here's our 5* recipes so far in case anyone is interested 5* Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken. (low 4-6 hrs) 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or more) 1 can Italian style diced tomatoes ¾ c jarred pasta sauce 1 Tbsp minced garlic (or jarred) ¾ c heavy cream 2 Tbsp cornstarch (mixed in the cream) ½ tsp basil 1 tsp salt ½ tsp pepper (Serve over 8 oz. angel hair pasta) 5* Tuscan Tortellini soup (high 5-6 hrs +½ ) 3 lg boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 (32 oz) box chicken broth 2 cans diced tomatoes 1 onion diced (or frozen) 1 Tbsp minced garlic (or jarred) 1 c heavy cream ½ c grated parmesan cheese 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper Shred chicken and add: 16 oz tortellini pasta (Aldi’s is shelf stable & good) 2 cups fresh spinach Cook for 30 mins. more 5* Slow cooker Chicken & Gravy (low 6 hrs) 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 2 cans Cream of Chicken soup 1 Tbsp Ranch seasoning ½ packet brown gravy mix *ADD ¾ c water to the crockpot* (Serve over mashed potatoes) 5* Mexican Cheese Soup. (low 4-5) 1# ground beef 1 sm onion chopped (or frozen) 3 Tbsp taco seasoning (browned, drained, and cooled) 1½ # Velveeta (half brick) 8.5 oz can corn 1 can Rotel (regular or mild) 1 can red kidney beans 1 can stewed tomatoes 5* Creamy Italian Chicken (low 6 hrs) (double recipe next time to equal a 16 oz bag egg noodles, will have leftovers) 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 packet zesty Italian dressing seasoning 4 oz Cream cheese 1 can cream of chicken soup (Serve over 8 oz. egg noodles)

This is so smart Jaime! 🤩 This can look intimidating to people at first but if you make a plan, gather the ingredients, prep everything and finally fill the freezer bags, you have 10 worry free meals ready to throw into the cooking vessel! Forming the contents in the freezer bags is also very smart! 😘 The first time you get ready to cook a meal, you can't get it out of the bag because it's a solid frozen clump. Then you have to cut the bag and try to pry the frozen mass away from the bag! 😋 You've figured this out and now form the contents so they can be removed easily! 🤗 Your pressure cooker is a crockpot too. The great thing about that is being able to cook your meals using either setting! I once took a whole chicken out of the freezer and put it directly into my pressure cooker (still frozen) and didn't have to thaw it before cooking! It's the same with the crockpot. Those two cooking vessels are perfect for frozen meals! I love that you used chicken thighs! Not only are you going to have more flavor but the thighs are more forgiving and can cook longer. The more you do meal prep, the more tips and tricks you learn for making it easier! When I was doing massive meal prep, I was cooking everything then putting single servings in a container to take to work. I would spend part of a weekend preparing the meals and would end up with 25-30 lunches that I immediately froze. Each night I would take out a container and put it in the fridge to start thawing. By lunchtime, the meal was ready to heat up. Whether you do freezer meals or completely cooked meals, it's best to have a plan! I used to get the big package of ground meat from Sam's to make a lot of my meals. At that time, the package was about $15 and I could get 15-20 meals out of it. I know it costs a little more now but it's still something to consider. When I started prepping the meals, I would put the whole package of ground meat into the crockpot. I would stir it occasionally and it would cook completely in the crockpot. While it was cooking, I prepared other ingredients of the meals. When the ground meat was finished cooking, I would drain it and divide it for the different meals. I didn't have a pressure cooker at first but I had it in the last couple of years of meal prepping. Talk about a time saver! I think the hardest part of meal prepping is the price of everything today. Buying a protein is the most expensive part of it. That's why you have to shop smart too! The whole thing is a process and you have to approach it with planning. You already have your grocery budget worked out Jaime! And that's the first part of the equation! Shopping smart is a necessity these days! I've been staying with my sister for about 3 months now. She's doing better but still needs someone with her. She hasn't driven since probably November and I take her to physical therapy twice a week. I also take her to appointments, the grocery store and anywhere else she needs to go. The biggest problem we have is our meals. We don't eat at the same time and we don't always eat the same thing. That makes meal planning difficult most of the time. We've gotten some frozen dinners and the other day she said she didn't care for them. The other day she said she didn't mind cooking but was unsure of what to cook. We'll make something but she doesn't care for leftovers. We'll have prepared food in the fridge and she'll throw it out because she's tired of eating it. Yesterday was her birthday and two of her sons gave her a combination toaster, convection oven with a rotisserie and air fryer. I'm sure it does something else but I haven't read the instruction book yet. I've been sending her air fryer recipes for a while now so hopefully this new contraption can help us with some meals! Her two sons took us to lunch one day this week and we went to her niece's house the next evening. We had Mexican food both times and her oldest son brought chicken fajitas last night. We've had Mexican food about 4 times this week and it isn't over yet! But we've had something different every time. We also met with my best friend on Tuesday and we had Italian food! So we've been taken out for meals a lot this week because of her birthday. She's going to another friend's house Saturday and they're having Mexican food too! But next week we're back to reality and have to figure out what we're going to eat. One thing we'll be having soon is ham and sweet potatoes and we'll figure out the rest when we get there. Now I'm getting hungry just talking about food. It's almost 4:30 am and I'm thinking about a nice bowl of MaltOMeal. I went to the doctor yesterday because I still have a cold after a month. I'll be starting some new medication and I have to eat with it. My sister said she didn't care for MaltOMeal but she cooked some and she really liked it. We're even adding flaxseed to it when we cook it! I feel like I've been rambling on for hours! But I woke up with a coughing spell. So I got up and looked at my phone and found your new video! The doctor gave me an inhaler to help get me through a round of coughing So I'll either go back to bed or make MaltOMeal! And I'll say goodnight or good morning! Thanks for sharing another great video! 🥰

That is such a good idea to prepare 2 of each recipe while you're there. I've been doing one of each and it seems to take up most of my one day off per week. Hubby got tired of all the different recipes that just weren't "out thing" as we are in the Midwest we really are used to eating good if you catch my drift. So I created a google doc and ranked each recipe I've tried from 5* on down to 3*. I've only recently started making freezer meals again and made our top four. He's so far he's going for it again. LOL I'm going to try your trick of making 2 freezer bags of each recipe next time though. That's pretty smart. Good Job and thank you for helping us!

New year new lower budget goals. Thanks for the video😊

What great meal ideas! Thanks Jamie!

Thanks for sharing your freezer meals. Would love to see more.

Your recipes and ideas are awesome. I’m always looking for new crock pot recipes and all seem delicious. Thank you for the video. ❤

Love these ideas, thanks

Awesome video Jaime! Thank you!

Thank you great video simple instructions deliscious meals x

Love the freezer ideas!

These look great, Jaime! Thanks for the plan :)

Jaime and family have a great day have fun thanks from Oklahoma

Those meals look fantastic!

Isn’t it so frustrating that you even have to mention cleaning down surfaces and washing hands etc, but there’s always someone in the comments section making idiotic/rude comments

This is how I like to cook too.

❤you are very organized ❤

Great video ❤

Hi Jamie 👋 Have you ever made Chicken and bean cabbage Soup? If you have Could you please provide your recipe? I have been craving cabbage lately.

I was wondering, How long do you cook them for--COOKTIME???

Do you always slow cook those freezer meals or do you use the pressure cooker function as well? I like to just dump meals frozen into the pressure cooker and cook from there. I've never tried no cook frozen meals (always cooked all the way then frozen) but I will give this a go for sure. It sounds like a good way to save on prepping time! Thanks

Love your video! Please clear up something for me. I noticed that you freezed the chicken a second time. I was told never do it because it is unsafe to eat. Is this an “an old wives tale?” 😂

Be careful cause if you have freezer your chicken and let it defrost you can't refreeze the chicken

Am I correct in understanding that you took partly defrosted chicken thighs mixed them with your sauces and then refroze them......... without cooking the meat first? 😮 I was allows told that you CANNOT refreeze uncooked meat..........

contaminated bags