Freeze It Fridays

Teaching Children To Become Independent

My oldest prefers to bring his lunch to the school lunch menu.  It's funny because I was the girl who always took her lunch.  I sat eating homemade cookies and sliced apples and longed for the rectangle pizzas the other children were eating.  I was known to do a little insider trading with the other children who wanted my homemade cookies and apples while my mouth salivated for artificial goodness of school lunch. 

When L started school I knew he would just be overjoyed to buy lunch each day, until a week later he said to me, "uh, mom??? unless they are having chicken nuggets, I'd rather just have a pb & honey sandwich.".... WHAT!?!?!?!?!?

Sending a check each month for the payment of lunch is so much more convenient than making a lunch each morning. So i created a system where i kill 3 birds with one stone.

Here's what you need: A few loaves of your child's preferred bread.  Peanut Butter (we like crunchy), Honey, and lots of Ziploc bags.

 At the beginning of the month I buy 4 loaves of whole wheat bread. I immediately put 2 of the loaves into my freezer. The other two I break open and lay every piece but the heels on the counter.  I spread peanut butter liberally on half the slices.  Then I drizzle honey over the other half and spread with a knife.

    I pair up and sandwich two slices together and put them in Ziploc bags...

and immediately freeze all of them.

You can do the same for PB & Jelly.  I would recommend putting peanut butter on each slice and jelly on top... this keeps the jelly from bleeding thru the bread when it thaws.

Lucas can do this whole process from making the 20 sandwiches...

To stuffing them in bags, and then freezing.  Each morning he is in charge of "making" his own lunch.  It takes him 60 seconds flat to grab everything he needs and put it in his lunch box.  It's a terrific way to help teach independence... AND PLANNING AHEAD!

As a side note, this is the C'man at his Easter party yesterday.  This is the picture of the girl he claims he will "take to the temple to marry someday, she just doesn't know it yet mom!"

HAPPY FRIDAY...and HAPPY EASTER!!!

what's new??

i have a little bird that is chirping in my ear telling me i am not blogging enuf. I will agree. I will apologize for not doing it more often and promise to be better... but the next time I'll be on here will probably be mid spring... SORRY, JUST TRYING TO BE REALISTIC ABBY! But a girl can try and there's gotta be an award for that. So what new with the crew???

Noni and Pop have moved from California.  After 31 yrs in the military, Pop decided to retire.

They live about 5 miles away (or 12 minutes with lights and traffic).  How do we feel about it????

We give it a THUMBS UP!

Note --only two children in that photo are mine the Skull and lacrosse stix and the surf champ--

After being here only a few weeks my dad (Pop), was notified to say he was being honored with the Legion Of Merit Award.  A 3 Star General From California flew in just to present it to him.  The Medal is the highest award given out that is non war related.  It was "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements".

(we took pics that i will have to get from the rents to post in my next mid spring blog post)

The C-man has learned to use a child proof lighter.  I'm just waiting for the day my house is burned to a crisp over an "unknown" accident.... I don't think i need fire insurance... more like 'Carter Insurance'

Noni and Pop's move was bitter sweet.... 3 days after they arrived, we said goodbye to uncle Ryan who moved back to Cali.... We are all pretty bummed about it.  As u can tell from the photo... he is pretty bummed too!

And this is how i feel DAILY....



But never fear... a light bulb went off in the ol noggin and I have made my life more organized and tranquil indeed.  So listen up mom's and ladies whose lives are so busy and not slowing down any time soon....

I began to pre-make my dinners in large quantities and freeze them!  I have a 3 month calendar planned out with a menu for each night.  Some meals are more staples than others and they may be listed once a month, other meals are a little more complicated and require more work so they are listed less.  Keep in mind, my husband does not like casseroles, or soup (but i can sometimes get away with a potato soup or chili from time to time if i'm lucky!)

I made up my first weekly menu with grocery list and went to the store.  I purchased a large quantity, I think of 25 disposable casserole dishes from Sam's...(they were super cheap $6 or $7) and my other bulk items.  I also purchased several boxes of freezer quart bags, sandwich bags, and gallon size bags.

Here's an example of a weeks menu:

White Chicken Enchiladas

Lasagna

Taco Salad

Chicken Parmesan

Quiche

Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Chips (sat night)

Roast,Rolls, Mashed Potatoes, Salad (Sunday dinner)

then on Fridays (because i don't have to be at the gym that day), I make all my meals.  When i make the enchiladas and Lasagna I make enuf to fill 3 casserole pans to freeze of each (for later use).  When i make Chic Parmesan I thaw the chicken, coat the chicken and bread the chicken and freeze on a cookie sheet.  I buy 3 1 gallon cans of tomato sauce and make my marinara sauce in bulk and freeze in separate quart size bags for easy access.  (note- i use marinara sauce for my pizzas, chic parm, base of my chili with extra spices of course)  Once the chic is frozen individually i place them in a gallon size bag together and take out the necessary chicken the night i want to make that meal, I cook the pasta and add a bag of marinara from the freezer.  My quiche I make in advance (3 at a time) and freeze in the pie crust so that the only thing i need to do is take it out of the freezer the night before and place it in the fridge and let it thaw overnight and thru the next day until it's time to make dinner.  Then all i do is pop it in the oven and make a salad to go with it.  Hot Dogs are easy and require little prep, but I do the same for BBQ beans as I do for marinara... I buy the gallon cans of bush's beans and doctor them up with caramelized onions, bacon, brown sugar, and mustard, then i divide it into 3 bags and freeze.  The night before I pull bag from freezer and place in fridge.  The next morning I put the beans in crock pot on low and let it cook till dinnertime...Grill the dogs and u are done.  As for taco salad I buy my ground beef in the large tube at sams and cook almost all of it into taco meat.  I sautee the onions, brown the meat, drain and season.  Then i divide it into quart bags and use it for taco, red beef enchilladas, chili, burritos...etc.  I just dump the frozen bag into the crock pot the morning of and let it thaw and slow cook until dinner.  EASY PEASY PEOPLE!!

My days are a bit tricky between teaching class right smack dab at dinner prep time, helping with homework, and ball practice for 2 children, PLUS Wednesday night church activities, and monday is FHE, etc.  We were eating out way too much and my life was suffering in more ways than one.  This takes a little time once every few months to sit down and plan out menus but there is something liberating about not having to freak out when ur little one says..."what's for dinner mom, i'm hungry!"

I'll post more meals I do soon...(soon is a relative word on my blog, okay?!?!)

Before i sign out let me give a brief example of how this has helped JUST in this last week.  The missionaries from our church called monday morning and said i wrote on the calendar last month to feed them that day, ofcourse i didn't remember and i had a packed day.... So i pulled a lasagna from the freezer that i made 2 weeks ago and sat it out to thaw.  Later in the day I cooked it and dropped it off with garlic bread and salad...viola ladies... it's amazing!!!