New baby...not just yet

My bags are packed. My car is cleaned out, the car seat strapped in. The baby clothes are washed and organized. The various sundries have been purchased (diapers, wipes, nursing pads, pads). The shower curtain is on the bed (in case my water breaks at night). The nursery is painted, the crib put together, the pictures all hung. The freezer is full of ready made meals. The pantry is stocked with "healthy" post-pregnancy snack foods. Arrangements have been made for the care of my other sweeties. My house is clean (or at least as clean as it is going to get with the 5 of us really living here).

So now what? No baby yet...

I have been having a hard time thinking of anything but having this baby. I am huge. I am uncomfortable. I am ready to be done with this pregnancy. I look forward to sleepless nights because of a baby, not because I have to get up to use the bathroom a million times, and can't fall back to sleep for hours. I look forward to the healing, and pain, because it means I am that much closer to being back to "normal" whatever that is. I just want to meet this little angel, and share her with my family.

But, I also know that things will never be the same in our home again. The dynamics will change, the priorities will shift. The time will be divided differently, and it will not be just the five of us, because there will be six. And so, to answer my "now what?" question, I say, enjoy...

Enjoy the kids I have right now.
Enjoy being pregnant and all the crap that comes with it.
Enjoy snuggling with Derrick and reading stories.
Enjoy doing homework with Lexi and Dillan.
Enjoy laundry, because there will be so much more soon.
Enjoy what I can.

As I try to make this my focus, and really get some good one-on-one time with each of my three children before number four arrives, I have to constantly remind myself that it is okay that the kitchen floor needs to be mopped, or there are so many other things that need doing. I have to recite this little poem to myself and learn to be okay with imperfect, because imperfect is perfect!

Some houses try to hide the fact that children there.
Ours boasts of it quite openly, the signs are everywhere.
There are smears on the windows, little handprints on the door
I should apologize, I guess, for the toys all over the floor.
But I sat down with the children, and we played, and laughed, and read
So though the windows do not shine, their eyes will shine instead
For when at times I'm forced to choose the one job or the other
I want to be a housewife, but first I'll be a Mother.

 

More freezer meals

In preparation for the baby coming in just over a month I made another batch of freezer meals. I started out my evaluating what my family is enjoying these days, and then did an inventory of what I already had in the freezer. I made a 3 month meal plan calendar, and determined what I needed to make to simplify dinners through the end of the year. Then I went to work. I started out by making a list of needed ingredients. Then I eliminated the things I already had on hand. Then I went shopping. It took me an hour and half, but I got all the things I needed, and surprisingly cheap! My total was just under $200. Had I eliminated flank steak from the menu, the total would have been far less, as at about $6.50 a pound, it is not a cheap dinner option, but we love it, and I had seen some new rubs and marinade recipes I wanted to try, so about $50 of my $200 was used to purchase flank steak. This meant I would have roughly 40-60 meals for my family. Combined with the meals I still have in my freezer, it would be enough to get us to the end of December.

So what's on the menu?
Lasagna- Alfredo chicken as well as traditional
Spaghetti and meatballs
3 varieties of flank steak served with twice baked potatoes
Cranberry pork tenderloin
Shepherd's pie
Breakfast burriots
BBQ chicken burritos
Mexican casserole
Jambalya
And the items I already had made in my freezer from the last couple rounds of freezer meals, namely asian themed chicken dishes (sweet and sour, orange, and lemon), a couple pot roasts, enchiladas, and pork chops.

I broke this batch of meals into 2 days. I started in the evening on Monday and made about 18 meals. Mostly the simple ones that do not take a lot of prep work, like the marinades, rubs, etc. Then the next day I made the lasagnas and burritos, which are more labor intensive. Then later that night, I finished the jambalya, etc. I would say it took me about twelve hours total.

Here are the recipes, as well as some of my comments on how they have turned out thus far:

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Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl combine egg, water, bread crumbs, onion, salt and pepper and combine. Add ground beef, broken into chunks, and mush with your hands to combine. Form into meatballs about 1" in diameter and place on a broiler pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until meatballs are no longer pink in center. Cool and freeze, or when baked, use in your favorite recipe. 

My kids love meatballs in spaghetti, and while we do not eat pasta often, I have been wanting it more lately, so this is a fast and fun way to make the meal more interesting. I also whipped up a batch of sauce, but I just kind of do it by taste so I do not have a recipe for it. Prego always works well. 

 

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Flank Steak

Rub 1: This is the rub I usually use, and it is YUM!

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 25 grinds fresh black pepper
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

marinade 2: I haven't tried the finished product yet, but will update when I do. Looked really good though!

·  ¼ c. balsamic vinegar

·  1 T. Worcestershire sauce

·  2 tsp. dark brown sugar

·  1 garlic clove, minced

Marinade 3: I love a good asian themed meal, but I have yet to cook this particular one, so I will update when we try it. Smelled awesome though!

1/2        C   rice vinegar
1/2        C   oyster sauce
1   2/3   C   soy sauce
3/4        C   mirin
3            T   garlic puree
4            T   ginger puree
2            T   honey

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Cranberry Pork Tenderloin We haven't tried this one yet

1 can of whole cranberry sauce (not jellied)
1 package of onion soup mix
1 (3-4lb) raw pork tenderloin (or pork roast)
2 Tbs Dijon mustard

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Shepherd's Pie

1lb lean ground beef- browned

1 medium onion, chopped- sauteed

2 cloves garlic, chopped- sauteed

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

4 Tbs butter

2 cups frozen mixed veggies (I used 1/2 cup green beans, 1/2 peas, 1/2 cup carrots, and 1/2 cup corn)

1 can of cream of mushroom

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups of mashed potatoes (seasoned with butter and salt/pepper to taste)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

 Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes

 When I made this one, I basically cooked the meat and the onions and garlic. Then I added the cream and butter, and cream of mushroom soup, then took it off the heat, and stirred in a bag of mixed frozen veggies. I think the more veggies the better. I really enjoyed this one when we prepared it. My kids were less than thrilled because they like their aunt's version which is basically hamburger, potatoes, and cheese. But they said it was yummy, just not what they expected. This made a lot, so it actually served us two meals, and my lunch a couple days later. 

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Burritos- Breakfast and BBQ chicken

Burrito sized flour tortillas- 2 packages

Black beans

Frozen corn

BBQ shredded chicken

Cheese

Onion (optional)

Peppers (optional)

24 eggs

1 cup spinach

18 slices of bacon fully cooked and cooled

8 cups of hashbrowns

shredded cheese

burrito sized flour tortillas

For these I prepared everything, and put it in separate bowls, then assembled, froze, and bagged according to how many my family would eat at a meal. I made the blackbeans from dry, in my crockpot, and cooked and shredded the chicken, then topped with a homemade BBQ recipe that my family loves, but any BBQ would work. The corn was frozen, the cheese a mexican blend. When I cooked the eggs for the breakfast version I chopped up a bunch of spinach and added it in to make them healthier, but you can't even taste it. These have been my favorite thing in the freezer. From frozen I just pop them on a cookie sheet for 30 mins at 350, and they come out crispy on the outside, delicious on the inside. My kids love breakfast food, but not me so much, so I just make a few of each when we have had this for dinner, and all are happy. While labor intensive, I think I got about 50 burritos of each, which resulted in about 20 dinners covered, or lunches, or after school snacks. I did make a few smaller ones in taco size flour tortillas so that when they were used for snacks they would be the right size. What a hit!

Mexican Casserole- For this I basically used all the leftovers from the BBQ chicken burritos (I ran out of tortillas), added a can of rotel, mixed in some spices, and put in a casserole dish, topped with cheese. I made these in smaller container so they would work for lunches when it is just me at home! I have prepared one dish so far, and it was pretty tasty. I topped it with fresh avocado!


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Jambalya

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomatoe paste
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons Creole seasoning blend
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups chopped cooked ham
• 3 cups cooked Keilbasa sausage, sliced
• 3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups frozen cooked shrimp
• 4 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

Directions

1. Melt butter in large stock pot. Saute onion, green pepper, celery and garlic until tender, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add tomato paste and cook to brown slightly, stirring constantly. Stir in bay leaves, Creole seasoning blend and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into a large roasting pan. Add in tomatoes, chicken stock, ham, sausage, chicken, shrimp and rice. Mix well. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Freeze
2. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 1 1/2 hours, stirring once halfway through baking time. Remove bay leaves before serving.

  For this one I left out the ham and chicken, and forgot to buy Creole seasoning, so I just made up my own seasoning with spices I had on hand. It looks yummy but we haven't made it yet.

Lasagna
I basically just make these up. I shredded chicken, mixed in broccoli, and used alfredo sauce, cottage cheese, and ricotta. For the other one I sauteed zuchinni and carrots, browned ground beef with some garlic and seasonings, and used prego, ricotta and cottage cheese. I made both roll ups and pan lasagna. We used two of them last night for my brother's mission homecoming, and they were really tasty.

Pictures to come!

 

Annual Cornbelly's Day!

Every year we spend a day together at Cornbelly's having a blast. It is something my kids look forward to all year long. It is probably their favorite thing we do. Traditions are so much fun! This one in particular. There are so many activities, from duck racing, to the actual corn maze (which we totally got lost in and were in FOREVER), bouncy houses, and oh so much more! The kids think it is the best, and I enjoy it as well. This year, my belly got in the way some, but I took a neighbor along so that there would be plenty of fun all around, and I could skip the bouncy stuff. Derrick kept wanting me to carry him, and I told him, "I am already carrying CC" Then he started saying, "CC, get out of my mom's belly right now so she can carry me." Haha, 7 more weeks. Hopefully he isn't too jealous when she actually comes!

My kids and I at our date night at Cornbelly's

Spider web

Lexi wanted to get on the spiderweb

Spiderman!

Look at my map!

The girls!

The cast crew!

Slide races!

ready, set,...

go...

Going again on the big slide...so much fun!

Me and my girl(s)!

Jaycie posing!

My cute kids!

All 7 kids on the giant chair

The girl on top of the hay pyramid

The cuties on top of hay pyramid

Roping cows

She tried so hard, the only thing she managed to hit was her brother in the face. whoops

Jaycie roaping cows

The boys dancing along with the singing animals

The kids watching the singing animal show

Posing!

 

So many fun things to play on

The kids being corn on the cob!

All the kids on a tractor! 7 Total!

Racing down the slides

Fun on the jumping pillows

Dillan thought this was fun!

Jaycie had real trouble staying on her horse. She blames it on her cast.

Cheese

Blow up horse races

Lexi tried to hula hoop, blamed the problem on the cast! haha

The prize Dillan got for being the best hula hooper

My kids on the tire horse swings

Dillan won the Hula hoop contest!

Miss Lexi Mishaps

Lexi hurt herself at school on Thursday. She fell off the monkey bars. She told me it hurt, and I told her we would give it a day, and see if it still hurt. She woke up crying that night so we gave her some chidlren's tylenol and she went back to bed. The next morning I asked how her arm felt. She replied that it was fine, no pain. She went to school, etc. When I picked her up, again I asked how it was, and she was happy to report it felt fine. Unfortunately that night, she woke up again crying and complaining her arm hurt. Since it was the middle of the night, and I am not a fan of ER visit costs, I gave her some medicine and told her we would go in the morning. The next morning (Saturday), she said it did not hurt, and she was fine. She played all day and had no complaints. Last night though, for the third night she woke up and crying. It was about 10:30 and most of the instacares or urgent cares in the area close between 9 and 10. So again we decided to wait. Only this time it was slightly swollen. We gave her tylenol again, and wrapped it up with an ice pack. Then had her go back to sleep. 

This morning this woke up happy, and said it didn't hurt, but was favoring it and not doing anything with it. Since I am not fond of these middle of the night wake-ups, we decided to just take her in to be sure it was okay. I had ward council, so I couldn't go, so Brett took her, and Wendi came over to watch the boys, while I was at my meeting. 

The verdict: She had an x-ray (pictured below), and it is NOT broken. It is however sprained. And while she does not necessarily need a splint, the Dr. splinted it in order to help stabilize it and so she would protect it. Often if it is not broken, kids will play on it hard and aggravate it (which is what she had been doing). So he put a hard splint on, and wrapped it, and said she needs to keep it on for three or four days. She is really hating it, as it sort of scratches her arm. and she has picked at it some, so it is not as cleanly wrapped as before. 

We are going to play at CornBelly's tomorrow, so I told her she has to keep it on until at least Tuesday so she does not hurt it further tomorrow. Apparently it takes just as long for a sprain to heal as a break, and sometimes hurts even worse. Here's hoping she heals quickly. She is not a happy camper when she is in pain. Not that many of us are.

She has been pretty funny about it. She does not want anyone to know what happened because she "will be too embarrassed." She is milking it for all it is worth, asking the boys to do stuff for her, hold stuff for her, etc. She even tried to get the last dessert by saying, "I'm the one with a sprain." haha it backfired when her dad pointed out that this means her arm cost us $100, so maybe her brothers should get the last dessert. lol

That brings me to something else. Although I am not thrilled this happened, I am extremely grateful today. I am grateful my daughter is alright. I am grateful for a husband who would take her in to deal with this while I served in my church calling. I am grateful to extended family for their help and support.  I am grateful we have access to things like Urgent Care, which is far more cost effective than an ER visit. I am so grateful for technology and qualified doctors. And I am grateful that Brett and I have been putting money aside each month into a specific account for medical expenses and emergencies. We never would have guessed Lexi would be our most costly medical emergency child to date, (this is her 3rd visit) but hey, at least we have the funds to cover it, and can feel grateful she is okay, rather than stressed about the expense.

Baby Names!

Cydney Colleen Yerkes

Okay everyone, we decided on a name for our new addition. We are not 100% certain, so if she comes out and we change the name, don't be surprised. But for now we are loving the name Sidney. Of course, we have thrown out a million names, and had it narrowed down to a few, but couldn't seem to decide. Then we added this one into the mix.

My mom's name is Colleen, and we wanted to use her name for the middle name, so we were trying to find a name that worked well with Colleen and Yerkes. This is not as easy as it seems.

We are also huge fans of the Yankees, and named Alexis after A-Rod, and Derrick after Derek Jeter, so we were debating whether or not to continue the trend with baby #4. But really, there are just not that many cute girl names to be found on the Yankee's roster.

After a lot of joking around we decided to change the spelling to Cydney, to get a C, and then use Colleen for a second C, and call her CC, which works perfectly because the pitcher for the Yankees right now is CC Sebathia, and we LOVE him.

Here's hoping our little one is far cuter than he is though, huh?

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken Freezer Meal Review

Winner, winner, we have another chicken dinner...
 
This is a delicious meal! The recipe is originally from Mels Kitchen Cafe but I found it on Pinterest, and it is was pinned from Life is a Lofthouse! It is pretty tasty. I actually made it last week, and we gobbled it up, so I decided to make it again tonight so I could get some pictures for the blog.

This is the recipe and directions:

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.   

 

I do not bother turning it because I  am lazy, I just make sure to coat it good in the first place, and then again near the end I flip it and stir it around. 

I altered this some to make it freezer friendly. I put the chicken in one bag. I put a small bag of corn starch in, just so I have everything. Then I mix up the sauce and put it in a third bag. Freeze. Then thaw the day I want it. Coat the chicken in the corn starch, beat 2 eggs and coat it again, this time in egg. Brown it up, throw it in a pan, and bake for the hour it calls for. I also like to cut back on the sugar some, I probably used closer to half a cup than 3/4, but I do not always measure exact.  I served it over white rice, and with steamed broccoli and fresh cut watermelon wedges. Pretty tasty dinner, and very little work from the freezer to the table. It is one of the ones I really like from freezer because it tastes just like it would from fresh, but you do all the work ahead of time and in bulk to cut back on the mess and labor the night of. 

Brett claims this is his favorite of the freezer meals thus far! Can't complain when the hubby loves it! The freezer meal recipe version and bag instructions can be found here. I print the bag instructions out on label paper and put them directly on the freezer bag so I have them on hand while preparing the food. Simple as that.

Delicious dinner...

 

This is delicious Flank steak, and twice baked potatoes. Both freezer meal items that we love. I usually reserve this meal for Sunday dinners, but I made a mistake this morning, and needed something really tasty tonight.

Okay, here is my mistake story: I got my bountiful basket this morning, and wanted a big healthy breakfast full of fresh veggies. I diced up potatoes, green bell peppers, carrots, and a few other veggies, cooked them up in my new birthday omelet pan, and yum, they looked so good. I threw in some diced ham for protein. Topped with fresh diced tomato. The kitchen smelled great, and they looked fabulous. Usually when I make this type of meal (hash), I use some hot sauce or ketchup depending on my mood on the side for a little extra flavor. I opened the fridge and my Sarachi caught my eye. Yum, I love Sarachi. But it is HOT. Without thinking, I squirted a bunch over the top of my bowl of hash, and then settled in to eat it. It was yummy, but uh, yeah, I forgot the HORRIBLE heart burn I get when I am pregnant and eat anything with too much kick. I paid for that breakfast all day. Tums did not touch it. So I basically avoided food all day, and wanted comfort food tonight! lol

We had this with a big green salad with lots of cucumber, carrots, radish, etc. And my favorite, Italian Dressing. It was very satisfying, and extremely flavorful.

The flank steak is one of my faves because it is easy, and tastes fancy. I made up this rub to use on it, in an attempt to copy a rub I liked. It is a little spicy, so adjust according to your taste. Basically, use the oil to coat the outside, put your rub on, marinate for 30 minutes in fridge. Then broil for 6-9 mins per side based on how done you like it. Let it sit for 5 mins, then slice against the grain and serve. 

Flank steak rub

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you do not like spice, cut back here)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 25 grinds fresh black pepper
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil- to help the rub stay on the steak!