Busy and Doing it ALL

Oprah always says "If you're doing it right, being a stay at home mom is the hardest job!" I for one like to know and feel that I can do it all! I can take care of my kids, cook, bake, come up with activities, set an example,take my boys to explore the world,and have a clean, organized house! I enjoy volunteering at their schools, being a helper for Wednesday nights church activities, being the cheerleader on the side lines for sports 3times a week, doing endless hours of volunteer work for the army, tuck my kids in to bed every night after their favorite book and curl up with my soldier to watch the "The King of Queens."  With wanting to do it all and have it all it requires scheduling, preparation, and commitment! One thing I have been doing for a while is preparing meals in advance. Ladies Ladies Ladies....meet your best friend... Your freezer!! Take a couple hours out of the week for several meals, rather then an hour or 2 every night! Your second best friend, always loyal is...your crockpot! I used to think crockpot = soups. Incorrect. Crockpot to me= dinner on the table without all the work and saving some pennies!  

 Buy in bulk, check sales going on in your local markets, and get busy!

Since this guy was little, I ALWAYS had him in the kitchen with me. I hear moms say "I don't have time for that because I don't want to take time away from my kids." Wrong again! Bring them in the kitchen with you! Have them help you and make something they are proud of and can feel excited!

 

Recipes:

Teriyaki
1\2 bag of baby carrots
One red onion
1. 20oz can pineapple (undrained)
2 garlic cloves
2 chicken breasts
1\2 cup teriyaki sauce
Cook on high 4 hrs or low 8 hrs...serve over rice

Garlic Honey Chicken
2lbs chix breasts
3 garlic cloves
1\3 cup soy sauce
2\3 cup ketchup
1\4 cup of honey
5-6 hrs on low eat with a side of rice or potatoes! :)

Veggie Beef soup (makes 2 bags)
Prepare ahead...one lb of ground beef with 2 cloves of garlic and one chopped onion
Then add
1\2 bag of baby carrots
2 celery stalks
3 red potatoes (per bag)
1\2 T Worcestershire sauce per bag
1\2cup of beef broth per bag
Salt & pepper to taste
1 T sugar per bag
Place in crock pot with 1.5 cups of water & 15 oz beef broth cook on low 8 hrs.

Salsa chicken (yummy)
6-8 chicken breasts
2. 15oz black beans
1 family size frozen corn
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans green chilies
1 jar of salsa (of your choice)
1 pkg of taco seasoning of your choice (we use the taco bell)
2 cups of cheddar chz.
This is good in a shell of your choice.

 

                                                                    Scalloped potatoes and Ham
                                                               12 potatoes diced
                                                               2 cans of cream of potato
                                                               2 cans of water
                                                               2 ham steaks diced
                                                               8 oz cheddar chz
                                                               4 cups of broccoli
                                                       Salt and pepper to taste. Low for 8 hrs.


                                                           For my smoothies I do 1\2 cup of each fruit (my picks are banana, mango, blueberries, strawberries) then 1\2 cup of yogurt then freeze. When making I put 1\2 cup of coconut milk and spinach or kale with protein powder.

 And loaded burgers I just did 2 lbs of ground beef, onions, and cheese, mix, make patties (I have a fancy patty maker that makes big, thick burgers) I freeze these individually then put in a big Ziploc!


                                                          

Preperation for a good meal

Tonight is a busy night, Dylan has teacher conferences at 6 and before that there is a FRG meeting for the army. So when do we eat? What do we have? Well this morning I decided to whip up some casseroles and refrigerate. When it comes time to eat I will pop them in the oven and WOLA! A home cook meal. After a busy, stressful evening the last thing I want to do is spend time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. This way the food is ready to go, the kitchen is clean (besides our dinner plates of course). One of my "go to" meals would be Enchiladas. When I cook chicken enchiladas I go ahead and whip up some beef enchiladas as well since I have everything out. Some times we eat a little of each for one meal or this could be a 2 meal deal.

The one on the top is filled with cheese only for the kids...they LOVE them. On the right is Chicken enchiladas and on the left is Beef enchiladas.

Chicken Enchiladas

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas (6-inch)
1 small tomato, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 green onion, sliced

Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder in a medium bowl.                                                   

Stir 1 cup soup mixture, chicken and cheese in a large bowl.                                                   

Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas. Roll up the tortillas and place seam-side down in an 11 x 8 x 2-inch baking dish. Pour the remaining soup mixture over the filled tortillas. Cover the baking dish.                                                   

Bake for 40 minutes or until the enchiladas are hot and bubbling.

Beef Enchiladas
1 (1.5 ounce) packagedry enchilada sauce mix

3/4 cupwater

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 (16 ounce) can refried beans

1 (12 ounce) package corn tortillas

1 cupshredded Cheddar cheese

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 
2. In a medium bowl, mix the dry enchilada sauce according to package directions, replacing tomato sauce with the tomato paste and water
3. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with garlic salt and onion powder; drain fat Mix refried beans and 1/2 cup of the prepared enchilada sauce with the meat.
4. Dip enough corn tortillas to cover the bottom of a 3 quart casserole dish in the remaining enchilada sauce. Arrange tortillas in the dish. Spoon in half of the meat mixture, covering the tortillas. Spread half of the Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses over the meat. Cover with another layer tortillas dipped in enchilada sauce. Spoon in remaining meat mixture and top with a final layer of tortillas dipped in enchilada sauce. Pour any remaining sauce over the layers and top with remaining cheese.
5. Cover and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

A frozen snack

       I grew up eating some delicious home made ice cream at my grandparents but I found something fun and easy for Dylan to make. Home Made ice cream in a bag! How awesome!

Theres 2 things Dylan LOVES to do : doing something on his own and eating! 

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Additional Ingredients:
1/2 cup rock salt ice cubes
Directions

Open a pint-size, zip-type bag. Add sugar, vanilla and soft fruit. Seal bag tightly and mix ingredients well by squeezing with fingers.

Open bag again and add milk. Squeeze out extra air and zip bag tightly. Mix ingredients well.

Open a gallon-size, zip-type bag. Add rock salt and fill halfway with ice cubes.

Put sealed pint-size bag inside the gallon bag and seal well.

Shake the "bag in a bag" for 5 to 10 minutes or until the liquid has changed to ice cream. (dylan throws it up and catches it, spins in circles with it, rolls it on the table, and shakes it like crazy! He has tons of fun with it! 

Pizza Pizza

      Homemade pizza is delicious and fun! Don't get me wrong we love to order pizza and get it delivered to our door on lazy weekend nights. The fun in home made pizza is making more then one pizza and putting just the right amount of your favorite toppings. We typically make our own pizza one each.  


making own dough

INGREDIENTS

Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
• 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 
  

pizza sauce

Ingredients

• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• 1 (29 ounce) can tomato puree
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, saute garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness.

Toppings GO WILD! 

Dylan loves black olives, hamburger and mushrooms

Mike's favorite is pepperoni extra pepperoni with a side of pepperoni

My favorite depends on my mood for that day I love Hawaiin or sausage smothered with mushrooms, or something plain. 

Tonight we are all having hamburger and pepperoni. Simple. 

       Dont be lazy get in the kitchen as a family and have SOME FUN! ENJOY! :)

Lets Cook

I dont find baking relaxing it stresses me out to be honest but there is something about trying something new while listening to my favorite music that I enjoy. I put Mason in his high chair, give him a couple snacks and his therapy spoon and get to work! Tonight I am making Stuffed peppers! <3 them

4

large bell peppers (any color) I use each color I love the red!

1

lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef   I use sausage instead

2

tablespoons chopped onion I use one onion (stand by running cold water, save you from crying)

1

cup cooked rice   I use brown rice

1

teaspoon salt   I dont use salt

1

clove garlic, finely chopped I use bout 3 cloves! LOVE GARLIC

1

can (15 oz) Muir Glen® organic tomato sauce

3/4

cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 oz)

 

• 1 Cut thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper to remove top of pepper. Remove seeds and membranes; rinse peppers. If necessary, cut thin slice from bottom of each pepper so they stand up straight.  add enough water to cover peppers. Heat to boiling; add peppers. Cook about 2 minutes; drain.
• 2 In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in rice, salt, garlic and 1 cup of the tomato sauce; cook until hot.
• 3 Heat oven to 350°F.
• 4 Stuff peppers with beef mixture. Stand peppers upright in ungreased 8-inch square glass baking dish. Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers.
• 5 Cover tightly with foil. Bake 10 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

About half way through cooking dinner I hollar for Dylan to wash up and set the table (hes always outside) depending on what I cook Dylan loves to help! Tomorrow night is home made pizza so he will help its his favorite!

Dylans prayer "Thank you for the world so sweet thank you for the food we eat, thank you for the birds that sing thank you lord for everything"

ENJOY!