Yesterday, I posted this before going to bed . . . Exhaustion Doesn't Cover It.
I'm still exhausted and, according to my husband, I still smell like onions. Unfortunately, I woke up WAY too late to get a shower this morning so everyone is going to just have to suffer until the twins take their nap and I can grab one.
On a positive note - I'm not nearly as sore as I was last month. Last month, I could barely walk the day after our OAMC Day. Today - I actually don't feel bad at all! I'm going to contribute that to my SIL telling me that I had to keep my shoes on all day. Although I very rarely wear my shoes when I'm inside, I took her advice and my hips and back feel fine today!
I'm also happy to report that THE FREEZER IS FULL - again!!!
This month we made:
For Breakfast -
Harvest Pancakes
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
I have to admit, this one made me nervous when I was making it. First of all, we don't have a pot big enough to make 20 servings of this in. So, I had to split it up into 2 pots. Also, the chicken was still a little frozen (okay . . . a lot frozen) which made cooking it a little bit of a longer process. Then . . . when it was cooking, there was this film that kind of came to the surface, which made me nervous. However, after the rice all puffed up and I skimmed that skin off the top it looked (and tasted - because I took a spoonful) really good! I expect this one to be a hit!
I'm still exhausted and, according to my husband, I still smell like onions. Unfortunately, I woke up WAY too late to get a shower this morning so everyone is going to just have to suffer until the twins take their nap and I can grab one.
On a positive note - I'm not nearly as sore as I was last month. Last month, I could barely walk the day after our OAMC Day. Today - I actually don't feel bad at all! I'm going to contribute that to my SIL telling me that I had to keep my shoes on all day. Although I very rarely wear my shoes when I'm inside, I took her advice and my hips and back feel fine today!
I'm also happy to report that THE FREEZER IS FULL - again!!!
This month we made:
For Breakfast -
Harvest Pancakes
Which already have the approval of Christine's kiddos - and I liked them, too!
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| Before the Oven |
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| After the oven |
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| These are DELICIOUS!!! |
I have not been disappointed in a single breakfast muffin that we have made . . . and most of them are REALLY easy, too. It actually makes me want to find my own muffin recipes and try some of them out, too!!!
For Lunch -
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| Looks yummy, right? Almost like a chili but not chili. :) |
I originally thought that it was the same as this Taco Stew recipe I saw on Crock Pot Girls. I was really excited because it was one of the recipes I had written in my food journal to make someday. I even pulled my food journal out yesterday because I had written the recipe down and needed to know if I should or shouldn't drain the cans. The journal said drain 'em. So . . . I did and it really does seem like it will be fine. I went back and looked at the recipes today and realize that they aren't exactly the same. The Taco Stew recipe adds a package of taco seasoning - which we didn't add to the soup. The Taco Soup recipe states that you should NOT drain the cans . . . and I did. I'm sure it will be just fine but if not . . . it's probably because I drained the cans. I hope Christine can forgive me!!!
I'm planning on trying these Mexican Grilled Cheese sandwiches with the Taco Soup to make it a dinner one night!
I don't have a picture of these but they were SO easy to make!!! I can definitely see me making them again on my own some time. We even sampled them with our White Chicken Chili (from our 1st cooking adventure) that we had for lunch - they were a hit!
These were YUMMY, too!!! Christine and I ended up eating them for dinner because of a crock pot malfunction that ruined our dinner plans. They were easy to make and very yummy to eat!!! (Of course, they LOOKED easy to make - Christine was actually the one putting them together. :)
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| Final product looks pretty good! |
For Dinner -
I don't have any pictures of the dinners but here they are:
Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf - this was the first thing that Christine put together. We wanted to get them in the freezer first because we didn't have enough loaf pans to freeze them and we wanted to make sure they were nice and solid before we packaged them.
It was shortly after this that we realized we didn't have enough eggs . . . so I made my very first during cooking grocery store run. It was shortly after I got back that we realized I thought the coconut for the granola bars was on Christine's list when it was really on mine . . . so I made my second (in one day) during cooking grocery store run.
Salsa Chicken - I think these kind of dinners are my favorite. No cooking on our big cooking day . . . just throw it all in a big bag and throw the contents of the bag into the slow cooker on the day you want to make it! I actually think I would like to make an entire month's worth of meals this way someday!!!
I even found this site . . . Mama and Baby Love - which does exactly what I'm hoping to try some day . . . an entire month's worth of slow cooker meals!!! Not that I'm in any huge rush to try it. I'm actually thinking it may be better to do in the summer because we are so busy I could just throw dinner in when I get up and have it done at dinner time!
Chicken Enchilada Lasagna - Christine did this one. I know that we had a lot of left over sauce and I have some in my fridge now that I'm going to try to come up with something to do with. I think Jerry and I will like this one, though!!!
Mama's Meatballs and Gravy - This one was kind of a team effort. It was the last meal we tackled and we did it together, although Christine formed more meatballs than I did because I was busy packing up stuff we had flash freezing so that we could free up some cookie sheets to bake the meatballs on. My kids LOVE meatballs and I can't see this dish being an exception.
Spinach Artichoke Pasta - I was mostly responsible for this one - which we both decided to skip the red pepper flakes on (although after a sample, we will probably add them to OUR dish but not the kids) - I did leave the messy packaging to Christine, though. I love that on the original site this is called "Spin-Art Pasta" I think I may get bonus points for getting the kids to eat it if I use that name for it!
Lentil Tacos - This was by far the scariest dish on our menu. Neither Christine or I have really ever prepared or eaten a lot of lentils. We weren't even really sure how they were suppose to look when they were cooked. We had a few minor problems . . . like the amount of water on the original recipe was for the original measurements, which serves 4 - 6, and we were making enough to serve 20 (because we make 10 servings per meal and each meal twice). After some adjustments (i.e. guessing) I think they turned out alright. I doubt they will be a grand slam in either household, but I think they will get eaten here . . . probably as nacho toppings by Jerry and I.
Ground Beef Stroganoff - This was another tough one to do in one big pot like it suggests. I ended up browning the ground beef and then doing the rest. I separated the ground beef into 4 containers and then evenly portioned the "sauce" on top. I hope it works. I know that the last time we made Beef Stroganoff, my kids LOVED it!!!
Chicken Stuffing Bake - Christine assembled this one, too. She did make the comment to her husband, Jim, that she thought that he was going to like this one! I'm sure my kids will, too. After all . . . stuffing always makes a dinner better!!!
For those of you that might be curious about what this does to your wallet . . . we spent around $170 to take home 2 meals of each of the things that we made. Honestly, it's A LOT cheaper than eating out even once a week when you are feeding a family of 6! As the kids get bigger, we will probably have to adjust the portion sizes again but for now this has been working great!
Well . . . there you have it. Probably the most detailed recap I've ever done of one of the cooking days. I had a great time with Christine and even her husband noticed that we seem to be getting "better" at this! I think we would have been done a lot sooner if we wouldn't have felt like we were doing so well. We kinda slowed down because we thought we were in the home stretch when really we had way more to do than we thought. We did, however, get a chance to pick our next date and go over the menu and grocery list. I think next month is going to have a lot more day before prep work but I'm hoping *fingers crossed* that means a little bit of an easier day on our big cooking day.
Okay . . . off to the school bus and then to tackle some more of the crazy mess I came home to last night! Mama's work is NEVER done! (But secretly I LOVE it and wouldn't have it any other way!!!)
