hey everyone I have moved! All my past posts can be found on my new page as well ❤
https://prayerandpumkinspice.wordpress.com/blog/
https://prayerandpumkinspice.wordpress.com/blog/
hey everyone I have moved! All my past posts can be found on my new page as well ❤
https://prayerandpumkinspice.wordpress.com/blog/
0 Comments
Meal planning....I know, you just cringed. It's okay, I promise taking twenty minutes out of your week to do this will make your life so much easier! Some of you are thinking..."You are a stay at home mom Bonnie, you don't understand..." Full disclosure? When I was working (which has been the past twelve years) I would meal plan whenever I could fit it in. When I worked an office job I would do it between phone calls and data entry, when I was a manager of a receiving team for a retail store we would bounce recipes off of each other, and when I worked for an insurance company I had a running document of meal planning to do whenever I had a second. This sounds excessive right? Like, wow Bonnie you are an extreme meal planner! I kind of am, but it is because I am also a stickler about a budget. I did the math and for the amount of money we spend on all the groceries we buy, we spend around 7.50 per meal. That is for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for four people for seven days. Now I don't know about you all, but we don't have an unlimited budget. So when we started wondering where all our money was going and saw it was going to Buffalo Wild Wings and Olive Garden we knew we had to step up our dinner game. We could spend sixty to seventy dollars on dinner, or we could put that in a rainy day fund for a family adventure. Family adventures are a little more exciting to our kiddos right now, and so the dedicated meal planning began. I have a few rules for my meal planning because I have a life and I want to get on with it. I am not going to lie, since starting this blog meal planning has been almost easier because I know three weeks in advance what I'm wanting to make for the blog so I just build from there. Rule 1 Be realistic My friends are always posting this and I love it because it is so true! I used to think that meal planning and home cooked meals meant I had to make everything from scratch, fresh ingredients, and extra sprinkles of love. Um, no. Are your kids in after school activities? You better believe some sloppy joes, crockpot lasagna, and frozen pizza are going to be on that list. The point is you're eating at home, and staying on budget.
Rule 4 The final rule I stick to is- don't complicate it. I've seen so many printables and downloads for weekly or monthly meal plans....and if you can use them totally do it! I think they're super cute and one day I hope to have a printed out fancy meal plan, but for now a notebook and a picture on my phone will have to work! You see hot dog buns on there? Oh yeah I'm totally making chili cheese dogs this week. So anyway... I write it, I shop, I take a picture so I can remember what my great ideas for the week were. This is what my list looks like after I've been shopping with a baby in a sedan....it's still not pretty but it's mostly legible. As long as I don't ask my husband to read it 😝 So I hope this has inspired you, will maybe make your life less complicated(at least at dinner time) and helped you realize that yes, most moms are totally serving sloppy joes and chips in the same week with hot dogs...The point is sitting around the table, talking, praying, hoping your husband and kids don't start a fart war...oh unclutch your pearls if it hasn't happened yet it's going to 😉
Alright! If you have stuck with me this week way to go! Hopefully you have some yummy freezer meals packed away, or maybe you've planned a day with the girls to make some freezer meals together! A friend and I are planning to do this one weekend soon, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes! That is a lot of exclamation points...I need to settle down.... Hopefully you have "liked" my facebook page, I will have some fun videos on there, share some other blogs I love, and possibly even share some events. I'm thinking about perhaps hosting some cooking events...we shall see! https://www.facebook.com/prayerandpumpkinspice/ Now to the reason you are here...our last freezer meal for this week. We had this on a Friday night when Kaelin had a game and a friend over. Her friend is kind of a picky eater so I wanted something that everyone likes. Who doesn't like tacos?! if you don't like tacos I'm not sure we can be friends...I'm sorry. You will need a 9x13 disposable pan and heavy tin foil to keep this in the freezer. I made it the morning of in this case so I could just toss it in the oven after the game. Brown your hamburger Cook the rice Drain and add onion, cook until translucent Stir in taco seasoning Add the corn, tomatoes, and beans Next you're going to layer your dish Start with the rice Then the meat mixture Then all of that yummy cheese! From here if you are freezing go ahead and top with foil Make sure the foil is very tight to avoid freezer burn! When you are ready to serve let it thaw in the fridge during the day, then preheat the oven to 350 and bake covered for 45 minutes If you are eating right away bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes covered I topped mine with sour cream, but I'm telling you I could eat sour cream on just about everything! The meal was a big success, even Kaelins friend cleaned her whole plate! if I make something that Lettie tells me she likes I cherish that recipe...and then share it immediately with her mother. Well I certainly hope you have found something you can use or give to a friend. I appreciate all the comments and shares, be sure to Pin these recipes if you want to try them!
Next week we will have a different theme everyday, including some super bowl snacks! Be sure to check it out! Have a great weekend! I've said it before and I'll say it again- I love soup! I love curling up on a cold day with some good soup and crunchy bread, watching a movie or catch up on some TV. In the fall and winter I make soup every Saturday. Soup, or stew, or chilli...something along those lines. I know if it's Zuppa Tuscana my husband is going to eat it all by the next day, but usually I have enough to freeze for another day. I put my soup in freezer bags, but one day I will own some of those fancy tubs the Pioneer Woman uses....one day. So this week I made ham and potato soup, but I made it on a Monday instead of a Saturday-I know, I'm a wild woman! But Saturday we were at our friends house grilling and soup didn't seem like a good contribution. But because I am a stickler when it comes to meal planning I wanted a soup on the menu, and since Monday nights are hectic a crock pot recipe sounded perfect! Crockpot Ham & Potato Soup Ingredients 16 oz cubed ham 1 white onion diced 3 stalks of celery chopped 4 carrots diced 4 cups chicken broth 8 cups of diced potatoes (I have used red and golden potatoes. The great thing about golden is that you don't have to peel them!) 1/2 cup sour cream 1/4 cup flour 1 1/2 cups heavy cream Put the ham, celery, carrots, onion, potatoes, and chicken broth into the crock pot. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours. Mash the potatoes still in the crockpot Add the flour, sour cream, and heavy cream Cook on high another 15 minutes I served this with some Hawaiian roll ham sandwiches. Just something easy I could throw together, and they're pretty yummy. We had our fill and then I put the rest in a freezer bag and made sure it was standing up in the freezer. When I am ready to make it again I will simply put the frozen soup in a saucepan and slowly cook it back to soup. It takes about a half an hour. If you can't tell from the title this week is going to be all about the freezer! Whether it's a week night that goes later than you planned, a potluck you forgot about, or some unexpected guests, freezer meals can come in so handy! When I was pregnant with Cian I knew he was going to be born during a busy time.. Lately I've realized all the time is a busy time for us...but anyway...So I wanted to be able to have dinner marked off my list for at least two weeks after he was born. During the last three months of my pregnancy I would just buy an extra meal here and there to cook up and stick in the freezer. They were a life saver those first few weeks! However, when Cian was born he had to stay a week in the NICU. Which meant I stayed at the hospital a week as well. My amazing husband ran both kids around to school and sports, and our amazing church family showed up at our door with a home made meal almost every evening. I can't tell you how touched we were to be taken care of in such a way during that time. So back to recipe before I start crying and can't see my computer screen.... Brown the meat in a skillet Drain and add the tomato sauce add salt and plenty of pepper Stir together and let simmer Combine the sour cream and cottage cheese and more pepper Add a pinch of red pepper flakes. I literally just stuck my fingers in and added a pinch Add the cooked noodles to the cottage cheese mixture Assemble in layers Noodle mixture, meat mixture, cheese. Do this twice. I made this to eat the day of, but when I freeze it (or anything) I put it in aluminum disposable pans, and cover with heavy duty aluminum foil. Yes that foil will cost a little more, but I promise it's worth it to prevent freezer burn. If you are making it to eat the day of, heat oven to 350 and bake for twenty minutes uncovered To cook from frozen; Put the whole covered dish into a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and cook another twenty minutes. So I served it with some bread and green beans. but you want to know the awesome thing about the bread? It was frozen too. I buy frozen bread dough and keep in the freezer for when I want to serve bread with a meal but I know a loaf of something special won't make it to the day I plan to use it. I make it a point to only go to the grocery store once a week, it's easier on my purse strings! You set a loaf out 4-5 hours before you're going to cook it. You can bake it as it is,but i put an egg wash on my loaf. (An egg, a couple table spoons of water) I add spices to my wash as well sometimes. This time I added some Thyme and Oregano. The loaf takes about 20 - 30 minutes, it's really an easy side! I also made some Thyme butter in my mixer to serve with the bread I just cut up a cold stick of butter, threw it in my stand mixer (you could easily use a hand mixer as well) tossed in a tablespoon or so of thyme, and mixed it all up.
It's important to use cold butter or it will be a melted mess when you're done! Wrapping up our week of Valentines treats the kids and I decided we wanted to take our friends some surprise goodies! I recently purchased some candy molds from a friend specifically because there were wedding themed molds, and another friend of mine is getting married. I love candy suckers and my kids can't get enough of them so I dug through the molds and there, low and behold, were Valentine molds! So I gathered up what I had left of my candy melts and chocolate chips and started melting! So you're going to start by melting the chocolate chips. They definitely take the longest and are the most involved of this whole process I had about one and a quarter cup of chocolate chips and dropped three tablespoons of butter in with it Boiled a pot of water and put a heat resistant bowl on top with the chocolate chips and butter in it Careful not to let the bowl touch the water so the chocolate doesn't burn, keep stirring the chocolate until it's liquid and runny. If it isn't runny enough add more butter by half a tablespoon Make sure your molds are room temperature and have NO WATER in them. If you have to wash your molds first be sure to give them plenty of time to dry. Water will ruin your design. Melt your candy melts If you are using sprinkles (I use sprinkles on everything) put them into the mold first Pour your chocolate or candy melt in I did red and pink, I had different molds but I mostly stuck with a solid color in the front and a chocolate back I tried to swirl red and pink but I waited too long and the red was too hard. if you are going to swirl do it immediately! Put your sticks into the melt I drizzled extra melt over the stick to keep it secure Put your molds in the refrigerator If you just used candy melts it will only take about twenty minutes The candy should just fall out of the molds, otherwise it is not ready If you use the chocolate it will take a few hours. Mine took three hours to be ready. I made about thirty suckers from my melts, and let me tell you we do not thirty of these things hanging around the house. So we decided to take some to our friends! Of course we also enjoyed some ourselves, and I packed some for the truck driver to take to work. I'm sure he has looked super manly with all of his pink heart treats this week!
And one little cutie really enjoyed his taste! Last weekend I got to go out with my husband for some much needed alone time. We had a date night for New Years Eve, but I got sick from the dinner we ate. (We went out to eat it was not my cooking before you throw out any recipes you've saved from me) We got all fancied up and went out with another couple for some free food and entertainment provided by the husbands work. After the first comedian we decided to head to the local winery...but a train was stuck on the tracks and we didn't have enough time to go around, so our date night got cut short. But, it was still fun and we got to be grown ups for a little while...I mean I guess that's what we were... But it's time for back to reality and Richard has 9 billion routes the next few days. So since I will miss him I wanted to make him some special treats to take in the truck. Valentines themed of course, because he is my Valentine! Break up two sleeves of the cookies and put them into a food processor Blend the cookies until they are very fine Put the cookies in a mixer (or just a bowl if you don't have a mixer) Cut up cream cheese and drop into the cookies Combine Cookies and Cream cheese until they are fully combined
Stick the balls into the freezer for at least twenty minutes to an hour Melt your Almond bark and Candy Melts Dip the ball into the Almond Bark and get a good coating on it (If you have time doing this step twice male the coating cover the chocolate very well) Use a fork to pull out the ball and tap on the side of the bowl to let the excess run off Place the ball back onto the wax paper This next part is really just however you want to decorate them. if they're for a class treat or for work maybe more uniformly, but since they were for my husband and I let the kids help we went with fun over pretty. Can you tell? I will say if you're going to use sprinkles be sure to put them on while the coating is still wet! It dries so fast! So I've got a whole sleeve left of these cookies (okay I didn't have a whole sleeve I ate like five of them and my kids ate a few when they thought I wasn't looking) But the point is I have a weird amount left over. So I decided to make him a little treat with a message on it! Take cookies apart and lay them out on wax paper Put a little bit of icing on each side of the tip of a Popsicle stick Put iced tip in the middle of one side of the cookie Gently press the top back on Melt your candy melts in the microwave Carefully dip the cookie into the melt (You may have to spoon some on the cookie as well to get it completely covered) Put the cookie back on the wax paper Decorate with sprinkles quickly! the coating dries quickly! Once you have done this for all of your suckers stick them in the freezer for at least twenty to thirty minutes After the coating if fully dry take a sharpie and write your message on your Popsicle stick! And there you have it! Some special treats for my hard working hubby. Hopefully at three a.m. they make him smile!
This week I am going to share some Valentines treats! When I was a kid I always looked forward to class parties and the treats the moms would bring. There was a boy in my class who's grandma would save those little detergent scoops and make fun little themed baskets for all the kids. I knew I wanted to be the "fun" class mom even then! Please notice I didn't say cool class mom. So today I'm going to share three class treats I would totally make for my kids class IF they were allowed to take food. Since they're not my family and I will just eat them all..it's really such a sacrifice. Cut Out Sugar Cookies Ingredients 2 cups of flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 stick of butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt Cream the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy Add the egg and mix until combined Slowly add the dry ingredients as you mix Add the vanilla last When all the ingredients are mixed well, lay out plastic wrap, drop the dough onto it, and wrap it up. Put it in the fridge for at least an hour or the freezer for twenty minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Flour your rolling surface and roll dough out to 1/4 inch Use cookie cutter to get your shapes! Bake the cookies for seven minutes until the edges are golden brown Let the cookies cool and ice them! We used Royal icing, but next time I think I'll stick to my cream cheese icing ;-) My daughter had a friend over that evening so I made everyone an initial cookie, then we just had fun with them! If I were going to take these to a class party I would probably put each childs name on them...I would also have hand cramps and my back would be killing me, but they would be cute! Another treat I'm partial to is of course a cupcake! Rather than focus on the design of the cupcake I thought I'd focus on some fun flavor. So here's two cupcakes from one batter! Preheat the oven to 350 Make the batter as it instructs on the box (again, replace water with milk) Fold in the chocolate chips So I took half of my double chocolate cupcakes and made them cherry filled! It was easy and my kids were super excited when they bit into the cupcake! I took a parring knife and cut at a small angle all around the top Scooped three cherries with the pie filling into the cupcake and pressed them into the cupcake I leveled the under side of the cut off piece and placed the top back on To cover the cut marks I just made the same swirl in a red icing, but I had some left over chocolate chips so I made some chocolate "flowers" (my kids said they looked like stars, but whatever ;-) ) The double chocolate was so rich! If you make these just to make them I'd suggest microwaving them. The chocolate chips will be extra gooey and so delicious!
And cherry anything is my favorite, so I may have already eaten three of these before I could post this! Wrapping up our theme of fast and easy dinner I bring you a new twist on an old classic, and some fun sized dessert! So I don't know what the weather has been like where you live, but here it has been gloomy, rainy, and oddly warm. I can totally handle a day or two of this, but it's been like five days and my get up and go never even showed up! I have been kind of putting around doing that bare minimum around the house, but the maximum to justify the 10$ a month for Netflix. So yesterday time kind of got away from me in the form of a binge on Stranger Things, so i didn't get to start cooking until the after I had the older two picked up. However, my daughter was excited we got to spend some time together so it worked out. When I was a little girl my mother told me meatloaf was brownies. I, her trusting child, believed her. I would eat so much meat loaf and beg my mom for "more brownies!" This led to years of mistrust...just kidding, that was a pretty sneaky idea mother, but I've got my own sneaky ways. Meatloaf Cupcakes Ingredients 2 pounds ground chuck 1 pound ground sausage (we like country style because it gives it a little kick!) 1 pack of Meatloaf seasoning (That's right, I just buy the pack. Don't you judge me, it tastes delicious) 1 egg 3/4 cup of bread crumbs Preheat the oven to 400 degrees |
AuthorStay at home mom, coffee lover, trying to be the best friend and mom I can be Archives
January 2017
Categories |