Favorite Freezer Meal

Okay, so some friends have been asking me for awhile now about the freezer meals I made last year.  I haven't made a whole lot this year since Danny's home and life hasn't been quite so hectic.  However, we are entering football season so I decided to at least have one sitting in the freezer.  Plus, it was an added bonus that the ham steaks were on sale at Kroger.  Also, I needed something to take my mind off the fact that we still have not received an email about our next PCS. 

I am only listing my favorite crockpot freezer meal today.  However, when I am getting ready to really do two weeks of freezer meals, pinterest becomes my best friend.  I go through at least 3 or 4 different pins to find the meals that I want to make.  I have yet to find someone else's list that is good in its entirety for my family.  For the most part my kids and Danny aren't too picky.  However, Danny doesn't like soy sauce and the kids hate pineapple with their chicken, so I have to stay away from those meals now (I made at least 4 of the last set of freezer meals with soy sauce and Danny choked them down).  Also, now that I've gone through a couple of the different meals, I know which ones are good and which ones are horrible (hint:  if the recipe says 'world's best chicken' and its a crockpot meal--unless you REALLY like mustard--its not).  So I go through these lists picking about 6 to 8 meals that I think would be great.  That gives me 12 to 16 freezer meals because each one doubles.  Then I go through and make my shopping list.  I set aside a day or one or two days right after I shop to make sure I get it done before the fresh ingredients spoil.   It usually only takes 2 to 3 hours to do all the freezer meals.  However, make sure you look at the recipes because sometimes you have to actually cook the meat before you can put together the meal.  One of my favorite recipes is an enchilada freezer meal, but you have to cook the meat in the crockpot overnight before you can put together the meal. 

Okay, so back on track.  One of our favorite freezer recipes is Scalloped Potatoes and Ham from
Six Cents: Crockpot Freezer Cooking 101  She does a great job listing lots of recipes that are pretty easy.   The reason this recipe is one of my favorites is that I can do it pretty inexpensively, its quick, and no one complains.   From start to finish (including clean-up) it took about 30 minutes.   So here is my picture of all my ingredients.

Then I get my freezer bags ready.  I label them with the recipe and the cooking instructions with sharpie.  I always double bag the freezer meals because some bags have been known to leak and cause a mess in a freezer.  (Not pretty when you have a freezer full of meals and are unsure which one leaked!) 

Then, and here is what I love the most, you mix your ingredients inside the gallon (or 2 gallon) baggie.  Unless you really like cleaning extra dishes, just throw it in the baggie as you go.  This is what my meal looks like after I've thrown everything into the bag, mixed it up, and then double bagged it.  Note:  For this recipe it calls for a can of water to be added.  Do that at the end when the bag with stand up on its own. 

And Here is what I had to clean up:

If you have ever been around when I cook or bake, then you know that I am typically a messy cook.  So when I can cook and there not be a mess I am really excited. :) 

My next project is to create a pinterest board with all the freezer meal links I've tried and leave comments on it.  I will probably be making freezer meals in October again and will blog about those for you all. 

Wow--its almost been a year?!

Okay, Okay, Okay...I completely dropped the ball on this blog thing last year.  Part of the reason is that last October I hit a wall and was in a pretty big deployment funk.  I was having a rough time with it and some other things and didn't want to be negative or use the blog to say things I shouldn't.  Plus, when I'm in a funk like that I don't want to do ANYTHING. 

So what has happened since October?  Danny came home on Christmas Eve.  This is the second time he's come home on Christmas Eve and it makes it a super special reunion.   Here is a video of that reunion that our church made extra special. 

This summer we found out that we will be moving again.  We were given a 6 month window for PCSing (Permanent Change of Station aka moving), but not really told where or when.  Since we've been told that its been a daily struggle to not worry or stress about the details.  I'm a planner by nature so the not knowing anything is a struggle.  I pray every day for peace, then I pray for some answers to come quickly.  We have been told that we should know something next week, so that is exciting.

Moving is never easy.  Well, the actually packing and moving is easy because the Army does it all for us.  They hire movers that pack it all into boxes and load it all onto a truck.   However, its hard emotionally.   This move will be especially hard for all of us.  God blessed us with some pretty wonderful friendships since we've been here--for all of us.  Bryce and Jace are already upset to leave friends.  Jace has a couple of friends on our street and one day Jace said "how can I leave them Momma?  We're the three amigos!"  Today he asked if we can just wait till he turns 15.  I don't know why he picked that age other than that it might seem a long way off to him.  Bryce has been struggling also and has already cried a couple of times at the thought of leaving her girlfriends.  

We've also been blessed to have a great church family.  Its sad to me that Bryce won't be here to grow up in the student ministry--that she'll miss the opportunities I was excited for her to experience.

I'm sad that we'll miss other opportunities that the kids have had here--great football organizations and coaches that love on Jace and are great role models, First Tee Augusta and the relationships Bryce has built there, the 4H program here that Bryce likes, and that Jace would love if we were here in 5th grade for him to start.  That's always the hard part, being in a community and knowing that at some point you'll have to leave.

Once we know where we are going, we can start counting up the positives of the new place.  I know that where ever we go God has a plan.  When we moved to Augusta I was worried about finding a church home because we left a wonderful church in Tennessee, but God provided exactly what we needed and then some.  I have faith that where ever we go will be good for us. 

Right now, I'm not having a hard time with the emotional aspect, probably because we don't know when or where we are moving it isn't "real" yet.  I am so preoccupied thinking about the when and where of it that I have put the other, harder, parts of the move out of my head.  

As we enter this next "here we go again" adventure in the Army, I will keep you all up to date.  Hopefully better than I did since October ;)  

Making Bryce's Halloween Costume

For the first time ever I am making a Halloween Costume.  Bryce and her friend are going to be clowns--not the typical red nose, big shoes clown, but a cute trendy clown.  I would have had no clue how to make a costume, or rather, I wouldn't have wanted to figure it out on my own ;).  However, my friend Shari, just happens to be the friend's mom, and is super crafty.  She already made her daughter's costume and is helping me make the jacket, shirt, and hat for the costume and she taught me how to do the tutu and umbrella.  So I'm going to share with you my progress, because instead of cleaning today I spent the day crafting. 

So I start with my supplies:

 I had already cut some of the tulle, but still had about 8 rolls to cut.  Before this picture I had measured the elastic to fit around Bryce's waist and hot glued it. 

  

This is the mound of tulle I had after cutting it all.

 

 Here is the skirt after the first color

 and then I added Green

 And here it is with 3 colors--purple, blue and green.  I would have been happy with it at this stage for a normal tulle skirt, but because its for a clown I wanted it super fluffy so I kept going.

 Here is a close up to what the band looks like.  It doesn't matter so much how you loop it around the elastic as long as you do it the same for the whole skirt.

 Here is the skirt with all five colors.  I love how all the colors look together.  However, the elastic had stretched out so I needed to fix it so it would still fit Bryce.

 Here is a close up of the elastic that was stretched.  I cut out the extra and reglued the ends together.  Then I took some extra tulle an covered up the exposed elastic.

 and here it is...the finished skirt. 

 Then I started with the umbrella.  First I cut out the flowers from the lace.  I cut 25 from each of the four colors. 

 Here is the pile of cut out flowers.

 Here I am getting ready to hot glue everything onto the umbrella.  I found the umbrella at Michaels in the wedding section.

 First I hot glued the mini pink boa around the edges. 

 Then I hot glued on each of the flowers.  Needless to say my fingertips have a few blisters.  The hot glue kept attacking me.  ;)

Since I spent the day crafting today, I suppose tomorrow will be spent on cleaning.  After I spend some time volunteering at the school in the morning.  

Football Care Package

I promised a week ago that I would post about the last care package I sent Danny as soon as he got it and he received it today.  I went with a football theme care package since its football season.  Since it is our anniversary I put a little extra love into it :) 

Here are the pictures: 

 Jace decorated this side of the box. 

 Bryce's side of the box.

 And the last two sides were for me to decorate. :)

 You have to have summer sausage, cheese and crackers to watch a game.  I couldn't send cheese so I sent cheez-its ;). 

 A few of the football themed things I found.  I was looking for the football oreos and didn't see them until after I sent the box. 

This is Dallas Cowboy.  The kids went to Build-a-Bear and made Daddy a bear.  They each recorded a message for him.  So, when you push one paw you hear Bryce say, "I love you Daddy and I'll always be your little girl" and the other paw is Jace saying, "I love you Daddy and the Cowboys ROCK!"

 Here's his birth certificate.

 Every football player needs to show some team pride so here is a flag for him to hang on his wall.  I'd say door, but I'm not sure he trusts his neighbors not to take it ;)

And this is the anniversary gift.  A new Cowboys shirt! 

And there you go, a football care package!!

I have never understood bullying.

Bullying mystifies me. I just don't get how someone gets such great enjoyment out of making someone else miserable.  I have been hearing all week about how its happening in Bryce's classroom, in the lunchroom, and on the bus and I am fed up.

 I am so thankful that Bryce isn't the focus of the bully.  I'm even more proud that she is sticking up for the poor child who keeps getting bullied.  The poor boy even went home early and missed school today.  It breaks my heart because I know this boy is nothing but sweet and shy.  I keep encouraging Bryce to stick up for him and do it so loudly that he knows he has someone defending him.  Unfortunately I also had to warn her that it might make her a target of the bully.  I hope that doesn't happen, and she doesn't care about the risk (she is much braver than me sometimes), but I still wanted to be clear there could be a backlash. 

Then today, my neighbor came came off the bus crying.  Bryce told me that the 5th grade boys were picking on him on the bus.  Same group of 5th grade boys doing the bullying.

Where does bullying begin?  With the parents? With the friends they choose?  I wish there was a cure.  Bullying doesn't just hurt in the midst of it.  I still carry scares and insecurities from being bullied in 7th grade.  I think about that time in my life and cringe.  It makes me a little more overly sensitive to bullying--because let me tell you--if what happened to me starts to happen to either of my kids--I will be a permanent fixture in that school.

I sit here and am thankful that at this moment my kids aren't either the bully or the one being bullied and pray for the parents of both to find a way to help their kids. 

What makes deployments survivable?

Friends ....and family...and friends that are more like family...and definitely prayer.  But this post is about friends--which are an answered prayer so I guess its all interwoven.   I know I have probably mentioned it before, but I need to say it again.  I was struck again today at how valuable a good support system is during a deployment.

This weekend I finally took some friends up on an offer they made me when Danny first left in January.  "If you need anything just ask" is a line us deployed spouses hear a lot...and appreciate.  Some of us are better about asking for help than others.  I'm so-so about asking for help.  If its something I think I can do--its just a pain to do, or a struggle to find time to do--I won't ask for help.  I feel like its showing weakness or something.  I feel like its my responsibility to get it done.  I feel better if I can pay someone to do it, because then I feel like I haven't pawned my chores onto someone else and burdened them.  At any rate, I finally got over it and took Brett and Amy up on their long standing offer of watching the kids so I can have a weekend to unwind.  It was great!

They watched my little ones while I went to a deployed spouses retreat in Savannah.  I got a fake tattoo that said, "US ARMY APPROVED." So now I'm army issue :)  The joke behind that for you civilian folk is that the whole time I was in the Army, and Danny has heard it too, is that "if the Army wanted you to have a family it would have issued it to you."  At any rate, hung out with some great ladies for Ft. Gordon during the day, and since it was in Savannah I was able to catch up with an old Army buddy from my Ft. Stewart days.  Lisa and I got to go out to eat and stay up and chat like teenagers.  It was a much needed break.  So thank you Brett, Amy,  and Lisa for making my weekend!

Other people that are making my life easier right now are Jace's football coaches.  I love seeing Jace get some good positive time in with such great men.  In addition, both, but especially Andy, are willing to help me out in whatever way I need in regard to getting Jace to and from practice in games.  Andy's wife is also awesome and welcoming.  They both have full schedules, but are always willing to help out.

Tonight Bryce started golf, and it was the first night so it had the parent meeting.  This meant I had to stay there until 8 and couldn't get Jace from their scrimmage (which they won by the way).  Andy took him home and Jace got to chill with him.  It was great for me, but it also gave Jace some more time with a great positive role model and some guy time.  As I was picking Jace up tonight Andy said again--we'll take Jace anytime you need help.  Since I need help Thursday, it was a great time to let him know ;)

But in addition to these fine examples, I have some great friends & fabulous church family.  Besides my hubby being home, what more could a girl wish for :)  Thank you to all my friends and family that are making this year so much more bearable!!  

Yep..I finally broke down and did it...

Yep, I finally did it.  I finally broke down and paid for my house to get clean.  Well, its not clean yet.  Augusta Daily Deals was having too good of a deal to pass up--55% off of house cleaning.  I checked what all they cleaned and I was sold.  Instead of spring cleaning I'm getting some good fall cleaning :) 

I finally decided to bite the bullet and pay for help cleaning this one time because I have been so overwhelmed with everything else that needs to get done that the cleaning just gets pushed to the back burner.  Now, I do keep the house neat (most of the time LOL) but its the deep cleaning I really want.  Things like cleaning off the ceiling fans, doing base boards, behind the toilets, walls--you know--all the things you see that are dirty but can always wait. 

So now I just need to schedule when to have them come clean ASAP--and hopefully they'll have another deal right before Danny comes home ;).  Actually, I think I could just buy another deal and hold onto it..consider it a Christmas present to Danny to have the house clean, right? 

Oh--and here is all the stuff they will be cleaning..yay!!
Kitchen
Remove cobwebs
Sweep & mop floor
Spot clean outside of cabinets
Clean baseboards
Clean outside stove
Vacuum or sweep kitchen rug as needed
Clean outside refrigerator
Clean and polish sink & faucet
Clean the outside of all appliances
Empty trash
Clean inside/outside of microwave
Wipe down all windowsills
Clean counter tops
Clean all blinds
Light fixtures, ceiling fans, & switches
Wipe off electrical outlets
Clean inside of windows

Bathrooms

Clean mirrors & sinks
Clean exterior of all vanities
Clean light fixtures, switches, & ceiling fans
Polish faucet
Spot clean the outside of cabinets
Spot clean the door on both sides
Clean soap holder
Clean toilet and behind toilet
Clean tub & shower
Remove cobwebs
Clean baseboards & floors
Clean all blinds
Wipe down all windowsills
Clean inside of windows

Living Areas/Dining Room

Dust all corners (high/low)
Dust all horizontal surfaces
Dust mop wood floors
Sweep/mop tile (if applicable) and clean baseboards
Remove cobwebs
Clean windowsills & blinds
Clean sliding glass doors
Clean all glass & mirrors
Clean light fixtures, switches, & ceiling fans
Clean inside of windows

Bedrooms

Dust all horizontal surfaces
Light fixtures, switches, & ceiling fans
Dust mop wood floors (if needed)
Vacuum and/or Mop tile
Dust all corners (high/low)
Make all beds
Clean all glass and mirrors
Clean blinds & windowsills
Clean baseboards
Clean inside of windows