So Many Recipes!

I love to cook and try new recipes. Blog-reading certainly gives me the opportunity to view many recipes that sound so yummy.

I often will print these out to try very soon. But before I know it, a year (or two) has gone by and I still haven't used the recipe.

This week, I've tried new yummy recipes and thought I'd share the links with you! I have my recent burst of cleaning energy to thank for unearthing these printed recipes!

Basil-Walnut Mayonnaise over Chicken Pasta Salad from The Common Room.
All I can say is YUM!!! And why did it take me a year to try this? (Oh, yeah, because it took me that long to find it hiding on the desk!)I used my fresh-from-the-garden basil and some of my 2 pound hunk of Parmesan cheese(I routinely splurge on this at Sam's Club. It is so much better than the stuff in a can and lasts a while too.). The mayo is mixed with basil, walnuts, cheese and garlic like a pesto. I look forward to using this as a spread for wraps and sandwiches this summer. This salad is a new family favorite!

Monica's Chicken Pot Pie from The Homespun Heart.

Ok, so I printed this recipe out in 2006!!! I had Chicken Biscuit Bake on the menu for last night which is a chicken pot pie with biscuits on top instead of pie dough. I think it's quicker to make and easier than making pie crusts. But since I am rationing my egg usage to make them last until grocery day, I decided to make pie crusts instead. This brought to mind that I still hadn't tried this recipe.

Chicken pot pie can be a little time-consuming to prepare but this recipe makes two (one to eat and one to freeze), so it was time well-spent. I actually made 2 regular pie pans full and still had enough filling for a medium size loaf pan. So we will get 3 meals(plus a few lunches out of this).I used some leftover cooked veggies and a jar of my home-canned potato soup mix(potatoes, carrots and celery) so I skipped the cooking veggies step. I really like that this recipe uses a white sauce rather than canned cream soup. This was really tasty and we liked the sauce better than the pot pie recipe that I had been making! This will now be my regular Chicken Pot Pie recipe!

Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday! What's on the menu for the week?

We had lots of leftovers in the fridge last week. So many that I heated up leftovers for Wednesday night's dinner instead of making the stir fry that was on the menu. The stir fry is reappearing this week!

The meat pie/pot pie that I made with leftovers was a hit! I chopped the leftover corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and added some frozen peas and chopped onions. I made a gravy using the meat juices and mixed that in. All of this was poured into a pie shell and topped with more pie crust. Yummy. Carby. But yummy!

My basil plants have been producing wildly. I need to make a bunch of pesto to freeze. Until then, I've been sneaking it into a lot of our foods. It is so fragrant! There is nothing quite like having fresh herbs to use as you wish.

Onto this week:
You will notice that my waffle obsession is back. There are still several boxes in the freezer! I know frozen waffles aren't as healthy but they were free!

Sunday
To do: thaw ground beef
B-cold cereal, milk
L-Potluck with our house church. I made pinto beans and rice with salsa, sour cream and cheese, Andy's birthday cake.
D-popcorn, leftover birthday cake

Monday
To do: prepare meatloaf, slice carrots
B-waffles,fruit
L-leftovers
D-meatloaf, rice, ginger carrots

Tuesday
To do: prepare quiche
B-cheese toast,fruit
L-leftovers
D-crustless quiche, salad, banana-carrot muffins

Wednesday
To do: chop veggies, defrost chicken pot pie
B-waffles,fruit
L-leftovers
D-chicken & veggie stir fry with rice

Thursday
To do: write shopping list and next week's menu
B-eggs, toast
L-leftovers
D-chicken pot pie(freezer meal), steamed broccoli

Friday
To do: prepare salmon patties, do grocery shopping
B- waffles,fruit
L-leftovers
D-salmon patties, homemade bread, green beans

Saturday
To do: plan and prepare food for Sunday, get milk and eggs from dairy
B-muffins,fruit
L- leftovers
D- wraps with cream cheese and olive spread, a variety of chopped and shredded veggies

For more menu planning fun, please visit Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday and Freezer Cooking Plan

Welcome to another week!

I have big plans for doing a freezer cooking day on Wednesday. While I've done some extra batch cooking and helped my sister with her cooking days, I've never attempted a "once a month" cooking day before. It takes a lot of planning and seems like a good amount of concentrated work but should be a nice trade-off for about a months worth of meals. I wasn't able to join in with Crystal's big cooking days last week, so I'm doing my own this week!

Before I delve into my freezer plans, here's a simple supper menu plan for this week. Because of other plans, I only needed to plan for 3 suppers.It's a busy week with being gone most of the day Tuesday, cooking all day Wednesday and then babysitting Thursday and Friday.

This Week's Supper Menu
Tuesday-Breakfast-in-a-hurry, bagels, tangerines or grapefruit

Wednesday-Pasta with spaghetti sauce(from cooking day), salad

Thursday-Salmon patties, rice, green beans

The freezer was overdue for a defrosting and cleaning, so that is in progress as we speak. What a pleasant dripping sound! I began pulling odds and ends out of the freezer last week to use things up. For breakfasts, we've been eating pancakes that I'd forgotten about and I took a bag of bagels out this morning to use.

Freezer Cooking Day- The Menu

I'm not sure exactly how many meals I'll have of each item, so I'm just listing the amount of batches/recipes that I'm planning. many of my recipes will make more than one meal for the two of us.

1. Chicken Chimichangas- (1)
2. Chicken fajita kits-(2)
3. Chili (x2)
4. Fish & veggie packets (x2 or 3)
5. Spaghetti sauce (x3)
6. Cheesy Beef and Rice Casserole (x2)
7. Meatballs (1)
8.  Quiche (x2)
9. Spaghetti pie (x2)
10. Chicken pot pie (1)
11. Hummus
12. Israeli spice seasoning blend(1)
13.Brown rice for recipes and extra to freeze
14. Kidney, pinto and garbanzo beans for recipes and extra to freeze
15. Mashed potatoes(1 -10 lb. bag potatoes)


Time will tell whether my plans are overly ambitious or not! And whether I ever want to even think about cooking again!

Freezer Cooking Day- Prep Work

Between today and tomorrow, I'm working on this list of things to do before the cooking day. Hopefully having at least some of these items crossed off by Wednesday will help my cooking day to run more smoothly and help with the lack of space in my kitchen.

1. Make menu. 
2. Take inventory of items on hand.
3. Grocery shop for needed items.
4.Take stock of foil, pans, bags and containers.
5. Defrost and clean out freezer. In progress!
6. Make plan for Wednesday(order of prep and assembly).
7.Make chicken broth. In progress!
8. Defrost meat. In progress!
9. Cook and chop chicken. In progress!
10. Brown ground beef.
11. Shred cheese.
12. Soak and cook rice. Soaking in progress!
13. Soak and cook beans. Kidney beans and pintos are soaking!(I'll soak the garbanzo beans tomorrow and cook them Wednesday morning.)
14. Cook bacon.
15. Chop veggies and onions.
16. Make pie crusts for quiche and pot pie.

Update: It's 4 pm on Monday. I'm about ready to call it quits in the kitchen for the day. I feel like I've made a lot of headway on the prep work and now I'm tired!!! I plan to put the rice and beans on to cook first thing in the morning before we leave for the day. Hopefully, I'll get to the cheese, veggies and pie crust in the evening if I'm not too worn out. Otherwise, I'll do that first thing Wednesday morning. Right now, I'm off to make a dessert for tonight!!! Be back tomorrow!

So that's my plan for the week. What's yours?

For more menu planning inspiration, visit Organizing Junkie, the home of Menu Plan Mondays!

Menu Plan Monday and Eat from The Pantry Progress #4

We've finished the third week of our pantry challenge. I only spent $4.00 this week and that was for a pound of butter and some cheese. This is only a partial week on the challenge since we were out of town for the weekend.We just returned home yesterday!

The last week of January signals the end of the pantry challenge, but I may extend it one more week. While some items are low or gone, we still have plenty to choose from. I feel like we really haven't gotten to "scrounging around to find a meal" yet. Not that I want to get to that point, I'm just saying. :-) The savings has really been nice. I've already used a little for some grass-fed beef.

Here's what we ate this week:

Sunday:
Breakfast-peanut butter toast, apples
Lunch- beef stroganoff and peas were my contributions to our fellwoship's potluck.
Supper-leftover stroganoff, peas and homemade bread

Monday:
Breakfast- eggs and toast for him, leftover millet for me.
Lunch- leftover stroganoff, bread, peas
Supper- ate at church meeting. I took some French bread.

Tuesday:
Breakfast-  muffins for him, toast for me, apple slices for both of us
Lunch- leftover bean soup, pizza bread( slices of French bread topped with tomato sauce, sprinkled with Italian spices and Parmesan cheese and broiled for a few minutes), grape tomatoes and green pepper slices
Supper-Rotisserie-style chicken, baked sweet potatoes, mixed veggies

Wednesday:
Breakfast- cold cereal, milk, banana
Lunch- BK chicken sandwiches with coupon
Supper- chicken pot pie, salad

Notes: I ended up with enough extra pot pie mixture for a small one for us when I was cooking for a friend. So we had that tonight instead of the chicken and gravy that I had planned. It worked out well since I'd used the last of the milk on my cereal at breakfast and didn't want to buy more milk (to make the gravy) before we left for the weekend.

Thursday:
Breakfast- green smoothies, toast for me, pumpkin bread and cream cheese for him
Lunch- pasta salad with leftover cooked pasta, grape tomatoes, chicken, green peppers, mozzarella cheese, and oil, vinegar and basil, fresh homemade bread
Supper- leftovers(mixed veggies, chicken, sweet potatoes)

Friday:
Breakfast- green smoothies, toast
Lunch- pb sandwiches, carrots and green peppers, oranges and cookies while traveling

The rest of the weekend until we got home yesterday was spent either eating out(while visiting friends) or eating my mother-in-laws delicious meals while visiting Andy's parents. She makes very delicious spaghetti with spicy sausage that I love and this time she also made a wonderful vegetable pizza. I brought that recipe home with me and can't wait to make it here! I always feel so spoiled when we visit my in-laws since my MIL cooks such wonderful meals for us!

For more pantry challenge updates, visit Money Saving Mom!


We were out of town until Tuesday evening but this is what we're eating from then on.
** denotes freezer meals.

Tuesday- spaghetti pie**,green beans
Wednesday- fish packets**,  brown rice
Thursday-Chicken, veggie and rice soup, homemade bread
Friday-lasagna**, french bread**, roasted garlic, salad
Saturday- chicken gravy on toast, veggies, fruit smoothies

**Visit Organizing Junkie to read more menu plans!

Cooking Day: Halfway Home!

It's 1 pm and I think I'm about halfway home.

Here's what I've accomplished so far today. The freezer is filling up!

1. Marinate chicken for fajitas.
2. Start chili in crockpot.
3. Start spaghetti sauce cooking.
4. Saute chicken for fajitas.
5. Assemble fish and veggie packets. **Foil packets in gallon Ziplocs. 
6.Assemble Chicken Fajita kits. **Sandwich, quart and gallon Ziplocs.
7. Assemble Cheesy Beef and Rice casseroles. **Pyrex pans.
8. Make meatballs.
9. Assemble quiches. **Quiche pans.
10. Bake quiches and meatballs.
11.Cook chimichanga mixture.
12. Assemble chimichangas. **Tortilla bags.
13. Make hummus. ** Plastic containers or quart Ziplocs.
14. Mix Israeli Spice Seasoning blend. **Sandwich bags.
15. Cook pasta for Spaghetti Pies.
16. Assemble Spaghetti Pies. **Pie pans.
17.Bag remaining spaghetti Sauce in 4 cup portions, keeping enough out for supper. **Quart Ziplocs.
18. Dice potatoes for pot pies.
19. Make sauce for pot pies.
20. Assemble pot pies. **Pie pans.
21. Peel and cook potatoes.
22. Mash potatoes and bag. **Quart Ziplocs or Pyrex pans.
23. Bag meatballs. **Gallon Ziploc.
24. Bag chili. **Quart Ziplocs.
25. Bag extra rice and beans.  **Quart Ziplocs.
26. Clean kitchen and dining room.
27. Admire prepared meals in freezer!

The kitchen and dining room continue to look like a war zone!

Meatballs are flash-freezing  now. I forgot that step on my list. :-) I've also baked two spinach quiches which are now cooling before they go in the freezer. Two meals worth of chimichangas are done as well as 2 containers of hummus-one regular and one roasted red pepper.

We just got a call from some friends who are in the area and want to stop by so I'm bringing the food factory to a screeching halt for a bit so I can enjoy their visit!

Coming up next:

--Spaghetti Pie

--Chicken Pot Pie

--Mashed Potatoes

--Israeli Spice Seasoning Blend

Ultimate Recipe Swap: Chicken Orzo

The theme for today's Ultimate Recipe Swap is freezer meals. I'm sharing my recipe for Chicken Orzo as well as some links to other dishes that I like to freeze!

My freezer was getting pretty low on ready-made meals so last week, I planned to spend a naptime preparing some things to freeze. That didn't happen but I did manage to double and triple some recipes a few nights while preparing dinner. I got a good deal on ground beef so I made up a batch of meatballs while cooking dinner the other night.

I'm rather hit or miss when it comes to making meals for the freezer. I don't really have a specific list of dishes that freeze well and I usually end up with a very odd assortment of stuff to freeze based on what ingredients I have on hand. It works, but my organized, list-loving personality would like to make a chart of what kinds of things that we like to freeze so I could have a better variety as well as come up with an actual cooking plan that would be an efficient use of my time. That is on my list to do next!

Anyways, some main dishes that I like to freeze are:
--meatballs
--spaghetti pie
--homemade pizzas
--chicken chimichangas(I want to try these with beef, too.)
--chicken pot pie
--lasagna

And here's the recipe for Chicken Orzo:
This is so easy to put together. Whenever I make it, I plan to make 2 and pop one in the freezer for later.

Chicken Orzo

1 or 2 cooked chicken breasts cut into strips or chunks or 1-2 cups cooked chunked chicken
1 cup Italian dressing
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta(rice-shaped)
1 can (2 1/4 oz.) sliced black olives
1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 medium sweet pepper (green, yellow or red or variety) cut into small strips
a little chopped onion
Parmesan cheese(optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well. Mix chicken, dressing, olives, tomatoes and pepper into large bowl. Add orzo and stir altogether. Pour orzo mixture into greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until heated through. (If you make this right before dinner and all ingredients are still pretty warm, it might not take as long to heat through! I often make my dinners early in the morning and refrigerate until time to bake for dinner.)

For freezing-wrap pan well (I usually double-wrap.)and label with recipe name, cooking directions and date. To bake, remove from freezer(duh!!!:-), thaw and bake as directed above.

**Thanks to Life As Mom for hosting the Ultimate Recipe Swap!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week's menu plan went well. We ended up making a short trip on Saturday to celebrate my nephew's 3rd birthday. I moved Saturday night's tortilla chip pie(which I had already made and in the fridge) to Sunday night.

Thursday night's spaghetti sauce and noodle dish turned out to be just that. I mixed about a half jar of spaghetti sauce that I needed to use with some cooked whole wheat rotini noodles. This was mixed with some chopped pepperoni and topped with mozzarella cheese and baked for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

We have plenty of leftovers this week to use for lunches and incorporating into the dinner plans as well. Our Sunday lunch this week with our home fellowship included a delicious pot of corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes. Even after sending leftovers home with different folks, we still have a huge bowl of it left. I think I'll be chopping up some of it and mixing up some pie crust to make a meat pie of sorts. I love being creative with leftovers!

Sunday
B- leftover corn muffins, peaches
L-potluck with our home fellowship-I provided some sliced melons.
D-tortilla chip pie with chips, cheese, chopped tomatoes and sour cream

Monday
To Do: make pastry for meat pie and fresh peach pie later in the week, make pancake syrup, thaw chicken breasts for tomorrow
B-toast, cheese,fresh figs
L-leftovers
D-leftover corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes made into a meat pie, salad

Tuesday
To do:cook extra chicken for Wednesday during today's dinner prep
B-waffles, bananas
L-leftovers
D-lemon herb chicken, rice, salad

Wednesday
To do:chop veggies for stir-fry, defrost spaghetti pie for tomorrow
B-cold cereal,milk,bananas
L-leftovers
D-chicken and veggie stir-fry over rice

Thursday
To do:bake peach pie if peaches are ripe enough
B-fruit smoothie, toast
L-leftovers
D-spaghetti pie(in freezer), garlic bread, salad or steamed veggies

Have you detected a pie theme yet?:-)

Friday
To do: bake muffins, bake cookies,make tuna pasta salad
B-cream of wheat, bananas
L-leftovers
D-tuna pasta salad, muffins or bread, fruit

Saturday
To do: bake birthday cake, prepare food for Sunday's potluck(not sure what just yet!)
B-waffles, canteloupe
L-leftovers
D-eat out for Andy's birthday

For more menu planning fun, visit Organizing Junkie!

The Pantry Challenge: Inventory

 The Pantry Challenge has begun! To start with, I took inventory of all the food that I had in the house: the pantry, refrigerator and freezer.  This helped me to see exactly what I had to work with. Having it all written down will assist with meal planning. On one hand, I don't feel like I have that great of a variety but on the other hand, I found out I had more than I thought. After doing the inventory, I feel more confident that I can do the challenge for a full month. Time will tell!

Each person gets to set their own rules for The Pantry Challenge. I'm aiming to only purchase dairy, eggs and produce and therefore would like to keep my grocery spending to $50 or less for the whole month. This may be a bit unrealistic, I don't know. But I'm willing to give it a try! In fact, I went ahead and took out $50 to put in my grocery cash envelope and stashed the rest away so I'm not as tempted to overspend. The money I save this month will be put aside for bulk food purchases.

I will still shop at CVS at least once  using ECB's and as little as possible out of pocket expense. Most of that will not be food purchases. But it will still come out of my monthly goal of $50. I have yet to decide if I will take advantage of any coupon sales.

My goal is not to use everything up that's in my pantry but to create as many meals for a month as I can from what I have on hand to minimize shopping and spending.

So without further adieu, here's my pantry, freezer and refrigerator inventory and the main cast of characters in what we'll be eating this month! I'll be crossing things off as we use them.

I'll be posting about what we're eating and how I'm doing with the challenge and my goals at the end of each week during the month of January, so stay tuned!


Refrigerator:
1/4 gallon milk
1 pound Parmesan cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese
2 1 pounds and 4 oz. cheddar cheese
2 1- 16 oz. sour cream
ground flax seed
yeast
gluten
1/2 bag coconut
1 1/2 bags chocolate chips
1/4 bag white chocolate chips
3 2 boxes cream cheese
1/2 dozen  4 eggs
2 1 pounds butter
1/2 head cabbage
3 celery stalks
Most of 10 pound bag carrots
3 broccoli stalks
1/2 green pepper
1/4 onion
1/2 jar applesauce
peanut butter

Condiments
ketchup
mustard- several kinds
3 2 salad dressings
pickles
apple butter
hot sauce
soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
mayonnaise
maple syrup
horseradish
salsa

Leftovers
oatmeal
stuffed mushroom filling
lasagna
roasted garlic bulb
mushroom stems
baggie of carrot/celery sticks
1/4 package of bacon ( cooked and put in freezer)

red pepper hummus
marinated mushrooms
1 cup cooked rice
salad
chocolate peanut squares

Pantry (includes contents of kitchen cupboards):
Loaf of French bread
Basic baking/ cooking ingredients including vinegars, spices, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, etc.
2 containers honey
olive oil
coconut oil
unbleached flour
dried elderberries
fruit basket- apples, oranges, lemons
pumpkin seeds
raisins
millet
bag of garlic
2 1 onions
sunflower seeds
popcorn
kidney beans, white beans, lentils- approx. 1 pound of each
10 6 3 potatoes
3 1 sweet potatoes
sucanat
mashed potato flakes
rolled oats
brown rice
whole grain pasta- approx. 2 1/2 boxes
2 boxes lasagna noodles
brown rice
arborio rice
bucket of hard wheat berries
bucket of soft wheat berries
1 box chocolates
variety of teas
2 sea salts
2 baking cocoas
6 boxes gluten
baking powder
cornstarch
2 cans coconut milk
1 can pumpkin
2 Worcestershire sauce
3 mustard
2 cans mushrooms
2 hot sauce
1 jar roasted red peppers
1 bean soup mix
3 A1 sauce
3 tomato sauce
5 4 diced tomatoes
instant cappuccino mix
microwave popcorn
saltine crackers
3 cans pineapple
1 can mandarin oranges
2 peanut butter
open package pretzel rods
8 7 tomato paste
3 cans salmon
3 2 pouches tuna
Ritz crackers
mixed nuts
Betty Crocker Warm Delight
graham crackers
7 boxes cold cereal

Freezer

Freezer Meals/ prepared foods
1 lasagna
1 chicken pot pie
1 hummus
1  meal chicken chimichangas
1 meal fish packets
1 bag cooked kidney beans
1 spaghetti pie
1 spinach quiche
1 meal chili
3 bags spaghetti sauce
1 sweet cheeseball

Meat
chicken bones for broth
chopped ham
6 burger patties
2 sirloin steaks
2 strip steaks
2 filet mignon
2 1 stew meat
1 ground beef
2 1 meals pork chops
ham bone
1 beef ribs
1 whole chicken
several containers chicken broth
pepperoni-enough for 1 pizza
1/2- 5 pound bag white fish
1 eye of round roast

Baked Goods
container Christmas cookies
2 bags pancakes
2 bags pie dough(approx. 2-3 crusts each)
3 pizza crusts
3 slices chocolate truffle cake
3 1 bags homemade tortillas
6 dinner rolls
2 mini pumpkin bread
3 mini whole wheat bread
3 2 whole wheat bread
10 unbaked biscuits
1 dozen 6 muffins


Produce
fresh lemon juice
2 1 bags broccoli
3 bags peas
1 bag California blend
1/2 bag corn
2 bags green beans
1 big bag mixed veggies
2 baggies mashed sweet potatoes
2 cups pumpkin puree
3 baggie shredded zucchini
3 baggies chopped celery
cranberries
strawberries
blueberries
peaches
bananas

Misc.
tiny bit of ice cream
2 cans o.j. concentrate
container veggie broth
2 cups freshly ground pastry flour
1/2 gallon milk
lots of spices
buckwheat flour
pecans
rye flour
cracked wheat
brown rice
rolled oats
yeast
cornmeal
sugars

Lunch Is In The Freezer!

From left to right: Pizza Pockets, Bean Burritos, Savory Hand Pies

From about 2 hours of work, my freezer now holds 11 pizza pockets, 10 bean burritos and 15 savory hand pies. I'm freezing all of these flat on cookie sheets and then will transfer them to freezer bags. A crock pot of chili is also waiting to be frozen in meal sized portions.

The savory hand pies were a new recipe from Southern Living magazine.  I ended up with 21 very small pies. They are so cute! We wanted to try them so we baked a few for lunch. They are delicious! So yummy! They reminded us of chicken pot pie. Yum! I recommend making these. Especially if you have leftovers from a meat and mashed potato dinner. I planned to make mashed potatoes for supper last night just so I'd have some mashed potatoes on hand for this recipe.These would be good with almost any kind of meat and veggie combo. The mashed potatoes and cream cheese added a nice creamy texture. I will probably make them bigger next time, though!

I must say how much I enjoyed working with store-bought pie dough! So much easier and less time-consuming than making my own. This may be the first time that I've purchased pie crusts. Can you believe it?

So far, this weekly small freezer cooking plan is working out really well for me! 

I'll be taking a break from freezer cooking next week because of other plans but will be back the next week doing a few main dishes and meats. Hope you'll join me then!

Freezer Cooking Day: Completed Meals and My Thoughts

I survived my first Once-A-Month Cooking Day!

Here's the list of completed meals and foods:

• 2 Chicken Fajita Kits
• 2 meals of Chicken Chimichangas
• 3 quarts of Chili 
• 3 meals worth of Fish and Veggie Packets : My first time freezing these so it's an experiment!  I don't see a reason why these wouldn't freeze well, though. 
• 1 container of Hummus
• 1 container of Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• 3 Chicken Pot Pies
• 2 Spaghetti Pies
• 2 Spinach, Mushroom, and Bacon Quiches
• 2 Cheesy Beef and Rice Casseroles
• 7 dozen Meatballs: 1 recipe; depending how I use them and how many people I'm serving should end up being about 6 meals. 
• 3 quarts Spaghetti Sauce
• 1 bag cooked brown rice
• 1 bag cooked and cubed chicken
• 2 bags cooked kidney beans
• 5 bags cooked pinto beans

Whew! That's  a lot of food!

My thoughts:

• The biggest hurdle to overcome when starting is to stop thinking about it and just do it. I dreaded making the lists and making it work with my recipes but once I got started it was not as difficult as I originally thought. I had read a lot about freezer cooking online and learned from my sister which helped a lot. I have also done a lot of freezer cooking in small increments over the years. Ultimately though, reading through Once A Month Cooking and seeing how they orchestrated the cooking days with their recipes and then following the tips in the book for adapting the process to your own recipes was my biggest motivation.
  
• This didn't cost a lot of money. I planned the meals based on what I had on hand in the freezer and pantry and spent about $40 more to get the rest of the ingredients, which also included fresh produce and other things we needed that were not included in the cooking day.
• Next time, I would like to plan ahead a bit better and have fresh meat to marinate and throw in the freezer, ready to cook. Some ideas would be roasts or whole chickens with a marinade or spice rub or any of these Dump Chicken recipes. ( The Lemon-Garlic chicken is good and I have the cranberry chicken in the freezer but haven't tried it yet.)The reason I would do more of this is that these would be less time-consuming than doing mostly casseroles. Because I used already frozen meat, I didn't want to thaw meat and refreeze it without cooking it.
• All the planning was good. My personality loves checking items off lists and knowing exactly what comes next. Knowing this about myself, my list was made up of lots of small tasks rather than large chores, so I could cross things off more quickly. It was motivating to be able to cross things off relatively quickly. There's nothing more discouraging to me than working half a day and only crossing a couple of to-do's off my list!
• While doing all the prep work the day before actually turned my cooking day into 2 cooking days, it was well worth it! My work space is quite limited and doing all the prep and cooking everything from scratch in one day would've been very overwhelming. Pulling prepared meats, veggies, rice, beans, ad cheese out of the fridge was wonderful! The assembly was pretty easy.
• Next time, I will not plan to away from home the day before!
• The Spaghetti Sauce is not my favorite. It has added cinnamon and cloves so is a sweeter type sauce. While good and certainly edible, I doubt I'll use this recipe again. Or if I do use it again, I'll omit the cinnamon and cloves.
• This is not all we will eat for the next month. I have other meats in the freezer and I will still want to cook some nights to give a little more variety. That being said, I won't be surprised if this stash lasts us about 2 months. Most meals are enough for supper and lunch the next day for the two of us. My family will be visiting for Christmas and I would love to still have a few meals left by then to serve them! (If not, I'll have to make a few more.)
• I'm planning a baking day for next week. I purposely did not include any baked items on the list because of previous attempts of making pizza dough, bread dough and casseroles at the same time. Too varied and time and space-consuming. The pie crusts for the quiche and pot pies was enough this time around!!!
  
• As well as journaling my experiences here, I need to create a notebook or document on the computer with my recipes and lists that I used for reference for next time. Each time should get easier as I fine-tune the process to what works for me. 
• If you're wanting to stock your freezer, do what works for you. You could do a  whole full-blown cooking day like I did, or simply double or triple your supper recipes for a week and freeze the extras. There's really no right or wrong way to do it. 
• I'm not that terrrified of a little freezer burn, since we use stuff pretty quickly. My previous experience with freezer meals has been good. I do double wrap most items. All pans are wrapped in plastic wrap and then in foil. For Ziplocs, I use only freezer bags.
• Standing a Ziploc bag in a quart jar and using a canning funnel is an easy and mess-free way to fill bags with soups and sauces. 
• I laid all filled bags on cookie sheets so that they froze flat. After frozen, they can be stacked on the shelf or in a  basket.
  
• I label everything. For pans, I just write the name, date and cooking instructions on the foil or on a sticky note which I tape to the pan. Labels are nice but I had run out of them. some day, I'll get all fancy and print some custom labels on my computer. Writing full instructions is important in case my husband is cooking the dish or if I use it for hospitality. I know where to find the recipe to see how to cook it but someone else may not. 

For easy reference here are all my posts about this freezer day:

Freezer Cooking Day- Menu and list of prep work.  (Recipe links.)
Freezer Cooking Day: Preparation
Freezer Cooking Day: My List and Progress
Freezer Cooking Day: Halfway Home
Freezer Cooking Day: Done! 

Food in the freezer is like having money in the bank. I can't wait to use it!

Making My Home A Haven: Inviting & Giving

Friday's theme was Inviting & Giving.

We had a lot of things already planned for the weekend so I wasn't able to invite guests to my home. I determined early in the week to bake some treats to send with my husband to work to share with his coworkers.

I baked a batch of cinnamon rolls on Thursday afternoon so they would be ready. I used all white flour instead of wheat like I often do. Using all white flour produces a much lighter cinnamon roll. Whole wheat is fine, but a cinnamon roll isn't really meant to be healthy anyways!

Friday is my day off from babysitting. I often plan way too much to accomplish on this day! I had a lot that I wanted to do so I wrote it all down in a long list. I knew that I wouldn't be able to accomplish everything but seeing it written in front of me gave me incentive to work as hard as I could.

This list will make you tired to read. You'll be glad to know that I wasn't able to do it all!

-empty dishwasher/reload
-one load laundry
-update checkbook
-quick run through house to vacuum, sweep, straighten up, dust/wipe
-water plants
-finish closet
-sew tote bags for Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes
-work on last minute details for tomorrow(Andy was setting up at a vendor fair.)
-make dinner (BBQ chicken, green beans, a box of rice mix)
-make yogurt
-make chicken pot pie for Monday
-print shoe box labels for Sunday
-gather all supplies to fill shoe boxes on Sunday
-make lunch to take with us tomorrow

I immediately finished several quick jobs on the list so I could cross off several things in a short amount of time! This helped to motivate me.

Next, I cleaned up the house and emptied the dishwasher. I knew I definitely wanted to finish cleaning out my closet, so I tackled that next. After spending a few minutes on it her and there throughout the week, it really did not take very long to complete. It is not a big closet at all, but I had a lot of trash stuffed in there!

While I was working on the closet, I finished switching out my out-of -season clothes. I'd done some earlier in the fall but it was still so warm that I was using both cold and warm weather clothing. I purged everything that I wasn't wearing anymore or was worn out or didn't fit right. My goal is to have a minimal but functional wardrobe where I wear everything in my closet. I will probably find that I kept a few too many of some items, but that's ok. I'm very pleased with what I have in my closet and drawers now and most everything can be mixed and matched. There is a place for everything now, too!

In the before pictures you will see some piles on the floor and trunk. I took care of all of that too. Our bedroom is quite tiny so any piles look very messy!

Before:



After:


Isn't this nice and empty now? Even the diapers are clean! Now to hem the curtains....

After I was done with the closet, I ate some lunch then got out my sewing machine. I sewed two more tote bags that I wanted to pack into the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. I had hoped to sew one for each box that our group was doing(8 in all). But I was only able to get 3 sewn so I left it at that.

Here are all three little bags that I sewed this week:


After this was done, it was time for Andy to come home. I put the sewing machine and supplies away.

I put the chicken in the oven along with extra for the pot pies that i knew by this time that I wouldn't finish today and then started doing last minute details for the show. We wanted everything to be ready to go the next morning!

I finished cooking dinner and we sat down to eat. As soon as we were done eating, we packed up the table and a few supplies and headed out to partially set up for the show.

When we got home, I packed our lunch for tomorrow and headed for bed! It was a busy busy day and I was exhausted!

Thanks to Monica for hosting Making Your Home A Haven this week! I enjoyed participating and getting a few extra things done. I decided that I need to get back into the habit of making a short to-do list for each day. This keeps me more focused! Also, I'm trying to implement my quiet time with God early in the day again. When I don't schedule it, it gets pushed to bedtime when i am tired and am more apt to rush through. Reading God's Word first thing gives me a boost to start the day and even if I don't get anything else done, I feel so accomplished knowing that I've spent time with Him!

Menu Plan Monday

Another week, another menu!
Sunday
Lunch-We hosted our house church fellowship. I made crock pot orange-citrus chicken(new recipe-yum!) and French bread to share potluck-style.
Dinner-bruschetta, leftover salad from lunch

Monday-sausage, pepper and onion stir fry, brown rice*, green beans

Tuesday-crustless zucchini and sausage quiche, salad

Wednesday-blue cheese & white bean salad-(I didn't get to this last week so here it is again!),green salad, muffins

Thursday-chicken pot pie*, salad

Friday-TBD- Something in the crock pot

Saturday-creamed eggs over toast

*indicates freezer meals

Lunches are usually leftovers. Otherwise, I have salad fixings and lunch meat for sandwiches this week.

Breakfasts will be fried egg and cheese sandwiches, cold cereal, pancakes, hard boiled eggs and biscuits*,fruit smoothies and cream of wheat.

For more menu planning inspiration, visit I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Homekeeper's Journal

What's happening in my home?

In my kitchen... I love to cook and bake and my kitchen's been cranking out some yummy foods this week. It makes me so happy! A few things I made this week are: crockpot chicken, chocolate chip cookies, 2 freezer meals for a friend (chicken pot pie and spaghetti pie). I plan to bake bread tomorrow!

In my marriage...Talking through some issues and praying over some things  lots this week!

In my sewing room...Made a diaper bag and some burp cloths as a gift for a friend. My first attempt at simple applique...pictures to come next week on my sewing blog. I've accumulated a nice stack of thrift store fabric over the past two weeks. I love looking at fabric and figuring out what I want to make.

Around the homestead...Raked leaves today, getting ready for a weekend trip to visit friends and family.

In my "Inner Man"...Working on the same character traits as last week. Something tells me it'll be a while. :-) I'm also praying for specific direction in the next few days.

Thanks to Sylvia for hosting the Homekeeper's Journal every Wednesday!

Cooking Day- My List and Progress

It's cooking day! I woke up and got ready early, eager to get started. It's a blustery rainy day so it feels nice and cozy to stay in and cook.

Here's my kitchen ready and waiting for some activity at 7 am this morning.

 Here's what my kitchen and dining room are looking like at 9:30:

I already have 7 meals in the freezer: 2 pans of Cheesy beef and Rice, 3 meals of Fish and Veggie Packets (what you see on the foil above), and 2 Chicken Fajita kits.

Here's my complete list of order of assembly and operations for the day. I've crossed off several completed items already and have already have done a few things "out of order'. It's hard to tell just how everything will play out when you make a list. I'll be making notes as to what does and does not work to have for my next cooking day!

1. Marinate chicken for fajitas.
2. Start chili in crockpot.
3. Start spaghetti sauce cooking.
4. Saute chicken for fajitas.
5. Assemble fish and veggie packets. **Foil packets in gallon Ziplocs. 
6.Assemble Chicken Fajita kits. **Sandwich, quart and gallon Ziplocs.
7. Assemble Cheesy Beef and Rice casseroles. **Pyrex pans.
8. Make meatballs.
9. Assemble quiches. **Quiche pans.
10. Bake quiches and meatballs.
11.Cook chimichanga mixture.
12. Assemble chimichangas. **Tortilla bags.
13. Make hummus. ** Plastic containers or quart Ziplocs.
14. Mix Israeli Spice Seasoning blend. **Sandwich bags.
15. Cook pasta for Spaghetti Pies.
16. Assemble Spaghetti Pies. **Pie pans.
17.Bag remaining spaghetti Sauce in 4 cup portions, keeping enough out for supper. **Quart Ziplocs.
18. Dice potatoes for pot pies.
19. Make sauce for pot pies.
20. Assemble pot pies. **Pie pans.
21. Peel and cook potatoes.
22. Mash potatoes and bag. **Quart Ziplocs or Pyrex pans.
23. Bag meatballs. **Gallon Ziploc.
24. Bag chili. **Quart Ziplocs.
25. Bag extra rice and beans.  **Quart Ziplocs.
26. Clean kitchen and dining room.
27. Admire prepared meals in freezer!

I'm back to the kitchen. I'll do another update  around noon. See you then!

Pantry Challenge Menu Plan

This is the second week of my two week pantry challenge. Random is the name of the game this week!

We're starting the Whole30 on Saturday so my goal is to clean out the bits and bobs before then.

The pantry challenge has gone pretty well. We've been sick and not quite up to par most of the last couple of weeks so our appetites haven't been normal. I've used up a lot of things but we still have some odds and ends.

Last weekend, I made a huge pot of chicken broth with bones and veggie scraps I'd saved in the freezer. I also added a package of chicken legs which added a good flavor. I made a big pot of chicken soup since we were sick which not only used the chicken from the broth but also a few carrots and celery that were nearing expiration. We ate on the soup for several days. Besides the soup, I was able to freeze 8 quarts of broth for later use. We were out of broth so this will come in handy in the weeks to come. Yay for getting a 16 quart stockpot for Christmas!

My initial goal for the challenge was to spend $0 for the two weeks in order to save the grocery budget for the Whole30. First, we were sick and needed a few supplies, then Andy's parents came to visit this past weekend so I bought a few extra things because of having company. Turned out to be a good move since I was sick while they were here. My sweet mother-in-law ended up cooking! I was a terrible hostess...:-)

In preparation for the weekend, I did make banana muffins from frozen bananas and baked an apple pie I had frozen. My mother-in-law brought some grapes, a bag of salad, an apple, a cucumber and some green onions which she thought might go bad at her house so we're eating those things up too!

Total we've spent to date is $41.03. Not too bad and a few food items will carry over to our Whole30 meal plan.

I scrawled a tentative meal plan for the week. We'll see how it goes from day to day. It really depends on how much we feel like eating! Some of the combinations are super weird-- we may change them up as the week goes on but really, who cares? We're eating things up!

Breakfasts:

• Hard boiled eggs, banana muffins, grapes
• Creamed eggs and waffles (I really want waffles before starting the Whole30!)
• Eggs in various forms

Lunches:

• hot dogs and buns (left from weekend)
• Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole from freezer (2 servings)
• Southwestern Lentils from freezer (1 serving)
• Chick-fil-a soup --free this month with the 2014 Chick-fil-a Calendar card
• Brown Rice, Carrot  and Ginger Cakes with leftover cooked lentils and rice
• Any other leftovers!

Suppers:

• Texas Chili (no beans; from this cookbook) with cheese, sour cream, green onions and olives, salad
• Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce (from freezer), Cheesy Potato Balls (from freezer; made with leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving!), steamed broccoli
• Spaghetti--have a half bag of rice pasta to use and a small jar of spaghetti sauce from freezer or we may use leftover Texas Chili on the pasta--we'll see! Also have a small amount of Parmesan cheese to use up. 
• Cheeseburger Soup (from freezer), Sweet Potato Souffle (from freezer; from Thanksgiving!) 
• Fish or chicken with whatever veggies and sides we have left or random leftovers

What are you eating this week? And if you're also doing a pantry challenge this month, how's it going? Please share in the comments!

**This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday over at I'm An Organizing Junkie! 

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's on the supper menu this week:

I use a simple meal rotation each week for easy planing!

Sunday-leftovers

Monday-church meeting; I'm taking a blueberry cobbler.

Tuesday-BBQ ribs in crockpot, corn on the cob, cucumber salad, sliced peaches

Wednesday-salmon patties, green beans, homemade bread

Thursday-chicken pot pie**, steamed veggies

Friday-homemade pizza

Saturday-picnic lunch; leftovers and smoothies for supper

**indicates freezer meals

Kitchen To-Do List:
1)bake bread
2)freeze peaches
3)freeze blueberries
4)cook chicken in crock pot
5)bake muffins

For more menu planning inspiration, visit Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!

'Fowl' a la King

This week's theme at Kitchen Stewardship's Super Foods Carnival is Broths and Stocks.

Bone broths are so healthy and full of good minerals. Making your own broth from chicken and beef bones also makes use of something that would otherwise be simply thrown away.

Of course, I often use my homemade broths for soups. It also comes in handy to use for other recipes that call for broth. Yummy, homemade broth can add some extra good nutrition!

When making broth, I freeze whatever I'm not using right away in small portions to use in recipes. One tip I ran across recently was to freeze broth in muffin tins. When solid, remove and store in a freezer bag. Each muffin cup is approximately 1/4 cup. When I need broth I just pull out the right amount of "broth muffins". I also like to store a larger amount of broth in a bigger container to pull out to use for soup making, especially during the winter.

The broth recipe I'm sharing today is for 'Fowl' a la King. I like to call it that since it can be made with either chicken or turkey. This is a quick and easy recipe that I've adapted somewhat from Taste of Home that is really useful for using up holiday leftovers. This is true comfort food, similar to a pot pie.

I use whatever cooked or frozen veggies I have around. For example, I'll often use mixed veggies, peas  or green beans. If using carrots, you will want to make sure they are pre-cooked as the whole mixture doesn't cook together long enough to cook the carrots soft.


 'Fowl' a la King

Ingredients:

-One batch of biscuits. It is more healthy to make your own instead of using a can of biscuits. So far, I use this recipe which I am trying to make with more and more whole wheat flour. The Nourishing Gourmet has a recipe for Soaked Biscuits which I have not tried yet. Judging by the reviews  they must be quite tasty!


-1/4 cup butter,cubed
-1/2 cup flour
-2 cups chicken broth
-1 cup milk
-2 cups cubed cooked turkey or chicken
-2 cups cooked or frozen veggies. Choose 2 or 3 different ones. I like to use peas and cooked carrots.
-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper


Directions:
Mix and bake biscuits according to recipe instructions.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter on low to medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

Stir in the meat, veggies, salt and pepper; heat through. Serve in bowls with biscuits on top. We also like to split the biscuits and ladle the chicken mixture over the top like gravy.

Makes 5 servings.

**Visit Kitchen Stewardship for more recipes with broth or stock as part of the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods. Next week’s theme:  Super Foods Recipes.

**Thanks for visiting my blog today. I'd love for you to enter my giveaway while you're here!

Menu Plan Monday- Freezer Meals To The Rescue!

 
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends. We just finished eating all of our leftovers today!

The turkey carcass is simmering on the stove as we speak, turning into yummy homemade broth. I got to bring it home since I was the only guest who expressed an interest in it.

Imagine that.

We have a very hectic week ahead. On Saturday, I'm running my first 5k and hosting a Gingham Cottage open house at my home. The open house will give some of my local friends a chance to see my products.  I've been sewing and creating up a storm and setting up at  area shows almost every weekend this fall. My little business venture has been successful so far, with many private orders and sales. Be looking next week for lots of new items in my Etsy shop! I have lots of fun and different things to post for sale there.

We also need to get our tree and decorate the house for Christmas. We're doing a small tree again this year and we really don't go all out with the decorations; we both prefer the simple touches over the elaborate. 

Thankfully, I still have a freezer stocked with ready to heat meals which will come in so handy this week! I really really love having all those foods prepared and at the ready. So worth the effort! I've been using several of the freezer meals every week; they have been great!

Compliments of my freezer, here's what we're eating this week:

Monday-leftovers
Tuesday- Fish and veggie packets, brown rice
Wednesday- Chicken Pot Pie, veggie
Thursday- Cheesy Beef and Rice, veggie
Friday- Chicken Fajitas, beans, possibly rice
Saturday- Something easy or eat out

If you're in need of menu planning inspiration, be sure to check out Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday for lots of meal ideas!

Home Keeper's Journal

 Today, I'm joining in with Christian Homekeeper's Homekeeper's Journal!


What's happening in my home?

In my kitchen... The Eat From The Pantry Challenge is in full swing! I am in week 2 of the challenge and it is going really good so far. It's a good workout for my creativity to  plan meals from what I have on hand without purchasing very much extra each week. Comfort foods and yummy homemade soups are the main theme these days. Chicken pot pie is baking as I type this.

With my marriage... I can only speak for myself here! Working on better communication and being more faithful in prayer for my husband. We have a happy marriage, but of course, it's not perfect! We're learning to rely on God and trust Him more in many areas of our lives.

Around the homestead... Inside, candles, throws and cups of hot tea add a warm and cozy feel to our cottage. With the beginning of the New Year comes the urge to clean out and simplify. I'm working on a better and  more productive schedule for myself and purging items no longer needed. Feels great! One box of cast-offs has already been collected. Outside, leaves need to be raked!

In the sewing room... Mending for myself and a pile of alterations for a friend have been finished. I have some patterns out to make a few things for myself. I'd also like to work on some "scrap projects" with all the small pieces of fabric I have leftover from other projects.

In my "inner man"... Cultivating contentment and true joy in all circumstances. Becoming a woman who is kind in her words and gentle in action. I am so far from perfectly attaining these things, but continue to pursue them with God's help. One of my New Year's goals is to just be myself, to be as God made me, without worrying what others think so much. Not sure what all that will hold for me, other than being a life-long process, I'm sure!

What's going on in your home today?

Menu Plan Monday- The Challenge Continues!

The first full week of the Eat From The Pantry Challenge went well. We haven't gone hungry yet, so that is a good thing!

Now on to week two...

I'll probably have to do a little grocery shopping this week. I did shop a little last week but spent more on non-food items than food and got some very good deals at CVS and Walgreens. I'm thinking that  I'll actually need some fresh items this week.

Last week, I only planned supper menus and left breakfast and lunch to what I had on hand and planned that a day or two at a time. That worked really well so I'll do that again this week. Why fix something if it's not broken?

So here's the plan... I have had a really bad headache all day and haven't been able to think clearly. Because of this, my menu plan is pretty basic. I may change some things as I go along, but for now, easy and basic sounds pretty good to me!

**indicates freezer meals

Sunday- hamburgers, pickles, steamed mixed veggies

Monday- church meeting

Tuesday-chicken pot pie**, peas

Wednesday-spaghetti sauce** over noodles, mixed veggies

Thursday- French Market Day Bean Soup cooked in crockpot with ham bone, biscuits**

Friday- homemade pizza(crust is pre-made**), salad or veggies and dip

Saturday- leftovers or grilled cheese sandwiches

For more menu planning inspiration, head on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie!