Freezer is stocked now :)

Every year after football season I take a deep breath.  A really deeeeeep, loooooong one....like a week long deep breath.  Its such a relief to have Troy home before 9 PM for a change (and home on Saturday and Sunday), that I just get so completely excited about having help that I actually stall out and get way behind.  It never makes sense - I can keep things going, clean, cooked, etc when I'm on my own, but he comes home and after our "Thanksgiving" feast (first day of no football celebration), I go into coast-mode and don't cook, clean, do anything for a few days.  End result - WAY behind.  It doesn't take too long for this family to fall behind!  So, I made some headway a few days ago with some freezer cooking.  This batch was a very meaty one, snacks and meat main dishes. With sides of veggies and fruits to be added in.  Here's what I did this time.
First, I brainstorm what I want to make.  Usually I make plan this based on what I find on sale.  I got a good deal on ground turkey and beef and I had some sausages in the freezer already, so I knew this was going to be a meaty one.
I made a chart like this:

It lists the main ingredients on the top and the meals/snacks on the side.  It ain't pretty, but it helps me organize how many of each thing I need, how many pounds of meat, etc.  Then off to the left (not included in this one), I list the "other" ingredients I need.  This process just helps me have a use for everything I buy.

I'll not include all the instructions for everything I made.  Just a few things:

• A few days before cooking, I made a quadruple batch of the Pioneer Woman's bread dough.  I put it in the fridge, covered.  (Pioneer Woman recommends letting it sit for at least 24 hours).
• I cooked all the meat at the same time.  Ground beef in the crockpot - you CAN dump it in the crockpot frozen in the morning, and by midafternoon, it's perfect.  Chicken - some was baked, some was cooked on the stove in stock, some was cooked in crockpot.  Sausages - stovetop.  Did it all at the same time and let it all cool.
• I then just set up an assembly line and used my chart to determine what all the main meats were for.  It got very confusing since I was using beef in several recipes, chicken in several, etc.  
• For most items, I cook them halfway, allow to cool, then freeze.  And usually, you'll have to cook it according to the full time instructions, since you're cooking from frozen.

So out of this batch, I made:

• Shredded chicken - fajitas
• Buffalo chicken wraps
• Cubed chicken (for salad, soup, casserole, whatever)
• Sausage wontons (a good way to use up leftover sausage).  Glad I took the time to freeze this, since Troy ate them all the next day :)
• Ham and cheese (with broccoli, gag) stromboli
• Turkey and cheese stromboli
• Calzones - several different kinds, I just put in whatever I had - beef, sausage, cheese, tomatoes, peppers, ricotta, seasoning, sauces, etc.
• Turkey meatballs
• Sausage/beef meatballs
• 2 pounds of taco meat
• Bacon rollups
• Grinder meat
• Twice baked potatoes

The best thing about this list is that it is all things that Troy likes and can throw in the oven, throw together some sides and make a meal, or just warm something up for a snack.  If you want any of the specific recipes or instructions, let  me know...I'll be happy to send them to you.  Get inspired! Make a chart...it feels SO good!  And stock your fridge...then take an evening off - go shopping, go get a coffee and do nothing, whatever, and leave your happy hubby home with food. I just might do this!  

Good CLEAN fun, for FREE!

 Early this morning, before we left for the day's adventures, we took about 5 minutes to prepare a "surprise" for bath time tonight.  We filled an ice cube tray with water, and the boys took turns squeezing drops of food coloring into the different cubes.  They know their colors (and if Seth hasn't already told you 4,569 times, his favorite color is GREEN!), but are still practicing mixing colors....red and blue makes PURPLE!  Wow!  Pretty amazing stuff to a 3 and 4 year old :)  So, they made some plain, some mixed...we said some magic words and popped it in the freezer.

Tonight at bath time, we pulled out our colorful ice....learned what happens when you freeze a liquid!....and then the fun began.  We dropped a few into the bath and the boys had a BLAST trying to catch them, watching them melt, seeing all the colors spread and combine in the water, what FUN!  You've GOT to try it.  I *might* have some green under my fingernails tomorrow, but it was totally worth it!  An hour of fun for FREE and we learned quite a bit along the way.  Winner!

He caught one!

We ended up with a green bath.  Seth was THRILLED!

We were only going to do a few...but it was too fun!  Did all of them :) 

Family pictures

I've been checking the mail with sweaty palms and pounding heart.....in excited anticipation of receiving our pictures from the one and only, amazingly talented C&A Photography.  I don't know how she turned 2 wild monkeys, 1 hungry/fussy baby, 1 grumpy football coach and 1 self-conscious and obsessive mom into moderaly normal looking people...but she did.  Here are a few of my favorites.  XOXOXO!

Party like he's THREE!

We had a smashing weekend celebrating our little monkey Seth's birthday.  He took the day in stride....having a blast at a monkey-themed party, hanging out with friends and family, and getting an abundance of gifts.  So! Much! Fun!  Here are some picture highlights of the day:

I have no idea why there is a bite missing....

(Nice crazy lady in the background)

Opening his brother's gift....or more accurately, watching his brother open his gift.

Poor Uncle Matt's back went out during the party. Ouch.  But had to take  a picture, right?  

I don't know why he didn't like his tattoo...I thought it was pretty cute!?!?

The birthday boy wanted Monkey tails (hot dogs) as his main dish.  I think the guests were thrilled to eat  such fine cuisine :-/

Observation 1:  Football is ALWAYS on (though it was muted).  Observation 2:  Grandma Sue shoving her mouth full of cupcake.  Ha ha ha ha!!! 

Seth and his cuz, Sydney....all the other cousins were outside wrestling, of course :)

Some purty girls eating banana splits.

The shirt says it perfectly...

Refuses to look at the camera, but he's still cute.

Thanks for making this day such a fun one for Seth. Seems like last month I was wondering what kind of kid Seth would be, trying to imagine him talking and walking.  And now.....wow.  Seth really rounds out our family.  A great combination of silly and sweet, talkative and watchful, energetic and thoughtful, sensitive and confident.  The middle child....right in the middle of my heart.  Happy birthday, buddy!

He's almost THREE

Trying to cope with "the Hoarder"...you know who I'm talking about

 Oh, our little hoarding monster.  I LOVE that he LOVES so many things.  I LOVE that he understands the importance of keeping and valuing things....but *things* can become *idols* pretty quickly and we're trying hard to keep *things* as just *things*.  But to a kid that wants to keep every single Sunday School paper, instructions, daddy's paper trash, receipts, paper inserts in DVDs or games, plastic baggies, you get the picture, we know it is going to be a struggle to balance appreciating the things we have and not making them a big deal by keeping and becoming attached to them.  [Ok, I know some of you that are thinking I'm going totally overboard with this, but trust me....we come from a long history of hoarders.  Not like the dirty TV show, more like the kind that keep 17 vacuum cleaners just "cuz".  Gotta get this under control.] Aaaaanyway, so preschool has opened up a new chapter of hoarding opportunities.  Treasures come home each day and EACH deserves fridge-honors, right?  So, I had the crazy forward-thinking liberating idea of putting a cap on the keeping.  I certainly didn't pitch it to him like that, more like this:  "Hey!  Lets decorate a special folder to keep your most special papers from preschool!  Only your favorite and best work should be saved in this special folder, and other things, we'll just look at, learn from, and then let them go...." Thinking, hey!...not a bad idea.  One folder for each year of school:  13 folders, 3 kids, this is manageable.  Only problem is that it is the 6th week of school and the folder is already full.  Love that kid. 

No monkeys were hurt in the creation of these invitations

I really like birthday parties.  I *tend* to go overboard....all for my own entertainment.  That's all I'll say.  Seth's birthday party is coming soon. He settled on a monkey theme.  Fits him perfectly, right?  Well, here's the invites.  Super easy, no really - took about an hour.  And cheap!


The invite package.



Step 1:  made moon shapes in Word, typed invite information inside the moon. 

Used lots of puns, cuz i'm punny like that. 





Free-handed the stem at the top, cut them out, then cut a section for the top of the banana - it will be the part you see when you open the banana so I used a lighter yellow textured paper that I had on hand.





Inside view.  Just colored the stem with a brown marker, cut the bottom off at an angle and glued on the lighter yellow waffle-paper.




Cut out foam fronts - using the pattern I already created.  Then just cut down an inch or two to make a peel in the banana.



Hot glue-gunned the foam part on the invitation part - just at the very bottom.



Front view - the monkey is a foam sticker; just moved him around so it looked like he was hanging/peeling the banana.  Stuck the peel part under his head to keep it peeled open.