Cheesy Crockpot Meatball Pasta

 

Cheesy Crockpot Meatball Pasta

Super easy and delicious, a nice change from just my regular spaghetti recipe. Usually frozen meatballs aren't that great, but this brand was really good....we were impressed! The only change I made was I added an onion, because I had one already chopped. I liked that it was pretty much dump and go, without being too salty and generic like most easy crockpot recipes are.

Click here for the Cheesy Crockpot Meatball Pasta by Cooking In The Midwest

Slow Cooker French Dips

 

Slow Cooker French Dips

Ingredients:

- 2ish lbs chuck roast

- 1 can beef consomme + can filled with water twice

- 1 packet au jus

- 2 onions

- garlic

- salt, pepper, sage leaf

- provolone

- hoagies

Super easy recipe and always delicious. Heat EVOO in pan and rub salt and pepper on chuck roast and sear in cast iron skillet until brown on all sides. Remove meat and put in slow cooker, then cook onions and garlic in the cast iron skillet and scrape up all the brown bits. Transfer to slow cooker and sprinkle the au jus over top. Pour on beef consomme and fill up the can twice with water, add a sage leaf and cook on low for 8 hours. Toast hoagies with provolone then done.

Postpartum Meal Prep

 

Postpartum Meal Prep

 I only got a few pictures because I'm exhausted now. Here's what I made:

- Instant Pot Pinto Beans by BudgetBytes. I made bean and cheese burritos with them, and a few of them I filled with a microwaveable Spanish rice packet so they are bean/cheese/rice. 5 cups of beef broth for 49 minutes in the Instant Pot.

- Slow Cooker Sesame Honey Chicken by Skinnytaste. I left out the cornstarch because I read it doesn't freeze well. So I'll just throw it in the crockpot or Instant pot and serve over rice. 

- Mandarin Teriyaki Chicken. This was just using up ingredients of what I had. I had a half bottle of Panda Express Mandarin sauce and a half bottle of Lawry's Pineapple Teriyaki Marinade. So I threw that in a bag with sriracha, sesame seeds and some squeeze ginger with jarlic along with some chicken.

- Freezer breakfast sausage burritos. I cooked up a pound of breakfast sausage along with scrambling 18 eggs with heavy cream (only because I had some, if I didn't I would have just used milk), salt and pepper. Then I made burritos with the sausage, eggs, and cheddar cheese wrapped in a tortilla.

- Freezer breakfast sandwiches recipe by Tastes Better from Scratch

- Slow cooker Pesto Ranch Chicken recipe by She's In Her Apron. I did add some garlic and pepper and I'll probably serve it over mashed potatoes with a side of frozen veggies.

- Veggie & Beef Lentil Chili. This was another clean out the pantry meal. 1 lb ground beef, 1 can lentils, 1 can corn, 1 can white beans, 1 can chili beans, 1 can Rotel. I also added bell peppers, zucchini, celery, onions, garlic, 1 can tomato paste, 2 cups beef broth. Spices I used were (about 1 & 1/2 tsp of each): chili powder (2 tbs), garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne, salt/pepper, 1 tsp sugar. I just warmed it up on the stove then transferred it into 2 freezer safe Ziploc bags. I could serve it with frozen Texas Toast, cornbread or even like a small quesadilla. I'll see how I feel when the baby is here lol.

- Mini lasagna's. The pans were a little too small, but I didn't want to make a huge 9x13 pan because that's too much. I just grabbed a generic lasagna recipe, I based it off of this one by About A Mom. I used 1lb ground beef & 1lb Italian sausage. I only had 1 container of ricotta so that was kind of lacking, and only 1 & 1/2 24oz jars of marinara, so I also added a bottle of pizza squeeze lol. I also added a zucchini since we have so much from the garden. 

Here's some of the dinners plated that I made post partum!

Slow Cooker Mustard Ranch Chicken and Potatoes

 

Slow Cooker Mustard Ranch Chicken and Potatoes

This was a fail. I got out some chicken a couple days before I made this for another recipe I was going to make. We had just finished a jar of pickles so I marinated the chicken in the pickle juice with garlic. 

 But I'm pregnant and all of a sudden I could not stand the thought of even thinking about chicken. After it had been defrosting for like 3 days I had really had to do something with it because I just couldn't waste it. So I looked around on Pinterest for something where I had to do minimal work so I didn't have to think about it to much.

Here's what I came up with:

- 4 chicken breasts marinated in leftover pickle juice

- 1/2 bag yellow potatoes

- A bunch of ranch seasoning, garlic, salt/pepper, paprika, and a dash of cayenne

- Yellow mustard

- Ranch. I used a dill pickle flavored one

   Cut the yellow potatoes in half and put them in the bottom of a slow cooker. I ended up chopping the chicken in big chunks because I was worried since the chicken breasts were so big that they wouldn't cook by the time the potatoes were done. So I put the chicken chunks on the potatoes, and topped it with the seasonings then I poured the marinade over top. I then squirted mustard and dill pickle ranch over top. Then I put it on low for 8 hours. 

  I never really cook anything for that long but the chicken was so big. But that was where I went wrong I think lol. The flavor was good and the potatoes were great, but the chicken was incredibly dry. So next time maybe 6 hours? I really liked the pickle and garlic flavorings.

I served it with these Goodles, which were really good! I had tried the regular flavor and they weren't that great, but this hatch chili one was good, I'm definitely buying them again.

Zero Point Vegetarian Tuscan Soup

Vegetarian Tuscan Soup

0 Points on Blue

Ingredients:

- 1 medium zucchini, chopped.
- 1 pound baby carrots, chopped.
- 2 ribs celery, chopped.
- 1 medium onion, chopped.
- 5 garlic cloves, chopped.
- 12 oz bag of frozen green beans.
- 12 oz bag of frozen chopped kale.
- 1 15 oz can of chickpeas.
- 1 15 oz can of cannellini beans.
- 1 28 oz can of no salt added diced tomatoes.
- 64 oz of vegetable stock.
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes. Drain as much oil as possible or buy it without oil.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes.
- 2 tbs of Chef Paul Magic Seasoning Blend, Pizza & Pasta. Or just use regular Italian Seasoning. We just really like the flavor of the Chef Paul seasoning.

Directions:

1) Either throw everything in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours or cook on the stove top. If you cook on the stove top bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy with Carba-Nada Noodles

Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy with Carba-Nada Noodles

5 Points on Blue

Recipe by Felicia Keathley 

  Full disclosure, this was my husbands plate and it was a huge portion. He also had a salad that would be about 3 points. He doesn't follow Weight Watchers (yet!) but I do make some WW recipes for family dinners.

  This was really good, and this wouldn't be my normal flavor profile I'd like. I'm not normally a fan of "Cream Of" soup flavorings, but this was pretty good. It was also filling. My son loved it and said it's his new favorite dinner. So that's always a win.

Ingredients:

-  1 package Al Dente Carba-Nada Roasted Garlic Fettuccine.
-  2 lbs chicken frozen or fresh. Frozen chicken will make the gravy more watery.
-  1 can 98% fat free Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
-  1 cup mixed frozen peas and carrots.
-  2 packets McCormick Chicken Gravy
-  1.5 cups water
- 1/2 tbs garlic powder, onion powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- Optional: half a package of mushrooms, chopped.

  I also sprinkle red pepper flakes on mine and my husbands servings, I leave it out of the recipe for the kids.

  Combine soup, gravy mixes, spices, and water into a slow cookre and whisk until fully combined. Add chicken to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours, or high on 5-6. I add frozen veggies and (if adding) mushrooms about an hour before it's done.

  Cook the pasta according to package directions, I cook the whole package for 3 minutes.

Add 1.5 cups of noodles to your plate and top with 2/3 cup chicken gravy.

Points:

-  2/3 cups chicken and gravy is 2 points.
-  1 1/2 cups noodles is 3 points

Salad:
3 Points

-  1 cup spring mix. 0 points.
-  2 tbs Texas Toast Seasoned Crutons. 1 point. I like to chop them up so it seems like I get more.
-  2 tbs fat free mozzarella. 0 points.
-  O'Dang Hummus Ranch Dressing. 2 tbs for 1 point.

Here is what my serving looked like: