Quilt Scraps Mom

This is the reading corner — nice comfy chair & quilt for cuddling (this is our Before FIAR quilt or as Phoebe calls it, the “special reading blanket)!

This is my sewing corner… nothing real exciting, but at least now it’s neat.  Most of my fabric stash is upstairs but can be easily brought down when the quilting bug strikes.  Meanwhile, most of my sewing these days consists of Awana patches!

Mom’s Desk — SO much better than juggling my laptop and papers in the big blue chair, comfy as it is!  Under the desk is a Desk Apprentice with all my teachers’ manuals — I love it but it’s just TOO big for my desk.  It fits perfectly underneath and I can reach everything I need.

More bookshelves — of course.  Can a homeschooler ever have too many?  The scrapbooks finally have a shelf they fit on!  We kept Dave’s grandmother’s hutch, it’s great for storing some of the less-used, “pretty” books, and of course, it’s important to us because it was hers!

It was that time again… time to delve into another round of freezer cooking in anticipation of a busy holiday season ahead.   I’m not sure quite why it seems I can only do this under pressure, late at night… but somehow it keeps turning out that way.  Two rounds of shopping, and four hours of cooking/cleaning later, 28 meals sit in my freezer ready to defrost and heat for some easy dinners in the weeks to come!  And hey, it was only 1:30 am!

So… here’s what’s in MY freezer:

Turkey Cordon Bleu (2) *

Chicken Parmesan (3)

Sesame Ginger Salmon (2)

Bacon-Cheese Meatloaf (2)

Peruvian Pork Stew (2)  *

Crock BBQ Chicken (2)

Parmesan-Crusted Salmon (2)

Lemon-Almond Tilapia (1) *

Baked Chicken (2)

Peppered Steak (2)

Ham(2)

Honey-Grilled Chicken (2)

Applesauce Meatloaf (2)

Honey-Dijon Crock Pork Tenderloin (2)

Items marked with a * are new to our family… we’ll see if they make the permanent rotation!  I have to admit that as many times as I whined that I wanted to quit last night — and into this morning — it is just SO nice to make the mess once then just pop a bag out of the freezer, and Voila!  The answer to “What’s for dinner?” is right in front of me.  But, ummm, tonight could we just get a pizza?

Okay, those of you who know me in real life, just stop laughing right now and go back to whatever non-productive activity you were engaging in before deciding to read my blog.

If you review the archives, you will see that the last time I did freezer cooking was in May.  Yes, about two months ago.  I did do SOME grocery shopping since then, even beyond the nearly daily milk-and-bread runs.  But I began to hit bottom about a week and a half ago… and while dinner served at VBS enabled me to put off the inevitable a few days longer, when one must resort to ice cream as a lunch entree more than once, it’s time.

So off to BJs I went.  And off to SuperWalmart I went.  And I even purchased all the ingredients necessary this time.  And started before midnight.  Are you sensing a “but” coming?  Well, it seems that after 17 years of trusty service (other than bruised shins from the missing door springs) the dishwasher has decided to give it up… and apparently, not without a bit of smoke to mark the occasion.  I was completely oblivious to this fact until I went to turn it on and the buttons, well, fell off.

Freezer cooking without a dishwasher is NOT recommended.  I’ll admit it, I’m a wimpy modern woman who would have likely died within a week out on the great frontier.  First I had to wash all of the glasses, dishes and silverware accumulated by six people since late afternoon yesterday.  Nap time.  Then round one of meal preparation… at the end of which I had to wash all the measuring cups, mixing bowls, spatulas, etc.  so I could begin round two.  And so on.  Get the picture? 

As with last time, I believe the end will be worth it:  Our freezer is well-stocked with crock-pot bbq chicken, honey-grilled chicken, baked chicken breasts, bacon cheese meatloaf, honey mustard pork tenderloin, and parmesan-crusted salmon (plus a couple small hams) for a total of 16 meals ready to defrost and pop in the oven or crock pot.  With leftovers and a weekly round of spaghetti, that’s probably 5 weeks or more of dinners.

But I don’t suppose I could wait until, say, next week some time to do the dishes?

Oh, where-oh-where-oh-where-oh-where-oh-where-oh-WHERE is my hairbrush?

It’s been a long week.  A long week of way too many sentences beginning with the same three words:  “I can’t find…”

Some things made more sense than others.  Nintendo DS games are small — probably a good reason NOT to unload the whole set on the sofa and leave them there.  But on a bright note, we found the missing remote to the DVD player under the sofa keeping them company.

But as the semi-controlled chaos of vacation packing continued, my frustration grew.   Why does every electronic device on the planet require its OWN charging device?  Where do 100 pencils go, anyway?  And how on earth is it possible to lose the roof pack for the van — I mean come on, we’re not exactly talking microscopic here! 

We’ve reached the end of the week and it SEEMS as though nearly everything has been found.  In fact, nearly everything is packed and ready for our departure at 3:30 am tomorrow morning.  I’m feeling relaxed and pleasant.  And to tell you the truth, it’s scaring me… what do I not even realize I’ve forgotten yet?????

But in case you’re wondering, yes, I packed my hairbrush!

I’ve never been a big fan of yard sales.  Having them, that is.  I’m way too big a fan of frequenting them, which is ultimately why the need to have one developed in the first place.  The prospect of a sunny Saturday… two daughters eager for cash… the annual neighborhood extravaganza… seems like a recipe for success, right?

Wrong!  For a variety of reasons, we only began preparing for our event at about 10:00 pm on Friday night.  First big mistake.  Box after box tumbled down from the attic.  We discovered that my bargain hunting of recent weeks was for naught… a complete wardrobe for preschool girls still existed, stashed in the deep recesses of the attic.  We began diligently sorting box after box after largely mislabeled box of clothing ranging from newborn through size six and some even larger.  Three large bags were filled with stained, torn clothing that I can’t begin to understand why we stored to begin with.  We discovered elastic-waisted pants do not fare well in attic heat. 

Ultimately (somewhere around 1:00 am) we were left with 14 rubbermaid totes of neatly sorted, clean clothing ready for sale at a bargain price of just .25 a piece.  We added some toys, a couple of used bikes, and some baby equipment to the mix, and at just past 6:30 am, began loading everything onto the front lawn.  The girls set up their table, complete with homemade brownies and cookies, and cold sodas for hungry, thirsty shoppers.  We were all set!  

Five hours later, we had brought in a whopping $16 — $5 for my son’s old bike, and the majority of the rest from brownie & soda sales.  13 3/4 Rubbermaid totes of clothing remained.  I’m trying to look on the bright side — that’ll be quite a tax deduction when I finally make it to the Crisis Pregnancy Center & Goodwill, and at least it’s not in my attic anymore, right?  But I missed my son’s baseball game, one side of my nose is sunburned, and I don’t REALLY think this was the best use of a Saturday morning when I could have just donated the stuff to begin with.  Lesson learned.

Note to self:  Baby Steps!

I should have known better.  I’m really not sure what happened to my brain between Wednesday night, when I came to the sad realization that we could no longer survive solely on the remaining contents of the fridge and pantry, and Thursday afternoon, when I found myself surrounded by recipes and grocery lists and the intent to prepare and freeze dozens of healthy, nutritious meals… but there I was.

Okay, so it wasn’t dozens.  It only SEEMED like dozens at midnight when faced with mountains of ingredients galore and WAY too many pots and pans.   It began with a run to the local warehouse store, where I accumulated 24 chicken breasts, 12 chicken thighs, 6 lbs of ground beef, a few lbs of round steak, and 6 salmon filets.  Oh, and lets not forget 208 gallon-size freezer bags (at less than I would normally pay for 120), 128 quart-size freezer bags, a jug of laundry soap that will supposedly last for 128 loads, 90 dishwasher tabs, and assorted other items.  Now I remember why I don’t go to there very often!!  But I do know my regular Walmart prices pretty well, and I did save a lot of money… and I guess with four kids, and an extra adult for the next few weeks, I need to face the reality that we ARE a large enough family to benefit from bulk shopping.

So we stashed all that here, there and everywhere and after dinner, I headed off to Walmart for the rest of the groceries.  By 10:00 pm, everything was away, I had given up hope of watching ER, and we began.  We quickly realized that my shopping skills are a bit less than perfect — even with a list, I missed a few key ingredients for some of the recipes.  So dh jumped in the car — gotta love having a decent grocery store a mile away — and went to grab the last few items.  He forgot the main thing I sent him for, but I guess I can’t say too much on that one, can I?

With the help of dh & dd11, we chopped, we food-processed, we measured, and we bagged until after midnight… and in the end, my freezer was filled with a dozen ready-to-cook meals (about half for the crock pot).  Add in a leftover night or two, weekly spaghetti night, and dh’s desire to pull out the grill on weekends, and we should be good for 3-4 weeks!  I know someday I will undoubtedly be glad I embarked on this adventure, but right now I am SO incredibly tired (my preschooler had to wake me up or she wouldn’t have made to preschool).  I guess that’s why the instructions said to take it SLOWLY!

Bon appetit!