Freezer Meal Crockpot Hawaiian Haystacks Good Works Experience

Teach your youth to do good works by helping them to make family dinner with this yummy crockpot Hawaiian Haystacks freezer dinner. Turn it into a fun Family Home Evening activity or LDS Youth activity with these easy lesson ideas.

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Haystacks

I don't know why it is but I HATE to make dinner in the summer.  I'm not sure if it's because we've been playing all day and then I have to actually work...or maybe it's the heat that saps all my energy and my willpower to do anything...or maybe it's just cooking the same things over and over that kills my desire to do it again.

Who knows?

I'm so glad to have my slow cooker to save me on days like that.  It's so nice to be able to throw everything into the cooker early in the day when I still have my energy and not worry about it again until it's just about ready to eat.  Plus, the lack of having to turn the oven on to heat my house up even more is an extra bonus that I love.

In case you're like me and dragging yourself into the remaining days of summer, here's an easy slow cooker recipe that tastes great and will have your kids sliding up to the table to eat on the first "dinner" call.

Start with one small frozen chicken breast per person.  (Since Mini Me and Dardevil don't eat that much, I only put one in for the two of them to share.) Throw your chicken into the slow cooker.

Depending upon how much work you want to do, you can either use canned Chicken gravy or make your own.  I like to make mine since it's not that much extra work and is ALOT cheaper than the canned stuff.

If you're making your own, I used McCormick Premium Poultry Gravy and make 5 servings worth of gravy for 6 chicken breasts.  If you're making less for a smaller family, then adjust accordingly.

Add your water and gravy mix to a sauce pan, mix well and heat to boiling.  Once boiling, lower your heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes.  I did about five minutes since it would be simmering in the slow cooker all day anyway.

Dump your gravy mix on top of the frozen chicken breasts.  You'll want the chicken to be mostly covered by the gravy mix. Cook on low for 6 hours.

When you are about ready for dinner, cook enough rice to feed your family.  (Ours eats about three cups at a meal.)

Uncover your chicken and use a sharp spatula to shred your chicken into pieces.  You really won't be able to see your chicken at first, so just start chopping that spatula into the gravy (but be careful because it's hot!)  As you shred the chicken, you'll be able to mix it and see the larger pieces that need to be chopped a little more.

Once your chicken and rice are ready, assemble any other ingredients that you might enjoy in your meal.  One of the great things about this dinner is that it is versitile and each person can make the meal to their own tastes.  Our basic ingredients are usually chunk pineapple, chinese noodles, olives, green onions, shredded cheese, and coconut.  You can add whatever you like, however you like it.

To make your meal, start adding your ingredients to your plate.  The meal gets it's name from the building of the ingredients upwards into a haystack shape.  I like to have the chinese noodles, alot of rice, shredded cheese, and then chicken on top.

Daredevil likes his with olives, while Mini Me likes his with just rice and chicken.

I Dear Hubby adds everything except the kitchen sink.  So feel free to get experimental and enjoy.

A Year of Crockpotting?

As I close this week of crock pot recipes, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite food blogs for crock pot ideas.  Stephanie decided to spend a whole year cooking all of her family's dinner in the crock pot.  (I can't even begin to image trying that!) 

She shared all of her recipes and experiences on her blog A Year of Slow Cooking.

I don't know how she came up with so many different recipes, but can't wait to try some of them out.

Did you know that you could make fried rice in your slow cooker?  I didn't. This is probably one of my most favoritest meals in the whole world and I can't wait to try it.  (We're actually going to give it a go tonight for dinner!)  

Dear Hubby LOVES his applesauce.  He and The Perfectionist eat it every night after dinner.  I guess it's like Paul Blart "Mall Cop" said it just kinda fills the cracks in the heart...or in this case the stomach.  Someday I'm going to give this Applesauce Chicken recipe a go.

Since we are still Texans at heart, this Taco soup should be a big hit with everyone in my family.  I can't wait to try it on a crisp fall Saturday after being at the boys' football games all day.  That's my idea of perfection!

If you are into Slow cooking even an itsy, bitsy bit, I HIGHLY recommend checking out Stephanie's blog A Year of Slow Cooking. You'll find yourself printing and pinning a TON of yummy crock pot recipes!

Crock Pot Mushroom Hamburger Recipe

Sometimes when you are part of a family, you have to eat things that you wouldn't necessarily choose if you were by yourself.  It's one of those things you do to show your children how to be polite when they are at someone else's house eating dinner and they have something "gross".  I feel that way with pasta.  My kids all know it.  I don't hate it, it's just not something I would choose if I could have anything in the world that I wanted.

This is one of those meals, that I have kept secret that I don't really care for.  My kids ABSOLUTELY love it and would have it much more often if I were a "good" mom.  I like it because it's easy and I can have it with rice.  (I will eat anything if it's on a bed of rice...YUM!)

It's also one of those meals that doesn't take much prep time because I can use things right out of the freezer and pantry.

Ingredients:

2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 can Milk

Hamburger Patties (we have to have 2 per person, it's that Good!)

I usually buy the big boxes of Hamburger patties from Walmart so that we always have this meal on hand.  It makes it pretty easy to just drop a bunch of patties in the crock pot.  Depending upon how high a fat content you purchase can effect this meal.  Sometimes with the cheaper stuff, I have a layer of fat on top of the meal when I go to serve it.  Just skim that off if you want.

Add your favorite seasonings to the top of the patties.

Add a 1/2 can of milk to 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup.  Mix it up good with a wire wisk.  Be sure to mix carefully since the milk has a tendency to splash up. (Is that just me?)

Pour the mushroom soup mixture over your hamburger patties.

Cook for 8 hours on low.  

Serve over rice with your favorite sides.

Pinning Your Dinner

It's a cold, rainy day here in Colorado.  A pretty rare occurrence.  It's the kind of day you want to curl up in a blanket with a good book and have your crock pot cranking out homey, yummy smells for dinner. 

Or maybe you're wishing you were home working hard at pinning away a good dinner.  After all, if you've pinned the recipe on Pinterest, it's almost like you made it right?

Here are a few favorites that I can't wait to try from my Crock Pot Recipe Pinterest board.

Barbecue Ribs in the Crock Pot by Team Hess

Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin by Recipes We Love

Crock Pot Philly Cheesesteak Soup by A Year of Slow Cooking

and how about dessert while you're at it?

Crock Pot Peanut Butter Cup Cake by Cookies and Cups

Check me out on Pinterest for more great recipes and party ideas!

Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken Recipe

When I was little, I remember one of my favorite parts of my birthday was going out to lunch with my parents and then picking what I wanted for dinner.  I felt so "Big" and "in control" that I got to pick what ever I wanted to eat that day.  

Now that I'm an adult, picking what to eat every day is TORTURE.  What I wouldn't give some days for someone else to pick what we are going to eat.  I don't mind cooking, I just hate to pick what to eat.

For those days, I like to fall back on my childhood favorite...Hawaiian Chicken.   I remember my mom cooking it in the oven and it would make the whole house smell wonderful for the hour it cooked.  I don't know if my crock pot version is better or worse now.  It's A LOT easier than the oven version since I usually prepare and freeze everything before hand and then just throw it in the pot that morning, but it's a lot worse in that I get to smell the aroma ALL day.

I know this is the UGLIEST picture EVER of a recipe, but I wanted to show it to you to prove that I just throw it directly in the crock pot from the freezer and that it's so yummy that I forgot to take a picture of it done and on my plate.  (Maybe next time we have it, I'll update this post with a pretty picture.  Then you'll be sorry you asked because it will TOTALLY tempt you into making it!)

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (I usually use about 1 per person.)

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Apple Vinegar

4 TBSP Cornstarch

1 cup Ketchup

2 TBSP Chili Powder

1 small can Crushed Pineapple

Directions:

Place chicken breast into the crock pot.

Mix all other ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Pour sauce on to the chicken.

Cook for 8 hours on low.  Serve over rice with your favorite sides.

If you are looking to freeze this for extra easy preparation, place your chicken into a freezer safe zip top bag and pour the sauce on top.  It's a good idea to perhaps freeze it in your pot so that it will fit without you having to saw and hammer at the block of chicken to make it fit in the crock pot.  (Not that this has ever happened to me...I'm just saying. )

I hope you enjoy it.  And "your welcome" for not having to figure out what to cook for dinner on one of those crazy party, sports, or activity nights!

Crock Pot Ham Recipe

Sometimes the hardest part of planning and executing a party (at least for me) is the hours leading up to the party when you are in full panic mode and your family is clammoring for something to eat.  It's hard to want to drop everything your doing and make dinner and you don't want to blow your budget on a few pizzas that end up costing $30.00!

That's when I am grateful for my crock pot!  I don't know who invented this wonderful machine, but I love mine.  My love affair is kinda funny when I think about it.  When Dear Hubby and I first got married, we must have been given 3 or 4 crock pot.  At the time, I had no idea what a wonderful, priceless gift this was, so I eventually gave them all away.  GASP!

It wasn't until years later when I became a busy mother of kids in drama, sports, school, and church activities that I discovered the joy of crock pot cooking.  And I loved that I could turn my family's favorite meals into easy crock pot dinners.

This week, I'm going to share a few of my favorite recipes in the hopes that it will help ease your party preparations and give you a few new yummy meals to try out!

We love a good ham at my house, but when I cook it in the oven, it has the tendency to dry out a little.  It's still good, expecially dipped in applesauce, but this Ham Crock Pot Recipe is a definite easy favorite.

Ingredients: 

Hormel Black Label Ham

1 small can crushed pineapple

1/4 cup brown sugar

In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and pineapple.

I always spray my crock pot with cooking spray to help the pot clean easier after a long day of cooking.

Place your ham in the center of the pot.

Pour your pineapple and sugar mixture over the crock pot.

Cook on low for 6 hours.

Serve with a yummy baked potato or favorite side.

Did I mention that I recommend applesauce?

YUM!!