Monthly Meals: November

In an effort to eat at home...aka...save money...the monthly meal plan was born. This type of planning started in June for our house. It felt really overwhelming at first, but now it is a blessing.  It only took me a few months to realize that having this plan was saving us some serious money. Before, eating out occurred for various reasons: not having anything thawed, not having all of the ingredients, we were busy that day and nothing was ready for the crock pot when we left home...you get the idea. If I was really going to master the stay-at-home role, I needed to get more organized with the big meal of the day...supper. There are multiple excellent resources on the internet and many of them plan for all three meals AND snacks! However, we are a flock of three and this felt like overkill. My daughter is 16 and big enough to make a decision on her own breakfast, lunch and needed snacks. I decided to just list breakfast and lunch suggestions at the bottom in case we stand looking into the fridge and nothing jumps in our hands...


Just start somewhere...if that means one-two weeks of meals at a time, don't compare yourself to anyone else and JUST START! In the beginning, I only shopped for the first two weeks of the plan and then returned to shop for the last two weeks of the month. At first, I also found that maybe we were not hungry for the particular meal that was scheduled and flipped it with another day later in the week. Amazing how much growth has occurred in both areas in just a few months time. Audrey helps me shop our pantry and freezer and then we prepare a grocery list for the entire month's meal plan...we have used this as part of her Home Economics course as well.  Once checking the calendar for the planned meal became a habit, I quickly realized it was much easier to just cook what had already been planned for the day. It also became apparent when shopping once a month, that I needed to  schedule meals with items that ruin faster at the beginning of the month. With a flock of three, we have a portion of the meal left over most nights. The left overs are sometimes eaten for lunch, but soups and some meat dishes have enough for us to have later in the week as well...first one to the fridge gets the favorite!!

This particular month has a lot of activity, but I decided to share it anyway!! OYO:On Your Own...I will be out of town at a retreat, so they are literally on their own...I am sure they will survive. We have a college tour planned and will not be home those days. Then THANKSGIVING is here...I think I have the meal plan for that day :) 

November
2013
Meal Plan

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
					1	2
					OYO	OYO
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Potato Soup	Beef  Stroganoff	Tacos	Left Overs	Pizza Rolls	Hawaiian Ham & Swiss Sandwiches	Tortellini Soup
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Salmon Chowder	Mongolian Beef & Broccoli	Taco Ring	Coconut Chicken with Sweet Potatoes	Baked Potatoes Salad	Crock Pot Pork with potatoes and carrots	Left Overs
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
LSU	LSU	Chalupas	Chicken Spaghetti	Loaded Cornbread Peas	Salmon Patties Potatoes and peas	Pinto Beans and cornbread
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Pasta Fagioli	Meatballs and mashed potatoes	Left Overs	Baked Chicken with potatoes and carrots	THANKSGIVING	Veggie Night…okra, corn, carrots
Breakfast: oatmeal                  Smoothie                  Egg/Toast	Muffins/fruit cereal		Lunch:  Sandwiches              Left overs              Salad	Burritos Egg  rolls

I don't have the recipes linked at this time, but CHECK BACK...I will be adding those over the next couple of days. If I don't work fast enough, leave a comment and I can send it to you personally.

Here are a few tips for planning your month of meals...of course, you are welcome to copy mine!! 

• First and foremost, plan meals that you enjoy cooking. After all, you are the cook and you deserve to enjoy the process. 
• Plan meals that your family enjoys eating! While sitting with your family at a meal, ask what their favorite meals are and make sure to include the ones they mention.
• Make sure to have your activity calendar close when planning. This allows you to plan a crock pot meal or a sandwich dinner for busy days.
• Limit the amount of new recipes. I only allow one to two "new" meals per month. They are generally more time consuming because it is new to you. Some of the new meals may become a favorite, so don't hesitate to try a new recipe.
• Make days of the week have a theme. Sunday Soup, Meaty Monday, Tuesday Mexican, Wednesday Chicken and so on. It is sometimes easier to come up with 4 soups, 4 beef dishes, 4 chicken dishes....
• Take a quick look at the plan for the next day...may need to get meat in the fridge to thaw for tomorrow's crock pot meal.
• Organize the pantry and the freezer. Getting organized may be a lot of work up front but lessens the frustration at cooking time.
• Put it on the fridge or some other permanent home. I would hate for all of the time and effort go to waste because the meal list can't be found :(  There are so many cute ideas...search Meal Planning Boards in Pinterest and you will not be disappointed. Personally, I just print one from Word and put it on the fridge. Once the month is over, it gets hole punched and put in a binder. (My intention is to create a year of meals and then be able to grab the month, adjust for activities 
• Last but NOT least, forgive yourself on the days you get off schedule. It happens. Look at the calendar the next day, make the next meal and move on...and just think, you may have ingredients for a meal in case the meat didn't get thawed :)

I hope this has inspired and helped motivate you to make a monthly meal plan!  Give it a try...you might surprise yourself.  Happy Planning and Cooking!

Fall Means Apple Pie

Apple pie has to be my all time favorite pie. So now that I am in "filling the pantry" mode, I stocked up on apples and tackled canning fresh apple pie filling. 

In gathering items needed to make the filling, I used a coupon at a local kitchen goods store to purchase an apple/peeler/slicer/corer to make the process a little faster. Canning is not a quick process and anything to speed up the prep work is worth the money spent in my opinion. However, this step can be done with a regular vegetable peeler and knife if purchasing a new gadget is not in the budget! Apples are in season, so those were readily available at a really good price. I soon realized that Clear Jel is NOT the same as Sure Jell. From my research, I also found that corn starch as a thickening agent is not recommended in home canning and food preservation. Unfortunately, I was not able to find Clear Jel at a local retailer. I did order mine from HERE and paid for quicker shipping since I had already purchased apples. The Clear Jel did arrive quickly, as promised, and luckily my apples did not spoil! 

Being a visual learner, I watched THIS video a few times prior to actually making my own filling. The video has a link to the recipe, but if you don't feel the need to watch the video THIS is the recipe. You will need to measure how many apples you have and then use the chart to determine how much of each ingredient to use. I had approximately 6 pounds of apples. I used a ratio of 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice to 1 quart of water for the apples to soak and prevent discoloration in lieu of Fruit Fresh. 

After all the peeling, coring, slicing, and dicing, the pantry will have 9 pints of pie filling for us to enjoy!

If you are lucky enough to be near an apple orchard, I am jealous! If not, make your way to your local market, get lots of apples and make pie filling for your pantry!  Happy Canning! 


ITEMS TO GATHER:
Water bath canner
Jars, lids and rims
Apple peeling/coring items you prefer
Lemon juice/water or Fruit Fresh/water
Apples
Clear Jel
Granulated sugar
Cinnamon
Lemon Juice
Cold water 
Apple Juice
*optional: nutmeg and yellow food coloring

Luckily, there was just enough filling that wouldn't fit in the jars, so we had apple crisp for dessert! I did not get a chance to take a picture because we were so excited to try it...it was ALL gone before I even thought about taking a quick pic! I am positive we will have it again in the near future...and I will try to remember to share with you all ;)

24 Hours

 As I was taking our dog, Gunner, on his daily 2 mile walk around the neighborhood, I was amazed at the difference in my mental attitude from just 24 hours ago.
 Yesterday, I was feeling a little down, depressed, in a funk, unmotivated...whatever you want to call it. Nothing of any importance happened to make me feel this way. Just "got up on the wrong side of the bed" kind of day. It was dark, windy and very wet weather making the house feel dark on top of my dark mood. I did manage to get the girls guided through their school work...although, my tolerance level was low. During algebra, I was not making any sense to them, or myself for that matter, the lack of patience and my mood forced us to put away the lesson. Finished early, I retreated to my bedroom and sulked away the afternoon. I never managed to get out of my pajamas either. That kind of day.
  Yet today, on the walk with Gunner, I was feeling content, happy, accomplished, motivated, refreshed...you get the idea. And again, nothing in particular happened to make me feel this way either. I got up "on the right side of the bed" today. The girls went to co-op first thing, and I managed to get some things accomplished. I made it out of pajamas, got pictures of items and listed them on Etsy, made a blog post, and granola started in the oven. The girls returned and we flew through the second half of the algebra that we abandoned yesterday and completed the remainder of the school day in record time.  Then the walk with Gunner.
 We have all heard the saying "Take an aspirin and call me in the morning."  When we really think about it, 24 hours can make a big difference mentally, spiritually and physically. Physically, you can take a medicine and within 24 hours feel like a new human being. Spiritually, you can make the choice to be baptized into Christ and "...be raised with Him through faith in the working of God..." Colossians 2:12. Mentally, like me, you wake up on the wrong side one day and on the right side 24 hours later.
 Being a child of a mother that committed suicide, I just wonder what could have been so wrong that she couldn't see that tomorrow would be a new day. I don't generally share my feelings concerning her death, but while walking today, I realized that  her decision is not a reflection of who I am. The result of not having her in my life makes me sad a times and long for a mom, but not having her has not been all negative. A positive of not having her is that I fell it has made me the mother that I am today. I desperately try to not take moments for granted with my own daughter and steal a kiss or hug every chance I get. Maybe it comes down to being able to forgive yourself, ask God for his forgiveness and move on. 

Freezer Frustration?

A few years ago we purchased a freezer to have the extra space to stock up on meat and veggies...and pizzas! My wonderful husband was insistent that we purchase a chest freezer because they are more energy efficient. I really had no opinion at the time, so I agreed energy efficiency was a good selling point. HOWEVER, I soon came to realize that chest freezers are hard organize!! If the one freezer was devoted to one particular item, it wouldn't be such a problem. I don't know too many people that have this luxury, but if you do...I am jealous. 

Does your freezer look something like this??

BEFORE:

I searched the internet for ideas to get this freezer in some kind of order. After getting an idea that I needed some sort of stackable bucket, the shopping began. I finally found a milk crate type container at my local Wal Mart...imagine that! 

I designated meat to one crate, pre-made items to another, and veggies to the last one. This makes getting in the freezer much EASIER...no more digging to try and get items. All I have to do now is move the top crate to reach items stored on the bottom of the freezer. I did keep the two small baskets that came with the freezer as well. The small baskets only allowed me to use 3 of the 4 crates I had purchased, but do not worry, the fourth crate got put to use holding extra Mason jars and lids. My freezer has a small shelf to the left side...I didn't get a picture of it...the dimensions didn't allow for two crates on the bottom, so I utilized this small space by placing a gallon of milk and a pre-packaged item there.

AFTER:

Freezer Frustration is gone! The first few days, I would find reasons to go get an item out of the freezer just so I could admire the organization. It has made grocery shopping and meal planning easier as well because I can actually see what we already have on hand. What have you done to help organize your freezer? 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Organizing!

Corn, Corn, Corn...Nuthin' but Corn

The title is from one of my ALL time favorite movies, Second Hand Lions. If you haven't seen this movie, rent it! It's a good one and I won't ruin it with explaining the quote.
SO, after buying a crate of corn from the Dallas Farmer's Market on Saturday, I was beginning to feel that there was "nuthin' but corn!"  My husband and I shucked it on the back porch, this part is messy. Then the fun began. After blanching the corn for 8 minutes, then placing in a ice water bath for 8 minutes, we made 5 packages with 3 ears of corn, and vacuum sealed them for the freezer...that was the easy part. Continuing the blanch and ice water bath process, I placed them in a roasting dish with a towel to help absorb the extra water. As I was doing this, the MR. starting cutting the corn off of the cob. He is always engineering something, so he used a bundt cake pan to help stabilize the standing corn and then the kernels feel into the pan as he cut them off the cob...GENIUS!! I followed the Ball Blue Book recipe and pressure cooking instructions for Whole Kernel Corn and it made the process pretty easy, but it took ALL afternoon. Our pressure cooker only holds 9 pint jars at a time, so we had to process twice to get all 16 jars done. 
The six half pint jars contain Corn Cob Jelly. We have been watching some canning videos on YouTube and found the idea HERE. Like she says in the video, it does have a taste like that of honey...surprisingly good!
We did have one mishap, but I guess if you aren't breaking jars, you aren't trying. We opened up the pressure cooker after the first batch to find corn floating everywhere and then realized that one of the jars did indeed break. Hopefully it was just an imperfection in the glass and not the fact that the MR. kept telling me,"Don't overfill the jars! Be sure to leave the right amount of headspace!" And of course, we left out some to enjoy for dinner! 
I encourage you to get to the farmer's market and get some fresh corn to enjoy this winter...Happy Canning!