Freezer Debacle

In the beginning of February I realized that our big upright freezer was thawing.  We took everything out and put them in the freezers of our 2 refrigerators, plus coolers with ice.  All the freezers got a good clearing out and our chickens were very happy.  We washed and oiled the seals and crossed our fingers.  The next day the freezer was blowing warm air and 50 degrees - obviously the frozen food was the only thing keeping it cold in there (when I discovered it the freezer was at 30 degrees).  The repairman was not able to come for a week so I decided to focus on eating down the freezer.  By the time the repairman came, ordered the parts, and came back to install them I was seriously impressed with how much food we had in the freezer!  I decided that only new food would go in the repaired freezer and we are going to eat everything else first to keep the food rotated.  We have now had our 26th meal made almost completely out of freezer and pantry!  Yes, really!  And still more food waiting to be cooked!

Some meals made with our freezer stash:

Day 1:   Slightly freezer burned pot roast thrown in the slow cooker with onions, gravy and herbs, noodles and frozen corn served with it
Day 2:   Veggie Stir-fry, potstickers, and rice. With random berry cobbler for dessert
Day 3:   Frozen ravioli and garlic bread
Day 4:   Country Fried Steaks, mashed potatoes, milk gravy and mixed veggies
Day 5:   Roasted a turkey, with mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, biscuits, and cranberry sauce
Day 6:   5 quarts of formerly frozen homemade stock, a number of half-bags of formerly frozen vegetables, and the leftover meat from yesterday's turkey (plus a pound of elbow macaroni, some fresh veggies and spices) to make a delicious pot of soup
Day 7:   Last of the homemade stock to make Egg Drop Soup and served rice with it
Day 8:   A whole roast chicken with choice of leftover mashed potatoes or leftover noodles, gravy, and 2 types of veggies
Day 9:   Nachos using frozen taco meat
Day 10:   Fried fish, mashed potatoes, sauteed cabbage and a bag of oriental steamer veggies.
Day 11:   Pigs in blankets and mac and cheese
Day 12:   Tacos
Day 13:   Pack of sausage that was in the freezer became sausage gravy, biscuits and eggs
Day 14:   Mexican Stuffed Shells
Day 15:  Chicken nuggets, potato wedges, sweet potato frie, mac & cheese, frozen veggies
Day 16:  Kielbasa, baked potatoes and sautéed cabbage.
Day 17:  2 bags of frozen ravioli and parmesan/garlic toast
Day 18:  Chicken on a Stick (chicken marinated and skewered and usually grilled, but today was baked), rice and veggie stir-fry
Day 19:  Baked flounder with fresh herbs, Brussels sprouts and fettuccini al' aglio
Day 20:  Grilled the pack of two steaks and package of Italian sausages from the freezer, I made homemade baked mac and cheese and frozen green beans with it
Day 21:  Kielbasa and shrimp skillet (both from the freezer), bowtie pasta and Italian bread
Day 22:  Pancakes and bacon from the freezer
Day 23:  Sesame Chicken, rice, and frozen veggies
Day 24:  Pulled pork sandwiches made in the slow cooker all day with a pork butt and homemade yellow BBQ sauce (no tomatoes for my allergic husband!), potato wedges and frozen veggies
Day 25:   Homemade Cheeseburger Macaroni with frozen green beans
Day 26:  Hungarian Goulash with beef, egg noodles, frozen corn, Italian bread

Wedding Cake Entirely Made of Fruit

This has been an insane few weeks, but as of Saturday evening my baby sister is married!

The wedding was stunning and genuine and full of love.  My mom and I made all the food (for 120 guests!) and we worked our butts off, but it was so worth it and came out so well.  We had many willing helpers - my sister and her new husband have a wonderful, sweet group of friends - and even with some last minute snafus it all came together beautifully.

The bride and groom during their first dance.  Isn't my sister gorgeous?

But I do have to say that of everything we made I was the most proud of the cake.  My sister has multiple food allergies that include (among many other things) most grains and sugar. So Mom and I created - using her cutting skills and my design - a wedding cake entirely made out of fresh fruit.
 

The Aiken Wedding "Cake"!

 
A cake the bride could actually eat! The base is 4 watermelons shaped very carefully. (Two on the bottom layer and one on each other layer.)  It is covered in blueberries, pineapple rings, and strawberries and topped with a pile of raspberries. We surrounded it with a bed of grapes.  I had a picture in my head as soon as they announced their engagement and it happily came out just as I envisioned.  It was a labor of love and my sister is so worth it!

All in all, it was a wonderful day and I know their marriage will be even better.  Congratulations you two!  

Getting Back into the Habit of Menus

I have been bad. 

This summer I have kept making meal plans and I just have not been following them. 

Grrr. 

But, I am proud to say that this past week I have actually followed our meal plan and so far so good this week!  I waned to go ahead and share what we have been eating.  I am starting to think that it's just because the weather is cooling down.  I have the hardest time with no appetite when it is so hot. 

Sunday (8/30) -  Cheesy Ranch Chicken, couscous, stuffing and green beans <----- This was a new recipe and a big hit!  I found it on pinterest on THIS blog. 

Monday (8/31) - Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches (ham for the kids), raw veggies


Tuesday (9/1) - Pancakes and bacon

Wednesday (9/2) - Sweet and Sour Chicken, Rice and mixed veggies

Thursday (9/3) - Lo Mein

Friday (9/4) - Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Biscuits, Green Beans and Cranberry sauce

Saturday (9/5) - Bacon, Egg and Biscuit Casserole <------ This was also a new recipe and the kids thought it was okay, but my husband LOVED it!  I found it HERE. 

Sunday (9/6) - Eat Out

Monday (9/7) - Kielbasa, Boiled Potatoes, Cabbage and rye bread

Tuesday (9/8) - Hamburgers, Claire's Mac and Cheese and Corn of the Cob

Wednesday (9/9) - Ravioli

Thursday (9/10) - Chicken Cordon Bleu (sides to be determined)

Friday (9/11) - Mu Shu Chicken on homemade Flatbread

Saturday (9/12) - Goulash, Egg Noodles and veggies