Freezer Cooking and Summer

Sometimes I'm sad when some of my favorite bloggers don't update their blogs for a while...and then I remember that I haven't written on my blog in a month(s).  Unfortunately, I've also been neglecting my personal journal.  So here is a quick update on my life.

I recently potty trained Will.  I noticed that he seemed somewhat ready to train but he was also super young at only 24 months.  Fortunately, he got the hang of it mostly in just a few days and after another week, he improved his rate of getting number #2 actually in the potty.  Now we've been going strong for 2 1/2 weeks and haven't had an accident in 4 days and he actually has been waking up dry the past few days!  It is so nice to have it over and done with before baby #3 is born.

Speaking of baby #3, did I mention that I'm due next month?  Today my sweet friends hosting a little shower which helped me to get some of the random things I need.  There are a few more things I want to pick up such as a nose frida but I currently have 3 packs of newborn diapers so I should be good for the first week, right?  Another thing that I've been doing to prepare is making freezer dinners.  With baby #1, I don't think I made any freezer meals.  I knew people from church would bring me dinner every other day for 2 weeks and I love to cook so I was happy to get back into it as soon as possible.  With baby #2, I think I made a couple of freezer meals but not much.  It was much harder to get back into cooking as 5 pm seemed to be the magic hour when the toddler and the baby meltdown at the same time.  But it was still possible to cook especially if I planned ahead.  This time around, I'm not taking any chances.  Since 28 weeks or so, I've been trying to make 1 freezer meal a week.  I just try to double whatever I'm cooking and stick in the freezer so it doesn't overwhelm me or our budget.  I thought I'd share with you a few things that I've frozen.

Here is what I have so far:
Lemon Garlic Chicken  - this cooks in the crockpot!
Philly chicken Cheesesteak - another crockpot meal!  Notice a theme?
Korean Beef - there are so many recipes for this online.  Super simple and super yummy!
Chicken and veggie parmesan - I'll just cook up some spaghetti and heat this in the oven
Healthy Indian Butter Chicken -  I cooked up a double portion and stuck half the freezer to be reheated
Chicken pot pie filling - All I have to do is muster the strength to make a pie crust and we'll be good to go.
This week I also plan throwing a bunch of chicken drumsticks in a marinade and then freezing so Aaron can throw them on the grill as well as some of these addictive sweet potato and black bean burritos. 
I would love to do some soups as well but it has been sweltering here so we haven't been wanting to eat any for dinner. There is a good chance that enchiladas or a lasagna will also end up in my freezer in the next few weeks.  What are your favorite meals to freeze?  I'd love to hear your suggestions?
There are so many freezer meal tips and tricks online but here are my top three tips.
1. If possible, place the meal in a freezer bag, press it as flat as possible and freeze on a baking sheet.  Flat bags of food stack so well in the freezer.

2. If you plan on freezing several different things, start an excel spreadsheet listing every meal, what "extra" ingredients are needed, and basic directions.  

3. Don't be afraid of freezing meals that are marketed as a "freezer meal."  Seriously, I have frozen several delicious meals with success that were not labeled as a freezer meal.  Most freezer meals tend to be casseroles so I'm looking forward to pulling out a super comforting curry.  Just be sure and read a few tips about what types of food don't work well in the freezer before you get too carried away.  

Birthday Dessert

Last year I decided that if no one was going to celebrate my birthday, I was just going to do it myself especially by making the best, most decadent birthday dessert imaginable.  Hey, if I want a birthday dessert, I usually have to do it myself so I might as well do it in style, right?!  This is what I came up with last year. The bottom layer was devil's food cake (homemade), middle layer was cheesecake, the top was raw (safe to eat) cookie dough and of course it was topped with ganache.

My birthday is in less than a week and I have yet to pick this year's winning creation.  Here are a few ideas: 

NOTE: My heart is currently broken because I wanted to share some pictures of these amazing desserts with you but for some reason blogspot is insistent that I NOT post them.  Be sure and click on the links as they really are super beautiful! 

1. Creme Brulee.  I don't have a specific recipe but I just remembered that this dessert existed.  The only problem is that we don't own any ramekins and we'd have to buy an appropriate attachment for the propane torch.  But still, I've never seen or heard of anyone in Owensboro making Creme Brulee or selling it so it would original. 

2.  I love carrot cake!  And I love cheesecake!  What would happen if you combine the two?  How about a carrot cake cheesecake topped with coconut whipped cream!

3.  I also love chocolate.  What birthday would be complete without dark chocolate?  Salted caramel is my other new crush so perhaps a salted caramel chocolate fudge cake is in order. The only problem is that I'm super picky about cakes and I only like a few.  I also stink at assembling and decorating them. 

4. Homemade donuts.  I think that is all I have to say.  There are so many amazing looking recipes out there!  I love the idea of creating or trying out some more unique recipes and flavors.  

What do you think?  How would you decide?  Or perhaps you have a different suggestion entirely.  Nothing is decided yet so go ahead and submit your favorite desserts! 

A Word About the Somalis

Before we ever met our Somali friends, we wondered what they would be like.  What sort of food would they eat?  How clean would their house be? What would they wear? We've officially known them for several months now so I thought I'd write a brief post about what they are like.  This isn't meant to be critical or even a generalization of their entire culture.  This is just things that we've noticed since meeting them.  We are currently friends with three different groups of Somali refugees.  The first is an educated family that speaks decent English.  We still get stuck on certain words when talking but you can communicate with them on a fairly basic level.  From the little we know, both parents were educated and even taught their 5 children some English before coming here.
The second family has 8 children and came from the worst refugee camp in the whole world.  From the little we've gathered, they only had enough money to send their firstborn son to school so he is the only one that speaks any English besides basic greetings. They do not know the birthdays for any family members except for the last few children born.
The last person is a single young man who is probably 18-22 years of age.  His English is the best.  He currently works in a factory and is working on his GED.  We just met him so we know the least about him.

Both families are extremely hospitable.  Whenever you go over to their apartments, they immediately hand the kids glasses of juice or chocolate milk as well as biscuits, cookies or cups of pudding.  They give Aaron and myself tea, juice, bottles of water as well as whatever they happen to be cooking for dinner.  It can get kind of tricky because we usually try to visit both families in go since they live in the same apartment building.  This means that we go to the first house and get plied with all sorts of sugary treats (which are impossible to refuse because they don't ask if you want any before giving it to you) and then we visit the next family where this same kind of treatment is repeated.

As far as clothing goes, the women of both families always wear dresses and head covering.  They do not cover their face and their clothes are often colorful but they still adhere to a Muslim dress code.

Both families have served us what seemed to be the same sort of dish.  We've seen them eating it at other times so I guess it is traditional.  It starts with spaghetti noodles covered in a tomato sauce that might also have tiny bits of potatoes in it.  The sauce isn't thick like an Italian spaghetti sauce and it doesn't seem to have a ton of flavor.  They did serve us lamb ribs with it once and they were deliciously seasoned.  I could have eaten a whole plate of just the ribs.  They top the spaghetti with chopped bits of iceberg lettuce, chunks of banana and bits fresh of tomato.  I don't really understand the banana to be honest.

We know that both families are Muslim.  We are not sure of all the details of their faith.   A lot of the books and websites that we've read suggested that a lot of Somali Muslims are more of folk Muslims and combine traditional African spiritualism with Muslim beliefs.  I can't really speak to this as we have trouble communicating more philosophical concepts.

 One of the first things both families purchased once they found a job was a new tv.  The tvs always seem to be on though they are not necessarily always watching it.  We just about dying laughing the other day when we went to visit them because they started off watching soccer but by the time we left, they had switched over to professional wrestling.   Our kids were mesmerized and wouldn't stop staring at the screen.

They always seem to be cleaning their houses and in general things are quite tidy.  However, they seem to not understand how germs work.  The one time we used the bathroom, there was no soap in it at all but there were a lot of cleaning supplies for mopping the floor and such.

That is all I can think of off the top of my head.  If you do not have any ethnically diverse friends, please try and make some.  It is kind of hard where we live to find ethnic diversity but it is so worth it.  I want my children to know that not all people think, act or look just like us and that is ok.  While I really want these Somali friends to be saved, I also want to appreciate their culture and respect their heritage.

Going Green (Literally)

Lately, I've been trying to clean up my diet.  I usually eat pretty healthy anyways but I'm tired of not being able to find comfortable underwear for my pregnant body.  That was probably TMI, but sometimes you take the little things for granted.  Last night I tried something new for dinner and it worked surprising well so I thought I'd share.

As you probably know if you've been reading my blog, my husband luvs muffins.  Some days when I crave something sweet, I'll ask him if he would like some cake or cookies and he responds that he would prefer muffins.  Muffins are his love language.  Since we have them relatively often, I usually try to make a "healthier" versions.  I love the rich, sugary, bakery style muffins as much as the next person but I figure that I might as well be eating a donut.  Last night I got the crazy idea to throw some pureed spinach into the banana muffins and they turned out surprisingly well.  The kids chowed down on them and Aaron and I couldn't really taste the spinach.  Since they do have a fair amount of sugar and I'm trying to be healthy, I only had one.  Here is the recipe that I adapted from this blog.  

Banana-Spinach Muffins (If you're feeding them to a bunch of boys, just come up with a clever name like Alien Muffins or something)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz of frozen, chopped spinach, at least somewhat thawed
• 3 medium-large bananas
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 egg 
• 1 t vanilla
• 1//3 c butter, melted or very soft
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• Optional mix-ins such as nuts, chocolate chips, craisins 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and either spray muffin tins or use liners

2. Put the spinach into a food processor or good quality blender and puree. 

3. Add banana and repeat. 

4. Add all of the wet ingredients and pulse until combined. 

5. Add the dry ingredients but try to mix until just combined. 

6. Fill muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

7. Watch your kids chow down and laugh because you know that they are stuffing their faces with spinach. 

In other news, I'm not a huge fan of graphic tees but I seriously want this t-shirt.  I do feel a little vain getting it for myself though.  

Two Free Things That I'm Digging

I thought I'd share with you 2 free internet finds that I'm currently enjoying.  I'm not getting paid or anything to write a review, I just happen to like them.

1. Regularly App.  When it comes to phone apps, I have....um, just one: Instagram.  I've thought about getting other apps but they all want too much info.  For instance, I want to get the Kroger app so I can check on my digital coupons when I'm shopping, but they want to know my location.  Seriously?  Why is it a necessity that they need to know my whereabouts at all times?  I guess I value my privacy too much.  However, I really suck at cleaning.  I can tidy up ok or even do the dishes at least once a day, but things like mopping, vacuuming, dusting, etc are lost arts in my house.  I decided to try and become more regular in my cleaning approach.  I've printed off paper copies of chore charts and made lists but they never seem to last long in my house.  They'll help me for a week at most and then I loose track of them.  I decided that it was time to upgrade and get a fancy schmancy phone app.  After looking at a couple, I chose the Regularly App.
Pros: I can set it to remind me to do whatever task I want at whatever intervals I choose.
I love to mark things off my list so I've actually been sticking to it for several weeks now.
I set tasks to do in the very distant future such as deep clean my closet only a few times a year.

Cons: For whatever reason, it doesn't organize my tasks based on the time that they need to be done.  For instance, the first item on the list might be wipe the glass due in 3 days and the third item on the list may be vacuum due yesterday.

If you stink at regularly cleaning but love to check things off of lists, this could be the app for you.

2.  Greetingsisland.com  Aaron's birthday is next week and to celebrate him turning really old, I decided to throw him a party.  I never, ever do invitations but I decided that I wanted to this year.  I searched the internet for free customizable invitations.  I looked at several different sites and this was the best one by far.  I ended up choosing these bicycle invitations since I felt that they fit my husband's personality best.

Get them here

You can change all the text, font, font color, and font placement except for the top part that says, "Birthday Party invitation."  You can either print them off for free at home or buy them from the company.  If you do choose to print them off for free, they will attach their logo to the invitation.  Fortunately, it is super tiny.  Here is the one I did and you can see how small it is.  

Here are some other super cute invitations and cards you can print for free.  

I love finding little handy things that make life easier, don't you?  Any good freebies you know about that I'm missing? 

My Go-To Foods

Sometimes people ask me what sort of food I like to cook.  I'm never really sure what to respond.  I'm that sort of person who tries 1-3 new recipes per week.  A lot of things I make once and totally forget about and never make again.  So ya, we don't really eat the same things over and over.  This week though, I made my in-laws some roasted chicken legs, potatoes and carrots.  Thanks to a tick bit, my father-in-law is currently allergic to dairy, pork and beef so chicken and veggies roasted with olive oil was the perfect option.  As I was eating it, I realized that I do not like bland-ish food.   I mean I'll it eat it and it is fine but I'd take a good curry over that meal any ol' day.  I particularly love acidity so balsamic vinegar and lemons are some of my favorite flavors.  
Today, I thought I'd assemble a list of some of my go-to recipes that are on the internet.  Even though we don't eat the same food day after day, we do find ourselves coming back to a few recipes over and over.  So here is a list.  Perhaps you'll find something that you like off it.  I will say as a word of caution, I probably change at least one thing on every recipe I'm about to post.  Even if I cook the same thing twice, I always mix it up based off of personal preference or what I have in my refrigerator/pantry at the moment.

• Bread: Lately, I've been dabbling in sourdough so my bread preferences are changing.  But up until the past few weeks, this has been my main sandwich bread recipe: Simple Whole Wheat Bread.  To be honest, we eat lunch meat about 2-3 times a year.  We do enjoy our fair share of PB&Js and a few tuna melts.  We also love this bread as toast.  
• Light and Easy: These P.F. Chang knock-off chicken lettuce wraps are super easy and very light.  They cook up in one pan on the stove and you feel super healthy stuffing these yummy wraps in your face. 
• Casserole: For some people, comfort foods mean things like mac 'n' cheese or fried chicken.  While we like those things, curry is one of our comfort foods.  I don't cook a lot of casseroles but these are two casserole type dishes that we love.  The best thing about this Pakistani Kima is that I almost always have everything I need to make it one hand. It is a good one to serve to large crowds and even people who have never had curry seem to like it. I also really sweet potatoes so anything with those magical orange bits of goodness really speak to me.  Give this Moroccan Shepherd's Pie with a Sweet Potato Topping a try for twist on a classic casserole.  Both of these recipes are gluten and dairy free so they are perfect for serving to guests with allergies. 
• Comfort Foods: Some days you just need meatloaf with mashed potatoes.  This is my main meatloaf recipe. For those days when I want a meatloaf type dish with some real flavor, I make up these kofta kebabs and serve with homemade pitas and tzatziki sauce.  Killer, seriously killer.   
• Soup:  We eat a lot of soups in the fall.  One of our favorites is this vegetarian Sweet Potato, Carrot and Apple soup.  Yes, it does look like baby food but it is so sweet and yummy!
• Bachelor Party Food: This is good for women too, but I've sent this Seven Layer Tex Mex Dip to two different bachelor parties (for the record, I was invited to neither).  Both times I got rave reviews.
• Fancy: One of the easiest and cheapest "fancy" company dinners to make is a whole roast chicken.  I love this Roast Sticky Chicken - Rotisserie Style and Ina Garten's Engagement Roast Chicken. 
• Vegetarian: I know I've mentioned my love of sweet potatoes probably 10 times already, but this Roasted Veggie (SWEET POTATOES, PEOPLE!) and black bean bowls really knock it out of the park.  You can add meat, but why?  
• Pizza: Because we all agree that pizza deserves its own food group.  I always do the Pioneer Woman's Pizza crust.  It is just the right amount of thickness with a crusty bottom.  Aaron loves it grilled.  We eat all different types of pizza.  Sometimes we top with roasted garden veggies, other times it is more tradition like sausage and black olives, and other times we really crank up the flavor and go for BBQ pork with fresh mango or pineapple drizzled with some sweet Thai chili sauce.  

Whelp, there is my list.  I'm sure there are about 10 others I'll think of later but thanks to the fact that I eat all of these yummy things in large amounts, I know have to go work out.  

My Maternity (un)Style

To be honest, I'm not a very stylish pregnant woman so this post is really about my lack of style as opposed to tips on being a super hot preggo lady. As I'm well into summer pregnancy #3, I'm quickly realizing one thing: I'm tired of being super frumpy preggo mom.  Seriously, though.  With number #1, I was so desperate to get clothes that I found a bunch of things that were "ok" at consignment stores and garage sales.  I did find a few things that I love and the rest of just "worked."  I did get a few new things but I felt so limited by my options and the incredible prices on them that I didn't buy much.  Before I even became pregnant with #2, I started to shop for new maternity clothes.  Whenever I was in one of the few stores around here that actually carry new maternity clothes (I think we have 3 total), I would scan the clearance racks to see if I could score anything good.  Same if I happened upon a garage sale that had maternity clothes and on my semi-annual trips to Goodwill.  I scored a few pairs of decent (as well as a few pairs of just "ok") jeans for around $3.  I also found a few tops and dresses.  When I was actually pregnant with #2, I felt like I starting to figure out what I liked and what I didn't  Now with #3, I feel like I'm ready to invest in some decent clothes.  My plan, which I've already started on, is to get rid all the things that I don't love (except for a few shirts that are good for exercising and cleaning), and fill my closet with a few things that I can wear everyday and feel beautiful in.  Here is what is on my to-buy list and how I plan to find them for affordable prices.  

• Tank Tops.  To be honest, I'm not really a tank top sort of person.  In "real life", I hardly ever wear them unless they are more dressy and even then I think I have maybe 1.  I scored one navy colored tank top at a garage sale for I think $2 and I wore it non-stop.  The summers here are really hot and humid and overheating is a serious problem especially as I swell up like a watermelon the second I start to get hot.  I noticed that if I wore a pair of shorter shorts and a tank top, I stayed significantly cooler than a normal t-shirt and a pair of capris.  I would wear this one lone tank top on walks and also with skirts and nicer jewelry for a dressier option.  This time around I've already ordered 2 more more of the same brand since they were on super sale for only $4 a piece. 

My poor over-worked tank top

• Shorts! At the same garage sale as the aforementioned tank, I also scored a pair of shorter gray shorts.  I wore the life out of those suckers.  I wish they were just an inch or so longer to hide more of my upper thighs but they were so comfy and cool.  One thing that I loved was that they were the under-belly type of elastic.  So much cooler and less hiking up!  They were also my go-to post partum pants as I found I couldn't into my regular shorts and I quickly got tired of hiking up huge swaths of elastic over my flabby post-baby belly.  I definitely plan on getting at least one more pair.  Since it is still a little too early to need to wear shorts, I have been super picky about trying to find a cheap pair.  If I can't find anything in the next month or so, I will up my price range and get something new. 
• T-shirts.  This probably sounds really dumb, but I really want to get some new t-shirts.  I have a few that I like pretty well, but no "perfect" ones.  I want to get a couple of plain colors and at least one with a graphic design of some sort.  Oooh or maybe some striped ones! I want something more fitted and probably with ruched sides.  I already feel so huge during pregnancy that I'm not a fan of loose fitting maternity tops in general. I also like t-shirts as compared to blouses simply because they are knit and stretch with me.  

  

  Buy here

I'd love to look this glam though it might also require actually styling my hair which I just don't see happening.  

Buy here

• Swim suit.  My parents put in an in-ground swimming pool last summer so a bathing suit is definitely on the "need" list.  I scored a supposedly never been worn tankini top on eBay for less than $5.   Note: I would never buy a used pair of bottoms.  So gross. I'm hoping it will fit but I figured that it isn't much of a risk compared to the store-bought prices. 
• Skirt.  I also just purchased a skirt off of Old Navy. Last summer I found myself wearing my one maternity maxi skirt constantly.  The one I found to add to my collection is a knit pencilish skirt.  I just bought it on Monday (not on clearance) and it is already down from their website so I can't post a picture.  I found that stretchy knit skirts are one of the best post-partum pieces of clothing to own.  I was so tired of wearing sweat pants and slightly too large maternity pants but popping on a stretchy skirt made me feel a lot prettier and it was just as comfy.  

I am currently scouring ebay nearly every day for good maternity clothes.  So far I've only found my bathing suit.  I also plan on listing my used items on ebay since they generally have a quicker and more profitable return than consignment stores and garage sales.  At the end of the day, I'd rather have 10 really good pieces that I wear over and over instead of 30 only so-so ones.  

I have also checked some online consignment stores but I either didn't find anything I loved or I was currently unwilling to pay the prices as listed including shipping.  

If I can't find the items I want over the course of the next few weeks, I plan on probably getting something from Zulily.  They have a lot of good options that cycle through and good prices for new items. 

I also try to check online with big box stores and watch for items to go on good sales or clearance.  

Where do you get your maternity clothing?  Any hot tips or items I really need to add to my closet?