5 hours and 18 meals completed!!

Here is our freezer just a few hours in to cooking ahead.  I can't believe how smoothly this has gone so far.   So far the list is as follows


5 lbs of meatballs  (85 total) = 3 meals with 10 left to mix w/ sausages for hoagies.
2 gallon size bags of Vegetarian chili w/ red and black beans
2 chicken w/ stuffing casseroles
2 meals of Teriyaki pineapple chicken (made the marinade myself)
1 meal of Honey Dijon mustard white wine chicken breasts  (I made this marinade myself)
1 meal of Orange/Ginger/Garlic chicken breasts  (made this one up too)
2 meals of Chicken Broccoli Alfredo  
3 meals of pulled pork
Bean & Rotel mixture that I will mix with rice and have a Vegetarian meal or side dish. 
Basic spaghetti sauce made w/ tomatoes, onions, olive oil, garlic & basil. 




The last few things we are going to prepare is some ground beef that can be added to sauce, or used as taco meat for taco salads.  Also, breakfast burritos made w/ egg, mushroom, sausage, peppers, onions, hashbrowns & cheese.  They will be quick and easy breakfasts for the whole family as with any other family, we don't have a lot of time in the morning for much more than a bagel or cereal on the run.  


The thing I think I love the most about this whole process is....it has been fun.   Don't get me wrong it is quite an undertaking but, I am so fortunate to have my wonderful husband helping me by doing anything that needs to be done from shredding pork to washing up dishes.    

Chicken & Stuffing Casseroles 

Chop once and use for several dishes!!!

Making your own marinades!!!  

After making meatballs freeze a bit 

to firm them up before putting in baggies

to help them keep their shape!!

I will get the recipes up as soon as I can.  Now back to cooking.....break time is over.  

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7

Let the cooking begin!!!

Today begins the marathon cooking day for my "month of meals" plan I spoke about a few posts ago.   


Let me start by saying, the most important step you must take is PLANNING!!   I brainstormed  and recalled meals that my family really likes, I wrote down several meals on a sheet of paper.  It all looked so overwhelming at first, but then I figured that I don't have to make a different meal each night.   My family enjoys eating things more frequently so why not make those dishes 2 or 3 times.   I know it's all common sense but really, when you undertake a mission like this common sense seems to hide in a corner for a minute.  (at least mine did anyway because I felt overwhelmed).   I whittled my list down and realized not all the meals need to be completely done and frozen.  In the time it would take to boil some pasta or make some rice...a meal can be complete if the meat is marinated, cooked already etc....So the also helped to ease the pressure. 


Next thing I did was to clean out the refrigerator, freezer and cupboards.  Taking inventory of what we have and what we need to make certain recipes.  As I thought about the things I would be making I tried to keep a running list of items we would need more of.  
Next up...grocery shopping.  I stuck to a list.  I did have help with the shopping as my husband loves to shop.   :)   It took us almost 2 hours from start to finish, methodically going through the store and getting only the items in the quantities I had listed.  (I figured quantities by how I made single meals and either doubled or tripled them).


We made sure to buy lots of freezer bags, quart and gallon sizes.  We also bought a couple of great covered Pyrex casserole dishes that can go right into the freezer.   On many of the sites I researched I found they used either aluminum pans or containers.  I think the Pyrex dishes will pay for themselves in no time, and they are versatile enough for what we need.  (and we found a size that will fit nicely into our freezer.)  :)


When we got home from shopping I put a big pork butt roast into our biggest slow cooker with just some liquid smoke on it and put it on low and let it cook while we slept.  That will be the base of quite a few meals....How easy was that???  :)   


We awoke this morning to the smell of pork roast all yummy and cooked in the slow cooker.  We will let that cool and shred it up for meals....bag it and tag it is going to be the saying of the day!!  LOL


I took a break to blog about the progress so far.  I have chopped all the peppers and onion we will need for all the dishes, and have even thrown together two huge bags of Vegetarian chili w/ kidney beans & black beans.  They are already in the freezer!!  :)


I will be putting up the recipes later on with quantities and also some pictures of things as I progress through the day.   On that note....back to work.   Break time is over.  


If you are going to do this...My advice is put on some music that motivates you, have fun with it...and think of all the wonderful, homemade, healthy meals you will have completed for yourself and your family.  


4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7

Winter break is over!!

Back to school after a holiday break is usually quite stressful.  But, I think we pulled it off this morning.   I didn't want to get up either but I did and the kids got up without argument and did what they had to do.  I was amazed!!   There was no fighting, whining or yelling.   Wish it could be like that every day!!   Perhaps the kids have made some resolutions for themselves this year that I don't know about.  
Nah...probably not.  LOL
One can dare to dream right???  

I always look at Winter break as the school year is about half over now.   In the past this is usually the time of year when the kids really grow emotionally and they tend to mature a little bit.   I think due to the fact that generally the first part of the school year is review and then the rest is more new learning.   I don't know really, I am just speculating at best.   I have noticed that since we got the Wii, there has been more teamwork between Ryan and Elizabeth.   I love that.   They are working hard at it, and I am glad that we stipulated that as one of the "rules and conditions" of being able to use the Wii.    The way I see it, if they can practice it at home and learn to do it here.  They can take those skills out into the world and really do wonderful things.  

Shelby is 18 now.......I know I shouldn't feel old as I normally don't, but alas I do.   I worry even more now than I did before.   Seems the worries grew the minute she turned 18.   I guess I should have expected that right?  


4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7

33 MEALS (The Plan) :)

As the title implies I  have planned 33 meals to make in hopefully one weekend and get in the freezer so I won't have to think about meals every day and hopefully get our grocery bill lowered as well as our waistlines.   :)   As I make things I can post the recipes for them too but for right now...here is my basic outline and plan.


My goal is to get all the shopping done at one time.  Before that I will clear out the refrigerator of everything that is old and really no used often.  I want to just come home from shopping and get everything out of the car and into the fridge right off the bat.
That evening I plan to put 2 whole chickens in a big stock pot w/ some celery, onion and carrots and cook the chickens.   (the meat will be shredded or cut up and measured out into freezer baggies for meals and the stock will be placed into a few containers to be frozen for a quick throw together chicken noodle soup.  :)  I also plan to put a pork roast into each of our 2 crockpots and season one with liquid smoke and garlic and the other will just have some salt and pepper on it.   (one will be shredded and used for pulled pork sandwiches and the other will be used to add to other dishes)


Day 2 will be cooking day!!   Chopping veggies will take up some time but I will chop it all at once and then line things up in bowls to just add the right amount to each dish.  I want to do this as quickly and as efficiently as possible so I will open up all the cans at once as well and line those up too.   


Here are the recipes I plan to put together that day...(some are just the meat component and will just need to be thrown in the oven or into a sauce to cook but the hardest part will be done).


I plan to make.....
Meatballs  *pasta & meatballs or meatball hoagies*
Chili w/ just beans (we can use some of the pork or even shredded chicken in this to bulk it up) * we will have the chili w/ cornbread a couple of times, and use it for Chili topped baked potatoes too.*
Taco Meat  ( just cook up hamburger w/ taco seasoning and then put in baggies, this will be for taco salad & Burritos)
Marinated chicken breasts (make a few simple marinades and let sit in fridge a few hours then freeze, no cooking involved until you want to eat them...thaw and cook)
Marinated Pork Loin Chops  (I found a few marinade recipes that look good..do the same as chicken)
Enchilada casserole  *using either chicken or pork that has been shredded* 
Chicken, green bean & stuffing casserole *my family loves this and it is real easy to make*
Beef & Bean burritos  (taco meat and refried beans w/ some cheese in a tortilla and freeze, it's just that easy)
Spinach lasagna w/ meat sauce   *Easy and yummy*  
Chicken broccoli Alfredo over angel hair pasta  (Uses pre-cooked chicken, frozen broccoli & jar alfredo sauce over pasta)
Breakfast for dinner....either pancakes or waffles (which I will premake and freeze)
A huge pot of spaghetti sauce (tomato & Basil) This can be used for many meals!!
Homemade pizza dough  *no more ordering out for pizza, we can make what we like at home* 




I also plan on premaking Breakfast burritos that can just be made and frozen and reheated in the microwave for a healthy, filling, and nutritious breakfast on the go.  These will have peppers, onions, mushrooms, sausage & cheese wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla.  


I have other things I already do to  make Breakfast easier like making Crockpot Yogurt and homemade granola and also crockpot steel cut oats.  Which can be made once a week and then easily reheated.  


So far that is the plan.....Once I go shopping, and make the meals I will be able to post an actual shopping list of ingredients as I tweak it and refine recipes etc.   


Most of these recipes I will double or triple and we will eat them twice or three times in that month.   Some things I will only make one of and try out to see how they work w/ freezing so I don't waste money on making something I am not familiar with.   


Here's to a Happy New Year!!   :) 





4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7

2012 is here!!!

It's a new year....time for resolutions....or NOT!!


I don't want to make resolutions this year, I just want to do things better than I have in the past.   I have run the list of past resolutions and where has it gotten me??   Well I am still overweight, and still in pain.   (guess what my resolution has been all these years?  LOL ) 


This year...my goal is Organization!!  Everything from optimizing the space in our house as our kids get bigger and the house seems smaller to planning and cooking ahead meals 1 month at a time.   
It sounded overwhelming to me at first until I started doing some research.  I have found sites that helped me to make a list of favorite meals my family enjoys, what kinds of meats we like and how complicated we want a meal to be.   I think once I get past the first shopping excursion and the first month of meals cooked and frozen it should hopefully get easier from there.   I like variety.   I get bored with the same old things week after week.  I was always envious of those people who ate the same things week after week...after all it was easy to stick to the same shopping list week after week.  Well that isn't me so I will obviously have more work to do, but I believe once I get in the hang of it...1 day a month will be spent shopping and 1 day cooking and then I don't have to think about it for 30 days!!   :)  *I love the thought of that*


Besides it will free up more time for me to spend with J.R. and the kids.  I will even have time to do the dreaded "E"!!   (Exercise)  I hate it but I know it is the only way I am going to be able to actually diminish pain in my back and to lose weight and get strong.  


I guess that is about it, I just wanted to say Happy New Year and I will be blogging about the Month of Meals shopping and prep when I start doing it.  
As of now I have lists on paper, ready to go.   It might be a week or two before I can actually get to the shopping and cooking.   After that watch out!!  LOL 



4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:4-7