Three meals in 30 minutes!!!

I am stoked!

It doesn't take much to amuse me, but when I discover how to make dinners [easy] . . . I'm game.

Of course, I don't have the brains to invent this on my own.  I discovered this brilliant idea from the one and only; Pinterest (see pinterest.com here to see some really cool ideas).  I'm doing my job of keeping the wheel turning.

Without any further ado:  Three at Once Freezer Meals for the Crock pot!

(My favorite combination of words EVER!)

What you'll need:

• 2 lbs. round roast
• 5-6 lbs. chicken
• 4 pork chops 1" thick
• brown sugar
• 12 garlic cloves
• soy sauce
• 1 onion
• apple cider vinegar
• 16 oz. tomato sauce
• 1 can green chilies (the small one!)
• chili powder
• ketchup
• honey
• chicken broth
• Four large freezer bags

We already had the round roast in the freezer, so I just bought a bag of frozen chicken, and some pork chops and put them on ice.  I bought a jar of already minced garlic (side aisles in the produce part of grocery store by the onions and garlic) because I didn't want to play with all that garlic.  I pretty much had everything else in the pantry with the exception of a new onion and apple cider vinegar.

When you have all your items gathered, dice up the onion.  Lay out the bags and using a permanent marker write the meal and directions.  Then, add the meat and ingredients!

Here's Meal numbero uno: Beef Burritos

1. Round roast
2. one diced onion
3. 4 minced garlic cloves (equal to (4) 1/2 tsp. of minced garlic in the jar)
4. ground pepper
5. 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
6. 16 oz. tomato sauce
7. one can green chilies
8. 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

Directions: Heat high for 4-5 hours or Low 6-7 hours.  When meat is cooked, strain juices, remove onions, shred meat and add to cooker and juice for 30 more min.  Don't forget to buy some burrito shells, taco shells, or tortilla shells and other mexi-toppings.  This might be good with just rice too.

Meal #2:  Teriyaki Pork Chops

1.  four pork chops
2. salt & pepper
3. 2 minced garlic cloves ((2) 1/2 tsp. of minced garlic)
4. 2 tbsp. brown sugar, 1/4 c. soy sauce, 1/3 c. chicken broth

Directions: Heat high for 4-5 hours or Low 6-7 hours, eat with rice or noodles.

p.s. on that one I didn't want to waste a can of chicken broth, so I threw a chicken bouillon cube and made a not to add 1/3 cup of water when I dump it all into the crock pot.

Meal ##:  Garlic Honey Chicken

•   1 & 1/2-2 pounds chicken breasts
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1/3 c. soy sauce
• 2/3 c. ketchup
• 1/4 c. honey

Directions:  Heat high for 3-4 hours or low 5-6 hours, add rice or noodles.

I double bagged the meals with the freezer bags, I made sure I squeezed the heck out of them so they were as air-tight as they could be. . . now I get to throw the meal in the crock pot on one of those crazy busy days!

I'll let you know how they taste, that is still a mystery but they all smelled good when I was compiling them.  If you try these meals out before we get to let us know how it went and how they tasted.  I'm sure we can always tweak them to our tastes.

New Phase

I've discovered that I'm expeiencing a new phase in motherhood.  My dependent littles are no more and independent are they!  Oh, yes they still need me to help them find a missing book, or find a different shirt from the closet, and they depend on me feeding them, sheltering them (you know, basics.)  But they don't necessarily need me to feed them every two hours, change their diapers, shush and rock them.  Their infantile and preschooler needs are the past, especially the physical ones, and we have new adventures ahead of us.

I find myself talking, explaining, analyzing, and praying a lot more now that the kids are school-aged.  There's a part of their life that is a mystery to me and I try to extract as much information from them about their days, but get bits and pieces.  It's hard for me to relinquish the control over my kids' lives, but it is what it is and at the end of the day, I'm still their mom that they need emotionally and really the cuddles have been surprisingly more than when they were toddlers and preschoolers!  There might be some truth that distance makes the heart grow fonder in this case!

 

 

The first week of school was not what I was expecting. I thought for sure I'd be in tears that my baby girl is all grown up. But really, I felt proud of her spreading out her wings and learning to fly without me. I think it was helpful that she was VERY ready for school and it shows when she comes home. She is either making her own books, teaching to invisible students in her room, or her Barbies are having an intense lesson about the days of the week. She is where she needs to be.

Myself, on the other hand, I'm not sure where I need to be. I'm a bit complacent in the fact that I have free time (sure miss my little side-kick) and I have lists and lists of things that I could or should be doing. My first week, I paced and paced not knowing what to do. Now, I've been more comfortable in my routine, but still have this feeling of hesitancy that I should be doing more. . . but what? I really don't want to mess up the equilibrium of my work life, mom life, life life, and wife life. I am volunteering at school and church, and plan on cheering at all the kids' activities they participate in this year. I think that's enough, for now.


 

I knew that my kiddos would be growing up fast but it's so different experiencing the reality of it, than just saying it. I am blessed to have all the memories of my kiddos flood my heart and brain and SD cards. I am blessed that I'm at the stage of getting 7-8 hours of sleep, unless I'm worrying or praying about the kids' days or issues in their lives. I'm blessed to engage in new relationships with the kids; for example, the dinner table is full of conversation and interesting topics anymore!

 

 



So here's to a new phase of motherhood, one that was less traveled in my dreams because I always imagined myself with a swaddled burrito in arms or a toddler at the hip. Here's to being a little more introspective and finding myself again as a mother of school children. A woman who can get back to a few activities that were given up for the intense physical child-rearing. A time to enjoy some alone time with my hubby. Amazing how much we've talked to each other now that we have the opportunity!

Here's to a new phase!

Nephew #3

Okay, this is a late photo . . . but how lucky am I to have three nephews in a matter of six weeks!

 

Meet baby Ansel . . .

 

look at that pucker!

Our Little Girl Turns 6!!

We threw a Brave birthday party for Olivia and her friends this past weekend. . .

and it went on without a hitch.

 

 Here's Miss O posing at the chalkboard door.

 

 I made her a bear cake; if anyone has seen the movie Merida's triplet brothers turn into cute bear cubs in which I was trying to portray!

 

 Games consisted of a whisp find outside in the backyard

(aqua tissue paper with a candy treat wrapped inside).

musical chairs, and freeze dance!

The favorite was when they decorated their own shields

(without swords; I didn't want any parents upset!)

 Make a wish my sweet little lady!

 

After getting a sugar rush the kids danced and giggled and played some duck, duck, goose!

They had a blast and Olivia was a happy birthday girl!



UP, UP & AWAY

 

In my beautiful balloon!

 

Back at the end of July we went to the Balloon Festival in Indianola. 

It was a lovely night and an ideal event for pictures.  Enjoy!

 

 The sunset had a lot of character that night and peeked in and out the clouds.

 

 

 Gentle Giants

 When the sun sets, it's time for the balloons to glow.

A little blurry and never had good timing but here's one glowing.

The Great Outdoors

There are days when I crave the great outdoors.  Sometimes the city just gets too overwhelming and today was one of them. Plus, I wanted to take the kids to do something that was free.

So we visited the great outdoors about twenty minutes away.

Posing at the Butterfly Garden.  Even though there is a drought in our region of the world, the flowers look like they are getting good care.  We saw a black swallow tail butterfly and lots of white and yellow ones.

Saylorville Lake is unusually low this year.  We visited the gentle giant dam and were quite surprised to visit it up close and personal.  Last year, it was rip-roaring loud and too scary to view it up close.

We enjoyed a picnic in the park, the exhibits at the visitors center, and a movie about the wild life in Saylorville Lake area.

A nice little outing and we escaped the heat for a few hours . . .