March 13

I made The Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Crispies the other day - they were SUPER easy to make, and everyone who tried them has loved them :)

So much so, that they are all gone already ;)  I guess I COULD make some more ;)

And yes, I found the recipe in my new cookbook that my dear Mother-in-love gave me for Christmas :) I absolutely love it!

So obviously this blogging every day thing hasn't stuck.  But maybe once a week - or a few times a week? We'll see what happens ;)

Yesterday would have been my mom's 56th birthday. I can't even begin to explain how much I miss her.  She wasn't just my mom - she was my best friend.  She was always on my side - even if I was wrong, she would tell me what she thought and still stand by my side. She loved me unconditionally.  She was such a woman of God.  Her relationship with Him was so unique, so personal, she was in love with Him.  I found out today that the last person that she witnessed to passed away.  I'm not sure if he ever made peace with Jesus Christ or not, but my heart hurts for his family - especially the kids he helped to raise, and loved as his own.

It makes me remember that life is short.  Enjoy every moment. Know where you're going to spend eternity - know for sure.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind.  Love Him.

March 6

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Brother-in-Law John :) He has been such a blessing to me since I've joined their family :) He always has a smile on his face, and has a true passion for life.

Happy Birthday John - I'm so happy to be your sister!!

Brian, Me & John - Thanksgiving weekend 2011

March 5

Movie Monday!  This is SO hilarious - because it's TRUE! Thankfully I haven't got this infection........ yet ;)







Today I tackled a BUNCH of freezer meals - and I"m not even 1/2 way done :) I mainly did just the chicken recipes tonight - but here are the recipes that are heading to our freezer soon! 

Here are links to all the meals that I'm doing - lots of work, but hopefully it will be worth it to save some $$ and have everything ready for me! 

TIP: Alot of these recipes call for SHREDDED chicken - if you have a KitchenAid mixer - put your cooked chicken breasts in your bowl and use your PADDLE attachement - it shreds chicken SO fast - So happy I saw that pin on pinterest! 

Oh and yes, most of these I did find off of pinterest - you can see pictures there if you'd like (under my board "make ahead meals") - or just just follow these links. 

I am making all 10 of these recipes - she has an excel form that is downloadable - and it has a shopping list AND she created it so that you can put in how many people you need to feed and it will change the amount of ingredients you need for EACH recipe - she is one smart cookie!!

 http://dreamingofpoultry.com//content/10-freezer-meals-1-day

The Hawwiian Pork recipe - I didn't cook the pork before freezing it - I put it raw into a ziplock bag and put the juices and everything else in the bag - it can marinate while it freezes/thaws, and I don't mind throwing it in the crockpot on the day we'll have it for dinner. 

Here are the other recipes I'm doing - and only one of them was recommended to me (by the lovely Johanna P!) 

Hawaiian Chicken: http://pinterest.com/pin/251216485433911565/ (this one doesn't have a recipe - but basically it's all 3 ingredients in the picture - and you serve it over rice - this one is fantastic, I've made it before! Also - I just froze the chicken breasts separate, and have the BBQ sauce and the pineapple in my cupboard for future use)

Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken: http://mamaandbabylove.com/2011/04/05/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker-recipes/ - this one makes 2 meals worth - YAY! 

Smothered Pork Chops: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/05/smothered-pork-chops.html

Lazy Lasagna Chili - http://pregnant.livejournal.com/17071127.html

Chicken Spaghetti - http://pregnant.livejournal.com/17071127.html - this one makes 2 meals worth!! 

Baked ziti - http://pregnant.livejournal.com/17071127.html

Pork Chops Pizzaoila - http://joelens.blogspot.com/2011/09/pork-chops-alla-pizzaiola.html

Honey Spice glazed pork chops - http://joelens.blogspot.com/2011/10/honey-spice-glazed-pork-chops.html

Mini – Cheeseburger Meatloafs - http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/01/mini-cheeseburger-meatloaves.html

Chicken Parm Meatloaf - http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/06/chicken-parmesan-meatloaf.html

Chicken Chili - http://annies-eats.com/2010/03/10/chicken-chili/

White Bean Chicken Chili - http://annies-eats.com/2008/09/25/white-bean-chicken-chili/

Make 4-5 pizza dough recipes – freeze dough & buy toppings - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/quick-and-easy-pizza-crust/detail.aspx - this dough recipe is REALLY good! 

Creamy Chicken Taquitos  - http://annies-eats.com/2011/04/27/creamy-chicken-taquitos/ - this makes alot if you don't stuff the tortillas ;) 

I put everything in ziplock bags and freeze them as flat as I can - I can usually get 20+ meals in a regular fridge freezer.  I am in NO WAY an expert at this - but feel free to ask questions if you have them ;) If I don't know the answer I'll ask my friend Jessica - she IS the expert on this!! 

Also - I've only tried one of these recipes - but they looked like food that we would normally eat - and Brian checked off on them all ;)  So I'll come back and let everyone know if we end up liking them or not ;) 

March 4

Had a great first meeting with our small group.  I so enjoyed getting to know everyone :)  we had fun playing games and just chit chatting. I'm really looking forward to our up coming meetings ;)

And I think the scratch cupcakes were a hit too ;)

March 3

Busy day today! Cleaning the house, and getting ready for our first small group meeting tomorrow afternoon. We also went to Scratch and got cupcakes for tomorrow.....oh Yum!!! The wedding day cupcake is my favorite!!

March 2

Huge shopping day today. Brian went with me to all the stores, to get all the deals so that I can put up 20+ meals in the freezer this next week. Hopefully I can pull this off!  Be looking for a post this week with pictures and recipes used!

March 1

wow - March 1st already! I'm excited because it means we are ONE DAY CLOSER to SPRING!! yay :)  It's also my birthday month...gosh 30 just sounds SO old ;)

Today was fun - I watched 2 little guys today and I got to play with playdough - why is squishy stuff so much fun?

This was my attempt at a "pie" the boys thought it looked gross ;)

Brian actually came home early tonight - YAY!! I was so excited about dinner - Tacos - one of my favorite meals! I even made the taco seasoning from scratch this time - so delicious! I was not so happy when I opened the taco shells to find a box of crushed shells - out of 10 taco shells there was 1 that wasn't broken, cracked or missing pieces - ONE..... and only 5 that could be even used as tacos. Yeah I'll be sending that company a letter for sure!  We made it work anyways and they were delicious - but still... 

Hope your Thursday night is a good one!