Ellie's Debut

I know I've been MIA, but life is busy (but wonderful) here. I will be next linking you to Erin's Wheat Soaking in the Bread Machine Experiments. You won't be disappointed. She's a chemist and she knows how to run an experiment! You might like her weight loss blogging, too!

She's here!

Eleanor (Ellie) Margaret made her debut today at 3:18pm. She weighed 8lb 11.8oz and was 21.5" long. She's beautiful with long dark hair and very sweet face. I will post pictures later!

Thinking out loud...

As I plan to fill the new freezer, I'm faced with actually having to organize because I will have 3 freezers and without some "plan", I will be sending children to three different freezers looking for things. I have the freezer on the side-by-side in the kitchen and another 5 cu. ft. freezer in the garage (right off the kitchen).

Right now, my thoughts are to keep frozen veggies and other foods for the "week" in the kitchen fridge. In the 5 cu. ft., I'll keep prepared items (meals, baked goods, etc.) and in the new freezer I will keep bulk items like meats, milled wheat, frozen veggies that I buy in bulk or frozen from fresh.

So far, the things I'm planning to make ahead are:
Spaghetti Sauce
Marinated Flank Steak
Bulgogi
Honey Oatmeal Break
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Mini-pizza crusts made from ABI5MAD Olive Oil Dough
Lactation Cookies
Beef Stew less veggies
Beef Stroganoff
Marinated Chicken breasts
Cooked chicken (for other recipes)

I'll be updating this as I think of more...

Chicken with Coconut Milk Soup

This is a great use for left over rotisserie chicken. Little Man asked for rotisserie chicken for his birthday meal (God bless him!) and we had lots leftover. Mom is visiting so I'm happy to have someone to share REAL food with at lunch (not pasta and chicken nuggets). This is what we made today.

Chicken with Coconut Milk Soup
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 medium onion, julienned
1 clove garlic, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp. lemon grass (dried)
1 c. mushrooms
1 Tbsp. ginger paste (from a tube or just minced ginger)
1 sm. can bamboo shoots
1 sm. can sliced water chestnuts
2 cans chicken broth (or 3 c. home made stock)
1 - 1 1/2 c. cooked chicken
1 c. coconut milk
1 tsp. chili sauce
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice or 4 pkts. TRUE LIME

Heat olive oil in the bottom of a soup kettle over medium high heat. When it is shimmering, add onion. Saute' for just a few minutes until soft. Add garlic, lemon grass and mushrooms. Saute' another minute. Then add ginger, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts. Saute' another few minutes until the mushrooms soften a bit. Add broth, chicken and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and boil just a few minutes to finish cooking veggies. Remove from heat and add chili (to taste) and lime juice.

Serve with rice or ramen noodles.
Makes approximately 4 - 1 c. servings

Getting ready for baby

I'm not only lucky because I'm being given the opportunity to hold one of God's greatest blessings VERY SOON, my mom is here...

What does that mean? I have help and so does the rest of the family. She moved to Tucson in September and I have missed her! She's like me. She doesn't sit down, unless it's with a good book ;-). So, she's helping to do laundry, cook, clean. You know, the stuff I get behind on when I'm trying to get school done and kids occupied (and, honestly, get distracted)...

Speaking of which, I'm distracted. How could I not be with this huge weight stuck on my front! The little girl I'm carrying is big. VERY big and I can't wait to meet her, which is distracting. So, I'm glad my mom is here...she keeps me focused, actually.

So, I'm getting ready. Today I will make a list or two of meals I want to prepare ahead. Mom and the boss will be going to pick up an additional freezer for us so I have someplace to put things.

So, based on what my OB said last week, I will probably be induced next Tuesday or Wednesday. So, that gives me one week...to get ready.

I'll share what I'm making tomorrow (OR later today if I have the time.)

Crock pot Bulgogi

This is Little Princesses' favorite:

Bulgogi (crockpot)

Category: Beef|Korean|World Cuisine
Yield: 4 servings

4tbs. soy sauce
2tsp. sesame oil
2tbs. sugar
1/2tsp. black pepper
1clove garlic-chopped
1 1/2 pounds sirloin tips or strips

DIRECTIONS

Mix the marinade ingredients (all but the beef) and add to the meat. Cover & marinade at least 2 hours. I recommend overnight. Pour mixture in crock pot, make extra batch of marinade & add extra marinade in crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I find some meats cook up rubbery in the crock pot....sirloin strip have worked well in the crock pot. For large group I buy a roast & have it shaved...they hate doing it at the grocery store, but will if you give them notice. I have used eye of the round roasts & bottom of the round roasts...if it's shaved it comes out great in the crock pot. I pretty much experiment with different cuts of meat, to see what works best I hope this helps.

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Counting down...

So, I'm sure you've probably lost interest in this blog by now, when the author goes MIA for more than a month.

I've had a good excuse, or should I say good excuses? Pregnant with my 6th (not without a few complications), home schooling, Spring...Those three together make for one busy mom.

So, really now, I'm counting down AND finding recipes to prepare for the freezer.

My first staple for the freezer are the marinated Flank Steak and Spaghetti Sauce for a Crowd along with a loaf of ABI5MAD, salad and veggie. But I will be adding a few more here. This post is really a reminder tag, like my friend Erin did for Chicken with 40 Cloves of garlic at her blog. And, that does look soooo good, by the way.

So, things I'll be making ahead? Some marinates to be mixed with meat already frozen, some crock pot meals and a few more baked goods. Unfortunately, my freezer is struggling to stay closed right now, so I'm not sure where I'll put everything, but we've been working through other things in the freezer to make room.

I'm so very thankful that I will have lots of help, this time. I'm 95% certain I will be having a c-section, a reality I've come to grips with, so I will need help with feeding the hungry mouths here. As I mentioned before, I have a great home school support group that helps with providing meals, my mom is coming for two weeks and my step mom has graciously offered to come and help, too! I might have help for the entire 6 weeks of recommended recovery time.

So, there's a quick note of thanks to those that have and will help and here's offering a prayer of thanksgiving for all those wonderful souls that have prayed and helped so far and will help again.