Cook Ahead Dinner

I know this whole "cooking ahead" idea is not a new one, but I 've never really jumped on the band wagon until now. Now, I don't care to cook and freeze a month of meals all at once...partly because I don't have that big of a chunk of time, and partly because I might want to change it up and not be so tied to what I've made. So, I decided to try this out. I made four days of meals (or parts of the meal) in one evening as I made dinner.

Here was my menu:
1. The night I cooked, I made homemade pizza
2. Beef Stroganoff- I made just the beef mixture and froze it so I could thaw and make noodles quickly
3. Soup- just some simple beef and veggie soup, all prepared, just need to add water and cook
4. Mini cornbread casseroles- cornbread mix prepared, cooked ground beef, cheese, corn- made these to go with my beans in the crockpot

I cooked all my hamburger at the same time and just put together some of the meals and voila, it was ready! I have found myself doing this a lot when I do a chicken in the crockpot, too. I plan my meals so I have the meat prepared and can add it to the recipe. It takes a little planning, but it can be done! It makes meal time much more streamlined which is especially helpful when you have little ones like I do, who aren't too patient for their dinner! 

I haven't forgotten.....stay tuned!

It's been a crazy summer! We've had lots of fun here and it's now time to get back in the swing of things. I will be back to posting some recipes I've tried and some other fun stuff soon, so stay tuned!

Car Emergency Kit

This is a ___ project....if you said Pinterest, you get a cookie! Just kidding about the cookie, but it is a little something I found on Pinterest, where I find most of the things I do. I tweaked it for what I needed in my car.

 

Use and empty wipes box or shoebox to store your kit and put in it things that you might need while out and about. Notice, I don't have any wipes in my kit....that's because I carry around a package with me already with two small kiddos, along with a backup diaper or two just in case. 

Here's what's in my box:

2 sandwich zip bags

mini lint roller

small first aid kit- bandages, ointment, alcohol wipes, a few Benadryl

Tyenol

Tissues

Lotion

Shout wipes

Small sewing kit- has tiny scissors, needle, thread, safety pin, etc

Hand sanitizer

Bug repellant

Pen and notepad

Hair elastics

There's still a little room in my box in case I think of something else tiny that might be useful to have on hand. This handy little box and fit under a seat or easily in a floorboard or trunk. Just be sure when it's 2000 degrees outside that you don't have anything in there that might melt!

Pinned from Rips in My Jeans

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies....Oh. My.

Oh. My. Goodness.....that is all. These are soooooooo good!

Again, the Pinterest bug has bitten me and I was spurred to try something new and I swear I ate an entire batch of these, they were sooooooo yummy!



OREO CHEESECAKE COOKIES

Yield: About 1 dozen cookies (mine made about 1 1/2 dozen, as I used around 1 inch balls of dough)

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup mini chocolate chips (I didn't have minis so I left these out)
1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (this is important! I was out of parchment and my cookies got a little overcooked on the bottom, I think the Oreo crumbs cooked quickly on the hot baking sheet and caused this) and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and well-combined.

3. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix until the ingredients are well-combined. Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is incorporated. Stir in the mini chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

4. Place the Oreo cookie crumbs in a small bowl. Scoop the cookies into about 1½ to 2″ balls (the dough will be soft, don' t worry if it doesn't scoop into a well-formed ball, the crumbs will help hold it together) and then roll in the cookie crumbs. Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed.

5. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.


Recipe Pinned from Collecting the Moments (other sources on this blog for this recipe)

Summertime Updates & Fun Stuff

Since summer is in full swing now, it's a little crazy and harder for me to have time to blog without someone attached to my leg, so there will be a few less, but I am trying to keep up with garden updates, tips, etc. and some recipes. Recipes are lacking a little, as well, since I don't do as much cooking when hubby works out of town.
BUCKET LIST:
Our Summertime Bucket list is coming along quite nicely. We have managed to do about seven things...some small, some not small, but we are having fun!

GARDEN:
Wow! The garden has started to take off!! I have found some things that work well and some that don't. My latest and possibly greatest discovery, is the use of some weird stuff called diatamaceous earth . As with any garden that is producing, the more you produce and start yielding good stuff, the more the critters like it too! When squash bugs threatened to take over last week, I had to find an alternative to the time consuming method of picking them off....who has time to do that!?!?....or nasty chemicals that would be dangerous for my kiddos and pet, not to mention the environment. So, with the handy dandy google search, I found it!! This crazy stuff that dries up/scratches the little buggers but is safe for humans, even to eat it and is used in organic gardening! Hallelujah!! So far, so good on getting rid of the squash bugs. I will have to keep on top of them if I plan to plant pumpkins in a week or two.

I have to post something yummy to try, so here you go--my husband loves squash cooked this way and you can even add other stuff to make it to your taste:


Chopped Fried Squash
2-3 yellow squash/ zucchini chopped
1 small chopped onion
1 egg
Flour to coat
Salt and pepper

Coat squash with egg in a bowl, then in same bowl, add enough flour to coat it again. Add chopped onion and mix in. Heat oil in skillet then add the squash mixture, salt and pepper to taste, and fry it up to your desired crispiness! Enjoy!!! 

Garden Update

Raised beds...potatoes in front are growing nicely, but the peas may burn up soon.

 I have been working on my garden little by little when I have free hands and no tiny one hanging on my leg....usually in the last wee minutes of daylight left each evening, if I'm not too worn out from the day.

This is the other side of my garden, where there are no beds yet. My plan is that next year, I have at least two or three more raised beds or bordered planting areas.

I love my tractor tire flower bed (:

Sunflower bed....going to have a ton soon!

The first of my sunflowers

Bubble Mania

Kids love BUBBLES! I decided to try my hand at making my own bubbles and I found this cute idea for a bubble refill container on Pinterest. I can't even remember where I found the recipe, but it works great!

I made the recipe times four to fill my container, but to make a single batch use:
1 cup water
4 Tbsp. Dawn or Baby bath--I used baby bath so it won't sting eyes
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

This will make a TON of bubble for CHEAP!!

I had a few frosting containers that I'd saved, because I just couldn't bring myself to throw them away, I knew they'd be handy for something and sure enough! They are great for filling with bubble and holding the bubble wands!

I thought this would be really fun since we have friends visiting with their kids this weekend and will save me from having to refill little bubble trays all the time! I can't wait to see how the kids like them!