Football, church, school fundraisers, meet the teacher nights, and Fall festivals…..these are just some of the things that can keep us from getting a meal on the table in a timely manner. Last school year, I took full advantage of my Crock-Pot, and you should too! I have two big crock-pots and honestly, because you can get slow cookers at such a low price from walmart, it’s worth the investment. $20 bucks is all you need for a 7quart crock-pot and for a little more, you can buy some cool cook-n-carry slow cookers.
I think a lot of people don’t realize just how much you can make in a slow cooker. When I called for ideas on my facebook page, I was pleasantly surprised at all the different recipe ideas. And the best thing of all? They were super easy! Being able to dump everything into your Crock-Pot is just simple and great for us lazy folks!
MEAL PLAN Y’ALL!
One of the best ways to save money, is to meal plan. Take a few minutes to create a meal plan. Sit down and write up a weeknight meal plan. If you’d like a printable, you can download the weeknight meal planner that I made for myself. There are 5 rows for the 5 days of the week. The columns include recipe, ingredients, instructions, and need to buy.
With a slow cooker, you can pre-cut and pre-make baggies full of veggies and meats and store them in the freezer until ready to use. You basically spend a couple of hours cutting up and bagging everything and man, it makes cooking even easier during the our busy weekday schedule.
One of my most popular slow cooker meals is my friend Cyree’s All-in-One meal. It’s a super handy way to have a meal that’s not all mixed together but is cooked in one crock-pot. Absolutely delicious!
And for more crock-pot inspiration….
My Cowboy’s Slow Cooked Beans (LOVE THEM)
And Tater soup! Perfect for the cooler weather.
Finally, I plan on trying this recipe out. If you have one you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about it.
BAYOU GUMBO
- 3 tablespoons Pillsbury Best All Purpose Flour
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1/2 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 2 cups frozen cut okra
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (12-ounce) package frozen shelled deveined cooked medium shrimp, rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked regular long-grain white rice
- 3 cups water
In small saucepan, combine flour and oil; mix well. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until mixture turns reddish brown. Place flour-oil mixture in 3 1/2 to 4 quart Slow Cooker. Stir in all remaining ingredients except shrimp, rice and water. Cover; cook on low setting for 7-9 hours. When ready to serve, cook rice in water as directed on package. Meanwhile, add shrimp to gumbo mixture in slow cooker/Crock Pot; mix well. Cover; cook on low setting for additional 20 minutes. Serve gumbo over rice. Makes 6 servings.
Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. Opinions are my own, always.
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