For December, I challenged myself only to use my slow cooker for the entire month. Why? It was taking up space in my storage unit, and it sat there for three years without being used. That said, I also knew that it could possibly save me time and make my life a little bit easier.
I do my shopping on Sundays for the entire week, and I was able to spend less than $100 every time.
There are a lot of things I learned from completing this challenge, but here are some things that really surprised me.
- Shopping from what you have at home REALLY does save you money. I have been shopping my freezer and pantry FIRST before creating my Crockpot meal plan. I then decide what recipes I want to make based on what I have at home. I focus on meats, as that's one of the most expensive ingredients in any recipe.
- Slow cooker meals save time. Oh, yes! I can't tell you how good it feels to have dinner done in the morning. This frees up my evenings to spend more time with my son or to find a little time to relax for myself. The gift of time is absolutely priceless.
- Slow cooker meals don't all taste the same. I went into this journey, thinking that I would get bored with the food selection. I was wrong. I was able to find such a huge selection of recipes from all types of sources, like Pinterest, Magazines, and cookbooks.
- Each recipe made a lot of food, which provided me with a lot of leftovers. This was great because I didn't have to spend a lot of money on lunch supplies, and it gave us plenty of food for extra dinners on the nights I didn't feel like cooking. If you are going to do a monthly meal plan of slow cooker meals and you have a smaller family, I highly recommend that you plan for leftover days, so food doesn't go to waste.
- Have a planned grocery shopping list! Use this list to see if any of the ingredients you are going to buy are on sale or can be substituted for ones that are on sale. The apps I currently LOVE using are Ibotta, Walmart Savings Catcher, Ebates / Rakuten, Fetch Rewards, and the Krazy Coupon Lady.
I spent a total of $294.25 on groceries and $125.38 on eating out in December. That brings my total food spending to $419.63. Every month, I allocate $400 to my food budget, and I use the cash in my food envelope for eating out and grocery trips. I have a small family, just my son, my boyfriend, and myself. Though I was over my food budget by $19, I ate out more than usual due to dinner with friends for the holidays. When it came to my grocery hauls, I actually saved money.
Here is a breakdown of my entire month's worth of meal plans and the slow cooker recipes that I decided to try.
If you would like a free copy of the Weekly Meal Plan printables you see in this post, make sure to check out my Free Resource Library!
DECEMBER (WEEK 1st – 7th)
- 12/1: Non-Crockpot meal: I made ham that I had in the fridge.
- 12/2: LEFTOVERS
- 12/3: Sugar Garlic Chicken & White Rice
- 12/4: Beef Stew
- 12/5: LEFTOVERS
- 12/6: Whole Chicken with Gravy & Corn
- 12/7: LEFTOVERS
SUGAR HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN
BEEF STEW
WHOLE CHICKEN WITH GRAVY
DECEMBER (WEEK 8th – 14th)
- 12/8: LEFTOVERS
- 12/9: Meatloaf with Veggies
- 12/10: Lemon Garlic Chicken
- 12/11: Kung Pao Chicken with White Rice
- 12/12: Steak Fajitas
- 12/13: EAT OUT
- 12/14: Non-Crockot Recipe – I made frozen pot stickers.
KUNG PAO CHICKEN
LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN
MEATLOAF
STEAK FAJITAS
DECEMBER (WEEK 15th – 21st)
- 12/15: Steak Fajita Leftovers
- 12/16: Chicken Marsala
- 12/17: LEFTOVERS
- 12/18: General Tso's Chicken
- 12/19: Ranch Pork Chops
- 12/20: Teriyaki Chicken with White Rice
- 12/21: LEFTOVERS
CHICKEN MARSALA
GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN
RANCH PORK CHOPS
DECEMBER (WEEK 22nd – 28th)
- 12/22: Pork Chop Leftovers
- 12/23: Orange Chicken and White Rice
- 12/24: Cranberry Turkey Breast
- 12/25: CHRISTMAS (at parent's house)
- 12/26: Meatball Subs
- 12/27: EAT OUT
- 12/28: LEFTOVERS
CRANBERRY TURKEY BREAST
MEATBALL SUBS
ORANGE CHICKEN
DECEMBER (WEEK 29th – 31st)
- 12/29: Sweet & Spicy Chicken Thighs
- 12/30: Taco Pasta
- 12/31: LEFTOVERS
TACO PASTA
I’m following you a month behind, that way I can skip the ones you didn’t love (Marsala isn’t for us either) and learn from your experiences! Made the meatball subs last night! Looking forward to InstaPot February- lol!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Recipes look great, can’t wait to start! Looking forward to Instant Pot January! Happy new year to you and family! So glad I recently “found” you! Budget slaying 2020!
I can’t wait to try some of these. Thank you so much for uploading it. Which one were your favorite?
What a great blog post! This is so helpful! Thank you Kumiko! 🙂 Can’t wait you try it!
I’m vegetarian, and while it’s still very easy to find recipes for the slow cooker, I find that they are all brown and taste similar. Maybe meat adds some variety in flavor, but I haven’t had much luck making vegetarian slow cooker dishes that don’t all come out a similar color, texture, and flavor.
The exception was using the slow cooker to make dessert. We made a memorable dark, smoky chocolate cake in there. (OK, that still came out brown, but it tasted nothing like the million other vegetable/bean/rice stewy dishes we’d made!)
It’s still a work in progress for me. Maybe I need to make up my own slow cooker recipes and share them!
This has inspired me to try more things in my slow cooker, especially using what I already have on hand in the freezer. It’s a great way to use what you have, spend less, and have more time in the evenings. By planning ahead like this, we’re less tempted to eat out.
Hi Miko! Thank you SO much for sharing your Crockpot month! I adore my Crockpot, and am always looking for recipe ideas. Also liked your suggestion to shop in my own freezer. Thanks for all you do!
Happy New Year Miko! I’m a month behind so I can plan for the entire month. So January will be Crockpot and February will be Instapot Challenges for me! I am so excited for this and so far according to my food budget I’m projected to save $147 in groceries! Of course I’m shopping from home first. By the way I love Marsala!! I love your meal planning sheet! How can I get a copy? Love, blessings and a prosperous 2020!
I found it in your resource library! Thanks!!
I love using my crockpot! The thing I would struggle with is cleaning it each night to use it again right away the next day. We have found that usually ours needs to soak for a night (no dishwasher). Did you get annoyed with constantly cleaning it?
I use a crock pot liner! They are an added expense but I love how easy it makes the cleanup!!
This is awesome and so on time! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Miko,
Thank you so so much for publishing these recipes! I’ve been waiting and hoping and I have them all printed off now. I will be anxious to see your IP month of recipes because I got a 3qt. (since I’m alone) last Christmas and though I use it am anxious to see the recipes you choose. Thank you again for taking such good care of us and may your and yours have the Happiest New Year Ever!!! Hugs and Blessings always.
Where is your crock pot chicken sausage ziti recipe?
YES! I want to see that one also 🙂
I plan on using my crockpot this year, because one of my goal out of 4 other goals was to have more time to work out.😁
Wow! Who would’ve known!
Thanks for the inspiration!
I would like to cut my food bill. However, I am 90 vegetarian/vegan and consume only seafood.
Do you have any suggestions and tips?