Slow Cooker Menu Plan + Tips for How to Eat Low Carb When Your Kids Don’t

Simple slow cooker menu plan and how to make it low carb when your kids eat all the carbs. Plus meal planning resources to make cooking easier.

I love sharing my menu plans and finding ways to make cooking easier. I have 3 sons and a husband, the oldest is off at college most of the year but these guys that are home eat a lot so I feel like I’m always in the kitchen.

I wish I could eat like them, but with my Rheumatoid Arthritis, I have to watch what I eat and make sure to keep movement a priority so I don’t gain too much weight and as a consequence even more pain on my joints.

So hubby and I started a low carb/ketoish diet because a doctor said it might help with autoimmune issues. I can’t say for sure, but I do feel like I’ve had more energy and feel healthier in general.

Last Week’s Slow Cooker Menu Plan

Last week’s menu plan focused on the slow cooker for Crocktober and it was a chance to use my done for you Slow Cooker Menu Plan. This thing is a life and time saver! We did week 3 which is:

• Slow Cooker French Dip Sliders – really good and juicy! Freeze that leftover au jus for a soup!
• Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps – I used chicken thighs instead and didn’t add the sauce until the end. It’s an easy way to make the chicken.
• Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Stew – I didn’t add the barley. For the son who dislikes soup, he really liked this one (granted I didn’t give him much broth, I don’t think he has the patience to drink the broth, lol). This one was the surprising family favorite this week, veggies and all!
• Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu – took more time to put together but surprisingly good. Loved the sauce! 
• Air fryer pizza for boys, air fryer cauliflower crust pizza for hubbs and whichever one’s left for me.
• Slow Cooker Meat Lover’s Chili with hot dogs and watermelon – delicious, will make again. It makes a lot so I will probably freeze half. Omitted pinto beans

Crocktober Info and Done for You Menu Plans

My favorite home planner company, Passionate Penny Pincher also makes these done for you menu plans. I have the pdf version of the Summer Menu Plans, Freezer Menu Plans and Slow Cooker volume 1 and highly recommend them. They also come in lovely menu plan boxes if you prefer recipe cards.

Passionate Penny Pincher is hosting a Crocktober challenge (20 days of slow cooker meals starting October 3rd) using her Slow Cooker Menu Plan volume 2, and her Sides Box so her Slow Cooker menu plan boxes and PDFs are on sale through October 31.  It’s a great time to grab them! 

Tips to Make the Slow Cooker Menu Plan Low Carb Friendly

We are in a split carb household, I still make all the carbs for my little athletes and I make low carb substitutions for my hubby and I. It’s taken some adjusting but I’ve gotten in a pretty good rhythm now.

I keep the carbs out of the main dish and keep them on the side. I make one carb side dish and 1-2 low carb side dish(es) each week. There is always something green on our plates too – lettuce, kale or spinach. 

I don’t have Slow Cooker Menu Plan 2 that Laurie will be doing so I picked a week we haven’t done before (Slow Cooker Menu Plan volume 1, week 7) and so this is what we’ll be eating. The menu plans also come with a weekly dessert but I don’t make those 🙁

Even though I love the slow cooker, sometimes we get tired of the shredded meat consistency. I find to combat that by doing different cuts of meat (for example, substituting chicken thighs for chicken breast or this week, changing up the usual beef/chicken to include smooth and creamy soup, shrimp and smoked sausage bites).

This Week’s Slow Cooker Menu Plan

It’s a busy weekend with a soccer tournament and my hubby works from home and I stay home so we are eating at home most meals. I don’t plan lunches since we eat leftovers for lunch. Here’s what we are eating this week (the slow cooker meals this week are just for dinners):

Breakfasts

• Western scrambled eggs – scrambled eggs with ham, sausage or bacon, sauteed peppers, onions and jalapenos. Served with fruit
• Cottage cheese and berries
• Pancakes and keto pancakes with sausage or bacon and fruit

Slow Cooker Dinners

From Slow Cooker Menu Plan week 7

• Slow Cooker Jambalaya with beef smoked sausage instead of turkey smoked sausage. Serve with sauteed zucchini and cauliflower rice for hubby and I and regular white rice for boys. 
• Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup and copycat McAlister’s club sandwiches for boys and cauliflower wrapped club sandwiches for hubby and I. Add salad, there’s always salad.
• Slow Cooker Texas Pulled Pork (I’m going to use chicken breast instead) with watermelon, salad and cauliflower tots 
• Slow Cooker King Ranch Chicken – I will cook it without the tortillas and we can use it as filling for tortillas/caulitflower wraps at the end.  
• Trader joe’s gyros with all the fixins (tzatziki, greek olives, cherry peppers, tomatoes), sauteed zucchini for hubbs and I. Served on pita with couscous or rice for boys.

(the Slow Cooker Menu Plan also includes Slow Cooker Beef Gyros and Slow Cooker Chocolate Chip Bars for this week. We love the Trader Joe’s premade gyro meat so it’s a super simple meal and I already have that meat to cook. And I wish I could try the chocolate chip bars but doing the whole low carb- no sugar thing. 

Passionate Penny Pincher Meal Plan Review

A full review is coming soon but I did share my preliminary Passionate Penny Pincher meal plans review so you can check that out too before you buy for which meal plans are available, which ones I have and tips.

My Favorite Meal Planning Resources

Grocery Restock List and Meal Planning Freebies!

Subscribe to my Simple Cooking with Tanya newsletter where I send you our menu plans each week, cooking tips and a link to my grocery restock list for you to copy and save to your Google Drive. I print them up and hang it on the side of the fridge so whenever we run out of anything, we can highlight/write in what we need. This really helps me not forget anything that I or my hungry crew needs. 

You can rearrange the restock list in the order of your favorite grocery store’s aisles. It’s a huge timesaver if your list is in the right order so you aren’t running all over the store and backtracking.  

My Favorite Meal Planners

• If you like to plan on paper, the Erin Condren Meal Planner is my favorite. You can see how I use it on my Instagram.  (they have some additional pages like a price tracker, recipe log and conversion chart which is great!)
• If you prefer digital meal planning, Plan to Eat is my favorite tool. 

• Done for You Menu Plans and Grocery Lists by Passionate Penny Pincher. The slow cooker volume 2 and the freezer meal menu plans are my favorite. 
• My Amazon shop has all my favorite kitchen tools
• Fetch Rewards to earn gift cards on your shopping receipts. Use my code PH32Q. I’ve already earned a $15 gift card and I use them to treat myself to a meal out since I earn them by doing all. this. cooking. 

There you have it! This week’s slow cooker menu plan, tips for eating low carb when your kids don’t and my meal planning tools and resources to make cooking easier so you can get dinner on the table without overwhelm! Tell me your favorite slow cooker meals and I’ll be sure to try them out!!