Freezer Cooking My Way

If you've wandered around this site much you know that I have my hands in many many things and many balls balancing through the air. I am no expert in any of these arenas but I also don't want to sacrifice any of them--slowly figuring out what works for us.

I don't enjoy cooking. I am super cheap. I'm not very good at it. There just isn't the budget to eat like we'd like to. There are many dietary limitations around here. So many emotions involved in food.


I like the idea of OAMC but it has never worked out for us: I don't have an "extra" day to shop or cook. We don't have the money to put up front (even though I know it would save money)

People seem to freeze a lot of casseroles. We don't eat many casseroles in our dietary restricted home. We didn't seem to eat the foods that many of the cookbooks were bulk cooking:(

I read in Family Fun magazine about a family who modified the system to work for them: having a once a month day where the whole family helps. I have had grandiose dreams of warping this for our family: us making meatloaf one month (I'm thinking 10-12 of them) using the food processor to chop that many onions etc and then lining them all up in our freezer nicely labeled.

Then another month we make a chicken dish and freeze those. Then....We have never actually gotten around to it.

Kim Wright. LOVE LOVE LOVE her. I remember reading about her family having many many crockpots and one day they'd cook a bunch of chickens all day and make a few batches of sauces. Then into the freezer would go chicken meat and sauces. Then another day she'd cook beef. Etc.

When meat goes on sale: I buy enough for the week and some"extra" for meatloafs. Then one night's dinner I make 4-5 meatloafs. I take all but one out 20 minutes early. Let it cool while we eat dinner and then during dinner clean up I freeze them.

When I soak dry beans and cook them I double or triple:  Dinner one night, burritos for lunch that week and freeze some for later.

I have also doubled black beans when soaking and made twice as much rice. Then I add some cheese and assemble into burritos and flash freeze. ALOT cheaper and healthier than buying frozen burritos.

Even though I don't follow the conventional freeze ahead cooking or OAMC plans, our freezer has been a huge asset to our family. Getting here was a process and a labor of love.

A lady I was working for offered it to me and then ended up charging me for it (maybe a blessing in disguise because I wouldnt have bought it otherwise.) A freind with a truck and strong sons drove a half hour away and picked it up for me. He refused payment or reimbursement for gas. I may have cried.

It sat in the garagde for awhile and I collected empty containers. I didnt want to turn it on and pay to freeze an empty box of air but didnt have the money to fill it yet. It's all a process:) RIGHT after I had our 5th baby a friend, her husband and older boys came over and moved the freezer into place and plugged it in. Doesnt sound like a big deal but it was something I had been trying to get to for months. I was just "recovering" and I wandered out to the garage to see what was going on and my friend sent me back to bed. (wise woman)
This friend has 10 children and more than one garage freezer. They knew the help it would be to us more than I did.

I mentioned that I freeze extra meals. I also stock up on sales. Not just the normal grocery store rotation but those once in a while things like when our local Fresh and Easy clearanced their grass fed, organic beef down to $1.00 a pound. I bought them all.

I have  another friend in a prayer group with a delivery man from a gourmet bread store. Periodically she'll bring me huge trash size bags of bread. Bread was a major expense for us and making it everyday isnt practical for us at this point. It is amazing what a huge blessing it is for us.

I also buy frozen vegettables. Like whenever I am out of town and see a great deal on meat or frozen products, I buy bags of frozen vegetables to use as ice packs in my thermal bag:)

I know that alot of people "lose" food in a big freezer. I go through ours periodically out of neccessity.
It is important to be organized and intentional though. I have seen people use dry erase boards (or write on the outside of the freezer) to keep track of what's inside.

Here is how one very organized person stores her frozen meat:
http://www.inspirationformoms.com/2012/01/21-days-to-clean-organized-home-day-3.html

I do something similiar to this  but we use 2 lbs of meat per meal:) I buy diapers on Amazon and use those big boxes. I use a full sheet of paper to make a label that says "ground beef" "ground turkey" "chicken breasts" then stack the frozed bags like books on a shelf in the box. Then I use the box like a drawer in the freezer. Does that make ANY sense?

Ive thought it might be cool to have cute platic baskets but Im not sure if those would freeze well. I also dont always have the same things in there. When I do get labels down I think I will laminate them and change them out.

For now, I have started transitioning to  plastic boxes and havent nailed down my labeling system yet...just in the essence of keeping it real and because I have no pretty pictures for you..Wanna see inside my freezer, right now, unprepared?

Here she is in all her unprepared glory. She could use outside primping huh?

 here you see top row bread and rolls
next row chicken, beef, frozen fruits (like browning bannanas for muffins later or fruit that I didnt get around to making jam with but will at some point:)

 here a little closer:

right now there aren't many empty containers filled with water and frozen because I just defrosted.
Here is the under utilized door:

 There was an amazing sale on butter recently and that fourth shelf down was full but is dwindling quickly.

I have a standing freezer. Here,  Inspiration For Moms shares how she organizes a chest freezer. I'm really liking her Dollar Store baskets. I use those same labels elsewhere and they look so nice in the freezer hmmmm....

I'd love to hear how you organize your freezer or how it saves you time or money! Also if you have any freeze ahead meals that work for your family. Please share!

Christmas Decorating 2011

Do you know anyone who actually can buy what they want to decorate for Christmas with? I am not one of them. I get my stuff out each year and kind of think..really? This is it? Yet somehow when you put it all together there is something magical. is it the Christmas carols playing in the background the cool Christmas cup in my hand? Who knows.


Here we go....

 I told you about our tree here. This year we had to replace all the lights. I'd like to get a new one but I think Id still keep this one:) My husband's grandmother knit each of us a stocking to match the one she knit for my husband when he was born. She also filled it every year when he was a child. Great lady.

Here is another of the tree:

We have a small tree on our kitchen island. It was my husband's grandmother's. I ended up with it when taking her stuff to the GoodWill. We just hosted a Christmas cookie exchange. Hence the decorations for that...

Here is another tree. This one is fiber optic and also rescued from Grandma's GoodWill pile.

Vallarta

Went to a drs appt that could have been the beginning of a really BIG deal. All turned out well but I was still shooken up. Was in the same town as Costco etc but just didnt have any money to spend or want to. My son and I walked quickly through our favorite GoodWill. And I heard my 13 year old say, "hey" like he was greeting an old friend. He came accross this:

which matches THESE

that we already own. and I told you about HERE. We found them at the same GoodWill which can only get my wheels turning: Are there more waiting for us in the back?

Our long lost friend sells is a Pasta Serving Dish in the Vallarta pattern from Pier One. It sells on Replacements.com for 94.95. 

I also see them in her house

 Molly Ringwald (Anne Juergens  on Secret Life of the American Teenager)  and feel a little stalkerish. In many episodes someone is holding a Vallarta coffee cup nad you can often see the dishes displayed in a hutch in the background of kitchen scenes.

Our "new" bowl was ours for.........would you believe 2.99?



I'm linking up at Thrifty Decorating, SugarandDots,

 

A little luck and a lot of Providence

We don't budget. We are budget type people and we know EXACTLY how much we spend on every little thing. Honestly, there isn't enough money; not to buy food and pay rent and pay utilities. It doesn't make sense to budget what we don't have. So we pray and God brings things before we know we need them. Sounds over simple, sounds naieve, sounds impractical. Yet here we are.

"Surprise" 4th pregnancy? Out of work, injured and now very worried husband is offered a job working one day a month. By the end of the pregnancy it turned into 30 hours a week. We didnt fit in our vehicle. 6 weeks after our baby is born (which is when I actually WANT to leave the house) we were given a minivan. By people who turned out to not even be friends later. Definitely God's hand and not some charm on our part. A better vehicle than we realized that we needed. God is very very good to us and I don't ever want to take it for granted or expect it. 

I go in to the Goodwill near our house whenever I am out and quickly scan through. They get Targets returns and overstocks. i have purchased many many lamps there and rugs. lots of rugs. I don't have time or luxury to shop like I like or maybe need to.

I have been working Friday nights through Saturday mornings and haven't been to yard sales in FOREVER. With the cost of gas and so many littles in tow it ends up not cost efficient.

My two youngest and i stopped at some garage sales Friday a.m. while my three oldest were in a geography co-op.

There were a few treasures waiting for me:)

Tony Hawk jeans I don't think they are actually "skinny jeans" and they are blue. But they were the right size for my oldest son and $150 a pair.

a 3 pack of food saver containers (unused in box) for $1.00.

and peacock jeans just like these on ebay but in my size (a feat in itself) they are a little more sparkly in person, and, yes I am that flamboyant.

for $1.00

A MOPS cookbook for $1.00.

A pair of yellow slip on ballet flats for my daughter $1.50.

This was 3 different yard sales. there were things there that seemed really overpriced. There was a hall table that i wish i would have purchased. It was $20.00 and had this gold edging that I wasnt too keen on. but now I walk through my hall and wish I had purchased it.

I have been taking pictures and trying to document what I am finding and then never get around to writing a post or think it isnt that great or forget to link up:(

Do you all care what I find? I like the idea of having someone to share my finds with but it is pure luck (or Providence) on my part. It's not like I'm finding old furniture with this amazing creative eye and turning it into beauty. I don't have that eye. Should I continue to document and share? Is it helpful or encouraging?

Snuck out for Dinner

I have been thinking. Sounds scary huh? I KNOW all the advice about nurturing your  marriage and  how you'll turn around one day and not know one another. I believe that. yet, you can only do what you can do. We don't have date nights. We don't spend time together. My husband was out of work and home for three years. We didn't spend time together then,. We wondered how we'd eat dinner and stared at our three kids under 6 and read out loud. We have stayed in survival mode for awhile.

He's working now. 40 hours a week with a back injury. When he is home he is in recovery mode and we discuss whether or not we should be driving a car with bad brakes and how to pay bills and pray for our children.

I don't get time away with him, alone, or with friends. Its been  a lonely stage of life for me and I feel pretty needy. I used to have friends. I use to have something to give. Honest.

I have been thinking a lot about life being in stages and how this isn't it all that I am. Seemed like an amazing life changing thought for me. This moment in time isn't all that I am--I am an accumulation of all of those moments.

A friend called. A good, dear friend. Someone I have known for 25 years. ( She had tried to Facebook me, text me and email me before finally getting a hold of me :) She was heading up North for a girls' weekend and wanted to know if I could meet her for dinner and stay in a hotel. All her treat.:)

Could I do that? really? I am working nights. At home.  (because, in thoery I ahve time then:) I wasn't working that Friday. My husband was wrestling with our son and broke a rib and pulled something. He was home from work. He didn't mind being with the kids but was a little jealous that HE wasn't the one to take me to dinner. (I cant remember the last time we have done that)

Our washing machine broke. and no one in town can deliver for a week. Our modem broke and our computer crashed. I have a gift certificate  for a Best buy in the  next town over, where my husband works. Easy. Not really. they wouldn't let me use the card online and my husband called in sick. We arranged for me to take his truck and meet my friend. then the brakes went out in his truck. I wondered if this was not a good weekend to go.

But, honestly. This is just how my life works:)

I went. and I felt guilty. And I had a great time. We stayed in a quaint quaint little hotel and walked around town wine tasting. at one point my friend worried she had said something wrong. I didn't flinch and responded "my opinion of you is made"  It has been 25 years. I know her faults and i know her strengths and I'm here to stay. She exhaled and said "I like that"



I hadn't been wine tasting before and tried not to take it too seriously. I fought it but I really learned a lot. It was very educational:)

We walked here:



The Wandering Dog

and here:





Lucas & Lewellen

and here:




Lion's Peak


 then took a Taxi here:



The Hitching Post II

brought dessert back to our room.
Then slept.

Honestly, I was gone for dinner and breakfast and not much was missed. I felt so relaxed and refreshed. There was plenty more drama and dilemma waiting for me. Should I feel guilty for running away and being selfish? Could I have handled my many blessings and drama and  dilemmas without a chance to catch my breath? I don't have the answer to either.

\

Valenitine's Day Mantle

My snowmen are now hybernating and I got out our Valentine stuff. I;m drinking my mornig cup of Joe from a darling Starbucks cup from a dear friend. We are playing Playdough on heart shaped placemats and the mantle is done:)


and a close up:



Blocks are from Goodwill.
Subway art is from HERE, Love Scripture verse

from HERE

LOVE blocks and children holding hands vase from GoodWill. I printed the pictures during a buy one get one free sale at CVS.

I also ordered custom Valentines

from Vistaprint (for shipping only)

I'm thinking about making cake pops for our Homeschool Groups Valentines party.

I don't feel on top of anything or very excited about Valentine's Day or any other big event coming up. Honestly, I'm glad to have life back to "normal days" No one sick. Not praying for anyone on the verge of dying. Not dealing with any major drama, just sweeping, laundry, diapers.... 

 

Thred Up

When my first son was born, a dear friend at church supplied me with a full wardrobe. I returned the clothes when my son outgrew them and her new son wore them. I have found some magical arrangements like this along my parenting road. Still, they are always gaps. When my daughter was born I scoured yard sales and thrift stores and found some great treasures. When she outgrew them, I sold them. With five children and an ever growing to do list I haven't kept up with clothes swapping like I wished I had. I have often wished for a group of friends who gathered and swapped clothes.

Enter Thred Up.

I pack a USPS Priority Mail box and list its contents. Someone chooses it and pays shipping. I print a label, mail out the box and choose my own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnrqcWjBoBM&feature=player_embedded


Right now, they are offering an incentive for joining. Read through the facts page and see if it will work for you. They also offer programs like giving your box choosing credits to a military family

New to Me Christmas Post

This year I am sooo incredibly thankful for our home. A year ago we were cramped into a little house with so many problems and this year is amazing and magical. Honestly, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Our home still seems to good to be true.

Christmas trees are a big issue every year. Is it a justifiable expense when you need food and want your kids to have something to open on Christmas morning. Every year, I tear eyed grumble, "YES"  We were given a small tree by dear family friends.
It had been theirs for years and years. Then we were given another 7 1/2 foot tree that did not fit in our house.

Then when helping a friend move we ended up with another.


Can you see our third tree hiding back behind my two littlest bakers? Have you ever baked with two toddlers? I always seem to forget how much WORK it is!!

I am sooo thankful for our new to us trees and a home that fits them all (Christmas trees and bakers)

It feels odd to be searching thrift stores for practical things right now. But my boys have outgrown their pants. All of them. So, I wandered into a thrift store this week and found THIS beauty!!
Isn't she wonderful??? $6.00. My big dilemma became: "Do I buy something for ME" which soon turned to "Do we use it now or wait until Christmas?" I guess no matter how blessed one gets there are always dilemmas ;)


Linking up at Twice Owned Tuesday, 65th Penny Pinching Party,

 

Oh Christmas Tree take two

It has been a long long few weeks and I am so tired. My husband and I both find ourselves falling fast asleep if and when we get a chance to sit down.

There is something about the Holiday Season that makes you count your blessings. It has been almost a year since we moved. I know I keep bragging about how wonderful this house it. but it truly is and I am grateful for each day that my family has here. It took many many miracles to get us in here and my prayer is that they continue.

You may remember me talking a few years ago about how we had no room and no money for a Christmas tree. We were given one and rammed and shoved it into our small living room. We had no room to move or live for a month but it sure was pretty:) We also have a small tree that was the main tree to dear friends of ours for years. Carting things to the thrift store for a friend we acquired another small tree. Somehow in the past year we went from barely fitting one tree to having room for three or more:) WOW. and thank you.

Here they are the day after Thanksgiving.

 I do not like colored lights. at all. My mother in law gave me some when she bought her first pre lit tree last year. So that is what is on this last tree. My littles have been taking down all the ornaments and my older boys have been breaking bulbs/ alot of them. I guess I didnt get a picture of the tree in the kitchen. I will add that later. As we get used to this house and time goes on I think they will evolve more and more:)   It will be fun to acquire more tree toppers and skirts and make ornaments this year and know where they will be going.

Scarecrows Hybernating and Snowman are Coming out of Hiding!!

We had a little mantle makeover. A year ago we were in a tiny little house and I had snowmen EVERYHWERE. This year, we are in a HUMONGOUS house and there is room for so many more:)

Here is what we came up with the day after Thanksgiving. The leaves went to the greens container and the Snowmen arrived.

I'm sure it will slowly evolve from here:) I went to the Dollar Tree and got the really cool battery-operated-no flame candle. It looks really cool all lit up. Dont know why it doesnt show in the picture. I havent gotten the trick of taking pictures of this mantle yet. It is really high and we ahve to use a ladder to get up there. Which is very nice with two toddlers under foot ;)