I am a Realist

The month of June was a hard time for my family as we lost my beloved grandfather, Papa. He was 94 years old and had Parkinson's as well as had had a heart attack in the last month preceding his death. He was a man who loved Jesus more than anything else and this love of Jesus is what he poured into all of us over the course of our lives.  When we brought Papa home from the rehab (against their wishes as they wanted to send him to a nursing home), I was a realist about it. He was not getting better. He was not going to get better. They do not send you to a nursing home to get better.  

My mother set up a calendar of what days each of us would come and help grandmother. My day was Thursday with more time added after school let out (we only had 2 weeks of school left). There had also been a water leak and so there was some cleaning out to do down in the basement for repair work to be done. I was able to come serve one meal on a Thursday (I served breakfast) and it became apparent that coming and cooking for my grandfather was of no help to my grandmother. He wanted her cooking and he knew mine wasn't hers. So realist that I am, I let grandmother cook and found other things to do. I found beautiful pictures downstairs as I was cleaning out as well as books that he had written in, Bibles with his notes in the margins and various awards from his time with Alabama Power. That was a blessing.

In the first week of summer, my sister and I worked in the basement. Papa was doing as well as could be expected. He was in the living room and looked at some of the pictures we had found, even recognizing some of his siblings and his parents.  He talked about how much he loved the beach when he saw a picture of the beach. That was a blessing. 

The next day (Wednesday) Papa couldn't get out of bed and so instead of continuing to work in the basement, I sat by his bedside and held his hand. I am a realist. I knew that my time with Papa was ending. And I played him gospel music from my iTunes.  That day was the last day that he talked to me and when I was getting ready to leave he said "I sure do appreciate all that you all have done around here and one day when I am stronger, I am going to do something to help you." I assured him that I loved spending time with him and that he did not to worry about doing anything for me. That was the last coherent conversation I was able to have with him.That was a blessing. 

Hospice was called in the next day. That was a blessing.

I was able to spend a lot of time with him on Saturday and Sunday. He was not really conscious often but still I played him gospel music from my iTunes and held his hand. Sunday when I left, I told him good-bye and that I loved him very much. I told him that I thought he would hear "Well done good and faithful servant" before I could come back. I am a realist. 

Papa died early Tuesday morning, June 10.

All of that was several weeks ago now. And although I have had some sad moments, I am a realist and know that Papa would not come back if given the choice because he is in heaven with Jesus and free from his failing frail body. 

I write all this to say that over the last three days I have grieved more for my Papa than I have in the last month.  You see the gospel music that I played for him as I held his hand as he faded away to heaven is the same music that I listen to while I cook. That has been very hard. I am a realist, but today I am just really sad. 

But I Don't Want That!

If you have read this whole blog, you know that I plan the dinner menu for the entire month at the beginning of the month.
Like I can tell you that this Thursday we will have breakfast: biscuits, bacon. sausage, omelets, baked oatmeal and hashbrown cups.
I can tell you on the 19th we will have roast beef, mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.
Its all planned out, complete with a weekend trip to Auburn, grilling meals on the nights Ty is home early enough to grill and my absence on the night of 8th grade graduation when Ty can heat up spaghetti or take the kids out. Its all a neat little concise plan.
But what happens if on that night, that is not what you want?

That is one of the questions I get asked a lot.
What if on the 19th, I don't want roast beef or on the 23rd the kids do not want spaghetti?
 (NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!)

Ty, dear sweet man that he is, is not a "foodie."
He IS incredibly picky about seasoning and he is not shy about telling me if something does not taste right. But he very rarely requests a particular meal.
But tonight, he did not particularly want what was planned. He had a request that goes back to his mother's cooking and what he finds as comfort food.
Leaning way back to his German heritage, he wanted Hot Dogs and Kraut with Mashed Potatoes. He has been asking for it for a couple of weeks now and tonight was the night.
The only thing I had at home was the stuff to do the kraut and the stuff to do the mashed potatoes, except potatoes.
But we were in the store and grabbed "QUALITY" (keyword here) hot dogs and potatoes. I would make him hot dogs and kraut.

That is not the meal I had planned: Porcini Grilled Chicken Salad.
But it is the meal he wanted and he does not ask for certain meals often.
So what do you do with the meal that was supposed to be prepared?
Its all about flexibility. We skipped buying lunch meat this week. He has grilled the chicken and will use that in wraps and on salads for lunch this week.
And just like that our meal plan adjusted.
A dinner moved to a lunch.
A happy husband.
And score for me: he paid for the groceries!

And that QUALITY word: we will leave for another night.

Things Fall Apart (The Potato Soup Recipe)

As much as I would like to convince you that I am to cooking what Snow White is to woodland creatures, I do not have spices and utensils flocking to me as I sing about the wonders of cooking.
Sometimes things go badly.
This month was one of those months.
Things fell apart.

It seemed simple enough.
10 recipes
Most making 4 or 5 of each.
It was just 40 or 50 meals. I do that all the time. What could possibly go WRONG?

The problem started with my menu choices. 10 recipes. 4 that required long stretches in the crock pot, some for 10 hours. How many crock pots do I have? ONE! So that in and of itself meant I could not get done in one day.
No problem! I'll just rock out the beef tips and do the burritos while I wait. I like to roll burritos. Who forgot to make the refried beans (we don't do cans if we can help it in this house!)? ME! Can't do the burritos without doing the beans. Can't do the beans without the crock pot. The crock pot is full of beef tips.
Game Over!
I quit!

I didn't really quit, but I did go steal a friend's crock pot and make my beans (6 hours) so that I could make my burritos.
Then I finished all my chicken dishes only to discover I had 12 pounds of chicken I did not need. What to do? I started looking up chicken dishes I could complete without having to go to the store.
I found some.
Crisis averted.

The final disaster was The Potato Soup. I am ashamed to say that I only finished cooking for this month last night on the 16th because I was too lazy to make the potato soup. I could not find my potato peeler and I hate the other one and so I was pouting and did not want to make it. But finally I did and now, 1/2 way through the month, I am finished cooking.
Just in time to start planning the cooking for April.
Next time I will plan better.

The Potato Soup Recipe
5 pounds of potatoes
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic
8 cups of chicken broth
16 ounces of cream cheese

Directions
Peel the potatoes and cut in chunks. Cut the onion in chunks. Place all in crock pot with garlic and chicken broth. Cook on high for 5 hours.
When its done turn the heat off, and drop cubes of the cream cheese in. Use an immersion blender to make the soup smooth.
Let it cool and freeze in your containers (I use ziploc bags.)
When you serve it, top with cheese and bacon.

Tonight I am a ... NERD!

I am a NERD.
At least tonight I am.
I am attending a murder mystery Bunco party and I have to dress as a nerd. I am thinking Steve Urkel.

"DID I DO THAT???"

But the rest of the family will be eating here.
What will they eat?
Something elaborate?
No!
Something simple?
YES!
They shall have ... TACOS!

I know that's not great and earth shattering news. Everybody can do tacos.
But my taco meat was cooked and seasoned and in the freezer.
And it was not cooked by me!
It was cooked by one of my fabulous Bulk Cooking Buddies.
When our cooking coincides, we trade out meals. So if she makes six recipes, she makes six of the same for me also. Then we swap. Its a beautiful thing.
One time all the timing worked out and I made 6 recipes, traded with 4 friends and ended up with 24 different entrees!
It was great!

Steps to Forming Bulk Cooking Buddies
1. Find some interested friends.
2. Share lists of food allergies. (VERY VERY IMPORTANT).
3. Set a cooking deadline.
4. Cook and swap.

It's fun to cook together but that can add stress in the beginning.

"OOPS! Did I do that?"

The Power Bill is What??????

This winter has been crazy in the state of Alabama. CRAA-AA-AA-ZZ! Since school has started back since Christmas, we have missed six days for snow, been dismissed early for 2 and came in late 3. And they are predicting more "Wintry Mix" tonight. What? This is ALA-Freakin-Bama!

Anyway, what does that have to do with cooking? I'm getting there. I'm getting there.

Our power bill (the house is total electric) was $160 higher in the month of January than in the month of December! WHAT! That's a lot! Or at least in my budget, that's a lot. Something had to be done! Where do I decide to cut the budget?
Food.
How do I do it?
Add bulk cooking of breakfast to my bulk cooking plan.
And serve breakfast for dinner once a week.
Ty loved the first part of that. Not so much the second. He does not like to eat breakfast for dinner. He always complains that it is too sweet. So I set about finding CHEAP, FREEZABLE breakfasts that were not sweet.

I had already hoped to do better this year on serving healthier breakfasts to my kids, particularly Taylor. We have battled some food dye,sugar issues where it comes to Taylor and concentration so changes were being made. But now I took it full scale.
Breakfast Cereal Bars
Pumpkin French Toast.
Gingerbread Oatmeal Squares
Egg Puffs
Hashbrown Casseroles
AND
Baked Oatmeals

Baked Oatmeals you may ask? What is so special about baked oatmeal? Well, for one thing, they can serve as the sweet component to your meal without being overwhelming. They are filling and its pretty cheap.
So far we have tried 3:
Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal
Almond Joy Baked Oatmeal
Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal

So its breakfast for dinner night tonight.
I had biscuits and sausage in the freezer. I had hashbrowns in the freezer. But alas! I had no baked oatmeals!

Dinner plan foiled! Except my cabinets are full of ingredients (actually I knew I was out and I got what I needed at the store).

I am going to tell you how I did the Almond Joy tonight (fresh because we had eaten all the ones in the freezer). I poured a 1/2 gallon of plain almond milk into a deep pot. I added 8 cups of quick cooking oats. I cooked it for 5 - 6 minutes. I stirred in a small bag of sliced almonds and a bag of shredded coconut. I poured that into 3 pans (1 regular and 2 disposable for the freezer). DONE.

When tonight's comes out of the oven (350 for 45 minutes), I will sprinkle it with chocolate chips. They will melt and all is right with the world.

And I do not even like oatmeal.

The Blogging Hole

The Blogging Hole

It seems like I fell into a blogging hole. I opened this up to look for some information for a presentation and realized its been nearly two years since I posted a blog. The last one was for Taylor's 7th birthday and he is almost 9. Life just gets away from you sometimes.


I looked back over my initial blogs when I explained how I got started and its funny how far I have come. Like I said I opened this up because I am preparing to do a presentation to a women's group at a local church about the benefits and methods of bulk cooking. That is quite a leap for someone that could not cook 6 years ago.

I am sorry that I left you hanging! I will do better! Stick with me!

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Happy Birthday Taylor

My children have a bad habit of picking birthday themes that are almost impossible to do. (And also Halloween costumes that are impossible to make, but that is a different story.)

So when Taylor announced that he wanted a Skylanders birthday party, I knew it would not be easy.
That is a new game.
They do not have that birthday theme in the store and they do not have it online.
It does not exist.

But he was insistent.
I tried to order a Skylanders cake but they don't make those either.
I have a lady that I have always used that could have built me a dragon cake, but she closed her shop here in town, so...
I decided to make Taylor some cupcakes with a  "Portal of Power" style like the Skylanders game.

That brings up a strange problem considering that this is a blog about preparing food is mass quantity and freezing it so that your family has home made food to eat.

I cannot bake.


Cakes don't rise.


Pies don't set. 

Brownies dry out.

Even cornbread crumbles.

I cannot bake.

But Taylor did not ask for a lot.
He did not want a lot of people there (just two friends to come play the video game with him).
He did not want a very expensive present (just this one video game).
But my baby wanted a Skylanders cake, so I gave the cupcakes a shot.
They tasted fine and the cake did rise. (I cheated and used a boxed mix!).
They certainly did not look like the Portal of Power from the game but my son was impressed.
Mama made him a Skylanders cake and that was all he wanted.

Happy Birthday Taylor!