Wednesday's Household - preparing for freezer meals

I'm starting to think about what to make with the extra turkey from our meal. So when I run out to do my last minute shopping, I will grab a few extra things.

4 foil pans
2 pkgs of broccoli
4 pkgs of corn
celery
carrots
2 cans mushrooms
1 24 oz container cottage cheese

This will help me make two recipes of each of these:

• Easy Chicken Divan
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Chicken and Dumplings
• Hot Chicken Salad

We have to double a recipe because of the size of our family.  I probably won't be able to make all of these recipes, but Christmas is coming, so I'll do the others after that meal. :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We have our whole weekend planned out - none of us are working on Friday.  We'll be sawing lumber during the day and playing games and partying when it's dark.  I'm looking forward to a weekend of family.  We put in so much time this last year working in the pasture and being apart, that I'm especially thankful for this time.

We'll be back on Monday!
Keep pressing on
Steph

Cooking Tuesday - Cheeseburger Casserole

Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking a meal to one of our new moms.  It's amazing how easily you forget what holding a brand new baby feels like.

I made this recipe for the family with a fruit salad and some lemon bars.

It's very easy, only 6 ingredients:

2 lbs of hamburger, cooked
1/2 block of Velveeta cheese, cubed
2/3 cup catsup
1/2 cup bacon bits
8 oz of elbow macaroni, cooked, al dente

Mix all of these together.  I cooked the pasta, then chopped the cheese and put it on top.  When I was done cooking the hamburger, I put it on top.  This way the cheese started melting and could be mixed through a bit better.  Place in a Ziploc bag.  Put 1 cup chow mein noodles in a small freezer bag.  Tape the bag to the gallon bag. 

Label it:   Thaw.  Place in a baking dish.  Heat at 350 degrees until heated through (generally about 1 hour, if it's been frozen).  Top with chow mein noodles for the last 5 minutes of cooking.

My testers had mentioned that the original recipe was lacking, so we vamped it up.  Tractorman and I taste-tested it and it was delish!!!

Because I only used half of a block of cheese and we don't generally use processed cheese, I made a double recipe for a future baby or need. 

Have a great day!
Steph

De-cluttering the clothes

Rooms were a disaster this last week.  I've shown older pictures of  their rooms.

They weren't this bad, but they were bad.  And had I kept up on inspections like I should have, they wouldn't have. 

Anyway, even though they weren't this bad, drastic measures had to be taken.  So I made a list of what they need for school clothes and farm clothes and dressing up clothes.  Then I took a tally of what they have. 

The clothes that had holes or stains get thrown out, the ones that have been worn a bit but still are nice get passed on, and the new things Grandpa and Grandma brought this last time get worn. 

Less clothes in their room means less to lie on the floor.  So I'm hoping we can keep up a bit better.

Keep pressing on.
Steph

Soon I'll have another bag for Goodwill and the pile for throwing away is growing bigger.  Another good thing about this: they won't be wearing stained or torn clothes --- for awhile.

Thursday's Thoughts

Teaching is something even the young ones can do.  They can be mentors of those littler than them.  Teach your children to teach others.

Wednesday's Household - Keeping up

Just a bit of maintenance keeps things from getting out of control.  Just a bit of paying attention when the kids are playing helps.  Just doing what I don't want to right now is worth it. 

Taking five minutes to start a load of laundry keeps it from getting to be a huge mound. 

When the kids are playing, paying attention to make sure that they don't get out more than they can handle helps keep messes from getting too big.

I don't feel like folding laundry, but doing it for about 15 minutes right now, will make my day so much easier. 

Starting supper in the morning makes the day go so much better, because I know that I won't have to quit my stuff early to make supper.  Also today, I'll be out shopping for milk, and we head to AWANA early so I won't be feeling frazzled while I'm trying to get my kids ready for church.

So keeping up takes a few minutes, but it helps make progress toward some of the goals that I have. Because if I keep up, I can spend some time doing the projects that I want to do.

Keep pressing on,
Steph

Cooking Tuesday - Chicken A La King - 11/19/13

Chicken A La King

2 ½ cups of Chicken White Sauce

1 green pepper

2 lbs chicken

1 gallon bag

 

Put 2 cups of chicken (cooked and cubed) into each bag.  Melt butter in saucepan and add flour, bouillon and pepper.  Stirring constantly for about two minutes.  Gradually add half and half and water.  Stir until thick and then remove from heat.   Once cooled, divide the sauce between both bags and then add mushrooms and peppers to each bag.

Label with this label:

CHICKEN À LA KING

Completely thaw entrée in the refrigerator. Simmer the chicken and sauce in a large skillet over medium heat until warmed through. Do not boil.


Review from the testers:  YUMMY!!!!!!!  They served it over biscuits.

Steph
 

De-cluttering the drawers

 This is one of my favorite things from last year.  My spices.

 Not much changed with the hotpad drawer, except a little straightening.

 As with the towels.  Just needed a little straightening.

And the silverware also needed some straightening.

Like!!!!!