How to Plan Slow Cooker Meals for a Week

Slow cookers let busy families start cooking dinner in the morning, go about their day and enjoy a nutritious dinner when they get home. Use your slow cooker on busy days or anytime you don't feel like cooking when you get home. If you plan ahead, you can have slow cooker meals every day of the week.

Instructions

1. Start meal preparation the day before you grocery shop. Write down any ingredients you need, along with which meals are planned for which days. Choose meals that include the meat and all of the vegetables in the slow cooker.

2. Go grocery shopping and buy all the ingredients for the week. Freeze any meat you don't plan on cooking in the next two days. Pull the meat out the night before so it can defrost.

3. Keep your weekly recipes and meal plan on the fridge or in a drawer. Refer to them each night and place the dry ingredients on the counter next to the slow cooker. Separate refrigerated ingredients into one stack so you can grab them easily in the morning.

4. Prepare the meat and vegetables in the morning and place in the slow cooker. Double check the cooking time and adjust your meal accordingly. If the cooking time is four hours on high, set it on low if you plan on being gone eight hours or longer.

5. Buy slow cooker liners for easier clean-up. Rinse out your slow cooker each night and set it up on the counter ready for the morning.

Tips & Warnings

• Newer slow cookers cook faster than older slow cookers. You should try a sample meal in your slow cooker when you're home to make sure that cooking times called for aren't too long or short. If your meal starts burning, reduce the heat or amount of time you cook it for.