Friday Bits and Pieces

I'm sitting here with a chick sleeping on my chest and the poor little thing is so snuggly and SO awkward looking right now.  I forgot how awkward they get! Also, I think their feathers are going to match my hair, which is randomly fun:) The wind is whipping like crazy outside.  When the wind started getting wild, Nick looked outside and said, "Whoa! It really IS Lion-y out there mommy!" 

It was 60ish degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday and it seriously felt like some sort of fog just lifted from the universe.  Between that and the extra sunshine in the evening, life was good.  Even if I did have one kid home sick and puking and the other at school, the one day a week that I usually have a chunk of kid-less time to get things done.  The same kid who was home two weeks ago with an awful ear infection! I just keep telling myself that SPRING is less than a week away. 

I'm working on meal planning and prepping for freezer cooking this weekend and, since I feel like I've had a bunch of people asking me about freezer meals lately and I didn't have much time to dedicate this week to posts, I thought I'd share a few things that I love to always have in the freezer for easy meals to give some ideas.  These are all things that would be great to try if you want to start having meals in the freezer but don't have big chunks of time to spend on cooking a bunch at once or you feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. A lot of it is stuff that can just be doubled when you're already making it or can be cooked as you cook other things and have the over or stove going anyway.  

Some Quick and Easy Freezer Favorites: 

Bolognese - make a huge batch and freeze in  meal-size portions

Pork Ragu - SO easy and so good! If you have the time to leave this in the oven, it makes more than enough for multiple meals

Burritos 

Soup - freeze leftovers in individual portions for lunches another day

Fried Rice  - only $4ish in the freezer section at Aldi (if you have one nearby!), quick to make, more veggies and tons less salt than most other store-bought frozen meals (and easy to add more veggies) and always turns out so well.  I also make my own with this recipe, but in a pinch it's nice to grab that bag and make it instead of eating out! 

Salmon - Sure, if you're feeling motivated you can marinate ahead of time, but I rarely do because it's so easy to roast along with some potatoes and a veggie like broccoli or serve with a salad. 

Chili - If you want to get outside the box, this black bean and sweet potato chili is AMAZING, but regular chili is so easy to make and always so nice to have. It's a whole meal alone, but I usually freeze it in smaller portions, too, to heat up and serve over baked potatoes on a night that we need something easy. 

Twice Baked Potatoes - another option that makes a meal alone with a salad on the side or as a side dish themselves.  

Sloppy Joes

Rice (or any grain, really) - Cook a big batch when you're cooking it anyway and freeze enough for another dinner. 

Pork Tenderloin

Quiche (freeze it cooked or uncooked) 

Tortellini

Pierogies

Shredded Beef/Pork/Chicken for Tacos/Soups/Casseroles/Quesadillas/Sandwiches
Sandwiches
Beans - cooked in big batches, they freeze and are so easy to have in the freezer. 

What do you love to have around to make life easier? I'd love to hear! 

p.s. If you struggle with lunches for work, The Kitchn did a whole series this week on lunches with TONS of awesome ideas! 

Some Friday Link Love

I've whined enough about how depressing this winter has been for me (can we all agree that this winter has been an insanely cold, snowy, gray one full of sickness that has made us feel like we're walking around in a fog?) so I thought it might be nice to share some fresh, happy posts to enjoy winter while it's here and look forward to the fact that it's February tomorrow and spring is a bit closer!  I'm trying really hard to get outside and walk a bit each day for sunshine or at the very least do work as close to a window as possible, what have you been doing to kick this winter in the face??

: I need these sky lights in my kitchen.  

: "Teachers- you’ve got a million parents behind you whispering together: 'We don’t care about the damn standardized tests. We only care that you teach our children to be Brave and Kind. And we thank you. We thank you for saving lives.'" -Glennon Doyle Melton  EVERY time I read a post from Glennon, I kick myself for letting it take so long for me to start reading her blog! 

: Ice Tunnels with Salt and Liquid Watercolors - These look so pretty and, even though the article is for summer, I think winter is perfect for this, too! 

: A long time ago, I made some spice rack book shelves that wound up going a little crazy on the internet.  They're still up in our house, but they're in our room instead of the kids because we switched rooms and I've been hunting for something to do on a bigger scale in their room since we switched.  I've seen a ton of those rain gutter type of shelves that are along the lines of the spice racks, but I've been thinking that I want something taller to be able to store books up high that aren't seasonal and this is going on my list of projects for their room, there's a perfect spot between their closet doors. 

: While I'm sitting and meal planning for the upcoming weeks this weekend, this Salmon with Green Beans and Mushrooms is definitely going on the list for a night when we need a quick meal.  It's not like it's revolutionary or anything, but the photo is so beautiful that it totally sucked me in.  The addition of lemon and mushrooms and the element of everything on one sheet for baking makes it quick and something a little more light since I feel like we've been eating heartier and heavier dishes lately. 

: I try hard not to keep a ton of junk for "just in case," but my kids really do love to play with junk and this Inventor's Box is just the ticket to keep it all contained but still let them create with their imaginations!  

Happy weekend everyone, stay warm! 


Disclousure: Amazon links are affiliate links. 

Day 24: In the Kitchen

I thought this post would go in a different direction with me talking about meal planning and what's on the menu this week, but it just feels boring right now.  And honestly? I'm getting a little bit burnt out on the daily posts.  This is where it's hard.  I had meals planned this week, but it's turned into one of those weeks where I'm been inadvertently going non-stop for a few days now and the meals are lazy.  John had meeting late tonight and while I planned to be lazy and make some mac and cheese for the kids, I couldn't even muster the energy for that and we just went out for sandwiches.

On the flip side of the eating out coin, though, is that I experimented during this two-week part of our budget with trying to use up what we have at home and in the freezer.  We (I) have wound up eating out more, but I've definitely spent less on food overall.  I still made trips to the store, but for milk and eggs and produce and other stuff I tried to make homemade, like popcorn for snacks and tortillas over the weekend and those little corn cakes last night when we had tacos and I will definitely be making all of the above again.

So, I guess all of that to say that I planned to talk about what's happening in our kitchen, but there's not much of any excitement happening, other than the fact that I'm trying to use up what we already have and actually accomplishing that (which feels good.) But not much worth sharing.  What's happening in your kitchen? Anything worth sharing?  I'm always amazed by what can be thrown together out of necessity or the laziness of just not feeling like going to the grocery store because you know you'll wind up dropping $50 when all you needed was milk.  

I'm spending 31 days writing and sharing a series about Documenting Your Everyday this month.

 Click here to see all of the posts as they're added and follow along.