Saturday Cooking!

I thought it would be fun to share more about how we do our Saturday cooking! We have been doing this every other week, since we are a family of four and most recipes have about 8 servings. We are able to make 7 meals and divide them in two so we have 2 weeks of dinners and only one day with the messy kitchen. 

We have been spending about 3-4 hours on Saturdays cooking. Usually we time it during nap time, so we only spend the last hour or so cooking while the kids are up. This week only took us about 2 1/2 hours! 

We had two meals that will be made the days we need them. So we only had to do 5 meals, so that helps. 

When we got home with the groceries, I realized that I needed to come up with a game plan. Then I quickly realized that we chose more complex meals this week. 

I posted this yesterday, but here's the menu I came up with: 

Broccoli and Cheese Spuds

Santa Fe Chicken

Chicken Divan

Asian Chicken

Greek Turkey Meatballs

Spinach Manicotti 

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I know I've said this, but just in case... all of these recipes (except the spuds) are off of a website called Skinny Taste and they all are pretty healthy so that is awesome! 

So back to the planning. I realized that it was going to be a bit overwhelming if I didn't just take it one recipe at a time. I decided that I would try to do more of the prep work and grabbing things, while Derek did a lot of the cooking and assembling part. It actually worked really well! We make such a great team. 

The first thing we did was sort through the groceries. I like to put away what we won't be needing right away and then sort of group the items by recipe.

Next we divided up the chicken and put what we needed for the Santa Fe chicken in the freezer. Then we boiled what we needed for the chicken divan. While that was boiling we started on the Asian chicken. 

I pulled the ingredients and chopped the onion while Derek browned the chicken and then added the ingredients for the sauce. He also "grated" the ginger for me too. (I'll get to the grated items in just a sec)

Once all of that was mixed in the pot, it needed to simmer for 20 minutes. So while that simmered we decided to get started on the Tzatziki sauce for the Greek turkey meatballs. 

On a side note- that tzatziki sauce is 0 weight watchers points. Yes you heard me... ZERO points! It's delicious, so how awesome is that?! 

The sauce is a little complicated to make, but it really didn't take long.

While we were cooking, I noticed that she used the term "grated" in a lot of her recipes. It did not take long for me to realize that she was probably using that to say minced. It kind of drives me crazy. I'm not sure why. Maybe things really are supposed to be grated... but we just ran them in the food processor and let them be finely chopped. 

So after the tzatziki (I'm really loving typing that word- even if spell check is not) sauce was made, Derek turned off the boiling chicken and stirred the Asian glazed chicken. Since we did not use drumsticks, the chicken did not take the full 20 minutes to cook. We also had a hard time getting the sauce to reduce down to a glaze, so he removed the chicken and did the glaze on it's own. 

Meanwhile, I was getting the turkey meatballs together.

After we finished the Asian glazed chicken and the meatballs we got started on the manicotti.

The recipe calls for crespelles. I had never heard of them but I learned that it's an italian thing and they use them in place of pasta. They are very similar to crepes. It's basically flour, milk and eggs. We put everything in a blender to mix it.  Derek made the crespelles since he has experience with crepes. While Derek made those, I got the rice started for my chicken divan. The recipe does not call for it but I thought it would be good.

I simplified the recipe by using a jar of marinara sauce. I poured a little of it in the bottom of the pan.

I got a crespelle and put the ricotta/ spinach mixture on top and then rolled it.

I laid each crespelle seam side down in my dish. I squeezed 8 in each dish.

I topped the manicotti with more marinara and mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Yummy!! 

After the manicotti we just had two dishes left. I had already cooked the chicken and the rice for the chicken divan so all I needed to do was make the cream sauce and mix it together. 

I was a meanie and left Derek to do the spinach and feta stuffed chicken by himself. I know- he's great and I'm terrible for leaving! :)

Here's the mess when I left...

just keeping it real. :)

When I came home he had finished the stuffed chicken and cleaned the kitchen.

AND my freezer was neatly arranged!

If you're still here... you get a special award! haha.

That's basically how our cooking Saturdays go. We have a small kitchen, so it gets pretty interesting! It's always so much fun to spend the time doing something we enjoy though. It's so nice to know that most of our dishes are done for the week! 

Week 5 Menu!

I'm so excited about this week's menu that I decided to skip my weekend post and go straight into this. We had a pretty boring, lazy weekend- minus the cooking and super bowl (I'll post pics from that soon).

This week I wanted to do some different dishes. I really wanted to stray away from too many casseroles. I love them but I'm worried about being burnt out! I also tried to incorporate a good variety.

The problem I ran into was that these dishes were a little bit harder to prepare. We spent an extra hour or so on these and I still had to do one dish the next day. We were both pretty worn out from it, so I will have to keep that in mind next time. I'm learning as I go. :)

Okay, so here's the awesome menu! (You can click on the meal for the recipes, if there's not a recipe I will try to post one soon!) I also threw in a few pictures just to entice you! ha!

Photo Courtesy of Taste of Home 

Corn Chowder with Dumplings (I substituted the chipotle pepper with seasonings)

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie (the link takes you to turkey pot pie, same thing)

Chicken Alfredo Pizza (feeling little brave...)

Photo courtesy of Betty Crocker .com

Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie 

Photo courtesy of Food Network .com 

Breakfast Casserole (I love breakfast for dinner!!)

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (My own recipe with homemade Alfredo sauce)

Comfort Meatballs (I adapted this recipe... I might post it later!)

We made the pie and pizza crusts and froze them. I know it will be a little bit of work, but we can just roll those out and use them when we need them. We are going to try an alfredo pizza! I've never made one before so it's going to just be something we come up with as we go.

I will also have to make the chicken fettuccine alfredo the day of but I went ahead and cooked the chicken and then froze it. I'm debating adding seasoning just to the chicken after I thaw it. It's going to be coated with the alfredo sauce so it's not going to seem dry or anything. By the way- that alfredo sauce is super easy! I will share that soon.

I doubled the breakfast casserole recipe and made about 4 smaller ones so we could pull those out for breakfast! I'm toying with adding breakfasts to our frozen menu later on so I'm trying to experiment with breakfasts we will actually eat!

I really enjoy cooking these meals. It's a good thing to do as a couple because you have to work together  and communicate and in our small kitchen it's crazy. I'm pretty sure therapists use this kind of thing for their marriage counseling exercises. ha!

I'm always looking for new recipes so I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Week 4 Menu

So remember when I mentioned how this would be somewhat of a learning experience? Well note to self... 3 sort of Mexican dishes in one week is probably not the best idea! ha. Don't get me wrong, they were delish but they have gotten a little old... I will definitely have to mix it up more! 

We are stretching last week's menu into two weeks again! I'm sure this doesn't sound as good to some but it is what's working for us right now! Since Derek is down to just the one job we are trying to be more conscious of our budget and this is one area where we are really saving! (By saving I mean we are cutting our budget down by 1/3 while still managing to eat the things we like!) 

So here's what's on the menu for this week: 

Texas Tortilla Bake 

Chicken Noodle Soup

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Spaghetti

"Chicken" and Wild Rice (remember last week where I mentioned forgetting the chicken!)  

Baked Ziti

I'm already working hard on the menu for the next week or two! I'm excited because we have the Super Bowl (so at least one sweet treat for that) and I'm also taking a meal to someone so I will be able to have a meal geared for that (and dessert-my fave).  

I'm always open to suggestions and new ideas, so if you have any feel free to comment! :) 

Weekend Happenings

We had a really great weekend! We didn't have any obligations, so it was nice to just relax and make our own schedule! 

Friday night we went over to Derek's parent's house and visited with everyone. Anna-Kate heard that Chick-fil-a was open so she worked really hard to get everyone to go get some ice cream. She absolutely loves going there! So we all gave in and went to check it out. We had so much fun! The girls played in the play place and then ate their ice cream and went back to playing! They did really good and it was nice to get out and relax! 

Saturday morning we got up and ate at Chick-fil-a again... yes... we went back! I am proud of it too! ha. Anna-Kate ran into several little friends from school and church so she played really well. Thomas was happy because he got to finish her food while she was playing! After we ate we got our groceries and then went home and put the kids in bed. After they went to bed Derek and I got to work on our meals for the next week or two. I'll post that menu soon! We always enjoy cooking together and this time we got to experiment a little bit more. A few of the "recipes" we used weren't really recipes, so that was fun. I am excited to eat everything- ha!

Anna-Kate waving to us! 

I looked over and noticed that Thomas was mimicking Derek! He mimics us all the time! So funny! 

Thomas likes to hold his dvd player. On our way home from the store I turned around and saw that he was out! So sweet!

After the kids woke up we played and waited on Kristen to come over and play! The girls played really well. I was excited they didn't really fight like they have been. Once they went to bed Derek and I watched a few of our shows and that was that. Not extravagant or exciting but so nice! 

Thomas testing out his cooking skills! 

I am serious, the poor boy needs some of his own toys! ;) Or at least a momma who can take some pictures of him playing with boy things instead of Anna-Kate's pink toys! 

Anna-Kate played with us too. She had a bowl of fruit to feed her babies. Apparently she decided that the babies didn't want to eat their fruit so she had to eat it. And by eat I mean lick the whole fruit. It was gross! I didn't even realize she had done this until she was on the last piece of fruit! Whoops!

After Thomas eats he signs and says "Ah du" which means 'all done'. It's pretty cute! I think this was after he did it the first time, so he wasn't very happy I got out the camera instead of letting him out of the highchair! 

The best thing about our weekends lately is the simplicity of them. We miss our Lepanto family but it is nice not to have the drive take out such a big chunk of our Sunday. 

After church today Derek's family came over for some nice homemade lasagna and Mississippi mud cake! It was so good! I've never made Mississippi Mud Cake but I had some marshmallow cream and I thought it would be fun to find a recipe that incorporated that into it. I actually wound up using Paula Deen's recipe but instead of mini marshmallows I used a 7 ounce jar of the cream. You bake the cake and then we heated the marshmallow cream for about 20 seconds in the microwave and spread it on and then poured icing with chopped pecans on the top. WOW- so good! 

After lunch I headed over to the church and got to help some of the ladies make meals for someone. It was so much fun. I'm so glad I went! I love any chance we get to spend time with church family!

Tonight we had Derek's family back over to help us eat all our left overs! We still had some things in our freezer so we pulled them out yesterday but I knew there was no way we could eat all of it! So they helped us out. It was fun just having a little bit of everything! 

After everyone left Anna-Kate picked up all of her toys without our help! She even put them up in the right places! I was so proud! She was so sweet and funny this weekend!!

Tomorrow is the first Monday in two weeks to have school and work! I am definitely looking forward to a more normal week than what we have been having!

Week 2 Menu!

This is going to sound terrible...

and possibly even gross to some...

Our meals made so much extra that I decided to go on and just eat the left overs this week! 

(that means I saved on an entire week's worth of groceries and I didn't have to brave the grocery store wahoo!) 

I'm actually super excited. Last week's meals turned out awesome! Derek and I both enjoyed having a meal already prepared. There are so many nights when we get home right at dinner time and the thought of having to fix a meal is just draining, so we usually wind up just eating out. Even those times we have plenty of things at home. 

It was such a great feeling to come home to a meal already prepared! 

I made the alfredo pasta last night and tonight we had chili, on top of baked potatoes. Anna-Kate was resistant, but she wound up scraping the potato out! 

On the menu for the rest of the week: 

Ritz Chicken (didn't make that last week) 

Vegetable Beef Soup

Chicken and Dressing

Chicken Spaghetti

Everything froze and thawed really well last week too. 

I've already made a list of recipes for next week too! Can't wait to share! 

Just What The Doctor Ordered

A day off! 

Well the doctor didn't order it and I don't just have one day, but you know what I mean! :)

Today was SO fun! I think I appreciated my day at home a whole more than I used to and I know Derek certainly enjoyed having his dinner on the table when he walked in. ha! 

Derek "let" me sleep in this morning, so I was barely awake when he and Anna-Kate left. (Before you say anything about me being a lazy bum, keep reading!) I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't and then I thought about what I needed to get done so I woke up and took a nice long shower. Those are great, aren't they??! Then, I wasted an hour on the computer. (Now you can call me a lazy bum!) 

Thomas woke up right as I was finished getting ready so I fed him and we played and took our time getting ready. 

Then we went to the dollar store in search of a styrofoam or straw wreath for my craft day. I looked at Walmart but didn't find one and then the dollar store didn't have one. Hey- in a small town those are the places you go for these things! We don't have a fancy Hobby Lobby! ;) Ooohhh I wish we did though!! 

When we got home we had just enough time for a snack and to start some fruit tea and chicken and dumplin's before Amanda and Jackson came over for our crafts! 

I found the wreath ideas from Lauren over at Little Big Nest! We were in the same social club at Harding and I've been following her blog for a while now. She has the cutest house and is always inspiring with her creative decorating and crafts! Since we couldn't make our wreaths today we decided to try the toilet paper pumpkins that Lauren also made this fall! 

They were pretty easy to make and also pretty inexpensive! Each pumpkin takes a roll of toilet paper, a small piece of newspaper and some fabric! (you can click on the link above for the step-by-step instructions)

Amanda's are the red and the tan ones. I think they turned out so cute! She had really great fabric to work with! 

While I worked this is what Thomas did... 

hahaha! 

Amanda and I took a little time to take pictures of our boys let our boys play outside... they're just so cute! 

And that's where the pictures stop! I hate it when I forget to take pictures!! 

After Amanda and Jackson left, Thomas and I went to pick up Anna-Kate from school. She got out early today and I was so excited to spend some extra time with her!

When she got home Thomas laid down for a nap and then she helped me finish the chicken and dumplings! She really loves to put things in and stir them. Anna-Kate loves to help in the kitchen and I really try to let her most of the time. 

Anna-Kate laid down for a nap after that. I really thought that Thomas would be up soon, so I just relaxed for a couple of hours. I finished up the chicken and dumplings and got the table all set for dinner and then Thomas woke up, just in time for Derek to get home! Anna-Kate wound up sleeping until 5:30! 

After dinner we got cleaned up and ready for bible study. We host a home bible study, so we usually try to have some sort of a snack each week. While we were waiting on it to be time for church, Anna-Kate recited her memory verse for us! It totally took us off guard! I knew that they were learning memory verses each week but that was the first time we've ever been able to get her to say it! It was so cute! I wish I had gotten it on video! Maybe tomorrow I can! 

It was "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5 

I mean, that's a pretty tough memory verse and she said it all... including the book, chapter and verse! I was impressed! 

Thomas went to bed pretty soon after church and then Anna-Kate and I stayed up and read books together. She told me that she had to read 5 books so she could get her name written at school. ha! I'm not exactly sure what that means, but we read the 5 books just to be on the safe side. :) She has really started to love reading! I'm so glad because I used to read all the time. 

When they went to bed I finished my fruit tea and made hash brown breakfast casserole for MOPs tomorrow. I love fruit tea but I've had the hardest time getting it right! I think I need to just read the recipe closer. ha! 

So, I had a busy day but I loved every minute of it! Tomorrow is another busy day with MOPs and then packing for our trip. We are leaving tomorrow night for Franklin! I'm hoping to squeeze a little time to bake some pumpkin bread in there too. 

If you can't tell, I love being busy and I love cooking! I think that's just what I needed to snap out of my funky mood I've been in lately! 

I Hope I Don't Make A Habit Of This...

weekly posting! :( Sorry guys!

So, I've survived a week and a half of work! And guess who else did...

Thomas...

and so did Anna-Kate!

Derek just barely did... ha!

Wednesday of last week my position was turned into a full time thing! So I'm now working from around 9-6 everyday.

That was a little more than I expected but I feel really blessed to have a job! I am really enjoying cooking and actually feel inspired to cook when I get home, which is opposite of how I thought I'd feel. Last week I sold a buttermilk pie that I made. Tuesday I made a chocolate sheet cake and sold all of it! Then I made two for today! ha! They sold really well and someone ordered a whole one for Friday!

I'm sort of funny about cooking. See I really love food and I love cooking but I also really love to make people happy! So, more than anything I cook for other people! I guess that's why I'm enjoying the job so much! That and I really think we make the BEST poppyseed chicken and mexican chicken I've ever had! Seriously- it's SO good! Just about everything I've tried there has been my "favorite." (I have LOTS of favorites! ha!)

Thomas has handled being away from me pretty well. He's obviously cut back on nursing, which makes me sad, but I'm glad that he's doing well. Saturday and Sunday he was super clingy but hopefully he will get used to things soon.

Anna-Kate has done good too, my working doesn't really affect her too much. She has gotten sent home with a few "sad" notes this week!! Monday, she bit a little boy. I think it was because he had a toy she wanted! Tuesday, they were standing in line and the teachers had just told them to be quiet. Well she was struggling with her hair and a little boy tried to help move it out of her face and she bit him! I don't think she bit very hard but still! She has NEVER bit a child before that! Then today, she got another note because she wouldn't stop fiddling with her jacket! She is my strong-willed baby! Sometimes it's really hard to get her to listen! Don't even get me started when it comes to her clothes!!

I'm not sure if she's acting out or just beng herself! ha! Hopefully we will get adjusted to a new routine soon!

Monday, Derek woke up late for work, so I had to get Anna-Kate up and ready for school. Then I had to get Thomas up and nursed and ready for the babysitter. Then I had to take the dogs out and feed them. I ended up being way late for work. Of course Anna-Kate was late too. I pulled up to the school and Anna-Kate was so excited! haha! She said, "okay mom, you can just let me off here." We weren't even close to the entrance! She's so funny!

Derek ended up getting sick Monday poor thing! It seems like there's a stomach bug or something going around! Hopefully the rest of us won't get it! He was pretty miserable. He stayed home yesterday. Today he is finally feeling better!!

Maybe once I get into a better routine I will be back here more and I will have the usual picture updates and all to share! I love the fall and I have so much fun reading what other people are cooking and how they're decorating! I hope to be able to share a few things myself! :) 

New Role

It wasn't too long ago that I was blogging about my decision to stay at home. If you read closely I did mention that if our financial situation got to where I needed to work, then I would. 

Of course, just as I was enjoying life at home... I made the decision that I needed to get a job. It's a decision that I've been struggling with for the last month now. 

I know, I know... bad blogger for not sharing! I was honestly just so filled with anger that I couldn't bring myself to be such a negative blogger! 

Derek and I both have been looking for a job, with the hope that Derek would be able to find something that was good enough for me to continue on at home. I had two job interviews but none of them wanted me! Ha! 

From the beginning of my job search I thought about working at this really cool place just up the street. She makes casseroles ahead of time and people can just drop in and pick up one for lunch or dinner! I think it's a really cool concept and I really enjoy cooking. Plus, I live just 2 minutes away! 

Well, the woman who owns it decided to take a chance on me! I started yesterday afternoon! I will be working from about 11- 6 M-F. I'm really excited because I still have the mornings to get everything in order and to go to my Ladies Bible Class and the MOPs meetings!! I am super excited about this because missing those things has been tearing me up the most! (Next to missing out on being at home with Thomas and picking Anna-Kate up from school, of course!) 

Sorry for the shameless self- promotion, but I wanted to show you where I work! I was standing at the end of our sidewalk! See how close it is?! :) Oh and if you live in our ward- you better vote for Derek! haha just kidding!

I had so much fun yesterday! I was pretty busy so I didn't have much down time to think about missing Thomas or Anna-Kate! Plus, I needed to run an errand, so I was able to stop by and nurse Thomas! 

Derek and I are looking for a babysitter/ nanny to keep Thomas and then pick up Anna-Kate from school and keep her. So for now, we're just taking it one stressful day at a time! :)

Thomas did SO good while I was away yesterday! 

When I got home, Anna-Kate was playing outside, Derek was sweeping off the driveway, Thomas was taking a nap...

dinner was on the table, the table was set AND

Derek had cleaned up his mess in the kitchen already! 

I just have one question... why on earth is 3:30-5 the witching hour for me?? When Derek gets home, Anna-Kate is usually laying on the floor with her blankie, whining and Thomas is usually wandering around fussing or on my hip... dinner is rarely done on time and there's no way I've even thought about sweeping off the driveway! Why was it so easy for him?? You know I'm just kidding, but it does make me think... ha!

Oh I have to share this story from yesterday morning!! Yesterday we all woke up a bit late, so Derek and I decided that we would just go to chapel with Anna-Kate. We tried to tell her, so she knew what to expect but when we walked in she bawled because she couldn't sit with her class! Derek tried to calm her and was telling her she had to sit with us. At the same time they were right in the middle of the devotional talk! The speaker said, "Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?" Right then Anna-Kate yelled (in response to Derek) "NO!!" haha! It completely sounded like she was replying to the speaker! I had hoped that since we were sitting in the back no one would really hear, but she really yelled it out!

Here's Anna-Kate in chapel, obviously upset!

Thomas doesn't look excited here, but he enjoyed chapel!

Today my schedule was bit crazier. I just worked from 12:30-4, but it still worked out for me. I'm really hoping to find someone who is flexible and can work with the craziness of it all! I had a good day... even if I did mess up a batch of cornbread! Boo to me! Luckily, I was given a little bit of grace, but I just really hated messing up! I'm hoping for a little bit more cooking success tomorrow!

When I got home, dinner was already done. Thanks to me! I was able to throw some things in the crock pot for pot roast! :) I love when I can use my crock pot!! We ate an early dinner and then I picked up while Derek gave baths. After that, Thomas went to bed and Derek went campaigning. Anna-Kate and I decided to go on and make chocolate no-bake cookies for Bible study tomorrow! Haha... you know just on a whim!

We both wore our aprons, which I loved!

It is SO hard to keep miss thing out of everything!! Everytime I turned my back she'd have her little fingers in the peanut butter, or in the sugar mixture! lol! She kept saying "I like sugar! I like the butter!"

I'm not sure when the last time I made these cookies was, so Anna-Kate did not know what to expect! When I told her to scoop some out and drop it down, she just kept piling it on! haha! 

Can you tell where she dropped hers? haha!

Derek informed me mine were too large, but I like big cookies! :)

I'm so glad that I was able to squeeze in a little one-on-one time with Anna-Kate! I want to get in as much time with her as I can!

Now I'm off to go make some buttermilk pies! Yummy! 

Love Me Some Chicken

I was supposed to have done this a week ago but the whole family has been bitten by the stomach virus and we took some time off to deal with that. So, for the record: I LOVED THAT CHICKEN FRICASSEE!!!

It seems like such a fancy French thing but it was really pretty simple. The chicken itself was cooked just right. I'd like to take some credit for that as I was the one watching the clock on it. But Nicki did a great job browning the bird first. Mainly you just put a light sear on the chicken and then simmer it till it's cooked through. Because it gets simmered in the tomatoy-herby-vinegary-oh so goody-sauce, it stays moist and flavorful.

The sauce was so perfectly balanced too! I love tomato sauce and that is the base of the fricassee sauce. But it has a healthy portion of red wine vinegar too and the acidity is so complementary. I really like the herbs that kind of pop out at you too! Overall, our first experience with French cooking was a success.

I think the best part though is getting back in the kitchen with Nicki. I enjoy cooking and I'm not half bad either. But Nicki has gone from good to great in the last several months and taken over much of the kitchen duties while I've been working. I like that she is able to do that and have something to be proud of, but I still want to help some too.

After we got married, we usually shared the kitchen work. It is one of our favorite things to do together and it is an enrichment to our marriage. So I have to say, the best part of the meal was not the chicken. The food never is the highlight for me. It was working together to create a great tasting meal for friends, and a great memory for us.