Some Serious Nesting and Freezer Cooking

I have been busy in the kitchen the past couple of weeks. I'm 37 weeks pregnant with baby #3 and I feel the final countdown clock ticking away. More so than with my first two children. Perhaps this one will come a bit early? Anyways, I've been cooking, doubling, and freezing meals like a mad woman. Our little deep freeze has filled up quickly and I feel better knowing that once baby and I are home from the hospital, we will have some easy, homemade, nutritious meals to eat. Yes, I'm sure we'll be getting take-out once or twice for a few days, but at least we won't be eating it EVERY day and night. Here's what I've done so far:

Peanut Butter Granola - I made a double batch - put half in the freezer and we already polished off the other half. This will make for a quick and healthy breakfast or snack. Our favorite way to eat this granola is mixed with Greek Gods Honey Yogurt - so delicious! (and thanks to SnoWhite at Finding Joy in My Kitchen for the tip on using olive oil in granola - I used half olive oil and half canola oil in this recipe and it turned out nice and crunchy!)

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce - I doubled the recipe which will allow for at least three to four spaghetti meals for us.

Chicken Tacos - I doubled the recipe and froze a big batch of shredded chicken taco meat for easy taco night. Just heat up some tortillas or taco shells (which I've stocked up on from Costco in the past week), set out some salsa and sour cream, and we have an easy meal.

Cheesy Beef and Rice - we ate this last week so I made a double batch and put one pan in the freezer. This is the easiest ever - just thaw the casserole and bake. Maybe I'll get crazy and throw together a side salad. Either way, easy easy easy.

Burritos - I tweaked this recipe by using ground beef and homemade taco seasoning. Double the batch - kept out a few for supper and I'm freezing the rest (15 burritos!) for quick lunches or suppers once baby arrives. This was a new recipe and one I'll be making again in the future - my whole family really liked them!

Lasagna - I made a double batch. I froze one pan and we ate the other for supper one night (with plenty of leftovers for the next day or two). This was my first time making this recipe and it turned out really well and tasty.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread - this recipe makes two loaves, so we ate one for breakfast and popped the second loaf in the freezer for a quick breakfast or snack. I tweaked this recipe by cutting back the sugar by at least 1/2 cup and substituted 1 cup whole wheat flour for the white. It still turned out very tasty and my kids loved it!

Chunky Chicken Soup - I made a double batch and froze what we didn't use after supper one night. We have two Ziploc gallon freezer bags FILLED with this soup in our freezer now, which will easily provide for two separate meals plus plenty of leftovers. I served this soup with some cheesy bread I made under the broiler and fresh melon. Yummy!

Ham and Cheese Casserole (or "Hotdish", as I call it in my neck of the woods) - made this last night and it turned out awesome! This is another recipe that makes a double batch so one pan went into the freezer. We made a 7.5 lb ham last weekend so this was a terrific way to use up most of the leftovers we had. I think my husband ate about half of the pan - he loved it! (And yes, this recipe uses canned cream soup. Although I use the "healthy request" kind, I know it could still be made healthier...but this was super quick and easy to put together using the canned soup. Sometimes a gal needs to use some shortcuts!)

I have one more freezer meal planned for later this week and that will be it because our deep freeze will be FULL.

By the way, did you notice that a lot of these recipes are from Taste of Home? I bought the little Taste of Home book "Fall Freezer Meals" after I eyed it at the checkout in Wal-Mart. So glad I did - there are lots of great little recipes in that book.

In addition to cooking, I have the baby's room all put together - clothes and bedding are washed, closet is organized, bottles have been sanitized, diapers and wipes are bought. I've also cleaned out my laundry room and gutted the mud room closet (what would my mother think of such a messy laundry room when she comes up to help after baby arrives??!) I cleared out two shelves in the laundry room closet (lower shelves so little ones can reach easily) for my kids' art supplies so they can easily grab what they need and want when grandmas are watching them in the coming weeks. I'm keeping up on laundry every day so there won't be any laundry when we go to the hospital and everyone will have enough clean clothes and pajamas to last them a week if need be. I think we're ready...now we just need baby to arrive!

Menu Plan Monday - Week of 9/12/11

I've been on another blogging sabbatical, so it seems. We've been busy with preparing for the new baby's arrival (only 2 1/2 weeks to go!), the start of preschool for my daughter, and a couple of VERY successful weeks of potty training my son. He's been in underwear for the last couple of weeks without an accident. I'm so proud of him - and it's so awesome that I will have about one month of no diapers or pull-ups to change or buy!

But I digress...on to menu planning. I've been nesting up a storm and doing a lot of cooking and baking for easy and healthy freezer meals once the baby arrives. I'll hopefully post more on that soon. But in the meantime, here is what we have planned for the upcoming week:

Breakfasts:
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread (I doubled the batch and froze one loaf - I also cut back on the sugar and substituted 1 c. whole wheat flour and it still turned out yummy!), bananas
Cereal and toast
Whole Wheat Muffins, strawberries
Bagels with cream cheese

Lunches:
Egg and cheese sandwiches (our homemade version of the Egg McMuffin...my kids love these!), carrots and fruit
PB&J Sushi, crackers, fruit
Creamy Mac and Cheese, carrots and ranch dip
leftovers

Suppers:
Monday: Ham and Cheese Casserole (new recipe - this recipe makes a double batch so I froze one), fresh fruit salad
Tuesday: Homemade Pizza, lettuce salad
Wednesday: T-ball until 6:30 p.m. so it is "clean out the fridge" night!
Thursday: Sausage Bow Tie Pasta Skillet (new recipe - doubling so I can freeze half), mixed vegetables, melon
Friday: leftovers
Sat. and Sun.: our plans always change on the weekends so I've decided to go "meal-plan-free" on the weekends

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday (the Tuesday version)- Week of 8/22/11

Busy busy busy! Summer is wrapping up and we're trying to enjoy every last minute of it. Our days are filled with bike rides, walks, the swimming pool, and (for me) my OB doctor visits. Therefore, I haven't had too much time to blog these days (again...and as usual) but I did finally get around to making my menu plan for the week yesterday. I am planning on doubling some meals this week so I can save half for an easy, healthy freezer meal once the baby arrives (only 5 weeks away!). Here's what we have planned for the week:

Breakfasts:
Peanut Butter Granola (doubling recipe) and yogurt
Cereal and toast
Waffles and fruit

Lunches:
Sandwiches with carrot sticks, ranch dip, and crackers
Creamy Mac and Cheese, fruit
Homemade Spaghettios (new recipe), apple slices
leftovers

Suppers:
Monday: we had an impromptu day/evening at Valleyfair amusement park with the kids so we ate junk food there
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos - double recipe (made on Monday but we were at Valleyfair too long...luckily it kept well in the CrockPot!), chips and salsa
Wednesday: Cheesy Beef and Rice (doubling recipe for a freezer meal), lettuce salad, carrot sticks and ranch
Thursday: Spinach Tomato Tortellini, fruit salad
Friday: leftovers
Sat. and Sun.: ??

Friday Favorite Finds

Today is my first time participating in Friday Finds hosted by Finding Joy in my Kitchen. Here is the list of recipes that caught my eye the past couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to trying in the near future:

Homemade Spaghettios
(my kids love Spaghettios but the list of ingredients scare me so I'm really excited to try this recipe and hoping it is a winner!)
(Photo and recipe by Natalie at Oven Love)

Mandarin Orange Pie
(Photo and recipe by April at Angel Foods Kitchen)

Homemade Larabars
(we love Larabars in our house so I'm looking forward to making a big pan of the homemade version!)
(Photo and recipe by Sarah at Clay in His Hands)

Baked Zucchini Sticks
(I think these will make a great appetizer/side dish on spaghetti night! I'm hoping that I'll be successful in getting my son to eat a vegetable!)

(Photo and recipe by Gina at SkinnyTaste.com)

For more great recipe ideas visit Finding Joy in My Kitchen!

Back up and at 'em

I've missed a week of posting, but I like to think I had good reason. After about a week and a half of not feeling well at all, and a trip to the Minute Clinic which told me nothing, a late night trip to Urgent Care two days later finally diagnosed me with strep throat AND mono. So, not only was I in extreme discomfort from the strep and suffering from extreme fatigue from the mono, but I am also 7 months pregnant on top of all that.

Needless to say, after one week of being on antibiotics and a blissful weekend of family who came up to help me out (thanks to mom, dad, niece and nephew) I am now feeling nearly 100% again. Looking forward to getting back to "normal."

Gratituesday - Summer

Like much of the country, we had nearly unbearable heat and humidity here in Minnesota last week. With temps near the 100 degree mark and dew points in the 80s, the heat index was around 115 degrees for nearly four days. It was even too hot for us to go to the pool. The kids just wanted to stay inside in the air conditioning. (On a side note, this Gratituesday post should also be about showing my gratitude for our central a/c and the ability to pay our electric bill this month!)

Yes, it was hot. Apparently people were baking cookies on the dashboards of their car while at work during the day. BUT - I forced myself NOT to complain. I am extremely thankful for a warm, sunny Minnesota summer because, before you know it, we will be faced with a cold, snowy, LONG Minnesota winter. Below zero temps. 15 inches of snow at a time. Coats, hats, mittens, snowsuits. Unfortunately, we have that for about six months, too.

So I will not complain about the heat. Instead, I will enjoy this very brief time we have with running with sprinklers, shorts and flip flops, and Popsicles.

For more Gratituesday posts, please visit Heavenlyhomemakers.com.

Menu Plan - Week of 7-25-11

What a crazy summer! Husband working terribly long hours, house guests in and out of our home for the past two weeks, and some crazy hot and humid weather haven't really allowed me to follow much of a menu plan the last couple of weeks. I still have carryovers on this week's menu so nothing too new or exciting. However, I am thrilled that we are blessed with a houseful of food this week. My husband took both kids to a Twins baseball game on Saturday (by himself...a brave man!) which allowed me an entire afternoon of do-whatever-I-wanted-to-do-by-myself. Being the crazy gal I am, I headed to Costco (where I've never been without the kids) and enjoyed roaming the aisles at my leisure and picking up LOTS of great deals. I spent a pretty penny but we are completely stocked up for months to come (plus I got some great deals on fresh produce, cheese, milk and eggs - I cannot believe Costco's great prices on organic items!)

Anyway, despite my Costco excitement...here's what we have planned for the week:

Breakfasts:
Cold cereal and toast
Blueberry muffins
Whole Wheat Pancakes (leftovers from Sunday)
Fruit and yogurt

Lunches:
leftovers
PB&J, chips, carrot sticks
Fruit salad and cottage cheese
Egg sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit
Creamy Mac and Cheese, fruit

Suppers:
Monday: Slow cooker Chicken Tacos (carryover), chips and salsa

Tuesday: Dijon chicken breasts (new recipe + carryover), lettuce salad, sweet potato fries

Wednesday: T-Ball night so probably out to eat afterwards

Thursday: Homemade pizza, Caeser salad, fruit

Friday: leftover buffet

(I'm not planning anything for the weekends this summer - who knows what our plans will be!)

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu planning fun!