This slow cooker, pineapple chicken is a freezer friendly recipe and is easy to cook and easy on the budget. The ingredients used are easy to pull from the pantry and freezer. Also, pantry and freezer items are typically cheaper than fresh. Plus, when shopping in the freezer section, you are more likely to find organic fruit and vegetables.

Recipe Tips

This slow cooker pineapple chicken and broccoli freezes well before and after it’s cooked. Before its cooked you can add all the ingredients into a gallon ziplock freezer bag, and place it in the freezer until you are ready to cook it in the slow cooker. If its frozen before you cook it, then set the slow cooker to cook on low for 8 hours. You can also cook this meal first in the slow cooker and then freeze the left overs in a ziplock freezer bag. When are ready to eat this meal again, thaw it in the refrigerator the night before.

When I make this recipe I serve mine over cauliflower rice, because it makes this meal grain free and paleo. I think the cauliflower rice really compliments the broccoli. However, my husband prefers to eat his over rice. So, I try to have cooked rice and cauliflower rice in my freezer at all times, and can find both in the freezer section at just about any grocery store. Sometimes, I will cook a big batch of rice with bone broth and freeze it. I have also bought a head of cauliflower and chopped it up in my Vitamix.

Ditch & Switch Pantry Items

Coconut Aminos vs. Soy Sauce

When I was first diagnosed with celiac, I ditched the soy sauce in my pantry and replaced it for coconut aminos. Soy sauce is NOT gluten free because it contains wheat. However, another alternative to soy sauce is tamari sauce which is gluten free and made from fermented soybeans. Between the two options, my husband and I both prefer the taste of coconut aminos to tamari. Coconut aminos is made from the sap of coconut blossoms, which gives it a milder, sweeter taste compared to soy sauce. It also contains less than half the sodium content of tamari and soy sauce making it a great alternative for those with high blood pressure.

Tapioca Starch vs. Corn Starch

Tapioca starch is another change that I made in pantry. I ditched the corn starch after learning how highly processed it is. It typically comes from GMO (genetically modified organism) corn. I did not understand the significance of GMOs and their relationship to autoimmune disease until I’ve had to heal my gut. Dr. Amy Myers states it best,

“Many GM crops, including corn, were engineered to produce their own insecticide, called Bt-toxin, by combining the plant’s DNA with DNA from bacteria. Bt-toxin kills insects by destroying the lining of their digestive tracts. The poison is not specific to insects and also pokes holes in human cells9, damaging the intestines and causing leaky gut which is a precondition for developing an autoimmune disease.”

If you don’t have the ditch and switch items in your pantry then replace the ingredients with what you do have. I’ve had to slowly replace my pantry after running out of the less healthy option to a healthier option. If you found the ditch and switch information helpful and would like me to write more of this in the future, then please leave me a comment below. I would love to hear from you!