This post is sponsored by Lunchbox. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Update – with the cold weather we have been experiencing, I’ve been craving more and more comfort meals like the 5 Minute Slow Cooker Smoky Beef Recipe I posted last month. I wanted to repost this easy recipe to help warm you up!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions has been to prepare more home cooked meals each week. With a super busy toddler and working full-time (while at the same time chasing, parenting AND potty training my super busy two year old), I find that I lack the time and energy to cook wholesome meals for my family. So this year, I’ve been making lots and lots of slow cooker meals because I find I can usually pack most of the major food groups into the slow cooker and then 6-8 hours later, I have a hearty meal ready to go. If you shop at Publix, you probably already know that Publix’s Best Meals Happen At Home send out monthly emails with links to printable Publix coupons. But did you know that Publix’s Best Meals at Home also can answer your “what’s for dinner” dilemmas with easy recipes and quality brands?

Publix is teaming up with Unilever foods to celebrate the New Year and bring the best meals to the dinner table. If like me, and you’re looking to get back into a steady routine for the New Year, Best Meals Happen at Home can help. Best Meals Happen At Home helps you find new recipes so you can make quick, easy and delicious meals for the whole family in 30 minutes or less.

I wanted to test one of their Fastastic recipes out. I chose the Slow Cooker Smoky Beef Stew because it could be made in 5 minutes or less!! I headed to Publix and bought all of the ingredients needed. The only variation I made on the recipe is that it called for canned carrots and since I had fresh baby carrots, I decided to use those instead.

I don’t know if you find your mornings to be super busy, but I sometimes find that making slow cooker meals the night before is easier. Even fastastic meals like this 5 minute meal! So while I watched TV, I dumped all of the ingredients into the slow cooker insert and then covered it with plastic wrap and put it in my fridge.

The next morning, I removed the plastic wrap and placed the slow cooker insert into my slow cooker. Programmed the slow cooker to start and voila, I was done “cooking.”

The 5 Minute Slow Cooker Smoky Beef Stew was a hit in our family! We loved the smoky and creamy flavor of the sauce! It was a perfect cold weather meal. I made a rice and quinoa side dish to go with it. But it could very easily go over egg noodles or be made with a veggie like broccoli, cauliflower or zucchini!

Update – The winner has been chosen using “And The Winner is Plugin! A huge congratulations to Francine T. for winning the $50 gift card!

And now for the giveaway! One Addicted to Saving reader will win a $50.00 Publix gift card! Using Random.org, I will select a winner on 1/26/14 on or after 8:00 pm EST.

Required Entry:

1) Go HERE to Best Meals Happen at Home and leave one comment (on this post) letting me know what Fastastic Recipe you would like to try!

Bonus Entries:

2) Sign up to receive Best Meals Happen at Home emails (they have printable Publix coupons AND yummy recipes)! Leave a comment (on this post) letting me know once you have signed up OR if you are an existing member.

3) Share an image of your Best Meals Happen at Home favorite dish on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #BestMealsAtHome  Come back here and leave a comment (on this post) letting me know you shared the image.

This giveaway is sponsored by Lunchbox. The $50 Gift Card will be supplied and mailed out by Lunchbox.

New Publix Best Meals Happen at Home coupons were emailed out this morning! These coupons are valid 1/15/15 – 2/5/15!

• $0.75/1 Egg Beaters® product Publix coupon
• $1.00/1 Gluten Free Chex® Oatmeal Publix coupon
• $1.00/1 Bisquick® (40 oz. or larger) Publix coupon
• $2.00/2 Nature Valley® Oatmeal Cups Publix coupon
• $0.50/1 Peter Pan® Peanut Butter (13–16.3 oz.) Publix coupon
• $1.00/1 Lipton® Tea (100 ct.) Publix coupon
• $1.00/2 Campbell’s® Skillet, Slow Cooker or Oven Sauces Publix coupon
• $1.00/1 Breyers® Ice Cream (48 oz.) Publix coupon
• $1.50/1 Marie Callendar’s® Pie (45 oz.) Publix coupon

Go HERE to see all Publix Deals on Addicted to Saving

Go HERE to see all Recipes on Addicted to Saving