Home Management Binder: The Kitchen

If you missed it, the first post in this series is here!

This idea came to me while in the shower. It may be my best idea yet.

Seriously.

About a year ago, I set to work planning a year's worth of meal plans and shopping lists after seeing this pin. I re-designed the cover to fit my style and printed out all the calendars and shopping lists I needed. I even filled out a few months and figured out the shopping lists. And I was overwhelmed. There was no freedom! I don't KNOW what my family wants to eat on a wednesday night in May. I don't KNOW if that day will be rainy or sunny or if we'll have a baseball game we want to go to. I don't KNOW if there will be a family we need to take dinner to. I don't know. I felt stifled. What if I want to try a new recipe? Do I have to schedule that MONTHS in advance? For real? Who plans like that?! And it wasn't reasonable.

So, I went to the other extreme. Which was back to my pick the meals, make the list, do the shopping, etc. And it made me crazy because I was putting SO much brain power into creative menus each and every time. I was re-doing things that didn't need to be re-done.

And then that beautiful day in a hot shower came. And I was at my mother's house. And I was stealing my little sister's awesome Bath and Body Works body wash because heaven knows we can't afford that fancy stuff. And I was thinking about how awesome Photoshop actions are. What a genius idea to RECORD THE PROCESSES WE DO OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO MAKE THEM HAPPEN SO FAST, WITH JUST THE CLICK OF A MOUSE. Did you catch that?

And I have no idea how, but it clicked. I am going to make my kitchen management into a set of Photoshop actions, so to speak. And so I did.

I started by making lists of ten dinners and side dishes. I ended up with 8 sets of ten. I decided on ten instead of fourteen, because without fail, we have leftovers once a week and then we either go on a date or meet up with friends or have breakfast for dinner, or whatever for the others. When I plan fourteen meals, we always end up wasting food. When making them, I kept to a loose guideline of 4 chicken meals, 3 ground beef, 3 other. It made for variety and it's what my family eats. It also ensures that each meal plan costs about the same in groceries. Also, mentally, when making the menus I would try to keep a good balance of time-intensive meals, quick meals and crock pot meals. I didn't stress out about this. Looking at the menu, you can pretty much tell [whoa, that's a lot. That can't go on the same menu. Or, well...those are all pretty easy, so I'm sure we'll want a fancy meal in there somewhere...etc.]

And then I made the menu pages cute. Because my next big problem AFTER going shopping was I had my dinner plans and my grocery list on the same piece of paper and I would take it to the store and then shove it in a grocery sack and it would get mixed up with all the other clutter in my car and then I would have no idea what dinners I even had stuff for. Now that it's cute, once I go shopping, I put it up on my fridge. The shopping list is still on the same page, but I swear, the cuteness keeps me from losing it in the clutter. I've done 4 menus so far and haven't lost a single one. Magic.



And then, the doozy. I made the shopping list. WITH the intention of using it again. That's a big deal. Before I was RECORDING MY ACTIONS, I would go through each recipe and only write down the ingredients I needed. Mentally I would check off "well, I have that, and that, and that, so all I need for this recipe is tilapia!" And it made for a shorter list, but that list was useless to me later on. I would never be able to use the information I spent so much time gathering again. So, I made each shopping list for ten meals as if I needed to buy every, single, little, thing in every, single recipe. This means my lists include cornstarch, measurements of milk, butter, eggs, spices, etc. [The side dishes are noted with an item x1 or x3 depending on how many times we'll be eating that side dish during the next 14 days.] And so, when I'm needing to go grocery shopping, I pick a list and shop from my cupboards first, crossing off anything we have already. And then I head to the store. So much faster. And less time pouring over recipes. More time for more fun things!

And then I made them cute.

I have eight menu plans. Four of them have shopping lists done. We have eaten our way through menu plans 1, 3, 6 & 7. Some menus lend themselves to summer months. Others have more hearty meals for winter months. All of them are delicious. And just flipping through the menus I can easily see what sounds good for that time of year without stressing about it. I can also ask Cam what sounds good and pick the meal plan that includes. It's the best thing. And it has helped me so SO much, so how could I not share?

Here is meal plan #1.

I realize these are for OUR family. These are meals that we love and I have made before. I could never use someone else's meal plan because our favorites would get lost. Which is why I went into so much detail about how I came up with each of our menus. Also, we are humans. We eat relatively healthy. And quite frankly, if you are eating home cooked food instead of fast food, you're already two steps up in my book. However, we are not vegan. We are not uber granola people. We are humans. So we like pizza. And burgers. And breaded chicken. And [heaven forbid] a cream of something soup sometimes. [Though my mom turned me on to a DIY cream of something soup. And it doesn't have any MSG in it, so I'm pretty pumped to try it. PLUS, it's cheaper. So yeah, I might be swapping that out.]

If you click on the image above, you can print out the menu and shopping list. And the recipes are linked below. But I would highly recommend sitting down and making lists of ten. Plan the sides too, so you don't end up with a bunch of extra salad that goes bad. It is effort in the beginning, but it is so worth it. Seriously. I print 3 pages front and back, and end up with six copies of each meal plan in my binder. I am halfway done making my shopping lists and once I finish that, I can have a huge variety of meals for 2 years before having to think about it again! And if I want to try a new recipe? Well, I only have 10 recipes each time, so I can go right ahead! And if I find a keeper? All I have to do is make a new meal plan, or swap it out for a recipe we don't like as much from one of the existing meal plans. There is so much flexibility, it just makes my heart sing.

I am happy to make your menus cute if you so desire. I will even lay them out with your shopping lists on the back. I charge $5 to customize any of my printables [text changes only].

Menus for Humans. I like that. I'll post the other menus if you're interested? Comment and let me know! [No, commenting on FB doesn't count. :)]

Anyhow, the other part of my kitchen section is the freezer tally.

(Click picture to download printable.)

With everything that I make and freeze, I [used] to forget about a lot of stuff in there and then when the time came to clean it out, I had wasted so much food that I was putting away for later. Now, I keep one of these sheets on the door of our freezer and jot down stuff as it goes in and cross stuff off when it comes out. So great! Like the night I didn't want to cook and had made a double batch of pizza rolls? yep, we ate so good that night! And the other night when we had inside-out springroll salad and I didn't know if Cam would like the dressing, but I knew he LOVED my mom's wonton sauce? It was in the freezer, and I had actually forgotten about it until I was halfway through making dinner. A quick defrost, and now I HAVE to share that recipe with you. Because it was a total cheap veggie meal that Cam actually requested a huge bowl of in his lunch the next day. ["Just give me a huge bowl of this. That's all I want tomorrow."<--those words actually came out of his mouth. Nuts.]

Anyhow, this seriously is the best thing in my little organizational world right now. I love the kitchen section! And it helps to have extra copies, because when I'm filling out my daily docket, I know exactly what's on the menu plan. It's all right there in my binder. I love it.

Here are Menu Plan #1's recipes:

OMG Chicken with green beans
Olive Garden Alfredo with tomatoes + salad
Honey Sesame Chicken with best broccoli
Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken with mashed potatoes + salad
Italian Meatloaf with butterhorns + salad
Taco Burros + salad [a favorite from Cam's childhood. Taco meat, refried beans, tortillas, cheese, salsa]
Sunday Meal + salad [another favorite from Cam's childhood. I'll have to post the recipe!]
Tortellini Spinach Bake with watermelon + corn
Pizza Rolls + salad
Garlicky Baked Shrimp with green beans

The Great Salsa Verde Exodus of 2012

Just a quick math lesson. 6 quarts? Yeah, that's equal to a gallon and a half.

Wanna know what six quarts of salsa looks like when it falls off the shelf?



I admit, Cam warned me not to put them up on that shelf because it wouldn't be able to hold them. But they all looked SO pretty all lined up. So we both stared in horror as they crashed down. And Cam was mad at me. And I laughed. Hard. Because if I didn't laugh immediately, I was going to cry. We spent the next hour wading through salsa, picking up all the broken glass and mopping down every single appliance we own. How awesome is it that you can see six jars that totally didn't even crack after a 7 foot drop? Resilient little buggers.

It took a while to get up to this point though. Saturday morning, we woke up feeling mighty rested [odd, because we were out late the night before] and decided to get up and go to the farmer's market in downtown Dallas. These Texans don't mess around. I'm learning that the saying "Everything's bigger in Texas" is actually quite true. 4 huge buildings of shops, farmers, resellers, and wholesalers. We went to the wholesale tent, naturally. And bought 50 lbs. of carrots, 35 lbs. of tomatillos, and 20 lbs. of yams. Also, some cilantro, serrano peppers, and okra.

We also visited the spice shop. Locally ground spices, SO FRESH. I bought some chai masala and vanilla beans. Everything smelled so great. We will for sure be going back. At the farmer's stalls, they will cut off pieces of anything you want to try. The boys and I were sucking on mangoes, pineapple, seedless oranges, peaches, watermelon, cantaloupe, cherries, and more. I was kicking myself for paying 3x more than I should have for asparagus at the grocery store the week before. It was a fantastic family walk. And I was beside myself with the great deals we scooped up for canning.



However, do you have any idea how much 50 lbs. of carrots is? I clearly didn't. We have 14 quarts so far and have barely finished a third of them. Nuts! BUT, the whole bag cost me $16. So I'll take it. And my boys love them. All 3 of them.

The rest of the day was spent roasting tomatillos, peppers and onions and blending up salsa for canning. We finished six quarts the first day, and made another 13 jars Sunday morning. I was arranging the jars all pretty on the shelf. 5 minutes later, we were taking part in The Great Salsa Verde Exodus of 2012.

It.

Was.

Everywhere.

I had just shaved my legs so it was burning them. That was cool. I cut my foot open on a piece of glass, so Cam made me go get cleaned up and put shoes on before I could come back to the kitchen. We spent the next hour scooping up the mess in the dustpan and wiping down walls, baseboards, floors, appliances, etc. I'm amazed Cam didn't get more angry than he did. It was ridiculous. And all my fault. And I was in the corner laughing to myself. Hard. Like crystal light/bars are pregnancy laugh-attack hard. And an hour later, we skyped his parents and the kitchen was beautiful. And the boys were adorable. And Nash ate his carrots like a champ, DURING the skyping. [Talk about pressure!]

You know how sometimes you realize just how much your spouse puts up with for your crazy hobbies/loves/quirks? I married a good man, ladies + gents. I tried to make it up to him by making him chocolate peanut butter cookies and delivering them to him on the couch, along with milk in a butterbeer mug. We also had Nachos for dinner. Shepherd's pie was on the menu, but he informed me that he needed some mexican food after wading through salsa all afternoon. I was more than happy to oblige. And we ate some of the salsa. And it is GOOD.



However, now we will have to think up another Christmas neighbor gift, for all our gift jars of salsa broke.

English Muffin Bread

YOU GUYS. Stop whatever you are doing and go make this bread right now. For real. It is the easiest, yummiest thing you will ever make. [Besides putting chocolate chips on a scoop of peanut butter and horking it down.] I made the entire recipe with Gray on my hip. [poor babe is teething.] AND, we have eaten half the muffins and half a loaf already. And Cam is currently toasting two more slices for immediate consumption.

Recipe found on Pinterest; originally from: One Good Thing by Jillee

ENGLISH MUFFIN BREAD

• 5.5 cups warm water


• 11 cups flour


• 3 packages rapid rise yeast


• 2 tablespoons salt


• 3 tablespoons sugar

Mix it all together. Spoon into 4 greased loaf pans. Let rise to the top of the pans and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

 



I admit I was skeptical that the batter/dough would reach the top of the pans, but it totally did. And it baked up beautifully. I didn't have 4 loaf pans. In fact I have 3 loaf pans that don't even match. All turned out perfect. I put the remaining batter in 12 muffin cups. And those turned out perfectly too. [I baked them all at the same time and pulled the muffins out about 8 minutes before the loaf pans.] They make incredible toast. I put homemade mango raspberry jam on top and man oh man it is GOOD.

The crannies my friends. The crannies. [Those blessed little air pockets that hug the butter & jam...oh boy.]

And there are 2 more loaves in my freezer.

I can hardly handle it. We'll be making this a hundred times over.

How Real Men Make Dinner

I promise it is not my goal to make you all have a huge crush on Cameron. However, I can completely understand if that's what happens after this post. Husband of the year.

Overnight Oats & a "Delurk"

I have had the following conversation probably three dozen times.

Me: [Random story/fact about the boys/etc.]

You [or your husband]: "Oh yeah! I [my wife] totally read that on your blog. Is that creepy?"

Me: "Not creepy at all. That's why I write it!"

Ok. This is me calling you out. You are not creepy. You are, however, awkward. Say hello! I am calling for a delurk today. If you've never commented, or you comment on every post, or somewhere in between leave a comment! Either on this post or another one of your liking. It doesn't even have to have anything to do with the post. I just want to get to know YOU. Introduce yourself!

I'll even throw in a "nice to meet you!" picture of the boys.

How can you say no to faces like that?

--------------------------------------------------

As for the Overnight Oats. Are you excited? You should be. These have the power to change your life. To start with, I have a love for oats that I didn't know existed until I was pregnant with the boys. I had this master list of things I wanted to make to have on hand so I ate well and could build and keep a good milk supply. It just turns out that oats were in almost every single one. Granola, smoothies, breakfast cookies, etc. Then, we moved to Arizona. And my milk supply was all but gone. I called the NICU to see if I could get it back and the nurse just asked me how often I eat oats.

I had pinned a recipe for overnight oats on pinterest a while ago that I kept meaning to try, but it called for "chia seeds" and I had never seen them anywhere but on Amazon. I didn't want to buy a whole pound just in case I didn't like it. [Now, guess where my swagbucks gift cards are going to go?] I found chia seeds down here at Sprouts in their bulk section and grabbed a scoop for a couple bucks. And I've had overnight oats every day since.

They are magic.

They fill me up all morning. They're full of protein. I get fruit and calcium and fiber in my diet from the get go. They are YUMMY and I'm a night owl, so making myself a balanced breakfast in the morning [even just adding fruit to my bowl of cereal] just doesn't happen. However, making a balanced breakfast the night before? I can, and do, do that.

[Happy to say my milk supply has never been better.]

I've since modified the recipe a bit, because I'm one of the weird ones that doesn't like greek yogurt. Also, eventually [when I'm not living at my in-laws house], I plan to make a big batch of my own yogurt to use, and I don't intend to greek strain it. And the recipe made about half of what I needed to eat for breakfast, so I started by doubling the amount of oats it called for. I make mine in ziploc tupperware containers. They're not a part of the cutesy mason jar trend, but they do the job just fine. And fit a lot more of everything.

So without further ado, here's my favorite breakfast secret!

Overnight Oats

• 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats


• 1/3 c. milk [I use 1%]


• 1/2 c. yogurt [I have used vanilla and strawberry so far. Must say, I prefer vanilla.]


• 1 Tablespoon chia seeds <--don't skimp on these. They're my favorite part! [And they soak up the liquid and make it the right consistency.]


• Fruit or other mix-ins

Put everything but your mix-ins in a container. Stir well. Mix-in your mix-ins. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. Enjoy in the morning!

I've tried applesauce and cinnamon, mango, fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries, a tablespoon of cocoa and half a banana, a tablespoon of peanut butter and half a banana, and strawberry yogurt [instead of vanilla] with half a banana. Must say, the only one I didn't like was the peanut butter combo. And if you make one with banana, be sure to eat it within 2 days. [I generally make 4 of these at a time and let them sit in the fridge. I eat the banana ones first because I have a weird thing about banana...the blueberry one lasted a good 4 days and tasted divine!]

So there you have it. Have you tried these before? Favorite mix ins? I want to hear about it!

Cooking Class: Week 1

Due to popular demand, I've decided to post the slideshows I use during my freezer cooking/oamc/canning/etc. class that I teach on Thursday nights. We've barely finished week one, so if you're interested in coming, browse through this presentation and do the homework! You're welcome to come over this Thursday at 7 for week two where we dive straight into freezer cooking!

Freezer cooking

View more presentations from CallMeKristin.

Halloween Dessert Table

We threw a Halloween party the weekend before Halloween. I've been designing party tables for Whipperberry, and decided to try my hand at a dessert table for our little get together. I was really happy with how it turned out!

If you've got a party coming up, I'd love to help you design it! You can see my party packs here, or if you want something completely custom, just e-mail me! 

Sushi Night!

Sushi is by far my favorite food. It's pretty, yummy, and relatively good for you! My sister, Lindsay, got me a sushi book/bamboo mat/utensil kit for Christmas and we finally got the chance to use it last weekend!

We made rolls with smoked salmon [so yes, it was fully cooked. I'm not gutsy enough to go for the raw stuff.] and crab meat, scallions, cream cheese, avocado, and cucumbers [from our garden]. They turned out so much better than either of us thought they would! And we were way over prepared. We had a ton left over. This will be one meal we'll be doing again!

If you like sushi, don't be afraid to make it yourself! It looks intimidating, but it's much easier to make and make well than you think.

Laundry & Pantry Makeover

Part of the major changes for our family mentioned in the 3 things post was that we'll be staying in Utah for another two years. C will be getting a business minor in addition to his Exercise Science degree. We think it will come in handy when he's running his own Chiropractic practice in the future. Because this means we'll be in this same apartment for a longer period of time, it means I suddenly have more motivation to make it a nicer place to be.

One of the biggest eye-sores in our home is the "pantry" or really, lack thereof. Our non-refrigerated food was stacked on a bookshelf out in the open right next to our kitchen table, like so:

cute, eh?

Eyesore #2 is the Laundry nook. It is also in the kitchen and just looks washed out, boring, etc. It wasn't terribly cluttery or dirty, but was far from being pretty.

And so, on our day off [Happy 4th!] C and I took a little jaunt down to the fabric store. $20 bucks and an hour later, our pantry and laundry nook got a major facelift!

I'm totally thrilled. My mom would be so proud. Now that corner has a major pop of color, we have room for a portable dishwasher [more for C, because let's be honest...dishes and me really don't get along.] and our cluttered pantry isn't glaring at us all through dinner. Win-win-win.

Laundry Day Issues

Ever noticed how when you try extra hard to do something nice, things often go so wrong it's comical?

Tell me I'm not the only one that happens to.

Take today for example. I came home from work, was super productive with designing and headed off to go Visiting Teaching. Visited with a super cute girl from church for about a half hour and then came home to make dinner for C who was biking back from class. I was looking fabulous today. Turquoise satin shirt, brown slacks [size 4 baby! don't hate. :) I haven't been able to wear them since the wedding], and heels.

Thai pasta was on the menu, and I had some cooked chicken pre-chopped in the freezer. Pulled out the chicken, threw the sauce together, etc. I thawed the chicken under some cold water, but it was still frozen into some chunks so I was just going to let it thaw the rest of the way while the sauce thickened. I'll admit, I was feeling pretty on top of it.

One poorly guided swoop of the spoon later and there is thai peanut sauce [read: El Pato jalapeno salsa and peanut butter] splattered all over my satin shirt, the bread machine, the floor, the far wall, the fridge, and the stove, none of which are in the same general direction.

I immediately take my shirt off in a panic, thinking about the grease and stains that are inevitable. Additionally, wonder-husband had started the laundry, and so all of my shirts are in the kitchen/laundry nook, but they're all wet. Kitchen window is WIDE open, and I realize I'm wearing a hot pink bra. [It's laundry day, after all.] Thus, walking back across the kitchen, past the window, is not exactly going to happen. The sauce is burning, and I can't run upstairs to grab a shirt, so I begin to rummage through our delicates batch. Miracle of miracles, one of my white-ish blouses made it into the delicates batch on accident.

Let me paint this picture for you.

Hot pink bra + white blouse = very visible hot pink through white.

However, if C's the only one who's going to see me, who cares. And so, we enjoy a nice dinner together and watch make it or break it on the couch eating ice cream right out of the carton. I, then, head back upstairs to package up some of my new scrapbooking products, and C heads to the kitchen to finish up the dishes. [love him.]

And...there's a knock at the door. At 9pm. I ignore it because I know full well how I look and I'm not about to go welcome the world into our home. C can't hear it. The water's going. I call down to C. He can't hear me either.

Knock at the door #2. More urgent this time.

So, I go down and open the door, doing the strategic half-way hide behind the door without looking awkward move.

It's our home teachers.

We completely spaced it.

Feigning pleasant surprise, I excuse myself for a moment and invite them in. Panicked moment #2 begins when I realize 90% of my clothes are downstairs in the laundry nook and therefore none of my colored tank tops are up in my bedroom. Why I didn't just put a different [darker colored] shirt on is beyond me. So I grab a white jacket. Really Kristin? Really?

And all through our conversation with the Home Teachers, I'm moving all over the couch trying out different ways to sit to potentially shield my fluorescent bra with a combination of C's body, my pathetic jacket and completely avoiding eye-contact.

Fail.

And all because I wanted to have dinner on the table for C.

Some days you really just have to wonder if it's all worth it.

lol.

If Ye Are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear

I know I'm not the only one who's been feeling the tug of "get your year supply in order!" It seems like that prompting has only been getting stronger since I first felt it over a year ago. I tried a few different approaches. First, I planned 30 meals and figured out how much food it would take to make each meal 12 times. That resulted in a pretty good plan, until I became a better cook and the ingredients soon became obsolete. Then, I stumbled upon OAMC or Freezer Cooking and thought I could just rotate out meals and build up a years worth of entrees. It sounded alright, until 3 months in I figured out that the big dogs use preservatives in their frozen foods for a reason. heh.

So, we all know we're supposed to have a year-supply, but the "HOW do I know when I've got a year's worth of food?" is always a hang up.

Which is why I just have to tell you about this cool new tool I found that got me and C all planned out [calorie counts included] during one single family night. We even had time to make a plan for our 72-hour kits.

Introducing:

The Custom Food Storage Calculator

You seriously go there, input each member of your family including their daily caloric intake, input some basic preferences and it spits out a complete food-storage plan, in POUNDS.

The plan being in POUNDS is important, I'll tell you why.

A lot of food storage places will calculate how much of each food item you need in #10 cans, or other obscure measurements specific to their products in an effort to monopolize your business. Shelf Reliance gives you information in pounds so you have the ability to purchase the raw ingredients from other places when they go on sale, because honestly, I don't have $4,000 extra to spend on food that's going to be in #10 cans. I do, however, have extra money in my grocery budget every month that could easily go toward extra flour, rice, beans, bottled water, etc. that are in usable containers so I know the food won't be wasted.

Check it out. I promise, it's worth all 45 minutes it takes.

How's your food storage lookin'? Any tips/tricks for the rest of us?

Freezer Cooking Menu: June 2010

The meals in our freezer are dwindling, which means it must be time for OAMC! I'm hoping to have my major cooking day on Saturday, but it may get pushed to Monday, so my mom can help. She'll be in town all week! I'm so excited to see her!

Our month is going to cost next to nothing because I already have about 10 pounds of chicken and 4 pounds of ground beef that I found on sale last month. I also found dry milk on sale at Smiths for a dollar, so I bought 6. Now I can afford to buy dehydrated fruit for the oatmeal! I can't wait.

Here's what's going down:

Dinners

• Buffalo Chicken Pizza


• Stuffed Hamburgers [Jalapeno Cheddar this time.]


• Italian Chicken Rolls


• Lasagna


• Taco Salad


• Cream Cheese Chicken


• Sweet & Sour Chicken Bowls


• Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches


• Chicken Enchiladas


• Tamale Pie


• Pineapple Chicken


• Macaroni Chicken Bake


• Divine Crock Pot Chicken


• Teriyaki Stir Fry

Sides

• Crystal's Butterhorns

Lunches

• Brown Bag Burritos

Breakfast

• Instant Oatmeal

Need some recipes? Check out my Recipes page!

Note: I've also had requests to come see a Freezer Cooking day in action. I'm happy to open up my kitchen to those who are interested. Contact me for more information.

Leave a comment with a recipe you'd like to see. I'll post a recipe as soon as it receives 5 votes!

Make Ahead Stuffed Hamburgers

No, really. C actually grilled the burger like that. Impressive, eh?

These burgers were a brand new recipe for us, but we're 100% sold after just 1 bite! I'm excited to try different combinations of fillings.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of ground beef


• 1 T. oil


• an onion


• 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms


• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese


• 1/4 c. parmesan cheese

The How-to:

1. Make 10 super thin patties out of 1 pound of ground beef and lay them on a cookie sheet


2. Sautee the mushrooms and onion in the oil until onions are translucent and everything smells awesome.


3. Throw in the cheese until it's melty


4. Spread equal amounts of the mixture on the 10 patties


5. Cover the patties with another layer of ground beef


6. Freeze uncovered for an hour, then bag

On Cooking Day:

1. No need to thaw, just throw these on the grill!

Alternative Fillings we're planning on trying: Jalapeno Cheddar, Bacon & Cheese, and Mushroom & Swiss. If you come up with any other ideas, I'd love to hear 'em!

Poppyseed Chicken

This recipe has been C's favorite since the very first time I ever made it. It used to be the meal we ate on the major cooking day, but since converting it to a freezer cooking recipe, we can have it whenever we want!

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed


• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup [we also like this with cream of chicken. depends on what we have on hand most of the time!]


• 1 cup sour cream


• 2 cups crushed Ritz crackers


• 3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine [margarine kind of makes the crackers soggy, but it's up to you!]


• 1 heaping tablespoon poppy seeds

The How-to:

• Put chicken in the bottom of a casserole dish


• Mix soup & sour cream; spread over the chicken


• Combine crackers, poppy seeds, and melted butter in a zip lock and mix


• Spread cracker mixture over the sour cream & soup


• Cover & freeze!

On Cooking Day:

• Thaw


• Bake at 375 degrees [uncovered] for 30 minutes

May 2010 OAMC: Spicing Things Up!

C helped me with OAMC this weekend! It was wonderful to not be alone in the kitchen all day. Happy Saturday to me! We only had 16 meals to make and I grossly miscalculated how much chicken we already had, and so we're left with an extra Costco bag for next month. True to form, I definitely modified almost every recipe from the cookbooks I told you about in my plan. So stay tuned for my version of these delicious freezer meals!

We made:

• 2 Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches* [Homemade BBQ sauce that made our mouths water every time we opened the crock pot to stir it. YUM!]


• 2 Chicken-Asparagus Pot Pies [More on this later.]


• 2 Poppyseed Chicken [YES. C's favorite dish gone freezer style. I was giddy when I figured out this could be frozen!]


• 2 Italian Chicken Rolls*


• 2 Cheese Mushroom Burgers* [Really excited to try different combinations of fillings for these! Jalapenos are next on our list!]


• 3 Lemon Chicken Marinades*


• 2 Souvlaki Marinated Skewers


• 1 Buffalo Chicken Pizza*


• Homemade Refried Beans*


• Homemade Baked Beans


• Lemon-Dill Rice Mixes*


• and 20 Whole Wheat Brown Bag Burros

We finished in just a couple hours so we decided to go ahead and make up the salsas we'd planned for Sunday. Holy Cow they're INCREDIBLE. We like things spicy! These salsas are about a 5 on a 1-8 scale. [The book's scale, not mine. Who makes a scale up to 8? Really.]

• Tomatillo Salsa Verde


• Salsa Mexicana

Still to make:

• Blackberry Jam [Got a good recipe that uses Sure Jell? Please send it my way!]


• Strawberry Jam [These were on sale $4.44 for 5 lbs. Jam time it is!]

The [*] indicates that the recipe will be up soon! I realize that almost the whole list is marked, but the [*] is more for my own notes than anything else. I have to remember what I promise! If you see one you'd LOVE the recipe to that isn't starred, just let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the list. The starred ones are just my favorites for now. If you need more ideas for OAMC recipes, be sure to check out my recipes page!

Also, be sure to come visit later this week for a series on realistic money management and a Dave Ramsey giveaway!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

This salsa was easy, smooth, spicy & delicious! If you've never used tomatillos before, don't stress. We hadn't either. They're right by the chilies in the produce department and cost about $1 a pound. They often have a little husk on them, but it peels off really easy. For this recipe we washed and quartered our tomatillos and then threw everything in the blender.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound tomatillos [husked, rinsed, quartered]


• 3 serrano chilies with seeds


• 3/4 cup cilantro leaves


• 2 tablespoons lime juice


• 1 teaspoon sugar


• 1 teaspoon salt

The how-to:

1. Throw everything in a blender and go for it!

We had this with taco salad on Saturday night. This salsa + sour cream made for some serious magic on top of those chips! [So much so, that C requested taco salad for dinner on Sunday night, too. Yep. It's that good.]

On The Fence About OAMC?

I found this poem in the intro pages of Suzie Roberts' Girlfriends on the Go. It sums up my thoughts exactly, even though I don't have kids...we're still a busy family!

What's for dinner?" So you say
It's been another crazy day
Soccer, piano, homework, and more
I didn't have time to go to the store.
"Let's order out!" The kids say with a grin.
"Pizza again?" says Dad with a cringe,
Then what should we have? Something homemade for sure.
None of this stuff in a box from the store!
"Never you fear," I say with a sigh
The freezer is full of meals to the sky.
How 'bout lasagna or chicken sweet n' sour?
"Hurry quick, put it in, I have book club in an hour!"
Now there's one more problem left to be solved,
Whose turn to clean up after everyone involved?
"We'll clear our dishes," the kids say and dash.
Mom grabs her book and is out with a flash.
Dad looks around--all these empty seats,
A familiar sight after everyone eats.
It's time for the game; Dad's a huge football fan
But not 'till he throws out the disposable pan.

Just think of all the time you'd have! Time to spend with your kids. By yourself. On a date with the husband. Not to mention the money you'll save on all those times you don't eat out when you're too tired to cook!

Freezer Cooking Menu: May 2010

Beth at Penny Pantry gave me the great idea to check out OAMC cookbooks from the library during the #oamc twitter party yesterday. I found 4, but only 2 are usable because apparently the idea of cooking for convenience is a *new* idea... Let's just say that when I'm busting out 30 meals in one shot, I'm not exactly going to have time to perfectly mold a "Layered Salmon and Cucumber Mousse" or a "Savory Chicken Cheesecake." [Do either of those even sound edible? blech.]

The two I'm trying out this month are: Girlfriends on the Go by Suzie Roberts and Betty Crocker's Do-Ahead Cookbook. I rarely follow a recipe 100% through, so if I change a recipe enough to honestly claim it as my own, I'll post it on here. Otherwise, check your local library for a copy of the book!

C requested that I prepare meals that he can grill. [You bet I can do that! Lol. I love "not having to cook!"] We're at the point where we really need to eat up the meals in our freezer, so I'm starting out with 14 meals done. I'll be making 16 dinners and some sides.

Here's what's on tap:

Dinners

• Buffalo Chicken Pizza [C's Request. And 1 of the 2 things I make better than Chef Jessica. I'm gonna hold on to that for as long as I can! Recipe to come!]


• Mushroom Cheese Burgers


• Italian Chicken Rolls


• Chicken Asparagus Pot Pies


• Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches


• Lemon Chicken


• Poppyseed Chicken


• Souvlaki Marinated Chicken Skewers

Sides

• Old-fashioned Baked Beans


• Twice Baked Potatoes


• Dill-Lemon Rice <--Dry Mix! Super excited to try this one. :)


• Whole Wheat Brown-n-Serve Rolls

Lunches

• Brown Bag Burritos [If I can con C into making his amazing refried beans. That recipe is coming too!]

Need some recipes? Check out my Recipes page!

10 Easy Ways to Go Gourmet

By Guest Blogger: Jessica Nan
If you are interested in being featured on CallMeKristin.com, please contact me with Guest Blogger in the subject line. I do reserve the right to decline inappropriate or unrelated content.

Credit

If you have seen Ratatouille you’ll remember the common phrase of “Everyone can Cook!”  I too am a firm believer in this phrase, but maybe with a little twist. “Everyone can cook, but not everyone can cook well.” Secret is, Everyone CAN cook well, it just takes a little refining and some patience. Lucky for you, I’ve picked my 10 favorite tips and tricks to dress up almost anything in the kitchen!

1. Be fearless: "The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-[heck] attitude."  Julia Child You can do this, people do it all the time.


2. Mise en Place: This is French for ‘everything in place.’ You watch those cooking shows where everything is just measured out and they throw it all together in 30mins. This will simplify your recipes, and make them quicker. Running back to the pantry for that extra cup of flour is just annoying.


3. Discover your talents: What is that one dish you want to perfect? What do you love? I love to make cinnamon rolls, I’ve made them so many times I probably have 10 different variations. Take a basic recipe and change it up. I love to put a little orange juice in my frosting, it complements the cinnamon just like Christmas Morning.


4. Cute tools: It’s always more fun to make something cute if you feel cute. I love my cupcake apron, lime green zester, and cherry red bowl scrape. I have an apron for just about every month.


5. Never underestimate a pastry bag: taking an extra five minutes to pipe your mashed potatoes into rosettes with make you look like a five star Chef. I pipe everything!


6. Always let your dough rest and rise: The key to a light fluffy dough is to not over work it and let the yeast have time to develop. The more you rush it, the tougher your bread will be.


7. Colors: I was told the first day of class you, “Eat with your eyes first.” If it doesn’t look appealing, you aren’t going to want to put it in your body. With butter creams and frostings, avoid over-the-top colors. Purples, Blues, and Greens are very unnatural. Opt for the pastels, spring colors.


8. Good working music: Singing into my Whisk to Michael Jackson’s ABC 123 is just about standard in making a good product.


9. Read the instructions on what the dish is supposed to look like finished: Golden, Brown, and Delicious works well. (GBD) Use cooking times as a ball park figure.


10. Make mistakes: the best thing you can do is make a mistake. That’s the only way you will learn what works and what doesn’t. Who knows maybe adding parsley instead of thyme will make the dish better?

Jessica Nan is currently attending Johnson and Wales University pursuing degrees in Baking and Pastry, Culinary Arts, and Culinary Nutrition. She plays for the University’s basketball team, and hopes to graduate with honors.

Whole Wheat Blender Banana Pancakes

C earns the husband of the year award every Sunday morning when we get to pay tribute to the one and only Jack Johnson. Not only does C take the time to sleep in with me, but he gets out of bed first and makes pancakes for us.

Yesterday, he tried a new recipe. It makes me so HAPPY that he's on the eating healthier band wagon with me. He opened up a can of wheat from our year supply [more on that later] and whipped up these banana pancakes in no time. The man even made homemade syrup. Can I get a hoo-rah? That's who I married ladies. Be jealous. :)

We got the original recipe from Lorna Nevitt, C's aunt. They are SO good!

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

• 1 cup milk or 1 cup water and 1/3 cup dry milk


• 1 cup wheat or 1/2 cup wheat and 3/4 cup rolled oats or 1/2 cup wheat and 3/4 cup six-grain cereal [<--this is next on our to-try list. YUM.]


• 2 eggs


• 1/4 cup oil


• 1/4 cup honey


• Banana, Peaches, or Apples


• 1 tablespoon baking powder

1. Blend milk and wheat together for 5 minutes.


2. While it's blending, preheat the griddle.


3. Add eggs, oil & honey and blend well.


4. Add sliced banana, peaches, or apples. [I'm thinking bananas and walnuts would be delicious too!]


5. When all is blended, add baking powder and pulse 4 times.


6. Griddle 'em up!


7. Serve with strawberry jam, or butter and syrup.

If you try these, let me know! I'd love to hear how you like 'em!