Memory Monday: Photo Flashback

First stop after that very first road trip? Disney World! 

Grandma, Me, Meah and Mom. Dad's behind the camera! 

Yes, Meah and I are wearing matching outfits and yes Meah is sportin' a fanny pack. 

Good times. :)

Proof (plus some super cute pictures!)

Let's take a look at Wednesday's picture of me again.

Okay, these first two pictures were my attempt to recreate the first photo. Also they're just super cute so I included them.

But here is the proof that he has ears like his Momma! Look at those ears! So so cute! Okay, can you tell I'm a bit biased? Plus? That smile is only the best smile I've ever seen before! Makes my heart melt!

He'a 4 months today! Love you little boy!

Unfadingly Beautiful

In my early twenties, for 5 summers in a row, I volunteered at a camp for kids ages 7-11 who have been victims of abuse and neglect. The camp is one week long and we pour every ounce of love, encouragement and fun we can into the kids during that week. My favorite event during the week is the birthday party. We throw one big birthday party to celebrate all the campers' birthdays. The boys wear ties and tuxedo shirts. And the girls-oh the girls wear beautiful dresses and have their hair and makeup done and wear jewelry and practice walking in sparkly high heels. And inevitably, every year, at least one of the girls says something like,"Look at me! I'm a princess!" or "I'm so beautiful!"

And you know what? Every  one of them is beautiful. Every one is a princess. And it's not the hair and makeup or the jewelry and beautiful clothing that makes this true, for they were beautiful long before and after the birthday party. Sometimes, though, those things are just tools that help bring out the beauty that's already there- the beauty that's been there all along. Truly what makes those girls beautiful is the hand of a Creator Who looked and called them good after He designed each and every one of them. Uniquely designed. Amazingly lovely. Unfadingly beautiful.

I believe that for every day of her life, every woman should get to look in a mirror and sincerely declare, "I am a princess! I am so beautiful!" And that, my friends? That is why I love Unfading Beauty- the spring fashion review my church puts on every other year. Because whether you are walking down the runway or sitting in audience, the goal of the show is for you to know that you are beautiful. You are amazingly unique and lovely and you deserve to be celebrated. And if it takes a little make-up and a cute outfit to get you to realize what we already know about you, what God already knows about you- well- let's make a night of it then!

So bring your girl friends and your daughters and your momma and your aunts and go and be celebrated for the uniquely made, beautiful woman you are. And while you're there, review the latest fashion trends with modesty in mind, have some dessert, enter (and hopefully win!) some fabulous giveaways, shop at local vendors' booths, hear a passionate woman speak all about you, and mix and mingle with other beautifully made ladies.

And if that's not enough for you, join us for breakfast the following morning and a mini-conference designed with you in mind! Sign up for a break-out session, be encouraged by a great speaker and walk away with tools to help you love you more and more! I'll see you there next Friday at 7:00 at Christ's Place Church! More details here!

Less Words Wednesday: The First

It's true.
I was born.
On this day, 28 years ago.

This picture was taken around my first birthday. Insert oohs and ahhs here.  Look at those ears! You can hear a dog whistle with ears like those! Also? Lincoln has ears like those, too. They're genetic apparently. I'll prove it later when I can take a picture when He's NOT sleeping. I don't care if you don't believe me. I refuse to wake him just to prove this point.

Hmmm....apparently turning 28 makes you snotty towards your blog readers. Sorry. :)

Wow, that's a lot of words for "Less Words Wednesday". Better wrap it up. Have a good day. Eat some cake for me! (I mean, with me, cause it's my birthday and I'll eat cake if I wanna!)

Memory Monday: What Wednesdays Used to Mean

I got the old photo albums out the other day. The ones with pictures of me when I was small, and of Meah, too. Pages filled with my smiling parents, arms around each other. Meah here petting a rabbit at the County Fair; me there crying on the carnival ride I thought I wanted to go on but changed my mind too late. 
Memories.
     It's funny what change can do to memories. Change like your parent's divorce or your sister's death. Drastic changes can make true remembrances seem instead like mirages so that when you get close you see they are not what you thought they were; what you thought you remembered. But that is Satan's lie, for they are what they were when they were made-fossils from a time, frozen and preserved. Though life now may look drastically different from the times of those memories, they are still true. Aren't they?
     It's then that I realized I needed to preserve those memories. Fossilize them right where they were when they were made. Put words to the pictures I know so well. Put words to the life I can forget if I'm not careful. A sister I loved, now gone. A family I cherished, now scattered. But I have those memories. And in them- the pulse, the heartbeat of a time I long to remember. A time that made me, largely, who I am right now. A time I can't find anymore but know was there because of the memories.
     Do you want to join me? Lock arms with me as I toddle down that lane? You know the one- that lane with all the memories. Perhaps you, too, have some that need revisiting, need refocusing, just need conjured up for a while. Perhaps you have some you need to preserve? Lock arms with me then. Toddle with me now. We'll see what we can see. We'll find what we can remember.


So thank you for joining me for Memory Monday. And here is what Wednesdays used to mean.


My dad has worked for Shopko since before I was born. He started out as the guy you call when somebody steals something, and worked his way up to manager of the whole store- a position he still holds. He worked mostly day hours when we were little, but on Wednesday nights he had to close the store, which meant he wasn't home until Meah and I were asleep. So Wednesday nights were just for us girls. 
Momma would be there to meet us at the door when the school bus dropped us off from school. Then we'd hurry excitedly and finish our chores because it was Wednesday, and we knew what Wednesday meant. After quick chores (and an after-school snack, of course) our Wednesday would begin.
In cold weather, we'd climb into Momma's car and cruise around town spotting Christmas lights or singing loudly to the radio. In nice weather, we'd take the long way downtown, towards Shining Lake Michigan, to play at the park on the little makeshift beach while Momma watched on and laughed that soft, tender laugh she still laughs with me today. Then we'd pile back in the car and drive to Pizza Hut which may as well have been Disney World- we loved it that much. We'd order our deep dish sausage pizza and breadsticks and tell stories about the boy at school who fell asleep during math today, and the girl who wore the same shirt as Meah without them even planning it, and didn't Momma think my hair would look better if I got it cut like just like hers and what, oh what movies would we rent tonight and could I please have a Kit-Kat AND a Reese's Peanut Butter cup because I got an A on my spelling test? And Momma would smile and laugh and nod "yes" or shake "no" and look at her girls the same way I look at my tiny ones now. And we loved our girl time and we loved our Momma.
Then after we'd stuffed ourselves full of pizza and bread we'd go to the movie store and pick out two movies, because Wednesdays meant getting to stay up just a bit later. Then we'd trek on home and Meah'd pop popcorn and I'd gather blankets and our great big pillow. And we'd smooth blankets flat on the living room floor, one on top of the other making a cushy movie palette and Meah and I would sit with our popcorn and our only one piece of candy (because A's on spelling tests don't mean excess candy) and Momma'd sit behind us on the couch- a Momma bird over her brood- and we'd watch our movies and eat our treats and Wednesdays meant something special. 
Then, after the candy, after the popcorn, after the movies and all the talking and fun, Momma'd tuck her baby birds into bed with kisses and hugs and that same, tender smile. And we loved our Wednesdays and we loved our Momma. And in the quietness of the room we shared, with tired eyes and happy hearts, Meah and I would discuss our favorite parts of the movies and what we'd want to see next week and how much we loved what Wednesdays meant.

Less Words Wednesday- Gone Fishin'

Fishing net- $1.78 Walmart
Foam Letters- From puzzle at Dollar Tree
Red Tub- $2.50 Walmart

Great indoor learning fun!

Memory Monday- How I Came to Love the Road

I got the old photo albums out the other day. The ones with pictures of me when I was small, and of Meah, too. Pages filled with my smiling parents, arms around each other. Meah here petting a rabbit at the County Fair; me there crying on the carnival ride I thought I wanted to go on but changed my mind too late. 
Memories.
     It's funny what change can do to memories. Change like your parent's divorce or your sister's death. Drastic changes can make true remembrances seem instead like mirages so that when you get close you see they are not what you thought they were; what you thought you remembered. But that is Satan's lie, for they are what they were when they were made-fossils from a time, frozen and preserved. Though life now may look drastically different from the times of those memories, they are still true. Aren't they?
     It's then that I realized I needed to preserve those memories. Fossilize them right where they were when they were made. Put words to the pictures I know so well. Put words to the life I can forget if I'm not careful. A sister I loved, now gone. A family I cherished, now scattered. But I have those memories. And in them- the pulse, the heartbeat of a time I long to remember. A time that made me, largely, who I am right now. A time I can't find anymore but know was there because of the memories.
     Do you want to join me? Lock arms with me as I toddle down that lane? You know the one- that lane with all the memories. Perhaps you, too, have some that need revisiting, need refocusing, just need conjured up for a while. Perhaps you have some you need to preserve? Lock arms with me then. Toddle with me now. We'll see what we can see. We'll find what we can remember.


So, thank you for joining me for Memory Monday. And here is how I came to love the road.


I was seven and Meah nine. We pinched pennies for months but who cares about pinching pennies because when July finally rolled in, we packed our bags and headed out for our first family trip to Disney World. Kenosha, Wisconsin is a long way from Florida, but Daddy hated flying and I feared the same, so we piled, no- squeezed into the red, four door Taurus one morning way before the sun ever thought to show, for a long, long trek to the "promisedland". Meah and I in window seats in the back and Grandma bridged between us, (and hadn't she always been that strong bridge for us leading us always to something good?) And for the first hours we slept while Daddy drove and bobbed his head to James Brown and Parliament. Then the sun made her appearance with aggressive rays right in my face making sleep impossible. And I remember, then, waking in the dawning: Daddy's music playing, his eyes smiling at me from the rearview mirror. I remember the hum of the tires on the pavement, the blur of the yellow lines gliding by. And I came to know the road. Her sights and sounds. Came to sense the sun dawning and hours later, still cruising, her descent as well. And when Momma and Meah and Grandma woke we  played games and ate the snacks Momma packed us. We sang the songs we loved and rolled the windows down and stuck our arms out, trying, just trying to catch the breeze. And in those hours, those long hours on the road, it didn't matter where we were going because we were going together. And hadn't I thought we'd always be going together? I came to love the road.


We stopped, legs stretching, bladders full and tummies in want of more than snacks. And we ate together and talked excitedly of the fun we were already having. Then readjusted pillows and cleared out wrappers and got ready to ride again. And sure Grandma's arms bumped into mine and my feet squished her's sometime, and Meah wanted to listen to this tape and I wanted that one, and Momma and Daddy fought over the map and which way was best and how late should we drive before we look for a hotel- but I loved the road, and I knew they loved it, too. I knew, from Grandma's smiles and Daddy and Momma's quick make-ups, and Meah's singing to the songs she loved the best, and my stack of books I'd never have enough road to finish. I knew we all loved it. We loved it together.


We'd make that trip again six times before Grandma died and Meah got too old to come and before Momma and Daddy split. Before Meah died. We'd make that trip and dozens others on the road, each one pounding in me a love that can't be pried up again. And I can still feel the breeze on my face, hear the hum of the tires, can still sense the dawning of the sun I came to know on the road.


I remember.

I Like Me... Most of the Time

You ever have one of those days or moments when you feel utterly terrible about something you've said or done? If you haven't you have no heart. Sorry. That wasn't nice. I'll add that to the other things I feel terrible about.  Anyway, I had such a moment recently. And when I have those moments I pop popcorn, play music and throw myself a pity party. Because it's in those moments that I wish I had a calm, quiet personality that is never impulsive and never says things or does things it shouldn't. That's when I wish I would never interrupt conversations or laugh too loudly or talk too much or care too much about being witty.
And then, halfway through my bowl of popcorn and just as "Billie Jean" is ending, I remember something. I'm darn happy with who I am. Oh yes, yes indeed I have flaws. And yes, I have done and said things I wished I hadn't and no I am not always happy with how I act or with what I think, but I am happy with me.  Why? Because "God made me special and He loves me very much".

I know, such a cliche Christian response, but honestly, I've had to learn to love myself for who I am- really, for who God made me. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin and was the only black girl in all of my classes for elementary and junior high school. I felt very different, but had great friends who loved me. Then I moved to Omaha, NE and went to high school and for the first time I wasn't the only black girl in my classes, but I had trouble relating to many of the other black girls. Again, I felt different, but for different reasons. On top of that I was loud, obnoxious, passionate and just kind of goofy. After graduation as I entered the workforce, and then college and then back to the workforce I was still that lone, goofy, loud black girl in Lincoln, Ne. In so many situations I felt awkward and out of place. After an interaction with people I'd go home and analyze every detail and wonder at what point I said something I shouldn't have or worried about how I fit in. But why? I always made friends, found a place to belong and knew what path I wanted to take in life. So why did I struggle so much with who I was? Well, it's because of those moments. Those moments when God reminds you you're human after all and you make mistakes, and you hurt people's feelings and you let people down and you sometimes just drop the ball. I think at those times some of us convince ourselves that things like that wouldn't happen if we were just someone else, or just like someone else. We convince ourselves that its simply because we are who we are that makes us do those things and if we could just be someone else, we'd never fail.

That's false thinking and oh what a slap in the face of your Creator to think such thoughts! How do you pronounce something unacceptable that He has already called "good"? I came to a few realizations somewhere along the line and now the way I view myself is remarkably different. Is this how God sees me?

I try to keep in mind these things that I've learned directly from having the type of personality I have:
1. Not everyone is going to love me and want me to be their best friend
2. If I say or do something I regret, I should apologize and move on, not fret over it for ever
3. God gave me exactly the personality I have for exactly the work He has given me to do
4. Number 3 doesn't mean I get to do whatever I want and not be accountable
5. If I were someone else, I wouldn't be exactly who God wants me to be

It's funny what a God-perspective can do to a pity party. So, with this most recent situation that I felt terrible about, I made a phone call, asked forgiveness and thanked God for letting me know myself enough to know when something like that is necessary.  And then I cranked up "Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits" (who I am still mourning by the way), and danced my lone black girl dance in my living room while the kids napped. Yeah I did. Cause I like me.

Most of the time.

Winner!

Thank you all for entering the Easter Countdown Blocks giveaway! Our winner, selected at random, is Kiley from Aurora, NE! Stacie, the maker of the lovely blocks, will contact you with further instructions! Sorry that this is all my post consists of today. I overslept. Hopefully I'll get to post something else soon! What do you care anyway though? It's supposed to be 60 degrees out today. You won't be worried about when I will get my posting up because hopefully you will be out enjoying the nice weather. Could Spring truly be on its way? I really, really hope so. We have a grand walk in our plans and perhaps a stop by the park. Enjoy the day and have fun!

What Easter Brings- (Including a GIVEAWAY!)

It's with hope that Easter comes. The restful weariness of winter slowly ebbs away, cold seeping out of pores, warms with the earth. Greens blossom. Our hearts blossom. HOPE.  

He rode into town, a hero and a saint. "The whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen..." (Luke 19:37b) But they hadn't really seen anything yet. Not yet.

For in a few short days the shouts of praise would turn to sneers and contempt as the Savior died for the world He loved but didn't love Him. 

And three days after that. 

Three days after that. A tomb stood empty. 

Greens blossom. Hearts blossom. HOPE- in one man, in one price, in one death, in one life- blossoms at Easter.

What was buried rose, alive and full and vibrant, and...for you. For you. A gift years in the making, a Father's heart in the center too full of love to contain it any longer, so for you- a gift in Easter. HOPE. 

Why not count it down this year? Why not mark the days and mark your heart with the HOPE that is all for you? Why not pause from busyness, recover from weariness, saturate in thankfulness, overflow with joyfulness, and burst with celebration on that day? We remember. Oh that day of HOPE. Count down with me.

Start a lasting tradition with your family and countdown to Easter in style with these beautiful Easter Countdown Blocks! Win a set by entering the giveaway below!

Leave a comment about today's post then:

Click on the link below and complete the form! One winner will be selected at random and announced on Friday. Giveaway is open until Wednesday at midnight! Good luck!

 http://www.eastercountdownblocks.com/

A Little Bit of Colored Rice

I'm working on a few posts right now that I am pretty excited about, except that they take lots and lots of thinking skills and after two days of subbing in a row (and one of those days with a class of rowdy kindergarteners) I decided to go "light" and publish this post about my wonderful daughter and her colored rice.

Naomi will be 2 in April and has a lot of energy! She is a very inquisitive child and loves to explore and play just like any child her age. Last week we made an executive decision in our home to turn the television off completely while the kids are awake. It was a wonderful choice for us! Naomi has self-directed a lot of her activities since then which motivated me to make her some new materials to explore. I have just begun using curriculum from Hubbard's Cupboard and I LOVE it. The woman who posts on this site is a homeschooling Christian Momma who posts lesson plans to rival any great school's with activities, objectives and a ton of resources. And? It's free!  It's this teaching Momma's dream come true! The only "complaint" I have about her site is that she a lot of great activities but doesn't include directions on how to do them all, but I've been able to find that information elsewhere so far.

Anyway, Naomi and I have just started the "2's" curriculum from her site and it does not disappoint. In addition to Bible verses, literacy focuses, math ideas and songs, she also suggests sensory ideas. For the month of March the theme is baking and birds. As a part of the baking focus, she suggested filling a sensory tub with colored rice, muffin tins, spoons and mixing bowls. I knew Naomi would love this, so we did this earlier this week.

First, I poured some water and food coloring (4-5 drops) into a small plastic container (old sour cream or larger yogurt containers are great for this), then I poured about a cup and a half of rice in (I just eyeballed it) and stirred until the rice was fully covered with water. I did this with four different containers and four different colors. Then, after the rice had soaked for about 20 minutes, I poured out the water and laid the rice on newspapers to dry overnight.

After the rice dried, I dumped it in Naomi's sensory tub which is just a medium-sized plastic container with a lid.

Then, after tossing in an old muffin tin, some spoons and other tools, I let Naomi have at it!

(Please observe that she is wearing the beautiful necklace 

my friend Erin gave me. She strongly insisted. 

I can't contain her inner diva.)

She played with this tub for an hour and a half before lunch and another 45 minutes after, until I had to drag her away for her nap. She has done it almost every day this week and continues to enjoy it. Does she make a huge mess when she does this? Yes! Who cares? Messes can be cleaned. (She has her own little brush and dustpan from the dollar store to help me sweep up the rice. She can't actually sweep it up well yet, but who cares?)

What a wonderful, very low cost idea that yields hours of fun! Thanks Hubbard's Cupboard!

Making My Life Easier- Make Ahead Meal Recipes!

Okay, so yesterday I posted on how making meals ahead of time has made my life much easier. Today I'm sharing with you some of our favorite recipes in our March meal plan, some resources that I love, and some ways to package meals. This will be a long post, but hopefully good information for those of you who are new to freezer cooking.

Let's get started!

First- for recipes that are liquids (soups, sauces), I store/freeze them in gallon size freezer bags. Just pour the contents in, remove all air from the bag, lay flat in the freezer, and then when they freeze they can stand upright in your freezer, taking up less space. When you want to use the item, take the bag out, defrost either by submerging in water, or by leaving it at room temp (if this is a meal containing already cooked items), or put in your fridge 1-2 days in advance. Then just pour into a large enough and deep enough pan and reheat.

For most other recipes, I buy 8 by 8 round tin-foil pans from the the dollar store. They come in packages of three with tops. They are perfect for my freezer meals because they can be used in the oven and then just thrown away! LOVE them! You can freeze meals in just about anything, but be sure to let glass containers thaw all the way or they may crack when cooking.

Okay, so, here's a sample two-week meal plan for my house. I do not cook every day because we have assigned leftover days to make sure food doesn't go to waste, but for the sake of cramming as many recipes in for you to have,  I have "planned" a meal for each day.  Click on the links for the recipes, most of which come from my favorite recipe site- Allrecipes.com.

February 28- chicken and stuffing casserole- (scroll down to the bottom)

March 1- waikiki meatballs and fried rice

March 2- spaghetti with homemade pasta sauce

March 3- chicken enchiladas and corn

March 4- pizza rolls and salad

March 5- teriyaki chicken and white or brown rice

March 6- poppyseed chicken casserole

Mach 7- lasagna and garlic bread

March 8- fry bread tacos

March 9- chicken fajitas

March 10- sloppy joes and circle fries (scroll and you will see them, Mindee has other great recipes 2!)

March 11- burrito pie and mexi rice

March 12- super easy chicken enchilada soup (2nd recipe when you scroll down!)

March 13- cranberry chicken and white rice

Okay, so, on cooking day I buy all of my ingredients and usually make red meat meals first while letting chicken breasts cook in the crockpot- I just toss in however many chicken breasts I'll need for all the recipes so all the chicken is ready when I need it.

Here are some recipe notes meal by meal.

1.  chicken and stuffing casserole, pretty self explanatory! Thanks Erin!

2. waikiki meatballs and rice- I freeze just the meatballs, but you could freeze the meatballs and sauce separately. 

Prepare meatballs according to directions, prepare sauce separately. Place meatballs in a freezer bag and freeze. Freeze sauce separately using the bag method. To serve, defrost meatballs by placing them in a medium saucepan on medium heat, stir occasionally. To defrost sauce, take out of freezer the night before and put in fridge overnight or leave it at room temp. until you are ready to cook. Heat it with the meatballs. *Prepare rice the day you will eat it. (I use frozen mixed veggies for the rice, just as good and less time consuming.)

3. Spaghetti 

Cool the sauce and freeze it using the bag method mentioned for number 2. Defrost the same way. Combine with cooked noodles on the day you will eat it. Do not freeze the noodles with the sauce.

4. Pizza Rolls- yep, pretty explanatory and yummy, except we eat ours with ranch dressing.

5. Put raw chicken in freezer bag and pour sauce over it. Freeze using bag method. Defrost using bag method, cook chicken separately and either pour marinade in small sauce pan and heat to boilng (adding a little cornstarch to thicken, or make a new batch of marinade, to pour over chicken. Prepare rice the day of.

6. Poppyseed chicken casserole- freeze only the chicken casserole portion (I do this in 2 8by 8 pans); BEFORE adding the crackers. Defrost the day you are going to eat this, then, right before it goes in the oven, add the cracker mixture. Serve over white rice or egg noodles.

7. Lasagna- Any lasagna recipe will do here. I freeze one 9 by 13 size lasagna into three smaller parts, placed either in small corningware dishes or the pans from the dollar store.  I defrost my lasagna fully in the fridge the day before, and then just bake according to the recipe directions! 

8. Fry Bread Tacos- the only thing I can prepare ahead of time for this recipe is the meat. Make taco meat as you normally would- 1 lb. browned ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning. Freeze in a bag after cooled, and defrost in the fridge the night before or set out the morning of. Then reheat in a skillet. And all you have to do is make the bread and eat!

9. Chicken fajitas- I freeze the raw chicken breast and onions and peppers with the marinade using the bag method. On the day to serve cook the chicken and veggies and discard the marinade. Then I sprinkle the juice from the lime over the chicken and veggies right before serving. Serve with warm tortillas and garnish with cheese, sour cream, etc.

10. Sloppy Joes- pretty much the same method as the taco meat except prepare the entire recipe (except the buns of course) and freeze the sandwich meat in a bag. Reheat and serve on buns. (I always add extra ketchup while reheating because I like mine really, well, sloppy!) Make fries the day of.

11. Burrito pie (I put the refried beans directly on the tortillas instead of putting them in the sauce mix) and mexi rice- This recipe makes 2 8 by 8 round pies. I prepare them just as directed and freeze in dollar store round pans after cooling. To reheat, defrost them before cooking and then cook according to recipe directions. Make the mexi-rice the day you will eat it.

12. Chicken enchilada soup- see notes for Italian Sausage soup; heat, garnish and serve.

13. The recipe link explains it all!

Wow, that's a lot of information. I'm sure I missed something and I am in no way an expert on this, but leave questions in the comment section if you have any and I will do my best to address them! Happy freezer cooking!

Making my Life Easier- Make Ahead Meals

After our son was born, my life got a little bit more hectic. With our daughter still very young and our new baby very colicky, I quickly realized that I was going to need to live a different lifestyle to maintain my sanity. The next couple of days I will posting a small series on "Making my Life Easier". Today: Make ahead meals.

Inevitably right around 4:00, which is when I used to begin preparing dinner, my toddler has a melt-down, and my infant who was playing happily on his play mat up till 3:59 all of a sudden has urgent need of being held. Urgent. Dire. Life-depending need. So I end up holding an infant while stirring spaghetti sauce and bribing a toddler with pre-dinner snacks all the while crying and wishing I could relocate to Hawaii. Alone. Also? If I didn't have a meal planned for that day and was just hoping to wing it, that contributed to the stress as well as sometimes meats weren't defrosted or I didn't have the ingredients I thought I did.  Yes, dinner prep/eating time used to be INSANE around this house. It was I could do to not order a pizza everyday and then lock myself into my room to let my husband deal with the chaos that is preparing and feeding my family.

Not so much anymore.  For now? I prepare make-ahead meals. Oh the joy that is the make-ahead meal!  Here's how it works:

1. At the beginning of the month, I make a meal plan for my family either for the next 2 weeks or for the entire month as our budget allows. It really doesn't change the process at all and you'll see why. The meal plan contains not only the meals to be made, but also the dates on which we will eat them.
2. I shop for the ingredients and cook in the same day or two consecutive days (usually a Saturday and a Sunday.)
3. If I am cooking just for 2 weeks, I make 8-10 different meals, cool them, package them in whatever packages best suit them, and freeze them all at once. If I am cooking for the month, I prepare the same 8-10 meals, but I double the recipes so I that I really have 16-20 meals in the freezer. I write the re-heating directions directly on the packages so I don't have to look up recipes again.
4. Then, each day, when it is time to begin dinner prep, I check my menu planner to see what meal I planned for that day, take it out of the freezer and follow the prep directions (sometimes it needs to be defrosted which I do by: letting it sit out- I know- genius). And then I pop it in the oven so that it will be hot and ready to go by dinner.
5. Then I rejoice for the ease of it all!

What's that you say? Could it really be that easy, Latrice? Yes, Daniel, it can. :)

My time has been freed up immensely using this method! I have less dishes to wash daily because I only reheat in one pan or sometimes not even that depending on how the meal was packaged. I don't spend time daily stressing over dinner and preparing dinner. 4:00 to dinner time now is a great time when I spend time with my little ones coloring or dance partying- ANYTHING but preparing dinner. Even when I have the time to cook dinner daily, I'm not sure I'll go back to that. And this method works great for people in all types of situations: young married couples who work full time and don't have a lot of time to prepare meals daily, single people who don't often cook because portion sizes are too large (just halve the recipes, or make the whole recipe but freeze it in smaller portions), and of course, for families like mine with two young children who have a sixth sense for knowing when to start acting up.

Intrigued about this Make Life Easier Strategy? Tomorrow I will post our March meal plan with links to our favorite recipes and other resources! Stay tuned!