Cooking Queen

Some of my running buddies have been doing this prepared meals thing for a few months & it sounded perfect for me. It’s organized so that once a month, 15-25 women get together & pre-make 10 meals. I was sad I didn’t have my own cute apron…

There were 5 stations & each group had about 5 women that prepackaged a single meal & then we put that meal in large, labeled Ziploc baggie and into our cooler before moving on to the next meal station.

It’s really a LOT of women in the kitchen bustling around a top speed and going through about 427 baggies every 5 minutes. We did all 5 stations and packed up 5 meals, then took a quick breather to clean and re-stock each of the stations with meals for round 2.

So I got 10 meals for 4 people for $150 and about 3.5 hours of labor. I still need to add sides, but I’m excited about the variety and having everything all measured out already that I can just pull out of the freezer without much thought.

For my first meal, I tired the pork chops with bacon and sage.

Any meal that starts with bacon is going to turn out alright…it was hard not to eat these while the rest of my meal cooked.

Just tossed a bit of salt and pepper on the pork chops- we had 6 total.

Cooking lesson 1- don’t drain and save the hot bacon grease in a plastic measuring spoon.

Throw in the sauce ingredients for a few minutes & dinner is ready!

I was really happy with how our first meal came out & how much easier it makes cooking if I don’t have to browse through cook books, make a grocery list, run to the store, measure out everything, put all the ingredients away, and then wash all the measuring devices.

Later in the week, I cooked the chorizo on the stove & then threw it in a crock pot for the day over some chicken breasts. It wasn’t my favorite, but wasn’t too bad either.

At the last minute, we invited H’s mom over for lunch after church. I was able to pull of a gourmet meal of London Broil in less than 30 minutes.

And last night, we had the maple encrusted salmon- very yummy and super easy! I’m trying to cook as much as I can before we leave & before we move, but I will be signing up for more dinners in the future.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Home alone tonight- going to play with the puppies and get lots of packing done.

Dogs & Raccoons

I’m going to try to sneak a few posts up this week even though life is CRAZY BUSY. We leave Friday & I’m swamped with packing and cleaning and remodeling chores. The puppies have been very neglected- the weather has been too cold and rainy to go to the park much. Zoe cracked me up when she plopped herself down in the middle of the nicely made couch atop all the pillows. They were all over the floor within a few hours.

My other silly puppy sits in all sorts of awkward positions on the couch.

They have been testing my nerves lately, but I bought a new (slightly larger) crate. I’ve only put them in it together one time, but it made me laugh hard enough to forget what I was upset about.

So other random thing is that raccoons have been out lately. We pulled into the Dairy Queen on a very major road near our house & we saw several raccoons playing in the back by the drive-thru.

What was more odd was that there was a cat there that didn’t seem to mind the raccoon at all. A few days later, as we turned down our street we saw another raccoon run into the drain.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The sun is out finally!

Mail from 1989

Mom has recently been cleaning out her house & that means I’m taking possession on many of my old things, including a box full of keepsakes and numerous cards- mostly from 1989. I’m still a bit thrilled to see a personal note to me that Miss Betty took the time to type out the envelope.

This old cardboard filing box contains many memories- from girl scouts to homemade school projects (i.e. “books” decorated in golden wrapping paper).

I’m dating most things in this box circa 1989 when I broke my leg one summer by absent-mindedly riding my bicycle into a parked car on the way home from morning swim practice.

There were numerous mementos from my time as a member of the official Mickey Mouse club.

Look! Back in 1987, girl scout cookies were only $2 per box!

It was great to take a stroll down memory lane revisiting gymnastics certificates and so many touching notes from friends and family from 20 years ago.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: So excited about the new house- contract is signed & inspections are done. Let the appliance shopping begin!

Chasing Birds

In the field where we regularly go, there have been lots of birds on the ground recently when we arrive. Not sure if it’s the time of year or time of day that we are going, but the dogs LOVE chasing the birds.

In this second video, you can see you chase 1 bird out. When we arrive, there are usually dozens of birds that are on the ground that fly away as the dogs clear the field. I want to get out there earlier (before the dogs) and get ready to video when there are dozens of birds flying away.

Video taken January 28, 2010

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I made 10 meals in 3 hours last night & can’t wait to start cooking again.

Dogs & Toys

I swear Mia is the happiest puppy ever. I often find her laying just outside my bathroom as I get ready. She rolls around on her back & plays with her toys. Sometimes I think she’s going to break her teeth the way she snaps at her toys & “play snaps” as Zoe sometimes.

New toys are a HOT commodity around our house. I usually give them 1, let them fight over it for a few minutes & then give them a second new one so they will stop fighting. DOES NOT WORK! Zoe gets greedy and wants BOTH toys. She will chase Mia & bark until she gets whatever toy is in Mia’s mouth at that moment & then will horde both of them. Mia is usually VERY good at the keep away game with Zoe & Zoe really has to work to get a toy from Mia.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Our house inspection is today- looks like we will be doing it in the rain!

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