I know it’s not entirely true, but I feel like I have been away from home for the entire month of March.
Asa had a basketball tournament the first weekend of the month. We were home for a few days, then we went to Branson and were gone for six days. The end of this week we are going to Kansas City for LTC. Phew! It’s hard to get ahead when you can’t even catch up. And it’s hard to catch up when you’re not even home. And it’s hard to be home when…well, when you are traveling. (Profound.)
Anyway, Saturday I was home. Yay for me! I had big kitchen plans. I decided that I wasn’t going to go anywhere all day, that I certainly wasn’t going to change out of my sweat pants, and that I would get caught up on some work, and spend several hours cooking. I’m so glad I did! I got my email inbox down to 82 (It had made its way up to well over 200 last week) and spent four hours cooking and baking. I now have some healthy convenience foods in the freezer, as well as several snack items that might just last two whole days around here.
First, I mixed up a double batch of Whole Wheat Butterhorns. While the dough was rising, I got my food processor whirling as I made three batches of Homemade Peanut Butter.
I put two jars of peanut butter into the fridge to have ready for later. Then I used one batch to make Healthier Rice Crispy Treats and Mudballs (thinking of my awesome cousin Jayme the whole time, since she’s the one who gave me that recipe).
I should also mention that the day before, I had made 80 Chicken Fried Steak Strips.
I had the boys help me take them off the cookie sheets and put them into freezer bags for
easy meals in the future. I love getting that mess out of the way in big batches!
I then made two dozen eggs worth of Easy Breakfast Casserole. I put the 9×13 dish in the freezer to thaw and bake another day. I baked the two round dishes for our lunch.
While they were baking, I began shaping 64 Butterhorns. I baked several to go with our egg casseroles for lunch – yum! – then shaped and froze the remaining butterhorns. I love having these in the freezer to pull out, thaw, and bake when I need them for company!
I froze the shaped rolls on cookie sheets,
then popped them off the next day and put them into freezer bags.
Last, I made a double batch of Homemade Poptarts. We ate some of them for breakfast on Sunday morning, and the rest went into the freezer. These are so good when warmed in the toaster oven, served with fruit and a glass of milk!
I should also mention that I roasted two chickens and made broth for the freezer. It’s always great to have homemade chicken broth on hand!
As you can imagine, my wheat grinder, oven, and dishwasher got quite a workout that day! And I slept really well that night. :)
What’s your favorite food to have on hand for snacks or easy meals?