Sunday 29 September 2013

freezer cooking with Sharmane {in someone else's kitchen}

I've been pinning ideas for a while now for this whole freezer crock-pot cooking craze and really wanting to try it. I only have the freezer on top of our fridge for space, so I knew I couldn't go crazy (like this lady) but I wanted to have a few meals on hand for those days when I just can't my creative juices flowing to come up with supper. I meal-plan but sometimes, when that runs out and I'm left with random things in my pantry and fridge ... supper comes up short. So these are my "back-pocket" meals, if you will.

{Side note: isn't it weird that I can start out by talking about "pinning" things and you all know what I'm talking about? If this were two years ago, everyone would imagine me using a cork board and actual push pins. It's just strange how things evolve.}

Karlie had posted that she had done a big freezer meal cooking day and both Sharmane and I commented on her picture that we wanted to do that! DESTINY. We decided to get together this week and just do a big day of prep to have freezer meals on hand. We only did seven recipes but it took all afternoon on Friday.

Here's what we made:
If you look closely, you'll see our grocery bill was only $111.90. We already had some of the meat on-hand.
Sharmane provided chicken, prawns & turkey sausage and I supplied the beef. Well. J's family farm provided it.
So, that cut down our costs A LOT.

All our recipes were from either Six Sisters Stuff or Loving My Nest.



I went grocery shopping the night before and we used Sharmane's kitchen to work in. We decided to tackle it recipe-by-recipe in terms of what we were chopping and prepping. Some recipes require meat to be cooked before hand and others allow you to put it in the bags raw. It worked well for us to do it this way, but we only doubled our recipes. If you were tripling or anything crazy like that, you may want to do all your chopping & cooking first, then start bagging things. But - I think it's totally a personal preference thing.



Turns out that even with only seven meals, my fridge and freezer are full so I will be making most of the recipes this week, intermingled with my meal plan that I made up before deciding to do this. Two weeks of meals and only one day of prep for half of them! YES.



We decided that we will definitely do this again, although I will have to plan better for freezer space. I actually want to freeze them so I can use them in a pinch!



Have you done freezer crock-pot cooking at all? Tips? Tricks? I'd love to hear!



Saturday 28 September 2013

panko chicken fingers {in the kitchen}

These last few weeks have felt like a bit of a gong show in our house. There have been a few issues that have sort of overtaken our lives and many other things fell by the wayside. Grocery shopping was one of these things. I was literally entering random ingredients into Google to try and come up with a recipe that I could make from my very limited stock. {Note to self: ALWAYS have tomato sauce, beans, cheese & milk on hand!} I had a bit of meat frozen and a depleted pantry to scour and planning supper quickly became my least favourite part of the day. I was so excited when Liz told me she made chicken fingers with panko bread crumbs and coconut oil and - as luck would have it - I had all the ingredients! {I know, panko bread crumbs and not tomato sauce? Really?} So I jumped on Pinterest and found this recipe from Cooking Light for Parmesan Panko Chicken Fingers. {I substituted the canola oil for coconut oil} I paired it with tri-colour baby potato wedges {"recipe" below} and veggies & dip. I think I should have coated the chicken with a little more panko to get more of a crunch ... they were a bit soft, which worked out with feeding chunks to our 10 month old but it may not appeal to all ages. The taste was a bit bland, but I think that could have been helped with just a little extra seasoning before coating the chicken. Otherwise, they turned out well and were an easy dinner in a snap!


Tri-colour Baby Potato Wedges

1 small bag tri-colour baby potatoes (mine were from Superstore)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp cajon seasoning

Cut potatoes into small wedges, place in bowl. Pour oil and seasonings overtop. Toss to combine. Spread on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. 

I do this with regular potatoes as well instead of store-bought fries. Just a bit of a healthier option and you can change up seasonings, oils, etc every time for some variety! 


Wednesday 18 September 2013

Nautical {a nursery tour}

I have wanted to post about my nursery since O was born ... I am so pleased with how it turned out & quite proud of my vision that came to fruition. But some kinks had to be worked out and I just needed to find the time to have it all clean, organized, picture-worthy AND be able to be in there for a while (read: when he's not napping - which seems like a lot/not enough all at the same time ...) So - nine months later, here it is. For you, Suzy.

Welcome! 

Crib close-up

Reading/Rocking Nook. {La-Z-Boy Rock/Recliner}
My sister made the pillow! 

The globe & lantern are from Value Village! Amazing finds! {Print & Shadow Box are DIYs)

This is a great change table. O is getting a bit big for it now but it's from IKEA if you're in the market.
{Baskets: Winners}

O's Blue Closet ... one of my favourite features of the room!
{Chalkboard boxes: Superstore}

DIY Magnetic Board 
DIY Atlas Pages Frame

My artsy sister did this up for O.
idea from here
My sisters went to Cali and brought this back for O. It's 18months and the shortest, widest onesie EVER.
So. In a frame it goes! 
Little shoes are so cute. His feet are finally big enough to fit them! 
DIY Nautical Flag Banner {BIG shout out to my SIL, Justine, who sewed the squares for me!}














Going through these pictures again I was just struck with how much love is in this nursery. So many people pitched in to bring it together and add the really meaningful little touches. We have one blessed little boy & I hope he will enjoy this room for years to come!

First Things First.

Writing the first post on your new blog is an intimidating task ... I want you to get the right impression of me while still holding true to my personality and my intent for this blog. I'm not a very good writer or a very good photographer but I love to document. I keep journals like nobody's business, jot lists like a boss and have over 1000 pictures on my iPhone because it's usually handy whenever something noteworthy is going down. (Yes. I am that mom with her phone pointed at her kid for what seems like 24/7.) Most of my pictures will be from my phone. Some will be with my nice camera that I, admittedly, cannot use to its full potential.

I'm excited to have a "project", if you will, and am slightly overwhelmed by the task of filling this page. But I have some fun things planned for the first couple posts so ... I guess that's a good start?

Enjoy, and leave your thoughts/let me know who you are!

PS: if you want to see my "old" blog, you can visit it here: Live, Love, Design.



<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10614717/?claim=cvg3ykpyvhw">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>