Freezer meal update!

Okay so I have tried quite a few of the freezer meals so far and have loved most of them. The pork dinners have both been good , and we have tried the honey chicken. I think that the honey chicken would have been better if I hadn't left it for so long in the crockpot. My crockpot is a very fast cooker even though it says that it is a "slow cooker". Most of the meals from http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/freezer-cooking-2.html?showComment=1346699136218#c3456854906029638060

say to slow cook for 6 to 8 hours on low, but my crockpot can do it in about 3 on low. If I wasn't a stay at home mom that would most definitely not work for me start in the morning. So far though I can not see why you couldn't bake them in the oven when you arrived home as long as you had them unthawed. The one pork meal from this blog was to be put in the oven and was very yummy. The chicken pot pies are soooo good. My family loves them. The pulled pork is also very awesome. It has a different taste from the bque pulled pork I normally have made (normally I just put Bulls eye bque sauce over it), but my family loves it. Lil man (my three year old) is very picky when it comes to his food, but he will eat a whole sandwich of this.

I have also tried the pumpkin french toast sticks(Wild Child loves them) and the spagetti pie from

http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/2012/10/lets-get-cookin.html.

They have also been very good recipes that my little family has enjoyed.

I have really enjoyed having the freezer meals. Even though I am at home, and people believe it should be easy to make meals it isn't always easy. I work all day long cleaning up after children and caring for them. I try to fill the day with fun learning activities. All the activities take time so it is nice to have at least the main course put together and it also helps with the cleanup. When dinner is served it is already pretty much cleaned up. I really love that part. It helps me to be able to enjoy the evening with my family before it is time for the kids to go to bed.

So in conclusion I am totally in favor of doing freezer meals!!!   

Freezer meals!

What an adventure this weekend has been! Saturday morning I sat down and was reading a new blog post from one of my favorite blogs about freezer meals. I have never been interested in doing them because I don't really like reheated meals, and that was what I figured most were. I was really surprised when I started really looking and realizing that most are the main meat. Also that they aren't cooked before freezing, and that the cooked ones sounded okay. So I called my sil and explained them to her, and I was pretty sure that she would love the idea. She did and so we decided to go shopping for all the stuff. This is where things got a little crazy. All together there was three adults and five childen under the age of seven. We decided to go to Sams club they normally have the best prices on meat in our area. Next time we will be doing our shopping on a weekday very early in the morning, and not on a Saturday afternoon. It was insane with tons of people. Thank heavens the shopping list was put together on the blog for you. Then if the gathering things wasn't crazy enough then when we went to pay my sil couldn't find her debit card anywhere (she is three months pregnant and very emotional) and she panicked. We searched and searched and finally we just had to leave most of her cart for the store to put back. She was so emotional and embarrassed it was awful. I felt so horrible. If I hadn't come up with this crazy idea then she would have been home stress free. Okay so maybe as stress free as you can be with little ones. We all went to the cars, and searched the car while the kids screamed that they wanted to go home. Finally we found it and my poor sil in relief and panic cried and cried. I went back in and grabbed all the stuff again, and then we headed home.

It was a completely crazy shopping trip. When we got home we each put together 10 of our meals together.The sauces that go on them were awesome tasting. Then we called it a night. Yesterday I cooked the pork roast to make the pulled pork and that was yummy to. I ended up with 4 dinners out of that. I did add brown sugar to the sauce though. Today I am going to make the chicken pot pies and the twice bake potatoes.

I am new to the blogging world so hopefully I can link the blog that I found the link for the recipes. The link to the Sullenger blog is

 

http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/2012/10/lets-get-cookin.html

She had a few other links to some that I would like to make, and then the link to the recipes that I have made is

http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/freezer-cooking-2.html?showComment=1346699136218#c3456854906029638060

Zumba!!!!

So it all started over two years ago. My sil talked me into going to a zumba class that a friend talked her into going to. I will be honest I was so not excited at all. I  have always struggled with my weight no matter what I try, and so I prefer to exercise in the privacy of my own home. The instructers were so nice and I found that the class was full of all shapes, sizes, ages. At first I was very self conscience because I am not very coordinated, but by the end of the class I realized that I had fun. I loved how energetic the routines were, and that it was a lot like dancing. I became addicted!!!

I continued to go twice a week for about 4 months and was losing weight. I then found out I was pregnant, and I continued to go through out the entire pregnancy. It made me feel awesome. I hurt and ached so much with my first pregnancy. I hardly ached at all with this one, and felt great(minus the morning sickness constantly)! About the time that I had my little girl the instructors had to stop their classes in my town, and it was too far to go to their other ones so late at night. I was devastated.

I thought of zumba often, and everytime I heard a zumba song on the radio I wanted to zumba it up. After about 4 months I found another studio, and I talked my sil into going again (she wasnt as big of a fan as I was) and my mil. This studio is awesome it is like a big party. They turn out the lights, and have a fun lighting system. My mil has become a zumba junkie like me and we go two times a week. We have both lost quite a bit of weight, and feel so much healhier.

Zumba is my time for me. It energizes me, and puts me in such a good mood. When I have to miss it is like I am a two year old that has just had their favorite toy taken away lol. I am so thankful for zumba it has been an activity for ME that I love and isn't like a chore. My husband Mr. old fashioned is also so awesome about taking care of the kids while I go he is the best.

The Beginning.........

Where do I start? I am Dani and have been married for five years. My husband is Mr. old fashioned, and we have been blessed with two beautiful children. We have a little boy who is three and a little girl who is one. My husband Mr. Old Fashioned isn't very comfortable with the blogging world so my family is going to have nicknames. My little boy tries acting like such a big boy all the time so I think I shall call him lil man, and I think wild child fits my baby girl pretty well right now.

My days are filled with lots of craziness and love. I have started this blog as a way for me to write down my joys and frustrations. I love being at home, but sometimes trying to get the housework done,  kids taken care of, the honey do list, occupying the children with learning activities, play time, favors for others, and me time there just isn't enough time in the day to accomplish all of it. Me being a little ocd (okay maybe alot ocd) causes me to feel like I never get enough done. I always have these wonderful lists and plans,and most of the time I am lucky if I get half of it done. I have come to the conclusion that life is a happy crazy mess most of the time and it is what it is!