Crockpot Meatball Vegetable Soup

This was another recipe my family really enjoyed recently. I made it straight into the crockpot this time, since we had a happy baby window but not enough time to start prepping multiple meals for the freezer. Everything I have made ahead and frozen from The Family Freezer has turned out great. We had enough leftovers that it made sense to use our Souper Cubes to freeze a few portions, so we ate this twice in one week and had a couple cubes put up for later. Win! 

If you are making this non-dairy (like I did), be sure to check the meatballs carefully. There are many good options, but you have to check the labels. This would also be good vegetarian - use vegetable broth and meatless balls. ;) 

Crockpot Meatball Vegetable Soup

From: The Family Freezer
Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients

15oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
16oz bag of frozen peas and carrots

assorted other frozen vegetables if desired - I added some frozen spinach and green beans I wanted to use up
24oz jar marinara sauce
1 pound frozen meatballs
4 cups chicken broth (not needed until day of cooking)

To Freeze and Cook Later

1. Label your freezer bag.
2. Add all ingredients to your freezer bag (except chicken broth).
3. Seal and freeze for up to three months.

To Cook

1. Thaw overnight in fridge or in morning in water.
2. Add to crockpot with broth.
3. Cook on low setting for 4 hours in a 6-quart crockpot or 8 hours in a 4-quart crockpot.

Turkey Zucchini Alfredo Pasta

 I'm always looking for new ways to make non-dairy versions of classics. Today's research lead me to a vegan alfredo recipe. Some of the directions were a little suspect for how I know these ingredients to behave, so this is my take on it. I'm pairing my version with some ingredients that were bouncing around my brain (and my vegetable drawer.) 

Turkey Zucchini Alfredo Pasta

Ingredients: 

For the sauce

• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp plant based butter
• 1-2 cups chicken broth 
• 1/2 can coconut milk or cream
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional - makes it a little cheesy without the dairy or non cheese melting issues)
• 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional - gives the cheesiness a hint of smoked gouda) 

For the rest

• pasta (I used rigatoni) - about half the box, scale as needed
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced 
• 1-4 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• dried or fresh thyme, to taste
• 2 zucchini, grated 
• salt to taste

Directions:

If you're really doing good, you can do all three of these at the same time and get them on the table faster. 

1. In a pot, boil water and cook pasta according to package directions. 
2. In a pan, make a roux using the flour or tapioca starch and the plant-based butter. Use coconut cream or milk and water or chicken broth to get a runnier pasta sauce consistency. Mix in the milk and broth alternatingly a little at a time so that it has a chance to smooth out and you can stop before it is too runny. When basically done, add nutritional yeast and liquid smoke and stir well. 
3. In another larger pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil. Add onions and garlic and cook on medium or medium low for a few minutes. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking it up as you go.  Add thyme. Add zucchini. 
4. Finally, drain pasta and combine all three pans into one large serving bowl. You may want to spoon the turkey mix out of it's pan if the zucchini sweated and there is a lot of liquid in the pan. Toss to combine and serve! 

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

 With a new baby at home, I am currently all about the crockpot meals. Lots are make ahead and freeze friendly. As I try them I want to share what worked well and what I plan to improve on next time. With any luck I'll remember to come back and share how those modifications went. ;) 

If you are new to freezer meals or batch prepping them I highly recommend the blog that this recipe came from, The Family Freezer. I learned so much from their site and they have some really great PDFs with lots of meals already grouped with shopping lists included. I will not step on their toes by trying to mimic - this is purely so I can remember what I liked to use it again. 

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

from: The Family Freezer

• 1 pound of chicken breast
• 16oz bag of frozen fajita veggies (bell pepper and onions usually, I could only find ~14oz bags)
• fajita seasoning packet (I used this recipe and only did a tbsp - I will increase the amount next time)

Combine all ingredients either directly in your crockpot or in a freezer bag to store for later. Cook on low for 4-7 hours (4 is plenty, but I was cooking from frozen and started it when I had a calm and happy baby so it spent longer in the crockpot. 😂) 

If freezing: label the bag with what it is, how long to cook it, and what day you store it. Use it within three months for best results (not freezer-burned!)

I served this with tortillas, sour cream, and a side of beans. 

Next time I will double the seasoning and the veggies. We usually hold back on "whole packet of seasoning" directions but it really would have been more appropriate at this scale. Oops!