Mealplan Monday #97 and the 6th collection of freezer meals

I made another slew of freezer meals last week right after grocery shopping.  I find that it's the best time to do it since I know I have everything and it's all ready to use.  

Monday - Navy Beans in  crock with hambone from Christmas, corn muffins
Tuesday - Scalloped Potatoes with leftover grilled pork chops, lima beans
Wednesday - Chicken Parmesan Enchiladas, salad
Thursday - Stouffer's Meatloaf, mac and cheese, peas
Friday - Mom and Dad out - boys get Papa Johns
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - (Freezer) Beef and Peppers in gravy, mashed potatoes, corn
Dessert this week is Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

For the Pulled Pork, I just followed the directions on the McCormick packet.  Will cook on low 8 hours or so.

For the Rosemary Chicken, I used a pre-packaged sauce and added boneless chicken thighs and artichoke hearts.  Will cook on low 6 hours.

For the Beef and Peppers I cut up a cheap roast and added a packet of onion soup mix, a packet of brown gravy, the rest of a bell pepper I had, some pepperoncini peppers, and 2 c. water. Will cook on low 8 hours or so.

For Chipotle Crumb Chicken, I mixed a dry chipotle seasoning I bought at Southside with crushed Ritz crumbs and coated boneless chicken thighs.  Might add a bit of grated cheese after cooking at 350 about an hour.

And the Chicken Pot Pie was 2 c. leftover cubed chicken, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, and 1 package frozen mixed veggies topped with a piecrust.

Gina

Bluberry {Birthday} Pie

Hubby is a Pie Man and requested it for his birthday (yet again) in lieu of cake.  I made a Blueberry Pie with mixed results - it tasted really great but was a bit on the juicy side.  With that being said, it was quite easy and he loved it served warm with vanilla ice cream!

Blueberry Pie
*adapted from allrecipes.com
3/4 c. white sugar
3 T cornstarch
1/4 t. salt
grated rind from one lemon
2 bags frozen blueberries (or 4 C. fresh, but they were out of my budget)
1 package Pillsbury pie crusts
1 T unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425.  Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and lemon rind.  Sprinkle over blueberries.  Spray a deep dish pie pan with Pam and line with one of the crust.  Pour the berries in.  Dot with the butter. (I love this pie dish from my sister - its from Pampered Chef)

Cut the remaining crust into strips (I used a pizza wheel) to make a lattice top.  Crimp and flute the edges.  Bake on lower shelf of oven for 50 minutes, or until crust is golden.  (I let mine go a little longer to get the crust browner)

For his dinner out I took him to Saltgrass Steakhouse.  The steaks were excellent, and we were stuffed, but we managed also to visit a downtown pub for a pint, then a bakery/coffee shop for cappucinos.  Then the birthday coach turned back into into a pumpkin and we had to retrieve Bubbie from band camp at 9 p.m.

 Hubby thoroughly enjoyed all of it.

 Once home, Hubby cut into the pie

and opened his fancy new BBQ gloves.  
And we agreed we would go out again for Valentine's Day.  
Yay!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #96 and I Spy a Cat

Monday - (Freezer) Mississippi Pot Roast, masheds, steamed carrot
Tuesday - (Freezer) Cafe Rio Chicken Tacos
Wednesday - Southwestern Shrimp, Spanish rice, salad
Thursday - Chicken and Cornbread Dressing in crock pot, green beans
Friday - HEB Fully Cooked cheeseburgers, chips
Saturday - YOYO
Sunday - The Easiest Chicken Pot Pie, salad
Dessert this week is Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gina

5 thing Friday - ice, wine, cleaning, babka, and Scout

On Tuesday morning we awoke to another Icemageddon.  Schools cancelled, roads un-driveable or closed, work delayed, or in my case, missed altogether.

 Hubby is recording the terrifying conditions at our house.

 What better activity than to EAT?  I can't think of any.

 

 We certainly aren't going to lift weights or move our bodies around.  It's too cold fo dat.

 Unless it's to lift our wineglasses. 

 Irony = boxed wine next to case of protein drink.  His and hers.

These shelves in Bubbie's room were making me twitch.  So crowded.  So dusty.  So full of toys and crap from a couple of years ago.

 

There's still a lot on there, but now everything has a shelf and he can actually find his books. 

(I spy with my little eye, a starfish, boomerang, a Rubik's cube, and about 20 James Bond VHS tapes)

The fabulousness of chocolate babka - Hubby's birthday breakfast, served with Hill Country Pecan coffee and bacon.  If band camp doesn't wreck our evening I plan on treating him to a date night.

Self-portrait by Scout for the yearbook senior ad.  I see a repeat of 2010 coming on - me going through photos for the build up to graduation, crying all the way...

Bring on the weekend.

Mealplan Monday #95 and a lovely burlap pillow

I have a whole lot of burlap leftover from back in November when I made the shabby chic tree skirt.  My original plan was to make a matching table runner for the dining room, but I just ran out of time.  Instead I covered a pillow in some of it.  Want to see?  Sure you do! (wink)

It took me only an hour or so to make.  I searched around Pinterest for some ideas before I began, and I found these:

  

source

 

All of which were super cute, too.

Monday -  Rotisserie Chicken, scallopeds, broccoli
Tuesday - (Freezer) Beef and Bean Soup, garlic toast
Wednesday - (Freezer) Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs, couscous, salad
Thursday - Cheesy Smoked Sausage Skillet, green beans, garlic toast
Friday - Mom and Dad OUT for his birthday - Boys get pizza and a movie
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Sloppy Joes and Fritos
Dessert this week is PB&J Bars to use up some of the jam we are not eating!

Here's the director's chair we've had since Hubby was in college. It's not comfy to sit in, so mostly it stays right here, between the den and kitchen.  

I started out by covering the pillow with some natural color fabric I had in my stash (not shown).  I did that so the green wouldn't show thru the burlap, but I doubled the thickness of burlap for the pillow cover anyway.  Then I sewed a couple of long fat strips and pressed the seam to the inside on each.

I laid the pillow on the fabric, folded where I wanted it to cross over in the back, pressed it.  Then I knotted the two strips of burlap and laid them out on the fabric to criss cross the front of the pillow cover, like so:

I wanted the ends to be sewn in to the bottom seams because I am doing a French enclosure pillow cover.  It will allow me to slip the pillow in like a card in an envelope.  That's my favorite way to make pillow covers!

I carefully pin everything and press.   I really like sewing burlap.  As long as you cut and measure correctly, it's fun to sew it.  Pressing it is easy and I love the smell - is that weird?  It reminds me of hay, and barns, and summer.

I turn it right side out and inspect it before I trim the seams.

I really like how different it is - meant to be decorative, mainly.  And I love that it took me less than an hour and was mostly free from stuff I already had!

 It's a nice little side wall, well-lit by the lamp on the kitchen bar.  And I'm going to just leave it as is, maybe changing the wall art come Spring.

Sewn anything lately?

Gina

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Freezer meals #5

I've been having all kinds of success with freezer meals lately.  Most of the ones I do are for the crock pot.  I just freeze the ingredients in a gallon zip loc, plop it into the crock pot frozen, and by the time I get home from work the house smells fab.  Clean up is really easy, too, and I don't even buy those fancy schmancy crock pot liners.  Here is my recent 15 minutes of meal prep for the freezer:

Cafe Rio Chicken
2# boneless, skinless thighs
1/2 c. zesty Italian dressing
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 pkt of Ranch dip mix
1/4 water
1/2 t. each chili powder and cumin
Low, 6-8 hours.  Serve in flour tortillas with all the fixings.

Mississippi Pot Roast (from Plain Chicken)
3 lb. roast
1 pkt. Ranch dressing mix
1 pkt. au jus mix
6 pepperoncini peppers
1 stick butter
(I also added a couple of tomatoes diced because they were about to be too soft to use for salads)
Cook on low 8-10 hours.

Maple Dijon Chicken (from Plain Chicken)
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2/3 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 t. white vinegar
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. dried rosemary
The directions for this were for the oven - I will either do that, or the crock.  Thawed, it should take about 40 minutes in a 40 degree oven.  Frozen in the crock, I would think 6 hours or so.  I'm going to serve this with couscous.

Cranberry BBQ Chicken (my own creation!)
2 lb boneless skinless thighs (that I happened to have)
a handful or two of fresh cranberries - which I had left from the holidays
a cup or so of BBQ sauce (which used up a jar from Southside Market)
1/4 brown sugar
I'm going to cook this 6-8 hours in the crock and serve with a mashed sweet potatoes on the side.

It might look like sloppy chaos in here. but these bags are easy to look through, and the contents are easy to fit into the crock.  And the difference it makes in us getting a hot meal on the days I work are well worth the effort!

Gina

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Firstborn turns 24

On Sunday I got off a little early so we could cook up a great birthday meal for Firstborn.  His request was for ribs and jalapeno poppers on the grill.  

I fixed baked potatoes with the works, a big salad,  and a chocolate cake to go with the grilled stuff.  I have a neat trick for getting big fat candles to stay on the cake properly.  I didn't make this up, but I forget where I found this tip.  I've been doing it for years.

I simply push a toothpick into the base of the candle.  

This is him on his first birthday...what a cutie!

 

I spiffed up the kitchen table for us to eat dessert after dinner. 

It's hard for me to get that he's 24.  I still see him as my curly haired angel baby.  No matter how big and burly he gets, he will always be my baby.

 

 The after-gift-opening entertainment was throwing tissue paper for the cat to play in..

Happy Birthday, Spencer!

Gina