I recently had the opportunity to take a girls’ trip to Mexico to celebrate a friend’s 40th. My amazingly generous husband was willing to take the reins and manage the kids and the house all on his own for 5 days.
So I vowed to make this week away as easy for him as possible. I found a nanny to help with all the pickups and dropoffs. I wrote out the daily schedule of all of the after-school activities, and put the dog in the kennel.
The biggest aspect of being away that needed to be addressed was DINNER. Figuring out what to make each night and having to cook it can be a bit daunting if you’re not used to it.
So I spent the weekend before my trip getting the groceries, prepping slow-cooker meals, labeling, and freezing them. I made sure to include reminders on the schedule to take out the freezer bags of food the night before, so they could have time to thaw.
Through Pinterest, I found The Krazy Coupon Lady and her list of crock-pot meals here.
For the first night, I had bought pre-made Caprese Chicken and salad from Wegmans that simply bakes for 25 mins. Then, the slow-food extravaganza began! The schedule looked something like this:
Tuesday-Cook: Caprese chicken in oven + premade salad, take out casserole to thaw for tomorrow
Wednesday- Put Western Beef Casserole (low for 4 hours) in slow cooker. Thaw stew for tomorrow.
Thursday-Put stew + veg stock in crock pot 8 hrs on low for Mushroom Barley Stew
Friday- Put Sausage Spinach Tomato Soup in slow cooker for 8hrs on low. Thaw Pork Tenderloins for tomorrow (out of fridge)
Saturday-Put Pork Tenderloins in slow-cooker 4-5 Hrs on low.
Last but not least, don’t forget to use Crock-Pot liners! These will save a lot of time and energy as the crock-pot won’t have to be cleaned out every single night before prepping for the next day. I use these:
Fortunate Femme 