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A life you love on a budget you can afford.

Here on TBM®, I provide you with simple, easy-to-follow solutions to help you budget your money, pay off debt, save more, and crush your financial goals. But more than that, I give you the tools to start doing the things that matter most to you, on a budget that actually works!

I Only Cooked With a Slow Cooker for an Entire Month – Here’s What Happened

December 31, 2019
Food & Drink

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I challenged myself only to use a slow cooker for an entire month. Here are all of the recipes that I made and the surprising things that I learned.

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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!

I challenged myself only to use a slow cooker for an entire month. Here are all of the recipes that I made and the surprising things that I learned.

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
Honey Garlic Chicken

SUGAR HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN

beef stew

BEEF STEW

Whole Chicken

WHOLE CHICKEN WITH GRAVY

I challenged myself only to use a slow cooker for an entire month. Here are all of the recipes that I made and the surprising things that I learned.

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

KUNG PAO CHICKEN

Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs

LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN

Meatloaf

MEATLOAF

Steak Fajitas

STEAK FAJITAS

I challenged myself only to use a slow cooker for an entire month. Here are all of the recipes that I made and the surprising things that I learned.

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

CHICKEN MARSALA

General Tso's Chicken

GENERAL TSO'S CHICKEN

Pork chops

RANCH PORK CHOPS

I challenged myself only to use a slow cooker for an entire month. Here are all of the recipes that I made and the surprising things that I learned.

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

MEATBALL SUBS

Orange Chicken

ORANGE CHICKEN

I challenged myself only to use a slow cooker for an entire month. Here are all of the recipes that I made and the surprising things that I learned.

DECEMBER (WEEK 29th – 31st)

  • 12/29: Sweet & Spicy Chicken Thighs
  • 12/30: Taco Pasta
  • 12/31: LEFTOVERS
Taco Pasta

TACO PASTA

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Filed Under: Tagged With: CROCK POT, CROCKPOT, EASY RECIPES, MEAL PLAN, MEAL PLANNING, RECIPES, SLOW COOKER

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Hello, I'm Kumiko, but everyone just calls me Miko. Welcome to my blog, The Budget Mom. I am an Accredited Financial Counselor® , and mom to a rambunctious boy. Come along with me as I strive to live a life I love on a budget that I can afford. Read more about me.

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