Whole30 Crockpot Dump Meals

[KatyJ]

I am about to start my second round of Whole30, and want some advice about easy crockpot meals to make ahead of time and freeze to help cut down on meal prep time during the week. 

I am a second year law student with a part time job, which means my time is at a premium. Last time I did Whole30 it was during the summer and I was working normal business hours, which allowed me enough time to cook more during the week and not meal prep as much. Starting Whole30 again during the semester is going to be a much bigger challenge for me, and I am looking to prepare as many compliant freezer meals as I possibly can so that I can stay strong during the 30 days without compromising my grades, my sleep, or my sanity.

Please share any recipes you use, or know of that might help me have the best Whole30 I can. I tried looking up other crockpot meals and then adjusting the recipes to make them Whole30, but it seems like every one requires non compliant food as an essential ingredient, or asks for a cup or more of sugar. All help is very much appreciated.

[slc_melissa]

You can look at:

https://onceamonthmeals.com/menus/winter-paleo-freezer-menu-vol-1/

But they are generically paleo, which doesn't automatically make them Whole 30, so always read ingredients.

Or do some searching on the forum.

Are you looking to make meals in the crock pot, then freeze them cooked, or assemble the parts of the meal to put into the crockpot the day you want to eat it?

[KatyJ]

Thank you so much, I will look over the recipes and see what I can use, or tweak to make Whole30. I am looking for meals I can assemble and then freeze to thaw before throwing in the slow cooker later.

[slc_melissa]

I generally cook meals, then freeze and re-heat, so I'm not as familiar with the freeze-first, cook-later method.  But I've definitely assembled bags of frozen vegetables.  

Some things I've done that could be similar:

Thai-ish Curry: A daub of curry paste (1 T?  2 T? how spicy do you like it?).  Watch ingredients.  I like the Green paste from Mae Ploy brand.

2 cans coconut milk, or 1 can + broth/water

A couple packages of frozen vegetables.  (I like frozen sweet potatoes, frozen mixed bell peppers, generic "Stir-fry" vegetables, but watch out for legumes/baby corn in those mixes.)

1 Can of bamboo shoots (Any asian markets near you?  Go there.)

I tend to add 2-3 small cans of salmon in the last 30 min. or so of cooking, just to heat through, but I feel like adding frozen chicken thighs at the beginning would also work.  Or sliced beef.

 

[lhutch633]

I love the New Leaf Wellness site.  Lots of Whole Food and Paleo Crock Pot freezer recipes with many being whole 30 compliant. 

http://newleafwellness.biz/2016/10/25/31-paleo-crockpot-freezer-meals/

[Guest]

following with interest - falling in love with my slow cooker!

[aprilb]

I get it! I'm going to be trying a few of these in the next week or so. http://www.lifemadefull.com/august-paleo-freezer-meals/ I think only two of them have some sugar added, but it is minimal and not a "focal point" ingredient.

[Samm]

I found a lot of really delicious Whole30 crockpot recipes from an ebook from The Real Food Dietitians. Yes you have to sign up for their newsletter, but the ebook has some pretty yummy recipes and I enjoy the newsletters. Here's their whole 30 recipe page, but if you scroll to the bottom, that's where you can get the ebook.  http://therealfoodrds.com/category/whole-30-friendly/ I make the Chicken Chile Verde at least once a week because it's such simple ingredients and delicious. The Pumpkin Chili was also amazing! 

[NoMoreCrunchyCravings]

I don't prepare foods to freeze prior to cooking, I also do the cook first-freeze later method and reheat my meals from tupperwares that I portion into and set up to have ready. 

I don't really use recipes either, so alot of my crockpot meals tend to look the same - like nondescript hearty vegetable protein stew. But I use different veggies and proteins each time, and different dried spices, so they may look the same, but they taste different. 

The general recipe is one very large chopped onion, two or three chopped carrots, two or three chopped ribs of celery, some roughly chopped garlic, a chopped zucchini or two, chopped green pepper, chopped fresh tomatoes if I have them, canned stewed whole tomatoes that I smush and rip apart with my hands otherwise, and either a big hunk of beef/pork/venison or several chicken thighs (skin on or off, bone in or out). If there's not enough liquid from the veggies themselves, I add some water and then dried herbs/spices (fresh ground black pepper, garlic and onion powders, cumin, curry powder, whatever I feel like grabbing.). Then cook it all on low for 8 hours of longer and the protein falls apart and the veggies stew and it's so tasty. 

Yum!