Yearly Family Pics

This past August (it's been two months now??? what??) my good friend Amy took some sweet photos of our family. These are the first family pictures since Lucy was born so I really wanted to get some good shots of her and that's exactly what happened! Enjoy!

                                (Poor Emery does not handle the heat well. I sure don't blame him.)

Tried and True Freezer Cooking Tips

• Use good quality freezer bags or containers. I'm pretty thrifty but I don't skimp in this area. With cheap bags I've noticed freezer burn and meals that taste like the freezer, yuck. I do try to wash out and reuse the Ziploc bags I buy.
• Don't have a vacuum sealer? I don't either. But my trick is to use a straw to suck out all the air. Zip up a bag all the way to the corner but leave enough room for a straw. Suck out all the air and finish zipping very quickly so you don't let any extra air in. It's very important not to freeze meals with extra air because ice crystals will form on food and change the taste.
• When freezing meals with pasta or rice or other starches, don't cook the pasta or rice completely. I cook it 3 minutes short of what the time on the package says and that way when it's thawed/reheated, it won't turn to complete mush.
• I like to blanch most vegetables that I freeze, unless they're in the dish that's being cooked before being frozen. For example, I make big batches of sweet potato fries and regular french fries by cutting them up and blanching (boiling for 3 minutes and quickly dumping into an ice bath). I do the same thing with fresh broccoli that I buy in bulk.
• Flash freezing is a great idea for things you may not use a whole bag of at once. I do flash freezing with fruit for smoothies, my french fries, muffins, pancakes/waffles and more. It's simply freezing for 1 hour on a baking sheet in a single layer, then transferring to a freezer bag, getting rid of all the air and returning to the freezer.
• To make the most of freezer space, use freezer bags! Quart and gallon sized. When I make a lot of dump meals at once, I'll stack the completed freezer meals flat on a cookie sheet and freeze them. After they freeze flat, you can stand them up in your freezer almost like you would with files or books. They also thaw out much quicker this way!
• Do a complete meal in a bag. Instead of just freezing the fajita meat/onions/peppers, I will put it in a smaller Ziploc and put that in a bigger bag with enough tortillas and a baggie of shredded cheese. This way you've already got all the fixings together and you can pull it all out at once. I do that with stir fry as well (bag of rice, bag of mixed veggies in a sauce that I made with shredded chicken). 
• If you don't have time for a whole day of freezer cooking (or a whole weekend, in my case) start out slow by doubling or tripling the meals you make. It doesn't take much more time or effort the result is you've made 3 dinners instead of one which means 2 fewer meals you have to cook in the future. Yes, I can subtract! 
• People say potatoes don't freeze well. And they don't...if they're raw. But cooked and in dishes, they freeze fine. Just don't cook them all the way or they will turn to much when thawed and reheated. I usually parboil add them separately. Baked potatoes should freeze fine (I have't tried yet), and I make french fries and actually bake them prior to freezing (it's easiest and best results, in my opinion).
• These are a couple other ways I use freezer cooking to save money and trips to the store, which in turn, saves money: I buy lots of dried beans and let them cook in my crockpots, then bag them up in 2 cup portions and freeze them. Much tastier and cheaper! 
• Put your kids (if you've got them) to work! And if your husband thinks you're crazy for cooking absurdly excessive amounts of food at once, remind him that he'll have way less dishes to wash every night this way. Way less. Or fewer. It's nap-time and I can't think about that one at the moment.

 Last night, it was 6 PM and I didn't know what was for dinner. Thirty minutes later, we were eating Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry, roasted cauliflower and homemade whole wheat rolls. I've adapted a lot of my recipes and have come up with new ones that are more healthy and less carby. But that's another post for another time. I just wanted to throw that out there and let you know why I'm so into freezer cooking.

Cook less, play more, eat better! Part 2

As I go through the hoard of food in my freezer, I'd love to share what we love and works and also what doesn't.

There are two methods I use to grow my stash of freezer meals. Sometimes when I cook a dinner, I'll double or triple the recipe so we'll eat one that night and have 2 other dinners made to go in the freezer without adding much extra work. Or the other way of spending 5ish hours on a Saturday cooking a bunch of dinners Here are several of our favorite recipes:

Calzones (or what we call Calzones. you may call Stromboli?)
Bread machine dough:
1 cup water + 2 T water
2 T olive oil
2 T sugar
1 t salt
3 C Bread flour
2 t dried granulated yeast
Add to bread machine and use dough setting. Once cycle is done, place a few drops of olive oil in large bowl and roll dough around so it is oiled. Cover and place in a warm spot to rise 30-40 minutes. Knead a couple times, roll out in two rectangles and cover the center with sauce, cheese and toppings of choice. Bake 20 minutes at 400, or until golden brown.
To freeze: let cool and wrap in foil and place in Ziploc freezer bags. Label and date and add cooking instructions.
To cook from frozen: Keep in foil and bake in preheated oven 375 for 25 minutes or til heated through.

Chicken Pot Pie (this recipe from my sweet friend Sarah)
Two 9 in pie crusts (I use store bought because I've never successfully made a decent crust from scratch. And really don't care if I ever do. Ha! Don't judge me. ;-)
Filling:
3 C cooked chicken or turkey
1 pkg frozen veggies (peas, carrots, green beans and corn is our favorite blend for this...your kids will eat veggies with this meal)
1/3 C butter
1/3 C flour
1/3 C chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3/4 chicken broth
2/3 C milk

Rinse and drain veggies. Heat butter over medium heat, saute onion til transparent, stir in flour and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in broth and milk, heat to boling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in meat and veggies. Pour into pie crust and cover with 2nd crust, pierce top crust with fork. Cook in a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
You can freeze this before or after baking. And you can bake it straight from the freezer (I usually pull it out and let it thaw a few hours on the counter, but some people might be concerned about food safety) just be sure you give yourself plenty of time. I can't remember exactly the time it takes but let it bake about an hour. 

Baked Ziti

1 lb Ground beef

1 lb Italian Sausage

1/4 Chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

16 ozs Penne pasta, par cooked and drained

6 cups Spaghetti sauce

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Optional: sauteed mushrooms and zucchini (I usually add these to most pasta sauces, then my kids/husband get extra veggies and have no idea!)

1. Prepare: Brown ground beef, sausage, garlic and onions together. Add spaghetti sauce and any additional veggies. Combine sauce and cooked

pasta; mix well.

2. Freeze: Spread pasta in 9x13 pan and put a good layer of cheese on top. Cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil, label and date.

3. Serve: Thaw casserole and  remove plastic wrap. Recover with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Remove the

foil and bake for 5 more minutes. Serves 4.

Sirloin Beef Tips with Mushroom Gravy

Yield: 12 servings
2 (8 oz) packages fresh mushrooms, sliced

4 tablespoons butter

3-pound sirloin tip roast, trimmed of fat and sliced into ½-inch cubes

1 packet onion soup mix

1 can (10 ounces) cream of mushroom soup

1 can (15 ounces) low-sodium beef broth (or 1½ cups water with 2 beef bouillon cubes)

Sauté 8 oz of fresh mushrooms at a time in a skillet with 2 tablespoons of hot butter (do not stir; just let mushrooms sit for about 10 minutes, then flip and brown the other side).
Cube your roast, and trim off the fat, place the meat in a slow cooker (use slow-cooker liner for easy cleanup). Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Serve over cooked rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes.
Cool remaining beef tips and gravy and freeze in zip-top bags. Label “Beef Tips and Gravy.”

To serve: Defrost beef tips and gravy in a microwave-safe bowl on high until warm. Serve over mashed potatoes, noodles or rice.

Baked penne with chicken and sun dried tomatoes
6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound penne rigate
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (8 ounces each), halved horizontally
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups whole milk
10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded provolone or mozzarella (6 ounces)
1 cup finely grated Parmesan (4 ounces)
Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise.
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Off heat, gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes; sprinkle each with cup Parmesan.
Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Or freeze before baking and bake straight from freezer.

I can't remember where I got the last two recipes, if I do I'll be sure to post it!

 

Cook less, play more, eat better! Part 1

A couple months ago I was asked how I do it all. The short answer: I don't! But seriously, as a mom of 3 little kids 3 and under, I'm not supposed to do it all. Wouldn't there would be something wrong if I did? Having said that, I do want to share something that makes it possible for me to do a lot (but not all) and that is freezer meals. What's the average amount of time it takes to make dinner nightly? One hour maybe? How many nights do you cook dinner? or should you ;) Five hours a week, give or take, spent cooking dinner. What if you took that 5 hours of cooking and did it all in one day and only did it once a month or so? I've found that cooking this way saves me money (less trips to the store and less eating out because there is almost always something in the freezer now), saves me time and we eat healthier at the same time (less fast food or processed foods).

I don't cook dinner every night, in fact, I might cook just once a week. It's been about a year now since I began cooking freezer meals and it has seriously changed my life. I don't think I could ever go back to cooking nightly. Here is a quick run down of what works for me:

First, I compile a bunch of recipes that we all (all is relative with preschoolers) enjoy and that work well in the freezer. I try to keep them somewhat similar to each other because that makes the shopping and prep easier and faster. For example, lots of chicken dishes or Italian so I just buy a lot of a few ingredients. Make your shopping list from the recipes (double or triple the recipe so you make 2-3 of the same dishes to keep it quick and easy).

Second, I do my shopping! I buy most of my meat and produce at Sam's Club (cheapest meat around and great quality). This past trip, I bought 6lbs of chicken breast and about 6 lbs of pork loin. I was able to hit up Sam's club and Kroger in one trip with the kiddos so that I could come home and prep it that evening. That's not always possible, in that case I'll unload groceries into the fridge and prep the next day. Just try to do your shopping and schedule enough hours to do the prep/cooking within about 3 days of each other so you'll have the freshest ingredients.

Third, I do the prep and "dump" meals. I am not a huge recipe follower. So I usually estimate how many veggies need to be chopped and do that first. Dump meals are meals you can pretty much dump in ziploc freezer bags and stick in the freezer with little to no prep. All of mine will be thawed and put in the crock pot. During the last cook day I did, my dump meals included coconut curry chicken, chicken fajitas, cilantro lime chicken, pork chops in raspberry chipotle marinade, cranberry pork roast, and barbeque pork loin for pulled pork sandwiches. I did all my prep and dump meals the night after shopping and had 8 meals in the freezer in about 1 1/2 hours (and isn't that about how long it takes to cook one dinner? at least with small children at your feet!). Bonus: your husband (or you) only has to really clean up the kitchen 1 or 2 times rather than every night (besides the serving dishes and etc).

And fourth, I do the real work. I make all the meals that need to be assembled or precooked before being frozen. This usually happens the day after I do my grocery shopping.  Because I put a bunch of chicken breast straight in the crock pot after I got it home I already had chicken prepped. So I prep any other meat I need (mine was ground turkey). I've found that most recipes can be adapted to be a freezer meal. Our most popular dinners are calzones, chicken pot pie, lasagna, enchiladas, chili, baked ziti, soups and stews. I don't like casseroles or cream of stuff so I don't do much of that. But if that's the way you roll, then by all means, have at it! With the meat prepped, I made 2 chicken pot pies, 2 dishes of chicken enchiladas, some chicken noodle soup and shredded any leftover chicken breast to have on hand in the freezer. With the ground turkey (if you like beef, use it!) I made lasagna, baked ziti, and chili. That's 11 more meals to add to the freezer!

In another post, I will share some of my favorite recipes for the freezer as well as some great tips I've learned (and wish I knew when I started!)

Lucia Grace's Birth Story

It's been a wonderful 7 1/2 weeks getting to love and know our beautiful Lucy. She's so easy, super sweet and just a joy! I finally found a minute to write her birth story, but it's not very well written or edited so bear with me. Enjoy!

We arrived at GSMC at 6 AM on a freezing morning December 12, 2012. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who were having a 12/12/12 baby as we stood in line to finish registration. I found my room in L&D and met my nurse for the day, Brooke Black (who we later found out was actually friends with my brother  in law in youth group!) and I was very thankful for her! All the preliminary things took about 3 hours so around 9 AM Dr Mauldin broke my water in hopes that that would be all I would need to go into full labor (it worked with Adelaide’s birth!). By this time, I’d been having contractions every 5-10 minutes for the past 24 hours and I was dilated to a 3, but for me that doesn’t mean a whole lot! We waited about an hour but contractions didn’t pick up. I knew I was on the clock and I didn’t want to wait too long and run out of time to have a successful vbac so they started a low dose of Pitocin. Lots of compromises happened on my part that day such as the many interventions, but I knew it was important to do everything I could to push for a VBAC (pun intended). I wondered how long I could manage the pain on my own since I had 11 tubes/wires coming out of me at this point and I wasn’t even able to get up to use the restroom, so absolutely no changing positions to cope with labor pains. No wonder most women opt for the epidural when in the hospital! Contractions were happening, I really wasn’t timing them so I don’t know how far apart, maybe every 2-3 minutes? I was making progress slowly. After the next dose of pit, I told them I was going to be ready for the epidural soon (I also wanted it in just in case they said csection because I didn’t want to be put under and miss out on the birth). So the anesthesiologist started that process and that was probably the worst part of the day. It took him 6 tries to get the needle in the right spot and once he finally got it in my blood pressure dropped really fast and I was incredibly dizzy and lightheaded and needed oxygen and a shot of something. But when it was all finally figured out, I felt great! It was a low dose so I could still feel my legs and move them and feel the contractions, just no pain. I sorta loved it and loved napping while in labor (now I did give birth to Adelaide completely naturally and loved it, but they were totally different circumstances). At one point the baby’s heart rate was making me nervous and they had to keep messing with the Pitocin, turning it off and on, and another nurse told me that they had given me a chance at a VBAC but it looked like it was going to be another csection and she was about to give me a shot to stop the contractions when Dr Mauldin stopped her and just turned off the pit to see if my body would keep going. It did for a while and I think Pitocin only had to be used about half of the day. I was still making progress and it was about 3 pm when I was almost completely dilated, we just needed the baby to descend a little bit more to be complete so I flipped from side to side and remembered Emery’s birth during it and hoped and prayed that I wasn’t headed towards a csection. I laid in the dark praying that God would honor my heart’s desire. I’d come that far and I so desperately wanted to birth this baby the way I was created to and knew I could. I knew that at any minute someone could walk through the door and tell me what I did not want to hear: that it was csection time.  That’s what I believed would happen. I hadn’t allowed myself get my hopes up for a vbac because I did not want to grieve over it like I did last time. But I did know that I had done everything in my power to get the outcome I wanted (my goals were healthy baby, healthy mama, deliver vaginally) and I could rest easy in that. As I laid there in the dark breathing in that smelly oxygen mask I started feeling a pressure…something I’d never experienced with either of my other births! I really wasn’t sure if I was imagining it. So I waited and kept feeling it and mentioned it to the nurses and told Dr Mauldin I was feeling some pressure and after checking me they thought I’d be complete pretty soon so Dr Mauldin wasn’t leaving anymore. On my own, I gave some practice pushes because that’s something I was worried about. Adelaide took 2 hours to push out and I don’t think I knew how to push then so I was afraid of the same thing happening. After a couple more checks they casually got ready for me to push. It was so laid back I wasn’t really sure it was happening. So different than my other births! I even delivered using stirrups! Which is totally looked down on in the midwife world that I grew used to, but seriously, they were so helpful! Pushing was great, I knew when to push and I wasn’t fighting the pain so I could give it my all and really focus (this is totally not how I saw my birthing experience going, I was still in disbelief at this point). It only took 8 pushes and 15 minutes and Lucia Grace was here! Safe and healthy and perfect! She was immediately placed on my chest, that was a dream come true! I really do think that has created an amazing bonding experience. She weighed 9 lbs 8 oz! 5 oz more than her brother and Dr Mauldin told me if he had known she was that big I wouldn’t have been given the chance to VBAC, so I sure am glad she hid it so well! Everything went way better than I’d hoped for and I although it wasn’t my ideal birth, it was great and I feel like birthing in a hospital was redeemed for me. We had a great recovery experience there and a great pediatrician (if you know my history with Emery’s birth at the same hospital, you’ll understand why this was a big deal) and we were released the next evening! My postpartum nurse was Brook Hopkins, who we go to church with, so everything was just really comfortable to me. Even though Lucy was my biggest baby, it has been the best and easiest recovery. She’s a champ at nursing, sleeping and being sweet!