
*3 garlic cloves minced
*1 TBSP worcestershire sauceMix all these together
* Mix all these together
1 large onion
salt and pepper to your taste
When this reaches the end of cooking cycle in the crockpot and just before eating add 1, 8 oz package of cream cheese and stir till smooth. Serve over noodles or rice.

For each Pepper Beef:
2 - 3lbs of cubed beef or sirloin ( cut in strips)
1 medium onion chopped or sliced
1 garlic clove minced ( I use more cause I LOVE garlic)
2 large green peppers sliced
29 ounce can whole tomatoes
1 tbsp beef granules
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp worcestershire

At end of cooking cycle add a paste made of either corn starch or flour/juice from cooking to the pot to thicken sauce. Serve over rice or noodles. Or even mashed potatoes (ian's favorite)


All the ingredients for each meal go into a gallon sized ziplock freezer strength bag and into the freezer. So whenever we decide to use them, I try and remember to take them out of the freezer the night before to thaw in the fridge. Usually cook on low on the crockpot all day.

So now I'm going outside to shovel snow.