Happiness. Lately. October 2014 (vol 5)

Happiness.  Lately.  October.  My monthly collection of "Happiness" - appreciating God's goodness in the little things and seeing his grandeur in the simplicity of my life and "Lately" - what I've been into and up to... in which it becomes very clear, very quickly that much of October revolved around food.

Happiness is...

this delicious treat in the produce department (finally under $3/lb and worth every penny of the splurge at $2.69/lb)...

fall candles... oh, how I love my scented candles, especially in Fall!! I don't burn many candles over the summer because we're not in the house that much, and heat, obviously.  But Fall is about coming home, gathering in, cozy-ing up, and hunkering down.  It's the best time ever to have a harvest-smelling home!   My November favorites are ready to go...

thermal everything.  It's true, I *heart* thermal :)

celebrating autumn with lots and lots of leaf collecting...

busting out my l.l. Bean fleece I got for $1 at a yard sale over the summer!!  (I love this color!  And it was A DOLLAR!)

Lately...

We started the month out with a Rosary cake for the fest of Our Lady of the Rosary!  (We prayed one too!)

We went apple picking with my mom...

I've started my stockpiling of winter meals.  My freezer is over half full already!

I hosted my 7th annual frozen meal exchange with friends.  I love this event so much every year.  This year was considerably different than all previous years in that it was a moms only wine and dessert evening.  In the past, I've had moms and kids over during the day for the exchange, but since we have a combined 27 children this year.... well, I don't think you can fault me for switching it to an night out for the moms!  We had a lovely time!   Aside from the social aspect and meals-on-hand aspect, one of my favorite things about the meal exchagne is I love having dinners that are out of our normal menu plan.  They're always delicious and such a treat.  This year I made my chicken sweet potato tacos (raw, frozen, ready for the crock pot) and I got chicken azteca, cabbage sausage soup, broccoli mac n' cheese, baked ziti with meatballs, and tuna noodle casserole.  Yum! 

I haven't been doing much reading.  I recently finished These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body, by Emily Stimpson with the ladies from my prayer group.  I'm also reading (for the fifth time!) Five for Sorrow Ten for Joy, by Rumer Godden in the hope that I'll be able to participate in the October/Nov on-line book discussion hosted by Micaela at California to Korea (and back).  (Rumer Godden is one of my all-time favorite authors.  Have you read anything by her??)  

I've been crocheting more dish cloths, hats, something fun for the Fall Soup Party, and a couple rows here and there on blankets I started a while ago.  I usually crochet while "watching" something...

I made this Maple Bacon Upside Down Cake for Russ' birthday.  He loves bacon and I love him so...    
(I got the recipe from Shower of Roses via Amanda at Erring on the Side of Love. Thanks, Amanda!  It was a hit!)

We spent a lot of time using up the 100 lbs of apples we picked (can't beat $.85 a pound!!) - tons of apple sauce (that's what's in the bottom drawer of the freezer) and lots of baked good goodness - apple crisps, pie, apple galette, apple pancakes, and this wonderful apple spice cake.  I've made it four times now, and just today two friends contacted me for the recipe, so... it's really that tasty :)  

Our annual Fall Soup Party is coming up, so of course I've been making soup like a boss.  My past method of making most of the soups in one or two weekends wasn't going to work for me this year.  So I've been cooking and freezing for several weeks a little at a time.  I made my own chicken stock for the first time (!) with some guidance from my friend, Lori, who, with her husband, runs a farm that conveniently has chickens!  Lori gave me chicken parts and tips on how to do it and two days later I had about two gallons of stock!  So my chicken soup is really homemade this year!

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**  Feel like joining me in reflecting on the past month and sharing some of the moments that made you happy and the things you've been up to?  Link up your October list of Happiness. Lately.  I'd love to have you join me! **  Don't have a blog?  Let's chat in the comments!

A Daybook... Sort of...

Heck, I've been trying to write a post for days now.  A couple times I wrote something but since I didn't publish it right away it became irrelevant.  Or, more likely, I sit down to write something and I'm just too. dang. tired. to care.  These days, once I get a shower and coffee, I've got sufficient energy and enthusiasm for the morning.  Once I've conquered lunch, I can usually manage to divide the kids' rest (my alone time) time between productivity and relaxation.  But by the time they get up, I'm a goner - apathetic, non-energetic, totally hanging on every tick of the minute hand until Russ gets home from work. Except today he isn't coming home from work... and thus begins my Sort of Daybook...

I am nervous about...

this weekend alone with the kiddos while Russ is away enjoying his once-a-year fun weekend with the guys.  Are you thinking it's a hunting or fishing or beer guzzling weekend?  Hardly :)  He's off singing barbershop quartet music.  (It's simultaneously dorky and endearing!)  This weekend is a just-for-fun friendly competition weekend, but he was deeply entrenched in the world of harmony last winter/spring when he was the tenor in a quartet that qualified for the Barbershop Harmony Society International Competition!  Here's a youtube link to the performance that qualified them...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3lTZupBINM

Once we found out we were expecting and realized neither of us wanted him to be gone so much, Russ bowed out and is back to being just a barbershopper-for-the-fun-of-it.  

I'm actually not even that nervous about going it alone this weekend.  I'm more nervous about having to jump back into the whole week-day thing come Monday morning without the usual weekend break from the kiddos that Russ gives me :)

I am thrilled about...

the arrival of my first nephew!  He was born this past Monday! I'll get to hold him for real at Christmas, but I've already been able to "meet" him via Facetime.  Awesome technology.  My sister and her husband are going to be wonderful parents, and I get to learn how to be an aunt!

I'm celebrating...
being in my third trimester!  I just realized it yesterday! Woohoo!  Isn't time strange though??  Some days, three months away seems like forever, and other days like it's just around the corner. 

I'm contemplating...
baby names.  Gotta start cracking down on this or the baby will be born and Russ and I will staring at each other with the deer-in-the-headlights look.  

Things I'm loving...

1) Sniffing our clothes.  I'm serious.  We recently had the gasket on our front loader replaced - this new one replaced the old one that had gone to a mildew-y place that even bleach at full strength couldn't touch.  I finally realized that even though soap and water are sloshing around in there practically 24/7, you can't expect that to keep the gasket clean.  (What??) So anyways... before the replacement we were getting technically clean, yet mildew-y smelling clothes, a scent not to be hidden by detergents and softeners. New gasket + the zealous commitment to tend to it after each and every load = laundry that smells uh-mazing.  And I can't stop burying my face in it and breathing deeply.

2) Having the automatic sliding van door repaired after almost two years of brokenness.  Love!

3) Fall.  Apples, pumpkins, baking, cool weather, fires in the fireplace, and my favorite autumn Yankee Candles - Spiced Pumpkin in the kitchen and Autumn Leaves in the living room.

4) Finally being pregnant enough to feel justified parking in the Expectant Mother Parking at the grocery store!!

At said grocery store, I am spending money on...

Sushi.  The kids and I housed 5 trays of tuna, salmon (cooked) and veggie rolls for lunch today.  (40 pieces for four kids and a mom??)  I'm soooo proud of my kids that they love it, but why does it have to be so dang expensive??? Remember in college when local dives would have 25 cent wing night??  Well, I need to find a 25 cent roll place if I want these kids to continue broadening their international palate.  Today was a treat b/c I buy more pre-made meals when Russ is away and I had a $4 off coupon :)

Here's a pic from my mobile phone of when we took a "field trip" to watch and learn
how they make our favorite rolls.   (from a couple months ago)

What I've been reading online...

The Secret to Writing a Great Blog Post  (sent to me by my mom, who is really someone who should be blogging.  hint, hint, mom!)

Sometimes I Feel Like Quitting   (a great homeschooling post by Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things)

Homeschooling, Learning Disabilities, and Trying Something New (from Katie at Blessed With Full Hands)

Evolution: a Catholic Perspective, by James Stenson

Real life book reading...

Reasons to Believe, by Scott Hahn
Seems like there should be something else, but I really don't have any other books going right now.

I want to start reading...
The space trilogy by C. S. Lewis.  A friend passed it my way, so now I just have to crack it open.

What's Got My Goat...

The radio station that started back to back, around the clock Christmas music THE DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN.  Don't even get me started because it will get very ugly very quickly.

To combat this outrage, the kids and I are focusing our singing this month on the hymns we're most likely to hear at Mass on Thanksgiving.  So far we've tackled, Now Thank We All Our God, Come Ye Thankful People Come, and We Gather Together.  In case the organist doesn't decide to go with these obvious choices, we are also going to squeeze in How Great Thou Art and For the Beauty of the Earth.  What else could he possibly throw at us? What am I missing?  Last year I asked him ahead of time what he would be playing so that the kids could learn and participate - and darned if he didn't play any of the ones he mentioned on Thanksgiving Day.  I have no choice but to hound the entire hymnal into the kids' heads... 

Disclaimer: I am myself, without inspiration from the local radio station, starting to make some mental Advent preparations.  I have a few new books I'll be ordering for the kids as usual, and I'm thinking about a new Advent wreath.  

I've really-eally-eally wanted one of these for a few years now... The Way of Light Wreath to mark the time of Advent and Lent... but since we use our dining room table for everything I'm afraid it would get pushed aside and forgotten on the buffet or bookshelf.  (plus, I haven't even figured out how to actually "order" one on the joywares.com website.  Has anyone had any luck luck there?)

http://adventtolenttoascensionwreath.blogspot.com/

 :

From my Kitchen...

After the frenzy of the soup party, I only had a week to regain my composure in the kitchen before I started cooking up ridiculously enormous amounts of chili for my annual frozen meal exchange.  I wrote extensively about the frozen meal exchange last year - including some tips on how to host your own - so there's no need to rehash it here. 

This year, my contribution was Four-Bean Chili with Bulgur Wheat, tortilla chips, sour cream, and shredded cheese.  In return I've got six ready-to-defrost-and-eat meals from the other lovely moms who participated!  Let's see... tuna noodle casserole, sausage potato soup, chicken pot pie soup and rolls, sweet potato and black bean tacos w/ flour tortillas, sour cream, and guacamole, chicken curry with rice, sour cream casserole.  My freezer is happy!  

Also of note this year, was the fact that I had 28 children under the age of 10 in my home for an hour and a half.  I was prepared for it to be loud and a little crazy, and it was.  But these are good kids, and no one was disrespectful and no one got hurt and the house wasn't a mess at all.  And yet... I'm thinking of turning it into a moms only wine and cheese evening affair next year.  Imagine that! 



That's it.  I've got to quit and get to bed.  Morning comes not-so-softly when there's only one parent to rein in the energetic bunch!  

   

Freezer Meal Ideas and Tips

I've been working on putting together my collection of photographs to photo-commemorate the year 2012, and was thinking of posting it today.  The pictures, for the most part, are images of very adorable children, smiling parents, and loveliness all around.  However...  given that today was one of the most difficult days of the past six years, it seemed a little hypocritical and ridiculous to put my "awesome family life in 2012" post up today.  (If you live in the Eastern half of the United States, it's very possible that you heard the echos of my immature outburst, the gist of which was, "I can't take this anymore."  Around 10am?  Yeah, that was me.)

So instead of completely misrepresenting the kind of day I had by posting something similar to a Color Me Happy Year in Review, and without actually talking about today because that dirty laundry isn't ready to be aired -----------

I decided to respond to the request of a few friends (hey, gals!) and pass on some ideas and recipes for frozen meals.

Some random thoughts to consider:

* I usually set aside three or four weekends for major cooking.  (usually in Nov.)

* I raid my recipe box and pull out everything that I'd like to make, then divide the recipes up into piles according to the weekend they'll be made.  I try to lump like items together - soups, casseroles with similar ingredients, meals with chicken, meals with ground beef, crock-pot meals... however you want to divide it up.

* I use the recipes to create a shopping list for each round of meals.

* I buy lots of extra gallon-size freezer bags and aluminum casserole trays at the Dollar Store.  I also buy Dollar Store tupperware if they have larger sizes available.  (I usually double bag the bags, just to be safe.)

* For soups especially, or for any meals that require a lot of veggie and onion chopping before you cook, I often have a "chopping night"  and enlist my husband's help.  I'll chop all the veggies and meat the night before and put them in ziploc bags so they're ready to go the next day.  For some soups, all the ingredients go in the pot at the same time, so they all go into one large ziploc.  But if a recipe needs the onions added first, for example, I'll put the rest of the veggies in a big bag, and the onions in a smaller bag within the larger bag.  I just like to keep everything as easy as possible for the cooking day.  Don't forget to label these bags too!
*  Don't make unnecessary dirty dishes for yourself.  Why use two pans when you could use one???   If you're making beef chili and shepherd's pie within a couple days of each other, cook all your ground beef together in one pan.  Then you can divide out what you need to use right away and what needs to go in the fridge for later.  Same with chicken, potatoes, etc...  (easy every-one-already-knows-this tip: if I cook more ground beef than I need - which I usually do - I freeze the extra to add to spaghetti sauce for an easy last-minute meat-sauce night.  Just a little review from Freezer Food 101.)  

* I usually make double of everything, except for recipes I know we all love.  Those I may quadruple.  When I freeze meals, most things I freeze are intended only to feed my family of 6 (wow!  I can't believe I can say 6, because the baby eats table food now!!)  Some casseroles I've made in the past and so I know the recipe leaves me with tons of leftovers, so I will make a double batch but divide it into three aluminum pans.  Perfect size meals for our family.  I do freeze some bigger meals to use if we have company.  I will label those bags/pans accordingly, so that I don't have to wonder which meals are the larger sizes later on.

* Don't forget to label your meals going into the freezer with instructions of how to defrost, cook, serve, etc...  

I can't think of anything else right now.  I have put some of the favorite recipes to freeze on the "Recipe" page up top. I can't wait to hear what you try!  And, if you have any fabulous recipes for freezing and feeding to hungry families, send them this way.  I love trying new ones!

Finally, if you're anxious to see 2012 in photos, check back in a couple days when it won't be so "off the mark" to post it!  I'll be *trying* to link it up with Dwija at House Unseen!  

My beautiful, wonderful freezer

No more cooking for me for quite a while because I'm DUH-UN.  (that's done with an emphasis, ok?)

My freezer is stocked.  It's beautiful.  Here, take a look...

Meals, meals, meals !  Soups, chili, casseroles.  The bottom pull-out drawer is all home made applesauce and berries we froze from summertime picking.   In the door is what's left of our freezer jam, frozen pumpkin breads (yum!), and of course - my Perry's Pumpkin Pie ice cream.   What did you expect ???  It's limited edition, so I have to stock up on my favorite flavor while it's in stores :)  

It's so beautiful it's almost a shame to start removing meals from it thus diminishing the stockpile.  But I'll get over that pretty quickly.  You know there are few things I like more than pulling a ready-to-go homemade dinner out of my freezer.  If my estimations are correct I won't be doing much cooking until mid to late  February. (we do planned leftovers.)    That was how far we got last winter before I had to cook up a second round.  Last year's second round conveniently came a few weeks before the birth of our fourth baby.  I was nesting in high gear and was able to channel all that prenatal hyper-energy into my cooking.  I actually made three months worth of meals in about 5 minutes.  Sadly, this year I may not approach the second round with the same gusto.  

So, what will I do with all of my new-found late afternoon/early evening spare time?  Stop. Right. There.  Let's not kid ourselves - just because I don't have to make dinner doesn't mean I suddenly have "spare time."  

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I'm in a place in my life where even if a few hours were actually added on to the end of every day, I still wouldn't feel the effects of "spare time."  There is always more to be done.  However, it is my hope (and part of the plan) that in those last few hours of each afternoon I will not feel the stress and distraction that comes with preparing a hot and healthy meal while supervising (and sometimes entertaining) four littles.  I hope we'll be able to complete more craft projects, finish more puzzles, paint more pictures, read more stories, build more marble tracks, construct more forts, go on more excursions.  What a gift to my family (and to myself!) to be able to say, "Sure, we can do that.  Dinner's already made!"  

An Annual Frozen Meal Exchange

How long do you have to do something for it to be considered a tradition or to earn the title "annual" event.  Does five years count?  Or does it lie in the intention to continue for years into the future?  It's probably a combination, right?  In that case, I think I've started a tradition.  It's an annual frozen meal exchange.  And at the risk of sounding prideful, let me just say that I'm proud of this event.  It's truly become one of those favorite Fall activities that I love to look forward to. (to which I love to look forward???  Oh, you prepositions!)

Five years ago I was expecting my second child.  My due date was in late November.  Many of my friends were also expecting their second baby that Winter or the following Spring.  I think some of us felt a sense of  impending doom - the cold, the snow, new babies... "We're never going to see each other again!!"  I recall sitting at my computer, probably some time in mid October, ready to type an email inviting this group of ladies to join me for a holiday cookie exchange in the hopes that we'd get to hang out one last time before Summer '08.  At that time, I had already begun freezing a few meals in preparation for the postpartum fog.  And I knew that the last thing I needed in the house was cookies. It hit me - what if we exchanged dinners???  That was what I really needed.

So we did it!  I invited six other women.  Everyone participated and so we all went home with seven frozen dinners.   We have done it for five years!  I think for three of those years we've had all seven families, and this year was the first time we were down to five.  But, I have every intention of continuing on as long as I have willing participants.

Here are the benefits to participating in a Fall frozen meal exchange:

- You have lot of pre-made meals at an especially busy time of the year (we usually try to do the exchange in the weeks before Thanksgiving).

- You may save a measure of money in buying bulk ingredients for mass producing your particular meal choice.

- You get to serve your family delicious meals that you may not have ever made yourself.  Variety is good, right?

- You may hit upon a great meal that your family likes so much you add it to your own regular meal rotation.

- The participants get to socialize and spend time together while also gathering tons of food to take home to the hungry hordes.  It kind of feels like grocery shopping, only better.  

- And did I mention that you have a lot of pre-made meals in your freezer, ready to defrost (or toss in a crock-pot) and eat whenever you want???

The cons:

- You have a lot of prep and cooking to do at once.  I mean, you are making full meals for for seven families at once :)  (But, you were going to have to cook a meal for your family anyway, why not just make a little lot more of it.)

Let's look at those lists again.  The benefits clearly outweigh the drawbacks.  

So, you want to start a frozen meal exchange?

(Reality check... "Theresa, about 5 people read your new blog.  Three of them are your family members and the other two probably are already part of your meal exchange.  You've had a blog for about week and your inspiration intended for busy moms everywhere is mostly falling on deaf ears...or more precisely, no ears at all.)  Ok, so then for my own benefit, I'll lay it out:

- Invite your participants.  I like seven families.  It's a lot of meals and you're sure to get a good variety.  Don't forget, adding even more families may mean more meals and variety, but it's also more meals that you have to prepare.  It's one thing to be a little crazed and stressed while preparing seven meals, but it's another thing to drop to the floor, unconscious, trying to make meals for 10, 11, 15, however-many families at a time.  

- Choose families of a similar size.  When our group began we all had two adults and one small child.  This year the five participating families (all from the original group) are each up to four children!  The kiddos range from 3 months to 8 years old, and they were all at my house (except for two)!

- Choose families that have similar eating habits and tastes as yours.  Be aware of dietary restrictions and/or allergies and decide if the group will be able to work around them.  It may not be wise to include a family that follows a diet that's not in line with the other families.  However, we have a good example of how this can work... After the first exchange, the husband of my very good friend adopted a fat free vegan diet.  The family still participates though b/c some of the other moms are willing (and able) to adjust their meals to fit his diet, and the meals that are not adjusted are still suitable for the rest of her family.  And - bonus!  We all get to sample and benefit from the fat free vegan meals our friend brings to the exchange.

-Try to dialogue ahead of time about what each mom is going to bring so that you don't accidentally end up with three or four of the same meal.  The meals I've made have been potato cheddar and broccoli soup, beef and bean chili, Mexican chicken casserole, sausage and sauerkraut casserole, and cilantro lime chicken tacos.  Meals from others that I can remember are shepherd's pie, assorted quiches, white chicken chili, beef and barley soup, breakfast burritos, you get the idea.  

- Host the event.  Instruct everyone to being meals in containers they will not need back - plastic gallon bags, aluminum casserole pans, Dollar Store tupperware, etc...  Attach the following info to the meal: what it is, your name, defrost/cooking instructions, and the recipe.  

That's it!  Have fun!  

As I mentioned, I intend to continue our meal exchange for as long as it makes sense for us.  The past five years the meal exchange has been so fun, and it's such a practical way to prepare for the busy holiday season (and to help good friends do the same.)  My only regret is that I haven't taken a picture of the group every year to chronicle the event and the growing families of my friends.  Perhaps that's a new tradition I'll have to start at our Sixth Annual Frozen Meal Exchange.