"Freezer Dump" Crockpot Meal Kits

[MaryIsobel]

Quick back story - a good friend of mine from my working days is suffering from some major health issues, one of which is excruciating back pain which makes standing for more than 2 or 3 minutes impossible. She lives with her sister who also has health problems, along with dimentia. They live in an apartment with only an apartment size fridge freezer. 

I have never been a fan of the crockpot but before she got sick, she used hers quite a bit. In looking for ideas, I came across "freezer dump" crockpot meals. Lovely name eh? Anyway, the idea is that you put a bunch of raw ingredients in freezer bags and freeze them. Thaw a bag overnight in the fridge and "dump" it in a crockpot in the morning. Seems doable for her. I shopped for whatever I needed yesterday, and this morning I started at about 10:00 and before noon, had 7 meals ready for the freezer. I just have to cook some rice (to which I will add frozen chopped broccoli) to freeze along with the chicken teryaki. I'll keep one bag of the stuffed pepper soup to try myself. Stapled to the soup bag is rice to add near the end of cooking and I kept the tortellini separate from the sauce so that it can be added after a couple of hours. I've made a document with instructions for each meal.

Edited July 25 by Smithy
Adjusted title for clarity (log)

[ElsieD]

What a wonderful idea.  Kudos to you!

[YvetteMT]

Very kind of you!

[MaryIsobel]

13 minutes ago, YvetteMT said:

Very kind of you!

It's my pleasure. She is the strongest woman I have ever met. Life seems determined to knock her down, but she goes throughit all with a smile and a positive attitude.

[Maison Rustique]

I love that!! As someone who has a very limited budget and health issues, I would love to get something like that. Instead of something that I need to find stuff to go with and cook from scratch.

 

[TdeV]

@MaryIsobel, these meals look brilliant! And I would love a friend like you. 🥰

 

Could you post a bit more description about this cooking method or a couple of links you've discovered? I think this could be an interesting avenue for some regular dinners.

 

 

 

Edited July 26 by TdeV
Clarity (log)

[Shelby]

What a thoughtful and kind thing to do!

[Shel_B]

Great idea!  Great friend!  Thanks so much for posting. 👍👍

[MaryIsobel]

14 hours ago, TdeV said:

@MaryIsobel, these meals look brilliant! And I would love a friend like you. 🥰

 

Could you post a bit more description about this cooking method or a couple of links you've discovered? I think this could be an interesting avenue for some regular dinners.

 

 

 

I first came across the idea on a Youtube video - I tend to watch youtube cooking videos in the wee hours when I can't sleep. There are lots of ideas out there, but once I got the jist of it, any crockpot recipe that starts with fresh ingredients can be adapted to this method. I avoided the ones with cream o something although for those who like that kind of thing, there are tons. My friend is waiting for a kidney transplant so I tried to keep sodium to a minimum. An example: https://www.ourthriftyideas.com/2016/05/freezer-prepped-crockpot-dump-meals.html

ETA: I shoudn't have said "any" recipe" as I skipped over anthing with raw potatoes or anything else that doesn't freeze well.

Edited July 27 by MaryIsobel (log)

[MaryIsobel]

8 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

I love that!! As someone who has a very limited budget and health issues, I would love to get something like that. Instead of something that I need to find stuff to go with and cook from scratch.

 

Well, when people ask you "what can I do?" direct them to this page. My friend's situation is exactly yours - health issues and limited buget

[TdeV]

@MaryIsobel, some queries:

- I'm very nervous about raw garlic and raw onion in that food bag. Does it skew the taste of the meal?

- What do you think about adding dried onion or dried garlic to the food bag?

- Why do you want to start with raw ingredients?

- Is the meal added frozen to the crock pot, or does one defrost it first?

TIA

[MaryIsobel]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

@MaryIsobel, some queries:

- I'm very nervous about raw garlic and raw onion in that food bag. Does it skew the taste of the meal?

- What do you think about adding dried onion or dried garlic to the food bag?

- Why do you want to start with raw ingredients?

- Is the meal added frozen to the crock pot, or does one defrost it first?

TIA

Raw garlic and raw onion get frozen with the meat so I doubt that they would have a chance to permeate the meat too much.

I suppose dried onion and garlic would work

You start with raw ingredients (or frozen chicken breast or thighs) because ifyou used cooked chicken, it would be overcookedafter crockpotting

Iti s advised that you thaw the bag in the fridge overnight.

[TdeV]

I just saw an intriguing Spicy Pork and Butternut Squash Ragu . . . which turned to want to start with cooked butternut squash going in the crockpot to start.

 

Darn confusing trying to interpret these recipes!

 

 

[MaryIsobel]

19 hours ago, TdeV said:

I just saw an intriguing Spicy Pork and Butternut Squash Ragu . . . which turned to want to start with cooked butternut squash going in the crockpot to start.

 

Darn confusing trying to interpret these recipes!

 

 

Hard vegetables do take a while in the crockpot. I don't see why you couldn't partially cook the squash and then freeze it with the other components.

[MaryIsobel]

Delivered the crockpot dump meals to my friend today. She honestly cried when I gave them to her and admitted that she has been living on canned soup, toast and cereal for the last couple of months. Told her to let me know when they were done and I will bring more. She is in such pain, it hurts my heart. Such a simple thing for me to do that will make her life better.

Edited July 29 by MaryIsobel (log)

[curls]

4 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Delivered the crockpot dump meals to my friend today. She honestly cried when I gave them to her and admitted that she has been living on canned soup, toast and cereal for the last couple of months. Told her to let me know when they were done and I will bring more. She is in such pain, it hurts my heart. Such a simple thing for me to do that will make her life better.

Such a mitzvah. I need to remember these frozen crock pot meals if there comes a time when I can help a friend.

[ElsieD]

My SIL's husband is in the final throes of cancer and is bedridden.  She has Parkinson's and has some trouble getting around.  My husband went to help them out for a few days before this topic came up but it is such a wonderful idea I'm going to do this for her next time he/we go there.  For this trip he had made a couple of meat loaves which I sliced and vacuum packed in serving size portions and put together a complete kit for Thai basil chicken which he cooked up for one of their dinners.  I also sent along 3 different kinds of cookies.  But this - crockpot dump meals is pure genius.  @MaryIsobel thanks for starting this topic.  I would never have thought of it on my own.

[MaryIsobel]

57 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

My SIL's husband is in the final throes of cancer and is bedridden.  She has Parkinson's and has some trouble getting around.  My husband went to help them out for a few days before this topic came up but it is such a wonderful idea I'm going to do this for her next time he/we go there.  For this trip he had made a couple of meat loaves which I sliced and vacuum packed in serving size portions and put together a complete kit for Thai basil chicken which he cooked up for one of their dinners.  I also sent along 3 different kinds of cookies.  But this - crockpot dump meals is pure genius.  @MaryIsobel thanks for starting this topic.  I would never have thought of it on my own.

I'm happy you found it useful. It's new to me and I too thought that it was a great idea. Simple for one to do and simple for the recipient. On my way home from dropping the meals off, I remebered that my daughters use silicone liners in their crockpots and that had I included one, she wouldn't even have to deal with lifting and washing her crockpot insert. I'll order one from the Big A and have it delivered to her.

[ElsieD]

On 7/30/2024 at 12:16 AM, MaryIsobel said:

I'm happy you found it useful. It's new to me and I too thought that it was a great idea. Simple for one to do and simple for the recipient. On my way home from dropping the meals off, I remebered that my daughters use silicone liners in their crockpots and that had I included one, she wouldn't even have to deal with lifting and washing her crockpot insert. I'll order one from the Big A and have it delivered to her.

 

The other option would be slow cooker roasting bags.  Then there would be nothing to clean up.