Freezable Meals: First Recipe

As promised, I am beginning to share some of the freezable meals I'm trying that our family loves! This first month of planning our meals ahead and having a good chunk of the meals already prepared and in the freezer made my life so much easier! I am already planning my grocery list for the month of July and have some new recipes on my list to try. It really is well worth the time it takes to organize and plan ahead. My afternoons run much more smoothly, allowing more time during nap time for "fun stuff" instead of coming up with a good plan for dinner.

Please let me know if you try these, how it works for your family, and if you have any meal planning/freezing tips for me.

This first recipe below was simply delicious! It came from our Pastor's wife in South Carolina who got me started with this meal planning/freezing thing in the first place. She's just awesome like that! :-) I love the fact that this one is cooked in a crock pot. Crock pots are great inventions for us mothers. If you don't take advantage of yours, you're really missing out! I get all my ingredients prepared and started in the morning while feeding the girls their breakfast and then we get to enjoy the aromas all day long!

~Peanut Butter Pork Roast ~

1.5-2lbs pork tenderloin (see my note below)

1 onion, sliced in rings

1/4 cup soy sauce (I put a little teriyaki sauce in too)

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)

3 tablespoons water

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (garnish; optional)

1 lime, cut in wedges

cilantro (optional)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Use a 4-6 quart crockpot. Put onion slices into the bottom of your crockpot.

Put the pork on top. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic,

and peanut butter. No need to stir--the peanut butter needs to melt before

you can do so. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-6. The

pork will be more tender the longer you cook it. 1 hour before serving,

flip the meat over in the crockpot to allow the other side to soak up the

peanutbuttery goodness. Garnish with chopped peanuts, and serve with

lime wedges and cilantro. The lime juice mixed with the peanut butter is

delicious.

Notes: I used a 4lb. Boneless pork loin roast and doubled the sauce.

I cooked it for 9 hours on low and it was perfect. I slightly shredded the

pork. We eat it over jasmine rice or brown rice, and we love the

lime juice squeezed all over it. It makes enough for 3 meals for our family.

Freeze cooked pork with sauce in Ziplocs. Freeze your cooked rice next to

it. Thaw, reheat in oven or microwave. Serve hot!