Like most, we are a busy family living on a budget! Therefore, we try and use crockpot meals as much as possible to make it possible for us to eat at home. Luckily, I don’t have picky eaters!
One of the things I do to manage our busy schedule is to pre-assemble freezer crockpot kits. The basic concept is you dump a lot of the ingredients in the zip lock bag, lay it flat and freeze it, then thaw over night in the refrigerator when you’re ready to eat and then you just dump the bag in the crockpot on the way out the door and dinner awaits!
I’ve found it works best for our family if we put the meal in the crockpot on high at around 4:00 when we get home from work. We usually have Taekwondo at 4:30 and either swimming at 5:15 or basketball at 5:00. I stage the crockpot, dishes and ingredients the night before so when it’s the 4:00 hussle – walk in, get them ready and out the door – all I have to do is pull out a ziplock bag and dump it in the crockpot. When we get home at 6:00 with hungry kids, dinner will be on the table by 6:15.
This Chicken Broccoli Fettucini is a family favorite! Give it a try as I’ m sure it’ll make your meal rotation list.
INGREDIENTS:
2 jars of Bertolli Alfredo Sauce
1.5 pounds of raw chicken breasts
1 package of Fettucine noodles
1 package of frozen broccoli
1 package of frozen garlic bread
DIRECTIONS:
MAKE TODAY INSTRUCITONS:
- Put the raw chicken and two jars of sauce in the crockpot.
- Cook in the crockpot until the chicken is done. The cooking time varies per crockpot. For mine, I can usually do the chicken in two and a half hours on high if it’s not too thick or four to five hours on low.
- About 30 minutes before dinner time, start the pasta. Meanwhile, microwave the frozen broccoli to steam it and bake the frozen bread per package instrucitons.
- Serve up everyone’s plate and sit down to enjoy a quick, inexpensive family meal.
- Package leftovers in an 8×8 pan and top with mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese. Cover the pan in tin foil and label to bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot.
FREEZER PREP INSTRUCTIONS:
- Label a gallon ziplock bag – Chicken Fettucine Alfredo. Crockpot 4-5 hours on low. Shred Chicken. Make Pasta, bread and broccoli.
- Dump the two jars of sauce into the ziplock bag and add the raw chicken. Really, that’s it.
- Lay the bag flat and freeze.
- When you’re ready, pull the crockpot kit out of the freezer and thaw in the fridge overnight until it’s time to dump it in the crockpot.
- When the chicken is done cooking, simply make the pasta, shred the chicken, steam the broccoli and bake the bread. You’ll have dinner on the table 15 minutes after you get home!
This is a budget friendly family meal. As of November 2019, the cost for the ingredients at Walmart with no coupons was as follows:
2 jars of Bertolli Alfredo Sauce – $3.94
1 bag of frozen broccoli – $1.00
Garlic Toast – $2.42
Pasta – $1.28
1.5 pounds of chicken – $2.67
The total for two meals is $11.31. I bought name brand, but if you purchase generic and/or use coupons, you can easily get this under $5 per meal.
If you love this recipe, be sure to try at some of these:
Great idea!