Freezer Meals; Keeping Food Costs DOWN!

Happy New Year, friends!

I hope that you are as ready as I am for 2o14. It's going to be the greatest year ever for us, I can feel it.

I've started out my New Year by decided that not only am I tired of cooking a full meal for just me and the hubster every night, I'm also tired of spending 200$ a week on groceries and then throwing things away because they rot and/or I've forgotten that I've even bought them in the first place.

Yesterday. Yesterday I spent $150 in the grocery store [Ok, I spent $180, but minus the cost of items I didn't actually need/use, it was $150] I made 138 servings of freezable meals at a grand total of $1.09 PER SERVING.....PER SERVING. That's pretty amazing in my eyes, and speaking of eyes...I thought they were going to pop out of my skull when I realized that all of these delicious meals I've made may not even fit in my freezer. Whoops!

Anyway. Step one to preparing your freezer meals: Clear out your freezer. Throw away anything that has been in there long enough to either grow ice on it or anything that you can't identify any longer. Step two is to clean your kitchen, there isn't a lot of prep work but it is much easier [and I was much calmer throughout the process with all of my mixing bowls cleaned!]

Step 3: Get to the grocery. For these meals you will need the following items:

Basics [Milk, flour, butter, salt, pepper, sage]
Chicken Breasts: 17 or you can pick up 5 rotisserie chickens from walmart(sale for $5 each currently)
Hamburger: 5lbs
Rice: 7 cups dry
Noodles: 2 bag/boxes [I used the wide, flat noodles but you can use whatever you like]
Shredded Cheddar Cheese: 2 big bags [2lb bags]
Pie Crusts: 7 [so 14 pieces top and bottom (walmart brand is a whole crust for $2]
Rotel Tomatoes: 4 Cans
Frozen Corn: 1 big bag or 2 small bags
Frozen Peas: 1 big bag or 2 small bags
Frozen Broccoli: 2 big bags
Frozen Carrots: 1 big bag or 2 small bags [I suggest cubed if you can find them]
Taco Seasoning: 2 packs
Chili Seasoning: 2 packs
Black Olives: 1 small can
Cream of Chicken Soup: 4 cans
Cheddar Cheese Soup: 2 cans
Onion: 3
Corn Bread: 2 boxes
Russet or Idaho Potatoes: 4 
Pinto Beans in Sauce: 2 cans
Kidney Beans: 2 cans
Black Beans: 3 cans
French's Onions: 1 bag
Chicken Broth or Bouillon Cubes
Storage Tubs with the cardboard tops: Varies

I went to Dollar Tree. They have packs of various sizes 3/4 for $1

I bought a total of:

6 large round [9"]

8 small round [6"]

12 small rectangle [6"]

The rectangle ones fit better but the pie crust works best in the rounds.

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Prep work is key. I peeled, sliced and cubed my potatoes, carmalized all of my onions, cooked my rice and hamburger and set the husband up with a trash can and a bowl and the 6 chickens I brought home [you only need 5 but I bought 6 because I figured we'd eat at least one while prepping]

I really liked using the rotisserie chickens for this...the meat is juicer [no matter how you cook breasts, they'll never be as juicy and soft as a rotisserie chicken...plus, we mixed the skin in with the dogs dinner and threw the chicken carcasses in the yard and watched our backyard chickens strip them clean in under 10 minutes.

Anyway, if you prep up front, all this really is, is mixing and packaging your meals up!

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Cheeseburger Casserole
[Makes 3 dishes]

2lbs Ground Beef
1 Medium Onion
6 c. Cheddar Cheese


Spray your pans with cooking spray. Line each tray with pie crust.

Mix together your hamburger and onion. Spread into trays.

Top with Cheddar Cheese.

To Serve: Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.


Chicken Taco Casserole
[Makes 4 dishes]

4 c. Shredded Chicken
8 c. Cooked Rice
2 can Rotel Tomato
2 packs Taco Seasoning
2 c. Frozen Corn
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1 small can Black Olive
6 c. Cheddar Cheese

Mix all ingredients together except cheese.
Divide into dishes and top with shredded cheese.

To Serve: Bake at 350 until heated through. 40-50 minutes.


Broccoli Chicken Pasta
[Makes 4-5 dishes]

3 c. Shredded Chicken
2 boxes Cooked Pasta
2 cans Cheddar Soup
2 c. Chicken Broth
2 bags Frozen Broccoli
1 tbsp Salt
3 c. Cheddar Cheese

Line dishes with cooked pasta. Wisk Soup and broth together. Add broccoli, chicken and salt. Add to dishes. Top with cheese.

To Serve: Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, serve with garlic bread.


Chicken & Dressing
[Makes 3 dishes]

2 c. Shredded Chicken
2 pans Corn Bread
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 c. Chicken Broth
1 onion [carmelized]
2 tbsp Sage
1 tbsp Salt
Pepper

Crumble and line dishes with cornbread. Wisk soup and broth, add chicken and spices and onions [I also added peas, carrots and corn because it saves me from cooking a vegetable later] 

To Serve: Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve with cranberry and chicken gravy.


Chicken Casserole
[Makes 3-4 dishes]

4 c. Shredded Chicken
5 c. Cooked Rice
2 c. Cream of Chicken Soup
1 c. Chicken Broth
2 c. Frozen Peas
2 c. Frozen Carrots
2 c. Frozen Corn
1 tbsp Salt
3 c. French's Onions
3 c. Cheddar Cheese

Combine Cheese and Onions. Set aside.
Line pans with Rice. Combine the rest of the ingredients and fill dishes. Top with Cheese/Onion mixture.

To Serve: Bake at 350 until thoroughly cooked warmed 30-45 minutes.


Simple Chili
[makes 5-6 dishes]

2 lb Hamburger
1 Onion
1 can Black Beans [drained and rinsed]
2 cans Kidney Beans [drained and rinsed]
2 cans Pinto Beans [do not drain]
2 cans Rotel Tomato
2 packs Chili Seasoning
2 c. Water
Salt, pepper

Mix together in large pot of crock pot for 30 minutes until warm, then box.

To Serve: Bake at 350 for 45 -50 minutes


Chicken Pot Pie
[Makes 4 dishes]

4 c. Shredded Chicken
4 Potato
2 c. Frozen Carrots
2 c. Frozen Peas
2 c. Frozen Corn
1 c. Butter [1 stick]
1/2 c. Flour
1 tsp thyme
3 c. Chicken Broth
1.5 c. Milk
Salt, pepper

Saute onion in butter, stir in flour and spices. Blend in broth and milk. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and add vegetables and potato and chicken.

Line dishes with pie crust. Divide and pour filling. Top with pie crust and trim edges.

To Serve: Bake at 400 for 70-80 minutes

***** ALL OF THE RECIPES ARE OPERATING UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT YOU'VE DONE THE PREP WORK AHEAD OF TIME. ALL MEAT NEEDS TO BE COOKED BEFORE ADDING TO RECIPE AND FREEZING *****

***** Also, to make it easier for you in the long run, label each dish with it's contents, date it was made and it's reheating instuctions! This way, you just remove lid and set the timer when it comes time to cook! *****

We've been BUSY!

So, while talking to my friend Danielle tonight, and trying to coax her into starting a blog of her own [she's a special education teacher and has the absolute BEST stories about her kids and the ridiculous stuff that happens to her on a regular basis] I realized that I have not updated since we brought Apollo home.

 

So, here it goes!

 

We have been BUSY. So busy that I'm not sure how I am keeping it together without having a metal breakdown. Huge shout out to all of the working parents out there, because I don't know how you manage to successfully live and take care of children!

 

Apollo is almost fully grown. He's such a great bird that in March, I decided that it was time to add another Indian Ringneck to our family. I spent the next 3 months trying to find a breeder that had the color and sex that I wanted. We finally came across a breeder in Virginia and we arranged to have the bird shipped to us, I would have to pick her up in Raleigh, NC at the airport but I figured it wouldn't be a huge deal. Little did I know, when I told the breeder that I needed a late afternoon/evening flight time that he would take that to mean that an 1145pm landing time was what I was talking about. I'm the kind of girl that is in bed by 8pm and drooling by 810pm these days.

 

It was an interesting ride there and back, and baby Boomer was a hot mess that evening. The poor thing was shaken up and had no idea what she was supposed to do! Of course, we remedied that with a nice scrambled egg and berries breakfast. She has come a long way in these past 3 weeks, she and Apollo are getting along well and sometimes when I sneak up on them, I can catch them cuddling.

 

 Pretending not to like each other.

 My pretty little girl.

 The lovies have decided that the ceiling fan is an acceptable place to perch.

My little blue girl in all her glory.

 

 

I also got a job. Imagine that, after a year of housewifedom, I walked into a dental office and was hired on the spot. I can say that I was a little impressed with myself after pulling off that feat. Although to be honest, it probably had more to do with my letters of recommendation than anything else. I started the week that Boomer was due to fly in...talk about a wreck! I had the first week of work stress on top of driving to Raleigh at 8pm at the end of that week, when really, all I wanted was to come home that Friday and crack open a giant bottle of wine, sit in the bathtub and read a book...maybe eat some chocolate if the mood took me.

 

But instead, I drug my tired butt up to pick her up. I am glad that I did too.

 

The first week was tough for me, I've been out of the dental field for over a year and I was a little nervous that I wasn't going to remember any of my training. First week jitters, you know. Trying to figure out how the place ran, how to manage my time to complete all of the tasks I was asked to do, get used to the fact that the office does not run a digital xray program [because I was well spoiled by the Navy, not only do they have digital xray, but they also have a xray tech to do them for you!]

 

The second week was even tougher, I was feeling a little more comfortable, but allowing myself to get cocky and in the end I made a lot of embarrassing [I can't believe I messed that up, I KNOW this ] mistakes.

 

The third week was a little better. I managed to figure out how to manage my time, I can develop x-rays like a boss, and I knew the computer system and operations pretty well, but my feet were KILLING me. I am NOT used to standing up all day long. Since I wasn't assisting yet, just running CSR [the central sterilization room], flipping rooms, seating patients, filing charts, developing x-rays, stocking, restocking and stocking again, copying x-rays as well as general cleaning and patient care, I never had a chance to sit down. My feet hurt so bad that by the time I got home at night all I wanted to do was sit down and not clean my house [which was starting to look more and more like it had been hit by a tornado with each passing day!]

 

This week, my fourth week with the office, is off to a much better start. I'm comfortable at work, I know what's expected of me, and I've even managed to manage my time so well that I have found opportunities to talk to and get to know the people I work for! My feet and muscles have adjusted to standing and running around all day and when I came home tonight, I had the energy to clean my house AND spend about an hour in the garden weeding and raking.

 

So, all in all, I think I've adjusted back into the work force pretty well. I'm feeling much better about it these days, although there have been multiple times since I started that all I can think is 'why, oh why did I get a job right at the start of summer....I want to quit....I'd rather be at the beach....or in the garden....or on my couch....anywhere but sweating in this office.' I'd be a liar if I said I hadn't! The dentist's I work for have plans to send me to xray school, prophy school and a bunch of other stuff, which is absolutely AWESOME. Free school that I don't have to pay for...yep, I'll take it.

 

 

The garden is also FINALLY in the ground and growing. I never thought I'd be able to say that! I managed to get it all in last week, with the help of our neighbors son, Cory. He's a great kid and he's helped me out by babysitting the chickens and ducks and dogs in the past. He is a hard worker and always pops his head over the fence to see if I need help with anything.

 

We decided to do a co-op garden this year. The neighbors and I decided that if they help with the weeding and watering and planting [hence why Cory is always in my yard helping] that we'd all just take what we needed from the garden. William wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of sharing food at first, but our garden is a solid 900 square feet and there's no way we'll be able to eat it all anyway. Heck, last year the only thing that grew were the bell peppers and the sweet potatoes and we ended up giving most of them away because we just couldn't eat them all!

 

I made a lot of gardening mistakes last year, it was our first big garden and I really let the weeds get out of control [I won't make that mistake again!] I also didn't realize that the vegetables that we did grow weren't going to be as big as the ones we buy at the store, so I ended up waiting too long to harvest and we lost a lot that way as well. The bugs also killed up last year. I tried everything! Neem oil and hot peppers, nothing kept the bugs off the plants.

 

This year, I managed to use companion planting to naturally keep the bugs away! I lined the outer most ring with marigolds, planted my tomato plants outside the garden and put plants together that will help each other grow and stay bug free. [I.e. if you grow beans with your corn, the beans will put off nitrogen while growing which in turn makes the corn happy!]

 

Another thing we discovered this year is diatomaceous earth! Woo hoo. I sure wish I had known about that magical little crumbled dinosaur bone powder before! It will kill bugs, fleas, ticks, ants, everything that creepy crawls around your yard! I've killed a ton of fire ant mounds this way!

 

So I'm all planted. We have a ton of heirloom tomatoes, peppers of all shapes, colors and spice levels, 2 types of okra, kohlrabi, corn, beans, peas, sunflowers, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, cukemelons, arugula, spinach, pumpkins, squash, watermelon, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, cabbage and eggplant.

 

Phew, that's one heck of a list, but everything seems to be thriving in the soil. I know in a few weeks I'll be kicking myself for planting so much stuff. I'm sure it's going to grow so fast that I'll be out of control trying to keep it weeded. But for now, I designate 30 minutes to an hour each night to go out and see how the corn grows and pull up the weeds and grass that is trying to start reclaiming it to the wild. All of this rain has really been beneficial for the plants, but also for the weeds! I figure if I go out there every night, I may just be able to keep things under control.

 

 Onions.

 Snap Peas.

Watermelon.

 Garden Beans.

 Corn.

It sure doesn't look like much right now, but just wait a month!

Welcome Home Baby Apollo!

He's home, he's adorable, I am totally, utterly and unconditionally in LOVE with him. The absolute sweetest baby ever. I'm so happy that I could burst.

 

There is no way that he's 4 weeks old though, probably closer to 3 but I love him anyway.

 

We got back from the breeder about an hour ago. Apollo had his first meal in his new house about 15 minutes ago. I am beyond relieved at how well it went, and how good he ate. I'm spoon feeding, because I'm too terrified to use the syringe method for fear of aspirating him accidentally.

 

He picked up on it right away, chewing the formula off of the spoon. His crop wasn't fully empty, so it was a great learning experience for me. He ate a bit, I got a feel for it and everything went smoothly.

 

Little piglet.

 

 

I love him already. I can't wait to watch him grow, and feather out and everything. I'm excited to see what color he turns out to be. My sister's vote is that he's grey, but I'm still holding out hope that he turns blue!

 

 

Here's Apollo, 3 weeks old after his first meal.

Awaiting Apollo

William has finally relented. Well, he relented a few weeks ago. After much protest and compromise we settled on a parrot that we can both enjoy. I wanted a larger parrot, and William wanted no parrot at all.

 

It all worked itself out in the end. We agreed on an Indian Ringneck, smaller of the parrots weighing in at 12-15 inches long with the ability to talk, learn tricks and whistle. Small enough that I'm not scared of being bitten, but large enough that I won't wish that we had gotten something bigger.

 

Settling on the breed was simple, finding a breeder that I trust was a whole other issue all together. I found a breeder who said that she'd have babies ready in May, and that she was only an hour or so from me [Thanks to googlemaps.com I learned that she was more like 5.5 hours from me] I talked to a breeder who had nothing nice to say about the Ringneck breed. At all. She said they were nasty, would attack me and my husband and that she couldn't even sell hers because they were so mean [Sorry lady, but it sounds like it's not the birds that are the problem, maybe it's YOU!] I also called a ton of breeders who didn't call me back or return any of my messages, and the few that I did speak with unanimously agreed that they wouldn't have babies available until May.

 

Being the impatient person that I am, I kept searching.

 

I happened upon a local breeder, not far from my house. Close enough that I could visit daily with my baby while it was being handfed if I wanted to. This breeder has 4 week old Indian Ringnecks available NOW.

 

So, yeah, that happened a lot faster than I thought it would. I'm a little bit nervous at the prospect of hand feeding this baby, but I know that I will enjoy the extra bonding time that I'll get to spend with our little baby, so every 4 hour feedings here I come!

 

I found a cheap, rusted out old cage and hand sanded and refinished and repainted it. I used nontoxic zero VOC paint, I also used boiled teabags to stop the rusting of the cage. Seems that the antioxidants in tea also stops rust, who'd have thought!

 

Tonight I made [William has named him Apollo] Apollo's baby blanket and started making my list of the things I need to buy tomorrow, so that they'll be here when he comes home. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I thought I still had a few months to get it all together, but I'm excited that it's all fallen into place.

 

Here is Apollo's Baby Blanket. This will stay in his baby cage with him and will be a source of warmth and comfort between feedings and cuddlings.

 

 

And here is his cage that I refinished.

 

 

 

Live Long, & Eat Gluten Free

It's been a week since I started my gluten free diet, and I'm still not entirely sure where I stand on the subject. On one hand, I still have a LOT to learn, but on the other, I feel better, I'm losing weight, and I've got a ton more energy during the day.

 

I first came across the idea of a gluten free lifestyle, you guessed it, on the internet. I've been doing some side research on RPL [recurrent pregnancy loss] which is something that my poor husband and I are still sifting through. We have no medical reason why we can't have a baby, all of our tests have come back perfectly healthy, and perfectly normal...but we still can't carry a pregnancy past the implantation stage. We've had 12 miscarriages in the past 3.5 years, and we are both at the point where we just don't care anymore. You can't push fate. If it's not meant to be, than there's nothing in my power that I can do [or afford] to fix it.

 

The only known medical issues we've found is that I suffer from Hashimoto's Disease, an autoimmune disease that affects and effectively attacks my thyroid. Because of the disease, I also suffer from Hypothyroidism, where my thyroid can't keep up with my body's needs and as a side effect, I am always tired, lethargic, low energy and pretty lazy. I put on weight just LOOKING at food. I can't lose weight, at all...no matter what I do. I sleep a lot, but there aren't enough hours of sleep in the day to make myself feel alert and healthy.

 

One of the articles I came across was about autoimmune diseases and the affect of gluten to the antibodies. Basically, I learned that the antibodies my body creates not only attack my thyroid, kidney's and adrenal glands, but they also thrive on gluten! Something as simple as removing gluten from your diet can not only help you feel better, have more energy, but it also can help stop the damage to your body and organs.

 

There are many cases studies that have been done over the years, lots of them say that the antibodies from the autoimmune disease can also cause early term pregnancy losses; of course there are some that say there isn't any correlation between the two, but at this point I can't see what it would hurt to try....I don't even want to get into the crazy things I've done in hopes of a healthy pregnancy, but I will say that if there's a wives tale about conception, I've probably done it.

 

So, long story short, I'm hoping that by living gluten free I can slow down the thyroid antibodies and hopefully end up riding off into the sunset with my husband, so pregnant that I have to ride a pack horse instead of a beautiful white steed.

 

That being said, I've still got a TON to learn; did you know that there is gluten in Soy Sauce AND Ketchup? I didn't...but I do now.

 

This gluten free is going to be a continual learning experience for me.

 

So far I've learned:

 

* There is gluten in ketchup and soy sauce, though Chung's Gormet [in your freezer aisle] carries gluten free Chinese food.

 

*Gluten free beer tastes like a dirty diaper full of Mexican food, but Old Orchard Cider is naturally gluten free and it's AMAZING.

 

*Gluten free noodles aren't anywhere as bad as everyone says they are, though they do cost about twice as much as regular pasta.

 

*It's true, I can't eat bread...or cake...or cookies...or rolls, but there are some gluten free bread and cake recipes that look like they'd taste just as good.

 

*Eating gluten free has effectively stopped me from eating junk food [and most fast food] so I'm definitely going to lose some weight.

 

*I'm going to miss Chick-fil-a a whole lot, but I found an alternative recipe that tastes EXACTLY the same and is gluten free at www.thedomesticman.com, along with a TON of other tasty gluten free dinner ideas.

 

So far I feel:

 

I've been at this diet for about a week now. I've already noticed some pretty awesome changes in my life. I'm down 8lbs, I have energy, I have lots of energy, I'm not as hungry throughout the day so I don't need to snack, and I just feel BETTER.

 

I'm still recovering from surgery last month, so I haven't been allowed in the gym but I'm sure once I get the OK, being able to work out on top of it all will help me shed even more lbs.

 

I can't wait to see where this diet takes me. I feel like I'm starting a new, improved chapter of my life and I'm pretty excited to do some experimenting with food to see what kind of tasty gluten free meals I can create.

 

I'll keep you posted as we get further into the diet.

New Year, New Adventures

The new year has been exciting and full of awesome stuff already, and it's only mid-January. I finally got off my butt and started taking video of the chickens doing fun chicken stuff, also set up a youtube channel so that I can share my babies and the neat stuff they do with the entire internet, which feels like a much bigger accomplishment than it is, considering kids half my age have youtube channels already. I guess I'm just a little behind as far as technology goes.

 

Life With A Yard Chicken Videos

 

 

 

And...Our eggs are finally fertile! Well, at least Bigfoot [Cochin] and Popcorn Chicken [Orpington] are! I cracked them this morning for breakfast and was pleasantly surprised to see the tell tale fertile, white bulls eye on the yolks. I'll be setting them up in the incubator at the end of the month. I can't wait to see the babies from this hatch.

 

Splash English Orpington x Buff American Standard Orpington

Splash English Orpington x Red Bantam Cochin

 

They should be some form of Red Penciled mixes. Unfortunately, I'll be hatching to sell or give away because these aren't the colors that I'm breeding for, but it will be fun to see what they look like either way.

 

Fertile eggs have a white bulls eye shaped pattern on the top or side of the yolk. If you've seen it before, you won't be able to miss it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, the weather here has been lovely. Warm, happy, sunny, springtime weather and it's making me want to do stuff in the yard; till the garden, plant flowers and bushes, and just be outside to enjoy the fresh air. I know this weather is nothing but a small reprieve from the winter that will no doubt follow, but it's still nice outside so it's hard not to take advantage.

 

I bought my strawberries and have to figure out where I'm going to put them. There is a space on the side of the house that gets perfect sun/shade that strawberries desire, but there is a tree there and I hate to take away a hiding spot from the chickens. I've got to do some research and find some other shrubs that I can put in the trees place once I take it down.

 

I'd really like the strawberries to have their own plot of land, just so they aren't contaminated by any of the garden vegetables [can't plant strawberries near eggplants or they turn sour and too bitter to eat, for example]

 

We'll be trying out some companion gardening in the spring, once everything is up and running. I'd like to make it through the season without using pesticides or chemicals on the plants, but last year out aphid and caterpillars were out of control. I hope that by companion gardening, we can help naturally keep the bugs at bay. I know the chickens will also be more than happy to help out.

2o13 Memory Jar

I've seen this Memory Jar thing posted all over pinterest and Facebook, and even though I completely wrote it off as silly before, today got me thinking about what a great idea it actually is.

 

William and I were talking this morning about all the things that happened for us this year; I completed my Dental Program, got a job with a great Oral Surgeon, moved back to the states from Japan, bought our first house, renovated our first house, got chickens, got more chickens, started hatching our own chickens, spend our first Thanksgiving together since we've been married, among countless other things, the problem is; beyond the big points, I don't remember a whole lot about any of the other things that happened, or any of the adventures we took together this year.

 

I grabbed some sparkle paint [buyer beware: you'll need to add a polyurethane coat on top or the glitter will just rub off and you'll transfer it onto every single thing you touch or come in contact with!] and put a pretty bow on it.

 

Now, for 2o13 when something good or exciting happens, we will write it down and put it in the Memory Jar. When next NYE rolls around, we will sit down and open it together and reminisce about all the awesome stuff we did in 2o13.

 

I think this is a great idea, especially for people with children [they grow so fast and do so many new things!]

 

I can't wait to start filling ours up with memories.