My Day in the Kitchen!

Is it Tuesday already?? I don't believe it and I won't believe it! Let's just pretend it's Monday, ok? Wow, won't it be fun when we get to Friday, but we think it's only Thursday and then we're told it's actually Friday. We'll be so grateful that it's really Friday!

Ok, maybe not.

I did have a fun Monday though. My husband had the day off, so our whole family was able to go to the beach for the day. We really enjoyed it! I love visiting the beach, especially here in the Northwest. It is not a beach you go to for swimming, but I just love the beauty of it. The Bible tells me that God made all of this for His enjoyment. I'm sure glad He chooses to share it with me too!

Now that my Monday fun is over, I'm on to what I promised I'd share with you. I'm sorry it is a day late!

Friday was not too hot here and I needed to get some baking done, so I thought I would just go ahead and bake and cook up all kinds of things. When those hot days do hit, I want to be able to leave my oven off! I had lots of fun cooking up all kinds of things, but what fun it will be when supper is nearly prepared because I've already done a lot of the prep work....

I started out by cooking a whole chicken. I can get about three good meals off of this beauty! I left the skin on, took out the innards, added some garlic cloves and then let her cook on the stove for about an hour. After she was done, I let her cool and then removed the skin, pulled all the meat off of the bone and kept the broth for some good soup or gravy. I divided the chicken meat into two bags and put them in the freezer to add to some pasta, rice or casserole meal.




While the chicken was cooking and cooling, I was busy multi-tasking! My husband says I'm not good at that, but I like to prove him wrong sometimes! (only in the good things! )

I had the Nutrimill going to grind up some wheat for the week. I like to have this fresh... there are more nutrients that way! I keep a big bag in the freezer and then pull out what I need when I need it. This particular day I needed it for my recipes as well. Mmmmm! Doesn't that wheat look nice. I think Miss Little Red Hen would be proud!



While the wheat was grinding, the children and I made up a triple batch of Peanut Butter Balls for snack times. This is such a healthy snack and easy to make too! We keep a big bag in the freezer and when the children (or momma) need a little pick-me-up, they are all ready to munch and go! Here is the recipe....

Peanut Butter Balls

1/2 cup Peanut Butter ( or you can use Almond Butter)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup dried coconut flakes
1/2 cup oatmeal

Mix all together and form into little balls. Freeze, or keep sealed in the fridge.
Note: if you don't have maple syrup, just use more honey. If consistency seems just a little too damp, just add more coconut or oatmeal until you can roll it better. For a chocolate flavor, add a little cocoa to the mixture.

This makes for some fun times with your kiddos!



I was also able to make some muffins for breakfasts and freeze them. This makes those mornings easy when you've got four children saying "I'm hungry and can't survive another minute!" Somehow, I didn't get a picture of that...

I also made some fresh whole wheat tortillas. Yum! We'll use these for Mexican Lasagna and for burritos too! I planned on making up some burritos and sticking those in the freezer too, but by the time I had done all of the above, I was ready to sit down! We'll make burritos on another cool day!

But for now, I'm happy with the start I have in the freezer. This will help me out with several good meals for my family. They'll be happy to have food and I'll be happy to have it done easier!