10 freezer to crockpot meals

adulthood has changed me -- i'm not the fun and spontaneous person i used to be! i was blessed with 5 days off (yes, 5 days) between winter semester and spring semester, and i spent every minute doing boring housewifey stuff. you know, like laundry, cleaning the apartment, rearranging the living room, and making freezer meals. 

but let me tell you, making those freezer meals was one of the best decisions of my life! totally worth the social sacrifices. you can do it too! it's so easy. the hardest part was spending hours on pinterest researching and looking for the best recipes. i tried to pick ones that had some similar ingredients. after that, all you need is a buttload of food, money, and ziploc gallon bags! 

i picked 8 recipes to make 10 meals (i doubled two of them). i went to costco and harmons and bought everything i didn't already have. i spent a total of about $110, with some of the purchases being spices, oils, or bottles of things that i can keep using for a long time. 

i let the bags of chicken thaw out, and then i laid out all the other ingredients. i was ready to dominate! i labeled ten 1-gallon ziploc bags with the recipe name, cooking time, and any other instructions. i turned on les mis. then i chopped away and packed a bag at a time! 

things got pretty crowded. 

it was really time consuming, but really simple. it took me almost 3 hours, but to be honest i was taking my sweet precious time. i wasn't in a hurry at all. also, i was feeling a little OCD so i washed my hands like 492 times. and i probably worked longer than necessary because i didn't chop all my veggies at once, i went recipe by recipe. and i had to stop chopping peppers to sob while anne hathaway was singing. bless her heart. 

anyway, the few pieces of advice i have for this project are to add the liquids LAST, and make sure each bag thaws for a good amount of time before you dump the contents in the crockpot. duh and duh -- but for noobs like me, those things didn't come easy :) also, get as much air out of the bag as possible, and once everything is in the bag, squish it around with your hands so the contents are distributed evenly. 

 now for the moment you've all been waiting for... pictures and recipes! 

cilantro lime chicken

in the bag: 

3 chicken breasts

juice from 2 limes

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 (16 oz) bag corn

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper

to cook: 

cook on low for 8 hours

shred meat and serve on tortillas

chicken broccoli alfredo

in the bag: 

3 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 (16 oz) bag frozen broccoli 

1 large green pepper, chopped

2 (16 oz) jars alfredo sauce

to cook: 

cook on low for 4-6 hours

serve over noodles

hawaiian chicken

in the bag: 

2-3 chicken breasts

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbs soy sauce

1/2 can of large pineapple chunks

1/2 cup of pineapple juice (from can) 

to cook: 

cook on low for 6-7 hours

shred and serve over rice

teriyaki chicken

in the bag: 

3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces 

1 cup teriyaki sauce 

1 cup water

2/3 cup brown sugar

3 cloves garlic, minced

a few sprinkles of ginger

to cook: 

cook on low for 4-6 hours

creamy italian chicken

in the bag: 

4 chicken breasts

1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 can cream of chicken

1 dry packet of italian seasoning

to cook: 

cook on low for 4-6 hours

honey rosemary chicken

in the bag: 

4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup honey 

1/3 cup olive oil 

3 tbs rosemary, chopped

1 tsp salt

to cook: 

cook on low for 6-8 hours

bbq chicken

in the bag: 

4-6 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1 (12 oz) bottle of bbq sauce 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vinegar 

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

to cook: 

cook on low for 4-6 hours

chicken fajitas

in the bag: 

2 green peppers 

1 onion

3 chicken breasts

1/2 cup chicken broth

taco seasoning packet

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

to cook: 

cook on low for 5-6 hours

shred meat and serve on tortillas

that's all! i doubled the teriyaki chicken and the cilantro lime chicken because i thought they sounded the best, but i'm excited to try all of them! can you tell i'm not a huge red meat person :) ? and i am not one to plagiarize, so let me give you the sources for these recipes. i got the chicken broccoli alfredo and cilanto lime chicken from six sisters stuff. i got the honey rosemary chicken from kojo designs, hawaiian chicken and chicken fajitas from this post, and then i got teriyaki chicken, sweet bbq chicken, creamy italian chicken from over the big moon. she has great tips and ideas. how did people know recipes before pinterest? pinterest and these ladies just saved me from 10 nights of dinner-prepping stress.

so there you have it. $110, 1 hour of grocery shopping, 2.5 hours of prepping, and i was able to stuff my freezer with 10 meals - ready to be eaten!  

good luck to you all, and let me know how it goes!
p.s. if you have any great crockpot recipes, i would love to hear them.
p.p.s. my blog is now on bloglovin' so make sure to follow! 

DIY frame wall

scotty and i have been itching to do a little DIY project these past few weeks. it's hard when you're renting an apartment and you can't paint walls or cabinets or do anything exciting. today we teamed up with pinterest to fill that craving in our lives and re-decorated our living room wall! after receiving inspiration from this pin, this pin, this pin, and this pin, we made the magic happen. here are the 4 best picture-hanging pinterest tips we found. 

tip 1: arrange pictures on floor to find best layout.

tip 2: tape a border to know what area you're working with.

tip 3: work from corners inward. 

tip 4: dab a little toothpaste on the back of the frame, and then press it up against the wall where you want it. you know exactly where the nail should go! 

the final product:

we love it!

DIY foam soap

i like to splurge on things. clothes. nice meals. name-brand cereal. you name it. in order for me to be able to conduct my guilt-free shopping sprees, i am required to cut back in other areas. one of those areas is soap. just like five year olds across the globe, i get a little thrill from washing my hands with foam soap. i'm convinced there's no other way. 

it's an essential in our home. however, each bottle costs approximately $2.99.  sure, that may not sound like a lot. but let's say i use two bottles a month (one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom) (... i love washing my hands, okay? don't judge) . that's $5.98 per month. multiply that by 12, and we're spending almost $75 a year in soap! stupid! i could put that $75 toward things that are a lot more fun than soap! 30 soft pretzels at the mall. a really nice new coat from nordstrom. 9 cafe rio salads. 3 weeks worth of gas. 15+ cups of yogurt at yogurtland. 3 trips to the nail salon. see what i mean? why use $75 toward such a trivial thing as soap when it could be funding my happiness or my hunger issues! luckily, i found a trick! i no longer need to buy soap each month, and i can keep experiencing the finer things in life... like soft pretzels. 

here's all you need to do to become a money-redirecting machine like i am: 

1. acquire empty foam soap bottle. 

2. remove lid and squirt in some dish soap (just for like two seconds).

3. fill the rest of the bottle with water. 

4. shake bottle while jumping for joy. 

5. kiss that bottle goodbye on your way out to cafe rio, nordstrom, or wherever your heart desires! 

i'll probably never buy a new bottle of soap for as long as i live.

enjoy!

saving fall 2012

well... it's that time of year again. 

fall. 

unlike most people, i have pretty neutral feelings toward the fall season.

more accurately stated, i have this weird almost borderline-phobia of fall.

sure, i enjoy an occasional leaf-stomping session. and i love a good excuse to add pumpkin to every recipe (pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin snickerdoodles, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, etc.) and yes, i'll admit. my heart tingles with joy at the thought of reuniting with my uggs.

but in reality, fall just means that winter is coming.

... and i hate winter.

the leaves falling from the trees are just a sick foreshadowing of the snow fall that is soon to come.

the only remedy i can find for this pessimism of mine is to buy fall-scented candles. because come on, THEY ARE THE BEST! (even deserving of my shouty capitals!) so as i realized fall was upon me, i traveled over to target and bought a lovely "pumpkin spice" candle.  the first of many this season, i assume.  i was so giddy i almost skipped the whole way home.

one day my candle wouldn't light. the wick was burnt down to the bottom... but almost 1/2 of the wax was still remaining! see for yourself:

right?! how ridiculous is that?

i was trying to be positive about fall (despite the 49 degree weather i endure every morning on the way to my car) and this is what happened. i considered taking it back to target. "I DIDN'T PAY FOR HALF OF A CANDLE!" but i knew those stingy red-collared creeps wouldn't take pity on me. too bad it wasn't from costco. i furrowed my brows in disgust and after some pinterest searching, plopped said candle into a pot of water.

slowly all of the wax turned to liquid.

with a 40% off coupon in hand,

i made my way over to Hobby Lobby and bought a wick.

my record-breaking grand total was $1.70

i know. i was ecstatic, too.

i carefully crafted a very advanced mechanism to hold the wick in place while the wax re-hardened. 

 and after a few hours in the fridge... smiles, smells, and light were restored to my kitchen.

now i can sit back, smell the spice, and smile at my cute husband in his fall sweaters. 

bring on the hot chocolate. 

sunday craft-day

you know what's so fun?
not being in school. 
... seriously.
some people fantasize about cars, maids, jewelry, etc.

all i want is the chance to be a stay-at-home-pinterest-craft-making person.

and since i am not in school until next week [EEEK], i will do whatever i can to enjoy myself while i still have the chance.

so in the past few days, i've made two fun crafts!
both super easy, and suuuper cute.
if you've been to our apartment, you are well aware that we love our faces. people make fun of the fact that our walls are plastered with engagements, bridals, canvases, and frames galore. people think we are obsessed with ourselves. both of these crafts just fuel that fire.

1. the family: a proclamation to the world
i've seen this on pinterest a few times and i looooooooooooooove it.
i wasn't sure how to go about doing this. but i talked to one of our friends, who happens to be a art design major, and she gave me some ideas. basically, you have a picture of the proc. to the world, and a family picture and combine them.

i couldn't decide between a bridal or engagement photo, so i made one of both.

still deciding which one to frame in the apartment.
cute, right? i love it.

2. silhouettes.
i've wanted to do this for FOREVER!
and all of the necessary ingredients have conveniently fallen into my lap, so i couldn't say no. we have left over black paint from painting our table, my mom gave me two blank canvases for a "pinterest starter kit" (she's so cute), and okay i guess that's really all you need. we had paper, scissors, and i used an old make up brush for painting.

the hardest part of the whole process was getting a decent profile picture. we had all sorts of obstacles! laughs, bad posture, weird smiles, glasses, duck lips, etc. but those were overcome and we went with these two beauties:

i simply cut out the faces, and painted them black. don't judge my improv ponytail. i plan on having these silhouettes for a very long time, and my short hair for a very short time. they will match one day.

 laid them out overnight to dry.

got my canvases out.
died of anticipation.
and modge podged the crap out of them.

i am so happy with how they turned out. 

what do you think?

mini

my mom loves miniature things.

so naturally, i like them too.  

my coworkers think i'm crazy for squealing over this mini 6-pack of orbit gum. 

CUTE! 

and every time scotty and i are shoe shopping, i have to look at the little mini baby shoes. 

CUTE! 

and i really, really, really, want this little mini book of instagram prints. 

CUTE!

you get the point. 

so when i found this idea on pinterest for "mini pizza muffins" i about died. 

mini pepperonis. 

mini chocolate chips.

 bake at 425 for 10 mini minutes and viola: 

mini. pizza. muffins.

CUTE! 

i'm in love! 

happy 4th of july!

... 20 days later. 

listen. i know i'm late, but our independence day wasn't exactly "festive and blog worthy."

but then i thought to myself, how could i not document our first married 4th of july? 

what if i'm 85 years old and a little granddaughter sitting on my knee asks, "gramma, what did you and grandpa do to celebrate your first fourth of july as a married couple?" and i am forced sit there with furrowed brows, scratching my forehead trying to recall that historic event from decades and decades past? instead, i will pull out a very thick book compiled with all of my blog posts, flip right to july 2012, and read her this ancient account: 

for our first ever married fourth of july, scotty and i both had the day off of work. we could do whatever we wanted! we have passes to seven peaks burning a hole in our pockets, a pool in our apartment complex, friends and family galore. what did we do, you ask? 

well. we started off with a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and potatoes. scotty has been quite the experimental chef lately. we traveled off to home depot and target. (what kind of "day off" is it if you don't go to target?) and for the whole rest of the afternoon, we painted our dining room table. 

... and it looks great! 

it sure is a wonderful feeling to have matching things.  

we rented a movie, didn't see a single firework, and didn't even smell a bbq. 

it was a little unorthodox, i'll admit. 

but i also admit that sometimes you just need a catch-up day! 

i promise we love our country.