Evelyn Grace Gilbert is here

My friend Erin is a great photographer and she wanted some practice taking pictures of newborns.  Of course I was happy to oblige. These were taken when she was 17 days old.

fnalkdn

Freezer Cooking

In September I did the biggest favor for myself.  I spent an evening and made 44 freezer meals!!  I didn't intend to make that many, I kept finding recipes that looked good and didn't pay attention.  It is now the first week of November and I still have 19 dinners left!  I love not having to think about what to make for dinner.  I just look in my freezer and pick something out in the morning and put it on the counter to soften a bit and then throw it in the fridge until I'm ready to cook.  I thought I'd show you some pictures of my evening to perhaps inspire friends and family to try it before the holidays to free up some time.  It will be the best present you've given yourself (and your family).

I started my marathon at around 4 or 5 in the evening. I taped a copy of all my recipes on the cupboards in front of me so I didn't have to search while in the middle of something.  I told everyone I was off limits for the rest of the night.  Ben took charge of the kids and I put up the baby gate and locked myself into the kitchen. I put my headphones in and I listened to podcasts and books on my ipod.  If any child approached me I just waved them toward their father.  My night was a lot of work, but also a bit enjoyable.

I began by doing all the prep cutting.  I have plates of onions separated for each recipe. Most of the meals were prepared up to before the final cooking.That way they don't taste like frozen leftovers.

Then I started assembling.  I started with a meat and did all the recipes with that meat.  These are flank steaks in a marinade.  This was really good grilled and served with rice. 

Sometimes a recipe needed to have parts of it separated.  In this bag of fajitas I have the meat in a marinade and the veggies in a separate bag because they are to get added at the final part of the cooking.  I put them both into a larger ziploc bag along with the tortillas. 

This is another way that I would separate a recipe.  For my pesto chicken I have the chicken breasts cut in half with a slit sliced in the middle.  In another bag is the sauce and in the last is the mozzarella cheese.  I stapled them all together ready to throw together into the oven.  I served this with Parmesan pasta noodles. 

This is a shot of the start of my meatloaf (front left), my spaghetti sauce (back left), my pasta shells for stuffed shells (back right), and the milk and cheese sauce for mac and cheese (front right).

Things didn't always go smoothly, this spaghetti sauce was the last item for the evening and I was letting it cool before I bagged it.  A box of kosher salt from the shelf above suddenly fell into the pot and sauce went everywhere.  It was now almost 1 in the morning and I had sauce to clean up all over the floor, the counter, the walls, and the fridge behind. Finally, I was done.

Again, I didn't plan for this cooking session to last this long.  At around 11:00 I counted how many recipes I had left I didn't understand why there were so many.  Usually when I cook 30 meals it takes 4-5 hours.  Then I counted how many meals I was going to make it turned out to be around 44!  Some of these recipes were also new to me and more involved because I was using a few freezer recipes from the America's Test Kitchen book "Make Ahead Meals."  (They promise the meals will taste like they've never been frozen.) 

So here is how I froze my meals.  Almost all are in Ziploc bags frozen flat.(They defrost better and more quickly.)

 

Here is how it looked in my freezer (sorry I couldn't get the picture to stay vertical when I downloaded it.  Just turn your head to the right and you'll see my side by side freezer).  Even though it took some effort and planning, one day of hard work that lasts more than 2 months is definitely worth it!

Here is a list of what I made:

Mac and cheese x2, Stuffed shells x2, enchiladas x 2, Chicken pot pies x 3, smokin' grilled pork chops x2, Sweet and Tangy Flank Steak x2, Grilled Chipotle Lime Chicken x2, Jo Mama's Famouse Spaghetti x 4, Pesto Chicken x2, White Bean Chicken Chili x2, Sesame Chicken x3, Slow Cooker Fajitas x2, Lasagna x2, Taco Meat x3, Meatloaf x 3, Sweet Pork Tacos x 3, Chimichangas x 2, Pot Roast x 2, Hawaiian Haystacks. 

I taught a class on how to do this so I have directions and recipes for all of this.  If you'd like a copy just give me your email address and I'll send you one.   

If you want to see pictures of our family...

Go visit my friend's blog.  She is much better at this than I am.
http://enjoyourjourney.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-favorite-toddler.html

Birdie Update

I'm growing up!

Me with Mom and Dad in Whitehorse, Canada

Haley's cake

"Hmmm what is this stuff? It's kind of squishy!"

"Ooooh, it tastes good. I think I'll have some more"

"This stuff is fantastic! Are you really going to let me have as much as I want?"

"Hmmph, morph, yum.... I could eat this all day."

"Looks like this is an 'anything goes' kind of day. What else will they let me put in my mouth...?

"Hey, this lighter thingie looks good...!!!"

"So does this!!!"

"But not as good as this. Oh yeah.... yomph strommff mmmmm!!"

Some of you might have heard about the cake I tried to make for Haley's birthday. That afternoon, I took the gluten free cake out of the oven and put it near the window in my kitchen to cool. I went to Costco to pick up some things for dinner and while I was away I got a phone call from Ben. "Hey April, are you still shopping?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I think you'll need to pick up a cake on your way home!"

"Why, what happened?"

"Well, your cake was near the window cooling but when Bradley pushed the lever with his foot to open the garbage can lid, it hit the cake and knocked it out the window! Sorry honey."

Haley turns 1 Year

It was Haley's birthday last month and I finally have time to write about it.

Haley got all dressed up ready for her party on April 22. She isn't walking yet, but she could if she wanted to. She has 6 teeth but more are on the way so she has her fingers in her mouth all the time. She won't take a pacifier, but she sucks her thumb at night.

Haley loves to crawl over the couches and chairs in the house to get to what she wants. She also knows how to climb down backwards. She can say Mama and Dada, but she uses both for either one of us. Haley still takes two long naps a day, she goes to bed around 7:30 and gets up around 7 in the morning.

Haley isn't afraid of the vacuum or dogs like her big brothers were at her age. She got a doll for her birthday but she could take it or leave it at this point. At the store she smiles at everyone and people comment on how big and blue her eyes are. Her hair is turning curly in the back, especially after it's been freshly washed. Her big brothers are wonderful, they both will change her diaper, love to make her laugh, and race to see who gets to get her out of bed when she wakes up.

Haley likes to babble all the time. She doesn't make sense yet, but she'll get there. She will keep bows in her hair until she remembers they are there. Haley likes to give hugs. She will put her head down on your shoulder and pat your back three times when you ask for loves. She gives kisses by opening her mouth and licking your face. She won't kiss Ben on the cheek because she thinks it is too rough. Books can keep her occupied the longest. She loves to open and close and turn the pages. She'll sit quietly on your lap for a few minutes if you'll read her a story. Haley loves the ladies downstairs. As we go down the stairs to go out she already starts waving her hands to say hello or goodbye. Haley likes to wave with both hands sometimes.

This year has gone by very fast. Haley has grown a lot. She is 22.5 pounds, she is in the 95th percentile for height and head. We're very glad she is part of our family.

More spring break pictures

Here are more pictures of our spring break trip

This is our camper and truck that we love. It did well in the cold single digit nights and we felt very comfortable. I would recommend one to everyone.

Haley enjoyed the breaks from her car seat,

She also loves to hang out with her dad.

We love the bed area that is over the cab of the truck It is very comfortable and we have nicknamed it "the nest".

This was taken Sunday morning as we were all getting ready for church. Haley's favorite part of a bath is always grabbing the towel I use to wash her and chewing on it. It's hard to take it away from her. She is so strong that when I try to take it from her she won't let go and I can pick her up off the ground! I have to pry her fingers away if I need to take it from her.