I really love it when my slow cooker can do the work for me. January usually means a freezer and pantry challenge, including rice and beans. So, about once a month I batch cook some beans to tuck away in the freezer. Especially in the winter months, that means navy beans.

Using the slow cooker to batch cook takes only a little pre-planning.

• You need to rinse and sort beans the afternoon or evening prior to cooking.
• Next, let the beans soak overnight in the slow cooker.
• The next morning, strain out the soaking water, rinse your beans and rinse out your slow cooker.
• Put your beans back in the slow cooker.
• Cover your beans with fresh water – about an inch above your beans.
• I season my beans with minced garlic and onion.
• Cook at least 10-12 hours on low. If you are in a hurry, you can cook the beans on high for several hours then adjust the setting to low. You’ll just need to test the beans to be sure they are done.

Overnight variation: I have also rinsed and sorted the beans mid day. Let them soak until bedtime. Drain then cook the beans, as mentioned above, in the slow cooker overnight. Cool, bag individually and freeze in meal-sized portions. Then, serve those beans up with other veggies and some cornbread. Or choose from the recipes below:

• All of Erin’s bean recipes
• Erin’s Batch Cooking Beans the regular way
• Erin’s How to Cook Dried Beans
• A Southern favorite Senate Navy Bean Soup
• You might like my recipe for batch cooking black-eyed peas in the slow cooker.
• I love to use my slow cooker for batch cooking. I cook ground turkey in the slow cooker: It’s the Super Supper Saver

There’s no set-in-stone way to batch cook beans in the slow cooker. It takes a while but requires very little supervision. And the investment pays off big on busy weeknights. In our home it helps fill all those hungry tummies the frugal way!

We do a lot of bulk cooking because our schedules are crazy during the week but we really prefer to serve home cooked meals to our five kids.  This is a super simple recipe as well as a great way to cook once and eat many times! 

I just bought 40 pounds of boneless chicken breast for a great deal but I need to get it put up in the freezer pretty quickly so I put half of it in the slow cooker and cooked it all at once. When it was ready I used three of the breasts for supper then cut most of the rest into cubes and shredded the remainder.  I ended up with five packages of cubed chicken and three packages of shredded that can be used for all sorts of quick homemade meals like BBQ sandwiches, enchiladas, quesadillas, casseroles, pot pies, salads, fajitas, pizza, soups and pasta dishes.  I was also able to put four containers of chicken broth in the freezer.

You can make any size batch that you’d like, as long as the lid will close on the slow cooker.  The recipe below is for a smaller batch of 4 to 6 breasts – double the recipe if you’re making a larger batch.

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Our feeding the larger family ways will help you feed a crowd and take a break during the holidays!

October is potato month for me for several reasons. Not only are potatoes frugal and can be served in a variety of ways, but October is right up next to November and December. October is the month I pile the potatoes in the freezer­ – freeing me up at holiday time. Potatoes feed a crowd and fill tummies for the holidays and every day.

I pick one Saturday for what I call a Big Cook. I cook potatoes and oversee the children packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and making homemade wrapping paper (using designs cut into potatoes, of course!). Everyone is busy.

White potatoes:

It’s a batch cooking session of great poundage. With 20 pounds of white potatoes I make freezer mashed potatoes with these in mind:

• Thanksgiving
• Sunday family dinners
• Christmas gatherings (in my experience the freezer potatoes are perfectly delicious having been saved in the deep freeze. Not grainy at all. Might also be the sour cream!)
• Busy weeknights – take a pan to the holiday party

If I plan ahead I prewash all those potatoes on the rinse cycle like Happy Housewife does so I can avoid standing at the sink for so long. I use this recipe for freezer mashed potatoes, boiling the white potatoes on the stove because I’m using the slow cooker for supper. I quadruple the recipe for my 20 pounds, making (8) 8×8 pans or (4) 8×10 or combination thereof.

It’s such a blessing to be able to just pull delicious, homemade mashed potatoes out of the freezer. Because that time of year I’d much rather be baking and enjoying than peeling potatoes and boiling.

Red potatoes:

On the same Saturday I’m mashing, I’m also serving. Over in the slow cooker I put together our supper. Homemade potato soup for that night. Because after peeling 20 pounds of potatoes I’m not much going to relish fixing supper. So I leave the peels on these red potatoes. And I’ll sure appreciate comfort food in savory potato soup for supper. Plus, I double this recipe so it makes enough for all of us and leftovers for another meal.

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Frugal and celebratory. Cheap and filling.

Join me for an October Potatofest?

Raise your hand if you love hummus. Yes, yes, lots of folks out there. Me too! Ok. How many of you pay big bucks for one of those tiny tubs of hummus at the store? A few, yes. How many have this little problem of keeping food and snacks stocked in your house? Me too!

Well, I’m here to share my way of saving big bucks in the hummus economy. Thinking of how I batch cooked black-eyed peas in the slow cooker, I figured I could surely batch cook chickpeas. Yes. An entire bag in the slow cooker.

Following the directions on the bag, I soaked the 12 oz. of chickpeas in the slow cooker for 8 hrs. Then I drained the water. Put new water back in the slow cooker with the peas. Next, I cooked them on high for 7 hours. I did this during the day so I could check on things. This being the first time I’d ever batch cooked chickpeas.

Next, I used Nana’s recipe to make the hummus but feel free to use any of the following:

• Nana’s Homemade Hummus
• Erin’s Homemade Hummus
• Another variation using the pressure cooker at Summer Tomato via The Thrifty Mama
• Homemade Hummus at All Recipes

You can freeze half of the cooked chickpeas if it is too much for your family. Already cooked chickpeas in your freezer for future hummus!

Hummus is not only a snack food, it’s an allergy-friendly alternative in our house. Used often in the place of mayonnaise because of egg allergy. Tucked easily into a tortilla. Slathered on a sandwich. But guess what else? It’s also a treat. See what I recently found on Pinterest?

Guacamole Hummus. The above made with Nana’s hummus, avocado and this recipe from Shutter Bean. Two fine foods in harmonious flavor.

See the savings.

• 1 store-bought pre-made tub of hummus dip = $3.99 for 10 oz, $5.29 for 14 oz!!!
• 1 can of chickpeas (will make 1 recipe of hummus) = $1.19 for 15.5oz can
• 1 bag of dried chickpeas (makes double the amount of one can chickpeas) $1.29 for 16oz (bigger than my bag)

Basically, the cooked, dried chickpeas make twice the amount for a little over a dollar. Or close to 16 oz of hummus for around half a dollar. Yes, this southern gal has indeed seen the many benefits of homemade hummus in large amounts. Cheap and healthy hummus spreads far and makes folks happy at Hodgepodge.

And sure scoops well on homemade wheat thins!

With seven in our household it seems we are always out of something. Especially with the two eldest children constantly grazing. However, since I replaced store-bought yogurt with homemade slow cooker yogurt, I don’t have to ration yogurt cups. I can say yes, please have some yogurt.

Slow cooker yogurt is so easy to make. The recipe is simple – just two ingredients. It also feeds a bunch for so little money. And, did I mention it is good for you? The last several times I’ve timed the making of the yogurt so it is our breakfast the next day. Might as well make a meal of it!

I used this recipe from Stephanie O’Dea’s A Year of Slow Cooking site: You Can Make Yogurt in Your Crockpot.

Now, the consistency is more like a drink, not like store-bought. So, we think of it as frugal GoGurt without all the sugar.

No, it isn’t as portable as store-bought yogurt, so we save pimento jars (from making pimento cheese) and other small containers so we can tuck some in Dad’s lunchbox or have just-right portions for snacks.

Other benefits:

• Mix in some strawberry jelly.
• Add fresh fruit, a pinch of sugar, a sprinkle of artificial sweetener or none at all.
• One child loves a splash of vanilla flavoring.
• Me? Oh a SunButter smoothie is the way to start the day!
• Use it as a dressing.
• Drink it straight up. Love you acidophilus!

The savings! We were paying around $8 for a big box of yogurt from the warehouse club. And we were buying at least two boxes. The cost of milk for making slow cooker yogurt is well less than half the cost of one store-bought box. Our yogurt costs are now a third of what they were. But the supply has been doubled! Multiply the savings over a year and you have saved some pretty big bucks.

There’s always enough. I’ve started doubling the yogurt recipe to keep up with the demand in our home. Love me some slow cooker batch cooking!

Slow cooker. Simple. Satisfying. Savings. Super!

The simplest, tastiest, feed-a-crowd barbecue I know of. Warms your tummy in the winter. Helps you avoid turning on the oven or even the grill in the summer. A frugal fast food for slow Sundays year ’round.

Pair it with corn on the cob, watermelon and a side of slaw and you have yourself an Independence Day meal. Of course, the children can mix up some Cookies and Cream for an easy and cool dessert.

This slow cooker soup highlights those summer vegetables that will soon be appearing in your garden. It is a great soup to make on a rainy day. You can vary the vegetables easily to meet your families preferences. This soup has quickly become one of our family favorites; I hope that your family enjoys it as well!

Ingredients:

• 3/4# ground round or sirloin
• 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 1 14.5oz can corn, drained
• 2 small-medium zucchini, cut into half moon shapes
• 2 small-medium summer squash, cut into half moon shapes
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1-2 handfuls of fresh green beans, trimmed
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 0.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4-5 cans low sodium beef broth (I use water + beef base instead, you could also use vegetable stock)
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain ground beef seasoned with salt and pepper (you can use raw hamburger but I have noticed that it affects the texture of the meat). Place ground beef in bottom of slow cooker. Add all vegetables and herbs/seasonings. Cover with beef broth. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Taste soup after cooking and adjust seasonings as needed. Serve with rolls & butter.

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