4.11.2011

this better bring May flowers.

so mother nature decided to play a rotten trick on us over the weekend. (only it wasn't really a trick, because I saw it with my own eyeballs.  even slipped on the doggone stuff as I was walking out to the suburban.  trust me, I've got a nice bruise on my right cheek to prove it.  not to mention a neighbor who got his chuckle for the day.)  yeah, thanks to her we got doused with a foot (yes, a FOOT!) of snow on Saturday.   nice April "shower." pfft.  apparently, we weren't appreciating the 70 degree weather as much as she would have liked us to, and therefore had to put us back in our places.

so mother nature, if you're listening, the next time it gets to 70 (this Friday), I promise I'll sing my praises from the rooftops.  although that might cause her to vomit more snow.  drat.

to worsen the pain, the kids (against my wishes) went and dug ALL the winter gear out, you know, the stuff I had already washed and packed away for the season.  grrr, mumble, sputter, hiss, stomp.  oh well, guess they had fun.

pictures taken through my kitchen window.  heck if I was going out there.
in other news: I finished spring cleaning.  hip, hip, hooray and all that!  well, maybe I should clarify: I finished everything except washing the windows.  but since it done went and snowed, that project will have to wait until next weekend.  oh, and we still have the garage to tackle.  can you say nightmare?  urgh.

sure do love my pantry shelves that I (painstakingly) lined with... cork!  makes for a much cleaner and neater appearance than grungy paint, ick. (sorry, not the greatest pics.)


so now this week I'll be focusing on getting a few meals made to stash in the freezer.  and a few goodies too, ie; pumpkin bars, banana bars, cookies, freezer jam, granola, frozen raspberry dessert, etc.  with company coming in a week and a half, and our hike shortly after that, I want to get everything organized ahead of time instead of leaving it all till the last minute.

that said, I need ideas for meals that can be prepared in advance and frozen.  so far, I have meatballs and shredded beef for green chile machaca on my list. (unfortunately, my kids detest lasagna, which I know would be an easy one.) I also plan to brown a few pounds of hamburger and cook up some chicken to put in the freezer, which are nice to have on hand when you're running short on time.  wow, you guys sure sent me a lot of motivation!  hot-diggity!

if you feel so compelled, shoot me some ideas!  thanks!

-jessica

7 comments:

Corinne said...

i just put a pasty and ham and scaloped potatoes in the freezer for when baby comes... will be looking on here for some more ideas! i will be doing the same this week along with just "starting" my spring cleaning!! so better get busy!! at least we didn't get snow in MN, just a good ole' thunderstorm to green everything up!!!

Eric and Celeste said...

Just heard on the news this morning that we are supposed to get more snow on Friday. Ugh! I was going to wash all the snow gear today.

Here is one meal to try: Pretend that you are making spaghetti but with either rotini or malfada noodles, then add 2 cups of mozzarella cheese (+ a sprinkle of parmesan if you want) and mix it all together (add 1 can of tomato sauce if it looks too dry) and then dump into a lightly greased 9x13 and bake 350 for about 45 minutes.
If you are really ambitious, cook up a turkey and brown some hamburger and freeze it in meal proportions. This saves tons of time!
Soups! Beef stew, Turkey soup, wild rice...
I freeze pasties too. I buy the aluminum 9x13 or pie tins for that.
Have fun!

Dan and Rita said...

Ugh! I know the feeling on having all the snow stuff make its way back out!! But otherwise they would have sat in the house all day, so I guess it's probably worth the price!!

As for things for the freezer, I have not been very good about that ever but I from time to time just doubled whatever I happened to be making that day and put half in the freezer. Of course, soup and chili are easy ones...

Amy Witt said...

Whew! Nice to be done with the Spring Cleaning huh?! Now just sit back and enjoy the nice weather;)
Freeze...taco meat, Skillet meals, and minestrone soup.
Will be checking back for ideas:)

Danielle said...

My sister always does extra spaghetti sauce and freezes it. Have you checked out that place near the Bashas up by the hospital? They have meals you can prepare and freeze.

Lisa Karvonen Johnson said...

I usually freeze soups, as they are the easiest. Also have frozen chicken/rice hotdish, and even meatloaf (put everything together and froze it raw to be cooked later - when I get sick and PG I can't handle red raw meat so I do it then). Bugger your kids don't like lasagna. I also make homemade spaghetti sauce and freeze, which has already been mentioned. Guess it sounds like I need more ideas too.

Anonymous said...

Chicken Pot Pie, Quiche, Salmon Pies, Pronto Pups, Chicken Pockets, PWs Chicken Spaghetti, PWs Cowboy Calzones, freeze cooked bacon for BLTs... You can freeze parts of pretty much every meal. Good Luck!