Freezer Cooking (with friends!)

Awhile back, I hosted a Prep.Freeze.Cook party with some friends.  It was super fun, but at about $12 a meal, not something my budget could do every month.  Enter: my friend Amy.  She decided to take the concept and adapt it for a smaller group of friends and do the shopping/prep ourselves.  This month I invited myself to her house for the “party.” :)  William held down the fort and Miles and I headed over on Saturday morning. How it worked was a week before the party, Amy sent us an email with different shopping lists divided up.  We each picked a list to buy.  It also had a few items that needed to be prepped ahead of the cooking day.  Here’s what my list looked like:
SHOPPING LIST E

• PREP ITEM - 32 medium sliced green peppers
• 64 oz white vinegar
• 4 bottles (16 oz each) zesty Italian dressing
• 8 limes
• 7 jars (4.5 oz each) or 28 oz of minced garlic
• 1 bottle (12 oz) of ketchup
• 64 freezer bags
• 8 cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 8 cans black beans, drained
• I also decided to pre-label all the bags to save us some time on the morning of

Every arrived and unloaded all their goodies.These 2 guys were adorable together and were so great throughout the morning.
Again, each group of ladies tackled one meal at a time.  We simply found the indreitent on the massive table of food and dumped it into a gallon freezer bag.  Once all the bags for that meal were done, we sealed them and put one meal in each lady's laundry basket.

Here was our list of the 10 meals that we prepped (can you tell we're big chicken fans?):
Taco Chili
Black Bean Chicken 
Meatballs
Coconut Lime Chicken
White Chicken Chili
Chicken cacciatore
Creamy Italian Chicken
Italian Buffalo Chicken
Crock Pot Aloha Chicken
Crock Pot Philly Cheese Chicken
All in all, it took us only about an hour and half for everything.  And even better, the total was $89.52 for all of it!  Definitely worth doing a little of our own prep work to get our cost down.Amy has a full run down of the meals with links to the recipes.  I can’t wait to make this a monthly (or bi-monthly) tradition!

Pinned It, Did It Monday {food tricks & a little bag}

What is this you say?!  Welcome back to Pinned It, Did It Monday.  Just for this week folks.  And maybe you’ll see this pop up a little more this summer as our schedule is just full of fun things!  If you’re new to the blog (welcome!) Pinned It, Did It Monday is where I share a few of the things I’ve actually DONE from Pinterest.  It’s a site that can suck you into hours of just looking at good ideas.   But I want someplace to be accountable to actually doing some of them. :)Picture I pinned:
Source: The Fastest Way to Peel Garlic from Holiday Sparkle
My review: No picture for me on this one, but you will  definitely want to click on this pin or link and follow the simple directions.  I was shocked that I literally had an entire head of garlic peeled in minutes.  It definitely worked and so simple.  I love garlic, but hate the time it takes to peel it, so I will use this over and over!As summer is upon us, we love us some good sweet corn.  But I do hate the process of shucking it and getting all those pesky hairs off.  Then I saw this idea.  And my life will never be the same.
Picture I Pinned:
Source: The Magic Corn Trick from Holm Family Cookbook
My picture:
My review: Ummm. . .amazing!!  I simply followed all the directions and in just a few minutes, and only one cut with my knife, I had perfectly cooked sweet corn with none of the mess.  It cooks in the microwave, in the husk, and then slides out with a little help.  How am I just now figuring this out.  Seriously, if you eat corn on the cob, follow these directions!!As a car-loving boy, Owen always has problems of carrying his most loved cars (of the hour) from one place to another.  We carry them from room to room and upstairs and down after nap.  So I wanted a quick easy bag for him to throw some cars in. 
Picture I Pinned:Source: Simple and Quick Tote Bag from Emmi Grace and Me
My pictures:
My review: As much as I try to stay away from licensed, commercial type things. . .he’s falling in love with the Cars movie characters, so I grabbed some fabric that reflected that.  The pattern was a good, beginning bag pattern and would be great to tweak for all sorts of fun totes.  And it’s already had a lot of use, which makes it a worthwhile project in my book.

our new menu plan

I am pretty excited about the new menu plan we’ve been using at our house!  It’s no secret that meal planning and prep is not my strong suit.  I do it because my family needs to eat, but I don’t enjoy it.  A few months ago, several ladies in my Mom2Mom group shared that they were using a new service called Fresh 20 that emailed them their menu plans every week, along with their grocery list.  They offered to send me a couple sample weeks to see if I liked them.  I loved it.  I simply printed my list, went shopping and knew that I had what I need for the next 5 dinners.  Out of the 10 dinners we tried, 8 were hits.  I love that they use only 20 fresh ingredients and a few pantry staples. 

I went to buy a year's subscription when I found out the current groupon (my referral link) going on was for EMeals.  (here’s the direct link to the groupon)  It’s the exact same premise as Fresh 20 just a different service.  I also enjoyed that it was Dave Ramsey endorsed.  I was blown away that you can choose from 10 different plans - classic, clean eating, simple gourmet, paleo, low carb, low fat, portion control, natural and organic, gluten free, and vegetarian.  We are currently in week 3 of the portion control plan and I’m very happy!!We have really liked the meals and Owen is actually eating them!  I mean seriously, he ate curried chicken and broccoli tonight.  And didn't even ask for yogurt. :)  I feel like all the hard work of hunting down new recipes is done for me and I simply print my grocery list and go.  I like that EMeals gives me 7 meals a week instead of 5 like Fresh 20, although it usually takes us a week and half to 2 weeks to get through one menu plan. I like to add in a few of our old favorites, a leftover night, and a fend for yourself night or 2.  Here’s a sample of a week if you want to take a peek.

I would say this idea is great for you if you don’t love menu planning.  And if you don’t have a super picky eaters as your spouse. :)  But I’m a big fan.  Let me know if you have any questions or want to try a week before committing!

I am posting this as a good reminder to myself. Since I love to be crafty, I usually always says yes to making something before thinking through if it's really worth it - the time, energy or money.  I found this great little flowchart at Modern Mrs. Darcy.  Great questions for me to ask before I turn on the sewing machine, glue gun, or even oven. :)

Pinned It, Did It Monday! {pot pie and muffins}

It’s Monday again, which means I tell you about the pins from Pinterest that I actually did this week.  I started 2 new jobs so my crafting time was somewhat nonexistent limited.  I did finish something that I cannot wait to show you.  But it has to get in the mail to the momma-to-be before I can show it to you (because I know you read this Lindsey :).  So today is going to be pretty boring with just 2 recipes to share with you.     Picture I Pinned:

Source: Hearty Chicken Pot Pie from Betty Crocker
My Pictures:My Review: I needed a quick and easy meal that involved chicken and some frozen veggies that were close to freezer burn.  And this is what I decided on.  With a few tweaks, I would recommend this recipe.  I used homemade cream of chicken soup.  Not because I’m worried about the sodium or anything but because after I defrosted my chicken, I realized I didn’t have any in the pantry. So much for my pantry organization.  So that may have made it too thick.  So I would use more milk .  I doubled everything and next time I would not double the “crust.”  It was a little too think and probably was another reason it was dry.  But overall, the taste was good!  Be sure to add the thyme and this is a easy recipe to have on hand.I love breakfast foods of all kinds.  And I always try to make something new and hot on Saturday mornings when I have someone to help wrangle the kiddos.
Picture I Pinned:

Source: French Breakfast Muffins from Velvet Lava Cafe
My Pictures:

mmmmm

He wanted to hold the plate.  And yes, then he dumped them.

a huge smile?!  they must be delicious!

My Review:  Amazing!  So simple to make but they were delicious!  These will absolutely be made again very soon!

Pinned It, Did It Monday

If you’re like me, since the invention of Pinterest, I’ve wasted spent hours on that site gathering ideas that are supposed to make my cooking better, my kids smarter, my closet more put together, and my crafting cuter.  I’ve been striving to find the balance of using Pinterest.  On way one I feel like a slug and feeling bad for myself while looking at all these “perfect” things you can find on that site.  And on the other hand, I DO find tons of great ideas.

So I’m introducing my new Monday blog feature, Pinned it, Did it!  I want a way to be accountable for actually doing some of the things I pin each week instead of just wasting time pinning them.  On Mondays I’ll try and post one thing that I did that week from Pinterest.  It might be a recipe I’ve tried, a new crafty project that I completed,  a cleaning tip I tried, a cute quote that made me laugh, or something fun I did with Owen.  Today, I’ll start with 2 things to get rolling.  The first is a tip I found about selecting watermelons.  My first 2 melons I bought this season were just ok, so I thought these tips were good ones to implement.

Picture I pinned: Source: Watermelon Picking Tips from Fifteen Spatulas
Review of the tip: I totally forgot to take a picture of the watermelon I bought, but it was delicious!  So I give this tip a huge thumbs up.  There were tons of great tips on buying and cutting a watermelon.  Don’t forget to read down in the comments section, because there were more tips down there!
The second pin I actually did this week was a fabulous bread recipe!
Picture I pinned:

Source: Crusty Bread from Simply So Good
My pictures:

add water and that's it!

I did everything in my kitchen aid

after rising for 18 hours

and after baking!

Review: This was fabulous!  A great, basic bread that looks beautiful and tastes great.  And no bread maker needed.  Although you have to think a bit ahead because it needs to sit for 12-18 hours before baking, I will definitely make it again.  Can’t wait to experiment with adding in some yummy mixings!

So that’s in for Pinned It, Did It!  If you do anything from Pinterest, I’d love for you to take a picture and send it to me.  I’ll feature it.  I love finding pins that actually make my life better in some way when we actually do them. :)

recipes to try

I love that I have collected a whole new group of recipes from people that have brought us meals these last 2 months. Here are a few that were HUGE hits at our house and will definitely be in the regular meal rotation:

**Taco Pie (from Leah)

• Brown 1lb of hamburger and add 1 packet of taco seasoning
• Take two cans of crescent rolls and roll one can out in a greased 9 x 13 pan
• Spread the meat over the crescent rolls and top with cheese (any amount).
• Then unroll the top layer of crescent rolls over the meat and bake according to the package.
• Then when it comes out, serve with any toppings you like on tacos. Super easy and super delicious!

**Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos (made for us by Joanna)  - click on the picture for the recipe.  These were AMAZING and very easy to make.

* *Saucy Italian Stuff (from Louise)

• 3/4 of a box of rotelle
• 1ish jar of sauce
• 1 lb of hamburger
• 1 roll of bob evans Italian sausage
• salt, pepper, Mrs.. dash traditional blend to taste in the meat
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 large green pepper
• 8 oz package of mozzarella or Italian blended cheese
• Cook pasta according to directions. Heat olive oil and sauté onion and pepper until translucent (or caramelized if you want it sweeter).
• Squish together meat and season.  Form into meatballs and begin browning in the pan.  Once brown on all sides, add sauce and slowly cook through.
• Once the pasta is done, drain but save a coffee cup full of the starchy water (Rachael Ray tip) to mix back in with the sauce and meatballs. 
• Top with cheese and brown under the broiler if desired for a few minutes.

**Orange Push Up Smoothies – found this one on pinterest and they definitely tasted like the orange push-ups I remember as a child.  Yummy!