A day of cooking

So I'm trying to eat healthy and get rid of my Emma weight (and more) and one of the ways to do this is to definitely EAT AT HOME! It's hard, though, when I work all day and want to try to fit in the gym and just relax a little bit too.

We decided that crock pot cooking is the way to go!

It makes sure that we actually eat at home and then it's super easy because I don't have to spend 45 minutes to an hour before dinner cooking. I love it!

The first week we just tried a couple of meals. One of them was a crock pot soup that we done 100 times. I didn't freeze this one, but we did use the crock pot. It's a delicious recipe from the Taste of Homes cookbook.

Here are all of the ingredients for the Beef Vegetable Soup:

• 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups water
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (11-1/2 ounces) V8 juice
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 bay leaf

And here are the directions:

• In a nonstick skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in salt and pepper.
• Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 9-11 hours or until vegetables are tender. Discard bay leaf before serving. Yield: 7 servings.

I do everything the diced tomatoes and it tastes great! Sorry I don't have a picture to post of it.

The freezer meal I did this week was Hawaiian Chicken. I got it from this blog that I had pinned on Pinterest.

(4-5 servings)

• 2-3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ½  cup white sugar
• ½  cup vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• ½   cup of pineapple juice (use what’s in the can)
• ½  can of large pineapple chunks

Add all the ingredients to the bag. Cook 4-5 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low. Serve it over rice.

David's quote was somewhere along the times of the meal tasting better than it looks! LOL! It will stay in our menu rotation for future weeks.

Today I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen getting ready for this week. Here is our menu for the week.

Monday -- Crock pot chicken noodle soup

Tuesday -- Crock pot cilantro chicken with black beans and corn

Wednesday -- DIY

Thursday -- Eating out

Friday -- Crock pot chili

Saturday -- Tacos

And here are a few pictures of my afternoon adventures ... 

I'll let you know next week (or throughout this week) how the meals go.

P.S. Remember my post from during the summer about freezing the canned corn. Well it turns out it tastes wonderful! I actually used it in three of the recipes I made this week. Super great way to save some dough! Go Costco!