Stroke of Genius

I'm always looking for more ways to get organized, especially when it comes to my kitchen.  Anything that can make my life simpler gets my vote.  Plus, I'm teaching Ms. AniBelle how to cook and organization not only makes it easier for her, but it gives her a good starting point for when she has her own kitchen.  Hopefully it won't take her the 15 years it took for me to learn these lessons.  

I try to buy most of my baking supplies in bulk at Sam's Club.  In order to not have to drag out the ginormous bags each time I wanted to bake, I bought several Rubbermaid containers to hold more manageable amounts.  I also made chalkboard labels by spray painting printer labels with chalkboard paint.

 Another habit I try to keep up with is doubling one or two meals a week and freezing the second portion.  First, it is very convenient to have meals prepared that I can just thaw and pop in the oven on busy nights.  Second, it's helpful for my hubby on occasions that I'm in the hospital or feeling too ill to cook.  My man is wonderful at grilling things but cooking anything beyond simple basics is not up his alley.  The problem I have with the meals is keeping track of what I have.  A dry eraser board solved that for me.

 Last week, my daughter was foraging through our pantry cupboards to find some nonperishable items to bring in to school for a food drive and I had a stroke of pure genius.  As she was pulling out items, I realized that there were plenty of staples hidden in the pantry that I didn't realize I had which meant I was buying them with regularity.  To solve this issue, I painted the insides of the cupboard doors with chalkboard paint (it may or may not be an addiction folks!).  Now I have each item listed on the doors.  When I use one, I erase it or change the quantity, and when I buy more, I update the list as well.  Voila! 

 

Back to School Prep

With a little less than a week before school starts, the back to school frenzy is kicking into high gear.  Registrations (this year, I registered nine kids for school...two of my own and seven refugee children), orientations, pictures, school shopping, supply shopping, hair cuts, and weeding out the clothes from last year that no longer fit.  And in order to make my life easier, I am also doing some food prep so there is less hassle once the busyness of the school year begins.  

I started with strawberries.  My husband drinks a protein shake every morning that consists of soy milk, peanut butter, and frozen strawberries.  When I can find a good sale on fresh strawberries, I cut the stems off, flash freeze them and then put them in serving size baggies so he can just thaw one bag each day.

 

After the strawberries, I made egg sandwiches & English muffin bread.  I found the breakfast sandwich recipe here and adapted it.  

Freezer Egg Breakfast Sandwiches

12 light multi-grain English muffins

12 eggs

12 slices of American cheese

1.  Preheat the oven to 350.

2.  Split the muffins open and lay them all on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes until toasty.

3.  Spray a jumbo muffin pan with canola and crack eggs in each one.  Use the tip of a knife to pierce the yolks.

4.  Bake eggs for 10-15 minutes until set.

5.  Remove eggs from pan and allow to cool.  Season with salt & pepper.

6.  Assemble sandwiches with one slice of American cheese and an egg between the English muffin.

7.  Wrap in saran wrap & freeze.

8.  To cook, microwave for 1 minute on 50% power.

And finally, I finished off my day of food prep with some freezer rolls.  This recipe makes enough rolls to last us about 6 meals so I only have to make a batch about once a month.

Whew!  That's a lot of work for someone who needs two naps a day to get by.  As a nice little break, my baby girl & I did a mama/daughter date yesterday and went to see Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.  It made Ani's day as she has read all of the books and loves them.  It was very good and neither of us can wait for the next movie.