This Week's Freezer Meal Round Up

We just finished up our second week of school and I am soooo pleased with how it's going. A few things are attributing to our (whopping 2 weeks) of success:

 1) Doing dvd school

 2) Scheduling our entire day

It has truly been the biggest unexpected blessing...another blog post on that soon!

 Anyway, I cooked up some freezer meals at the beginning of this week (while the 2 older ones were finishing school and the little ones were taking naps) and I thought I would share them with you! These ones were super easy! I think I shared some of these before, but I'm sharing them again just in case. Trust me--once you start freezer cooking you won't want to stop! It's kind of daunting to actually begin but man. The thought of having all my food pre-done in the freezer is awesome, plus it's way cheaper to feed my family this way!

 I keep lot of frozen veggies on hand--broccoli, green beans and corn are favorites--to add for sides with our meals. And I buy fresh fruits/veggies once every week and a half or so. But I really try to grocery shop just twice a month and cook just twice a month. Nice, huh?

1) Cilantro chicken with lime and black beans  (1)(not sure how I feel about freezing fresh cilantro and cooking it all day in the crock pot, but we'll see how it turns out!) This we will do over rice and top with sour cream and cheese, maybe some tortilla chips if we have enough (they go fast around here ;)

 2) Maple Dijon glazed Chicken  (1) I use honey and forgot the vinegar! But I can add it after it thaws. We love this recipe! Super easy with baked or roasted potatoes and a salad!

 3) Meatballs in BBQ sauce (2) I adapted this recipe. I use turkey/ground beef, an egg and oats. I love the chili powder in these--great flavor! And I use cheap store bought BBQ sauce, ha. These are great over rice or with roasted potatoes and carrots.

4) Shredded pork tacos//pork roast with gravy/bbq pork (3): No recipes for these ones but so easy! I love buying a big pork butt roast (usually around $14-$16) and cutting it into 3.
 One I'll season with taco seasonings or any Mexican spices I have on hand and freeze in one chunk. Thaw overnight, put in the crock pot all day, then shred and put into tortilla shells with whatever taco toppings you like.
 Another I'll did a ranch seasoning packet with and cooked in the crock pot as a roast. After I remove the roast to rest I add a little cornstarch and milk right into the crock pot and whisk it until it makes a gravy. You could also do onion soup packet for seasoning and cream of mushroom soup that makes an amazing gravy with the soup mixes and juice from the meat. We ate over rice but would be awesome with mashed potatoes ;)
 The last one I'll freeze as is (maybe some salt, pepper and a simple rub), cook and add bbq sauce at the end when I shred it. This I'll usually serve over baked potatoes--a favorite for sure!

5) Lastly, I made 2 pans of chicken enchilada casserole. I actually didn't use a recipe for this either. I boiled chicken breast, shredded in the kitchen aide (best thing ever), then made a mixture with the chicken, some sour cream, mayo, cheese and seasonings. Layered that with green chile enchilada sauce and corn tortillas. The kids actually ate this tonight with Grandma and Grandpa while we went on a date ;). This morning I put on a big pot of beans on the stove to simmer and threw them in the blender really quick before dinner for refried beans. This is also great with rice and salad or another veggie.

 So, all in all we have about 9 meals but with leftovers we'll squeeze 2 weeks out of it. Plus on nights we're on the go I might just do some sandwiches quick. I also keep pasta and canned sauce on hand (Italian grandma turning over in her grave as we speak) and that's easy to throw together. I had a bag of shrimp left in my freezer that my brother-in-law left so I made some shrimp scampi the other night. So that's an easy option, too--trust me, it's not as daunting as it sounds!

If you have some freezer meal recipes to share--or just any recipes for that matter--feel free to leave in the comments!
  Have a great weekend! :)

A Music Themed Bridal Shower Brunch

I'm finally getting around to posting the bridal brunch we hosted for my sister who is getting married in a few months! We wanted it to be "her", so we picked colors and a theme that matched her personality perfectly: elegant, feminine and classy. So many people said, "this is so Anna!" so I think we succeed!

 We stuck with gold, rose and mint colors. We also tied in a little bit of a music theme because music is a huge part of her life, and her fiancé has an amazing voice as well. The music theme was subtle because we didn't have the usual "black and white" that would be typical for a music theme but I think it tied in great in the places that we did incorporate it!

 We "DIY'd" just about everything to save cost, plus it makes it more fun to plan everything and work hard and see it all come together beautifully! As is typical in our family (haha), we all came down with the stomach flu and Anna actually had it the day of her shower... thankfully, it was mild enough that she could still function. We saved her a plate of food for when she could stomach it ;).

The "love notes" (get it? notes? hehe) table had small journals for guests to write little notes to Anna. They could choose from date night ideas, words of wisdom or just simply a little note to her. The chalkboard banner was from Target, and the we made pinwheels out of scrapbook paper that had little music notes on it.

My Mom, the beautiful bride-to-be, and my Grandma.

I ordered paper straws super cheap off Amazon for the glasses of orange juice. One of Anna's bridesmaids made the adorable heart garland at the top of the board, and another friend wrote love quotes from songs on cardstock. We clipped those and pictures up with twine and clothespins.

I got the glass bottles for $1 each (Target) and we labeled them (labels from Wal Mart) and filled them with flavored creamers for a coffee bar.

Centerpieces were made with mason jars that we glued scrapbook paper and a strip of ribbon onto. We filled them with flowers and placed them on a mesh circle of either pink or gold.

It's always daunting decorating a big stage, but it really turned out thanks to the creativity of my sisters and the other bridesmaids! Claire made the hanging garland wreath using a hula hoop, garland, lights and lace curtains. The backdrop was more lace curtains (can usually be found at thrift stores!) and pink plastic tablecloths and the heart garland was made by one of Anna's bridesmaids.

Claire, Anna and I have always had a special bond... a three fold cord is not easily broken ;)

We were so thankful that our amazingly talented friend came to set up tiered food tables, as well as the vases of flowers. All we had to do was add our plates of food and it looked gorgeous!

Our menu was mini quiche, breakfast pizza (made by none other than my dad), mini banana muffins, fruit salad, chocolate covered strawberries, mini cinnamon rolls and yogurt parfaits. 

One of Anna's close friends gave a really special devotional, which was a letter she wrote to Anna and read. It was very heartfelt and beautiful!

We decorated a bulletin board as a photo booth for the shower and it was a big hit!

Here is Anna with most of her sisters/bridesmaids (missing 3! Yes it's a huge wedding ;)

The guests (mainly all close friends because we're all just a big family up there!) were so generous and she got so much of what she will need for starting her new life with Jacob. We could not be happier and are so glad she loved this special day in her life! 

Nicolas {ONE}

 Last year at this time I was still enjoying the honeymoon postpartum period. Many people struggle immensely in those first few weeks, but I've always been blessed that despite recoveries that are no walk in the park, most of my post part experiences have been enjoyable and normal. Mom was here keeping the whole house running, my sisters-in-law and Mom-in-law were lovingly caring for the older kids so I could focus on the baby and recovering and meals, treats and gifts were flooding in from friends. Pretty much all I did was hold Nicolas and rest, something I've become an expert in after regretting doing too much after Brooklynne was born.

 Fast forward to now. An entire year of firsts have already come and gone--cooing, reaching for toys, sleeping through the night, scooting, new teeth, crawling, pulling up on furniture, and now babbling constantly and even saying several words. Even though I guess he's technically not a "toddler" because he's not walking, he acts like it. He is extremely responsive to everyone--my little social butterfly. His favorite word is "hiiii" and he says it to just about everyone. 

 He says uh oh, more, all done, love you, and the names of all his family members. Nate and I look at each other in surprise every time he says a new thing because he just seems so little to be saying so much! I guess that's what happens when you have 3 older siblings talking to you constantly!

  

 I've learned more and more how to truly cherish my babies. The Babywise book, while full of great principles, robbed me of truly enjoying Brooklynne and is way to strict in my opinion. Now I don't worry about spoiling them, because really you can't spoil a baby! But holding and hugging and cuddling as much as I can in those first few months doesn't last long as they grow bigger and become more independent like he is now. It goes so fast, and I try my hardest not to miss any of it.

It's amazing how one year of newness and bringing us hoards of joy, culminates into one piece of cake--or in this case, a cupcake. It's the great American (?) tradition. Every baby I've ever known has been surrounded with family--if not a huge crowd--while everyone watches to see what they will do with being allowed to consume a huge amount of sugar. My fourth baby did not disappoint, as he knew exactly what was expected of him. haha!

Happy first birthday to our dear Nicolas Jay. You are the light of our home right now and the center of attention and we love you so hard!

Parents + Mothers Day

Last week we had a very big surprise planned for the kids, and boy were they surprised! The doorbell rang, the dog barked, the kids ran to the door and opened it to find Nonnie and Poppy standing there! It was such a great moment and perfect surprise. Just the two of them came on their 31st wedding anniversary and it was truly a perfect week. I only wish it could have been 3 weeks! ;) We relaxed and played and ate and loved every moment!

Them being here last week meant I got to spend Mother's Day with my Mom, a dream come true. She is my inspiration, the one I call with all motherhood questions and concerns, my role model and my hero. To get to spend time with her and spoil her was such a joy! We enjoyed an amazing 3 course meal downtown that was a true culinary treat. Pat's girlfriend, Allison showed us the ropes and we got the royal treatment and it was so much fun! We tried oysters, bone marrow and ceviche along with several other amazing dishes.

Spending a whole week with my parents and getting them all to ourselves was such a treat that I hope happens again very soon. ;)

Spring Break

Sorry for the long blog absence! It's been a full, busy, beautiful 2 weeks.

 2 weeks ago started our spring break week and we enjoyed every day to the fullest. We went to the park, out to ice cream, on walks and shopping. It was so nice not having to rush to bed time or worry about hours of homework every day.

 At the end of the week, we drove to Dallas to spend a night in a hotel and go to the zoo. On the way I texted a friend and she recommended the Fort Worth zoo and said that downtown Fort Worth  was beautiful. We took her recommendation, got an amazing deal on a downtown suite (they upgraded us for free!) and walked around downtown. I've never been there and it was absolutely lovely! I would love to go back someday and really enjoy it and take it all in! It was a little chilly and the kids were hungry, so we didn't get to walk around quite as much as I would have wanted to ;) but what we did see was still gorgeous. It was like a quaint little town in the middle of skyscrapers--really unexpected!

We came across a little cajun restaurant that was reasonable and delicious! The seafood gumbo was so good!

Back at our hotel, we spent a little time in the indoor hot tub and then got the kids ready for bed and a movie. They were so cute and happy all cozy on the couch. :)

The hotel had the most amazing free breakfast buffet I have ever seen. Cooked to order omelets and pancakes and every other breakfast item you could ever want. Of course we took full advantage of it, including sneaking some muffins for snacks later. haha. Nate and I took turns working out while the other watched the kids, so having a little alone time was nice as well.

I don't even know where to start about the Fort Worth zoo. It was spectacular. I felt like I was out in the jungle with the animals rather than viewing them in captivity. I LOVE the zoo, maybe even more than the kids do, so I was in my glory all day. We realized afterwards that it's one of the top zoos in America--no wonder we were so impressed!

After 5 hours of walking close to 6 miles (yes, it's huge) we were starving and chowed down on burgers and fries before heading home!

The next day we headed to the next little town over to play at the park, ride bikes and dip toes in the water. We spent nap time in a little bookstore where Nathan and Nicolas slept while we read to the older two. Of course, frozen yogurt was involved as well.

We all crashed hard on Sunday afternoon. It was truly one of the most relaxing, memorable weeks we've had as a family, and even though we only went out of town for 1 night, the whole week felt like a vacation.