Freezing Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We have heard this over and over again, yet almost half of our population skip this meal. Why? Most are too busy to sit down and have a meal first thing in the morning. We are running around getting the kids ready for school or ourselves ready for the day. If you are like me, you are still trying to wake up and should not be near a room with sharp objects and fire.

I do, however, have breakfast every morning, even in my tired state. I enjoy having a quick meal that I don't have to think about to prepare straight out of my freezer. I could spend lots of money on food from the frozen food aisle but I choose to set aside a few hours every so often and make my own.  I enjoy knowing what is in my food and where it came from.

Many baked goods can be frozen. Muffins, scones, fruit breads, and waffles are all in my freezer. I like to bake them fully and just freeze flat on a baking tray. This is called flash freezing. Once they are semi-frozen, about an hour or so, I take them off the tray and place them in a freezer safe bag. This method will prevent the items from sticking together so I can pull out 1 or 5 items at a time. Partner these up with some scrambled eggs and a side of fruit and you have a meal that will keep you going all morning long, in about 1 minute.

Smoothies and breakfast burritos are a huge hit for our family as well. I can blend up some fruit, yogurt and add a scoop of protein powder in a matter of minutes and walk out the door. As an added bonus, we put 3 cups of fresh spinach and the kids will be having their veggies without any complaints. We call it the Green Monster and my 3 toddlers are more than happy to drink it up. A breakfast burrito takes 3 minutes in the microwave and you can carry it with you as you get those kids to the school bus.

If time is the reason you are skipping breakfast, please spend an hour or so every few weeks and make some things for the mornings that are so hectic. You will be calmer and your kids will be able to focus on school and play.

 Looking for ideas? Here are some of our family favorites:
Apple Snack Cake
Baked Oatmeal
Coffee Smoothie
Cranberry Orange Scones
Fruity Breakfast Burritos
Carrot Apple Nut Muffins
Breakfast Burrito
Green Monster
 Clone of Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls    (these are a Christmas morning tradition)

When Slow Cooker meets Freezer

Don't put your slow cooker in the freezer!!

I heard about making crock pot meals ahead of time about a year ago. I thought the woman who came up with this idea was a genius. I also thought that it was so simple it shouldn't have taken a year of traditional freezer cooking for me to figure this out. I now keep at least one chicken, one pork and one beef crock pot meal on my rotation every month when I set up the types of meals I want to add to our freezer. 

The things I love about using both the slow cooker and freezer for making our meals are:

• The quickness of making them ahead of time. Most of the time I only have to chop the veggies and dump in a bag.
• I can use up extras from other recipes. If I have a little bit of chicken, pork or beef  I know can add a few more ingredients and have another great meal.
• The managers specials are great ways to find cheap cuts of meat for meals but you have to use them quick. Since crock pot meals are easy to toss in the freezer, you can take full advantage of these discounted quick sales.

The only draw back of having slow cooker freezer meals is you need to be discipline enough to think ahead of your meals. Most of these meals need 4-8 hours in the crock pot and it is best to thaw them out a little in your fridge. I like to plan my meals on Sunday for the entire week. I write them in a few places so everyone knows what we are having for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks that week. You don't have to be THAT specific on your meal planning, but having an idea the night before is needed for these meals.

Most every crock pot recipe that requires you to just dump your ingredients and turn the machine on will work for the freezer. All you do is label your gallon freezer bag, gather your ingredients and dump your ingredients in the bag (instead of the crock pot) according to the directions. Raw meats, sauces, veggies, fruits, whatever - NO COOKING REQUIRED! YAY!!!! Get as much of the air out of your bag as possible and freeze. When you are ready to cook I recommend getting it out the night before and thaw in your fridge, not your counter top. If it is still a little frozen in the morning, that's ok. You don't want to chance making your family sick by leaving it out all night and getting too warm too fast. If you forget to thaw in the fridge you can run the package under hot water but it may make your cook times a little off.

I will offer one note about our friend the potato. Some people have blogged about success with freezing raw potatoes for these recipes and having no issues. I am not one of those people. I have tried red, Idaho, Yukon and Bay City, MI potatoes. Each and every time they have come out of the freezer black and mushy. I don't know what I am doing wrong but I no longer add these to my meals for the freezer. I do, however, cook the meal in the slow cooker and then portion and freeze. As long as I reheat the item on the stove top, my potatoes come out looking as fresh as the day I made the dish.

Here are a few of our favorite recipes:
Beef Stroganoff
Spicy Honey Chicken Breast
Apple Cherry Pork Tenderloin
Super Bowl Chili

I hope you are enjoying a peek into how I cook for our busy family. If you ever have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to get the information to you.

I will be back Monday October 22nd

I wanted to take a quick second to let you all know that I am taking a break so I can get my life together. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by being a stay-at-home mom (it should be easy right?) so I have been taking my nap time 2 hours to create a second brain to help me feel less overwhelmed. I will be taking photos and sharing all the links to the great printables I have found soon.

Just sit tight and know I will be back with more talk or freezer cooking, life as a mom, losing weight AND soon a home management binder. OH I just love binders and getting rid of the paper clutter!!!

Meal Plan Monday

Link back to orgunkie.com

 My meal plan this week is a bit similar to last week. Everything is already made and waiting the freezer to be reheated. A few things will need to be cooked but nothing will take me more than 20 minutes to cook up.

Monday October15th
Breakfast : Cereal and yogurt
Lunch : Corn chowder, apple slices, and pretzels
Dinner : Leftovers (salad, lasagna, pork chop, and tater-tot casserole. About a serving of each so I think we will let the littlest choose first, then middle, and big)

Tuesday October 16th
Breakfast : Banana muffins and scrambled eggs
Lunch: Mashed potatoes, peas and carrots and Ranch chicken
Dinner : Birthday party. Night off for me!

Wednesday October 17th
Breakfast : Baked oatmeal
Lunch : Crockpot Beef Stroganof
Dinner : Pita bread pizza, red pepper strips

Thursday October 18th
Breakfast : Scones
Lunch : Ranch pork chops, rice and broccoli
Dinner : Cheese slices, cucumbers slices, oranges and pita bread

Friday October 19th
Breakfast : Cereal and apple slices
Lunch : Sandwiches, fish crackers and carrot sticks
Dinner :Chicken fried rice

Saturday October 20th
Breakfast : Breakfast cookies
Lunch : Fend for your self - whatever you can find in the fridge or sandwiches
Dinner: Meat ball sandwiches and potato wedges

Sunday October 21st
Breakfast : Banana muffins and scrambled eggs
Lunch : Chicken Packets and salad
Dinner : Chicken strips, mash potatoes and corn on the cob

The snack bin is still full from a shopping trip this weekend. Lots of prepackaged cookies, pretzels, apple sauce and some string cheese. We also have frosted mini-wheats, a huge hit with my boys for snack time. 

Fitness Friday - Where I am at

That is me a bit over a year ago. I was 240lbs and I had a heck of a time finding clothes for my cousin's wedding. Something needed to change.

Being a stay at home mom to three toddlers, my needs tend to take a backseat to everything else going on in our home. I am also an emotional eater and struggle with anything sugar. I still will grab a candy bar when the boys are running around screaming about a toy that did not go through the proper channels of ownership.

I feel I deserve a pizza (yep, I will eat a whole one if no one is watching still to this day) if we made it through the week with no broken bones and all the chores are completed on time. So maybe I am not THAT bad, but I do (still) reward myself with food.

I have been struggling since August to get things back on track. I blogged about races I was doing, tracked my food everyday, attended every Weight Watcher meeting, and got in all my water UP TO August and then for some reason I gave up. I stopped doing all that had got me to this point, except attending meetings, and felt horrible that each day I said "tomorrow".


Well TOMORROW is TODAY!! I wrote down all the reasons I would like to lose weight. I thought about all the things I have done that have gotten me to this point and WHY I need to keep doing them. I also set little goals for myself so I can see that it is truly working. I have a list of fitness goals and food goals and will add a new one once I feel I have successfully done what I have previously stated I was going to do. I am not sharing them right now because some are pretty personal but I also want you to think of what you need to do and what you can do to accomplish that.

Currently my food goal is to track every single day. Good, bad or otherwise, I just want to get back into the habit of writing down what I eat. My fitness goal is to complete C25K, no matter how long that will take. In July I was up to the 4th week of the 8 week program and gave up.

And this is me today. Sorry for the awkward photo, I am not that great at taking my own photos and Losing It Big was taking more of his own face than of me. I have lost 35 pounds in the past year. Not as huge as so many out there but I have only been adjusting small things. I never want to see the above photo again so I am doing things I know I can do FOREVER and working out for 2+ hours and eating carrots is not something I could do for 3 days, let alone the rest of my life.

Today, on my home scale, I saw 204. I want to see 135 someday and will have to work very hard to get that. I am not down and out. I am at the 1 mile mark looking for that water station.

Three Boy Thursday - The Collection Box

The Losing It Kids have got the collecting bug. Collecting is a very normal thing for kids. In our house we have little nature lovers, collecting things like leaves, rocks and parts of plants. When Losing It Big comes home from pre-school, we have a routine of checking his pockets and backpack for his "collections".

At the start of school this year I was noticing the outdoors was finding it's way indoors. I needed to come up with a way to keep the small stones and other things that Losing It Little could put in his mouth out of the house, but still respect the growing curiosity Losing It Big was developing. I started by having him store his goodies in the mail box, but that only lasted a week because we needed our mail box clear. I then started having him leave them on the porch, but when he would check in the morning for the sticks and leaves, mother nature had moved them along. I spent a few days trying to come up with something small enough not to be an eye sore but large enough to hold his treasures. I found a plastic shoe box in our basement that wasn't being used and sat it next to our front door. It has been there for weeks and I imagine will be for quite some time.

 As you can see he is quite the scientist, collecting all sorts of things to examine. He loves to tell me all about the world around him and how things change in the Fall.

If you were wondering, he will tell you all about how the Earth turns and that is why the sun goes down at night, all the colors leaves can be (and can't be) and that little rocks are the best. He will also show you his favorite thing of all, a pumpkin stem he found the first week of school.

Do you have a little collector in your house? What are the things your little ones like to save?

What's Cooking Wednesday - Getting Started Freezer Cooking

I can not believe how well received the topic of freezer cooking has been. So many people that I talk to on Facebook and in person have been interested in learning how they can get started making their mealtimes less hectic and more about real food.

The big thing I have noticed is many feel overwhelmed as to where to start. I understand that, since I was in your shoes a little over 2 years ago. Two Losing It Kids needing my attention all the time and one more on the way, I needed to find a way to get food on the table, at a reasonable cost, and allow me to eat WITH my family.

I came across once a month cooking as a substitute for coupon shopping in order to save money. This spoke volumes to me. I was a huge coupon shopper but found our meals were starting to become a mess of over processed junk because of it . The OAMC method offered me the ability to make healthy meals that could be quick but also cost effective.

My first cooking session was not a smashing success and it took a few months before I attempted it again. When I first started, I took the suggestion of cooking one day for an entire month and ran with it. I grabbed as many recipes as I thought our family would like and headed to the grocery store . I think I started with 15 recipes to make on that one day. No plan of action at all. This is where the great "Stuffed Shells Ban" was created. I made 7 pans of stuffed shells that we sorta liked. It took me 45 minutes to make them and after 2 years I still haven't lived down how awful they were to suffer through for the next 4 months. The taste of them re-heated was bland and the constancy was a bit of a mushy, watery mess. I think I ended up giving in and throwing 2 pans away. I learned a few things that day. I am not made to be in the kitchen for more than 8 hours, make a meal that you know your family will enjoy and more than 4 meals of one recipe is too much.

When I tried to freezer cook again, a few months later, I took the idea of cooking for one day and spread the recipes out over 4 days. I also only chose to make 5 breakfast meals and 5 dinners. This worked out wonderfully and has been the way I have done it ever since. I have added more breakfast and dinner recipes over time but stick to no more than 2-3 hours of cooking a session.

This evolution hasn't stopped though. This month I have been trying to add 3 recipes to the freezer a week. My hope is I will still keep the freezer stocked of good, quick meals but I won't have to set aside a whole week to accomplish a good stock. So far this week I have added some muffins, cupcakes and 3 ways to make chicken. The one thing with doing it this way is I have to keep good records on my food so they don't end up in the frozen wasteland. This means each meal has a date, is tracked on an inventory list and is rotated when new items are placed in the freezer.

So how can YOU start?

Think about what your family wants when it is 5 minutes to dinner and you have no plan. Do they choose Mexican? Chinese? Pizza? You may see a few trends develop that you can work recipes around.

Create a dinner discussion about what kind of recipes you have made that they liked or disliked. Don't take the criticism personally, no sense in making stuffed shells if they don't really like them. Find 3 dishes to make and spend an hour one Saturday morning making them for the next week. That will give you 3 nights you don't have to cook (YAY!). Once you have your bearings you can add a few more recipes each week.

Double a few recipes that you are making this week for 2 weeks away. You will have forgotten about that chicken dish 14 days later and it will taste wonderful all over again. Even more so because you didn't have to do so much prep/ clean-up for it.

If you are unsure if the item will freeze well, let me tell you most do. If you still are unsure or want to know some recipes we have tried, I am working on getting our family recipe cookbook online. I have a few posted on Wanna See My Freezer? but have many, many more in our book.

I hope you have success in trying cooking for your freezer and I look forward to sharing many more tips with you.

Try It Tuesday - Chocolate Muffins

For Try It Tuesday this week I attempted to make these chocolate cupcakes from Nomadic Nom Nom.

3 Ingredient Chocolate Cupcakes

That is her photo of the cupcakes and she did say to use an electric mixer for 2 minutes to get the batter fluffy. I read that and thought I knew better. I mixed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds and called it good. The result?

These were more like brownies in texture than fluffy cupcakes. Not a huge deal. Now the important thing, taste. I am not a huge chocolate fan, so why I chose these is a mystery for another day, but I thought they were pretty decent. They didn't have the "diet" taste that so many things do because I wasn't substituting anything other than the eggs and oil. I find if you mess with the sugars in things that is where you can start to taste the change. 

Another thing that was questioned was the points for these muffins/cupcakes. There is no WW P+ total on these anymore but in the comments it was a big discussion. Anywhere from 2 -6 points for these puppies. I went online and created a recipe and found them to be 4 points with the dry mix, pumpkin and chocolate chips. That is if you make 24 cupcakes. 

If you are wondering if they freeze, they sure do. Just cook them up and then pop them in a freezer bag. Microwave for 30 - 45 seconds when you want a chocolatey treat. 

They are not as good as a sugary filled cupcake or a candy bar but they will do the trick to satisfy a sweet tooth. At 4 points each they aren't as bad as a 8 point package for peanut butter cups either. 

This one IS going in the recipe book. 

Meal Plan Monday - Week October 8th - October 14th

Link back to orgjunkie.org

Meal plans can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make them. In our house we need to have a plan because our days are not set up like most families. Our weekly schedule is not the normal 9 to 5, we eat our large meal at 11am, and a smaller, lunch sort of meal at 6 pm. I don't have a lot of time to find out what everyone wants to eat during the day. I also don't have a lot of time to take something out of the freezer and let it thaw for the 11 am meal. To make my life easier I plan our main meals months at a time.

As I said before this process can be as easy or complicated as you want to make it. I choose the simple approach. To do this I start by coming up with "days" for the up coming months. I change them according to the season to accommodate the temperature change, because honestly the thought of stew in 100 degree weather is not something I like to think about. For September - December, typically your fall season, I have chosen the following days :

Monday: Soup/Stew
Tuesday : Chicken
Wednesday : Beef
Thursday : Pork
Friday : Pasta or Meatless
Saturday & Sunday : New recipe, take out, leftovers, parties. These two days are not too hectic so we have a bit more freedom. 

I fill in 3 months worth following these "days". This is pretty easy after the first month because other than parties or events that move things around, each month is the same. Now I know you are saying , "Don't you get bored eating the same things?" No, the reason is because by the time you get to the next month, those recipes that you liked are back again. Once I have the dinners, I can plan the freezer cooking days.

On Sunday morning we sit around after breakfast and discuss what we want to eat for breakfast, lunch and snacks for that week. I also check if there is anything they would like to change for the dinners I have planned. This all takes 15 to 20 minutes, not a lot of time if you think about how much time you waste during the day trying to decide on one meal. Also remember, things can move on your monthly or weekly schedule if they need to. You don't have to be stuck with what you have written if it doesn't work for one reason or another.

Now that you know how I come up with my plan; here is October 8th - October 14th

Monday October 8th
Breakfast : French Toast Sticks from the freezer (I need to write up the recipe, but they are a family favorite) and grapes
Lunch : Crockpot Chili and Cheese Bread
Dinner : Leftovers (Salad, mashed potatoes and slow cooker apple cherry pork loin )

Tuesday October 9th
Breakfast : Banana muffins and scrambled eggs
Lunch: Chicken fajitas
Dinner : Mini pizzas on a pita, red pepper strips

Wednesday October 10th
Breakfast : Baked oatmeal
Lunch : Meatballs, mashed potatoes and salad
Dinner : Pita bread, leftover fajita chicken and peas

Thursday October 11th
Breakfast : Breakfast cookies
Lunch : Garlic lime pork chops , rice, peas & carrots
Dinner : Baked Quinoa Bites and left over veggies

Friday October 12th
Breakfast : Cereal and apple slices
Lunch : Sandwiches, fish crackers and carrot sticks
Dinner : Lasagna and salad

Saturday October 13th
Breakfast : Breakfast cookies
Lunch and Dinner - Momma gone so leftovers and take out for Losing It Daddy and Kids

Sunday October 14th
Breakfast : Banana muffins and scrambled eggs
Lunch : Chicken Packets and salad
Dinner : Chicken strips, mash potatoes and corn on the cob

Snacks are yogurt, cheese sticks, nilla waffer cookies and graham crackers. I am also making Chocolate Cupcakes  for Try It Tuesday.

That is what our week looks like, what about yours?

Schedule

**Updated October 10th**
Starting Monday October 8th, 2012 The Losing It Blog will have the following schedule for posts. I am one for the cute so they all have names that go with the day of the week. 

Monday - Meal Plan Monday (our meals for the week, it may give you ideas)
 
Tuesday - Try It Tuesday (I love to use pintrest and trying new things. Here I will tell you what I tried and how it turned out)

Wednesday  -What's Cooking? (changed Oct 10th. Due to an overwhelming response about freezer cooking, I am changing Wednesday to highlight how I cook the way I do. Weight photos will be on Fridays as well as the fitness things)

Thursday - Three Boy Thursday ( Just what is going on in the life of a Stay At Home Mom of three boys)

Friday - Fitness Friday (Photos from a race, what I have been doing to get fit, just how things are going in that arena *added October 10th weight progress with weekly photos and stats)

Saturday - Smile Saturdays (Photos of what we did to spread positivity for the week, I want you to get ideas and get out there and be friendly and send a smile to everyone you pass. We need to combat the negativity from being anonymous in the computer age)

Sunday - Shopping Sunday ( I thought maybe you would want to see how I shop for the freezer and what weekly shopping trips look. I will even show you what I spent)

Send a smile to a stranger

Anti-Bullying Blog

In case you were unaware (as I was) October is Anti Bullying month and I thought maybe it could be taken one step further. Most people could commit to being mindful of what you say and do to one another and try to stop being negative. In my mind that is what being bullying is, sending on the negative energy to make others feel worse and build yourself up. I want to do more. I want to spread positivity to combat the negative that some can not stop spreading. 

My mind was spinning and I started thinking of the Random Acts of Kindness I do with my boys and how we do "Thank a public servant week" spreading joys to those who work in our community. When we do these things and people ask "why", we just explain we want to brighten their day. I also let people know if they would like to "re-pay" us all they have to do is send a smile to the next person they see. That is it, a smile.

So for the month of October (and I am sure for many more months) our family will take each day and do something nice for someone else. Something extra to brighten their day. All we ask in return is that they smile to the next person they see. If they want to do more then they can pass the word along. Let people know that it is not ok to spread the negative energy
 to make yourself feel better. That a smile is what the human race truly needs to get things moving in the right direction. 

I don't have a plan of action for today but I will let you know what we ended up doing the day before.

 *Update: I decided since it was a dreary day our mail person would like a treat. So we wrote a note and set a jar of tomato jam in the mailbox.

Losing It Middle putting the note in the mailbox

 If you would like to share something you did to give others ideas that would be great. 

If you need some creative ideas to do something nice check these websites (but really a simple helping hand works. It doesn't have to be fancy) :

Free Complements Printable

Top Secret Random Acts of Kindness (Fun for Kids)

 Random Acts of Kindness on your birthday

Wanna see my freezer?

A few days ago I posted this photo on Losing It... Facebook page and my personal page.

Yep, that is MY freezer full of 54 meals and a few side dishes. I got a few "how?" comments, a few "wow" and some "recipes!" comments. I really just posted it because I was done and was pretty happy that it was over. I tend to forget how impressive it truly can look because I have done this for over 2 years.

Losing It Daddy and I talked about it (after he told me a few people at work wanted some recipes after he brought in his lunch) and we thought it may be helpful for me to share how I do this. For now I will give you the run down of how I got 54 meals accomplished during nap times but I will also post how YOU can get started.

I start by writing down the recipes we would like to eat over the next few months. Sometimes things are removed or added after a discussion with everyone (kids included) but most of the time I know what they would like to eat. I take the recipes and write a master grocery list of what I would need to accomplish the cooking.

I like to line up the cooking by making 4 recipes a day. I "cook" during nap time for the most part and that gives me 2 hours of uninterrupted time to get things done. When I put stuff together I place meat items to be completed within 2 days of the shopping day.. Nothing like getting to your 4th day to discover your chicken should have been cooked 2 days sooner. This has happened and I was not happy to waste $20 of chicken.This time I was lucky and got chicken that gave me a week to complete my meals.  I also look at cooking method. For example putting a crockpot meal (because they require little to no effort to do) with one that needs to use the stove top.

For this meal plan I had:
Saturday:
4 Lasagna (needed to cook the meat and assemble) I had the ingredients before shopping so I did this one early
Sunday:
Shopping (took 2 hours and spent $234.29)

Monday:
4Crockpot Cherry Apple Porkloin (dump in a bag and you are done) - I make it with dried cranberries. Saves on cost and I can use them in other recipes.
4 Crockpot Chili(needed to cook meat, then dump in a bag)
1Crockpot Beef Stroganoff (dump in a bag, leaving out the cream cheese and you are done. Add the cream cheese when cooking the last few minutes or so)


Tuesday:
2 Mini Shepherds Pie Cups and a Large Pie too (we ate some this day and decided we didn't like them much. I will not share this recipe because of this)
4 Hearty Beef Stew (chop and put in a crockpot to cook up before freezing)
2 Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops (dump in a bag)
2 Garlic Lime Marinated Pork Chops (a bit of grating of a lime and some spices. About 5 min of work)

Wednesday
3 Taco Pasta (made fully and then portioned out. Ate some for lunch)
4 Beef (I throw some garlic and soy sauce to use up the beef I had for stew and stroganof. It is a base for beef and broccoli)
4 Chicken Fajita (clean chicken, cut into strips. Pour marinade over) 
4 Crockpot Potato Soup (not a favorite and I have a better recipe)

Thursday:
4 Cheesy Crockpot Chicken Tator-tot Casserole (just clean chicken, layer and go) For OAMC recipe, read below. Click the link for crockpot recipe.
4 Chicken Corn Chowder (made a BIG batch and ate some for lunch)
2 Diced Cooked Chicken (I use this for fried rice or pasta dishes. Just nice to have to toss in things)
4 Chicken Enchilada Puffs (Make fully and freeze)

Friday:  (and I had a horrible cold so I had to scrap the plan and just throw stuff together to get it in the freezer)
5 Chicken Strips (I needed to use up about 5 chicken breasts that I bought for something else, but got sick and couldn't make them)
3 mash potatoes
*note when dealing with potatoes. All recipes that have potatoes in the dish should be reheated slowly, using a stove top or oven. Even if they state you can microwave I have never found a recipe that doesn't come out gritty tasting. 

In total 54 meals and 3 side dishes (plus we had 3 meals we ate while I was cooking them) all in about 10 hrs time. I bought stuff to make 2 other meals but when I got ill I knew I wouldn't get to them. The ingredient that I knew wouldn't be shelf stable, the chicken, was made into strips and I will be able to make the items another day.

Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole {Freezer}
Adapted from The Country Cook

Ingredients:
1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots
1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the bottom of a foil pan.
Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces.
Now top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese.

Add diced chicken on top.  Season with salt & pepper.

Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese.

Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.
Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces.

Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top.
Place in freezer. To cook: Take out of freezer and bake covered for 1hr 30 min at 350 degrees. Take cover off and bake for 30 more minutes to get a crispy top.
Serves 6 around 568 calories, so serve with a salad or some green beans ;)


You wanna learn how to do it? Come on back for a breakdown of every little step and instructions how you can get started. Remember this has taken over 2 years and I have spent over 10 years working in kitchens as a pre-cook and line cook. Going slow is the way to not get burned out and make this truly a way to save you time and energy in the long run. 

The Big Stumble

Goodness I have been gone since JULY!?! That is a bit embarrassing. I could write all the excuses in the world as to why I haven't posted but to be honest it is mostly because I lost focus. I didn't know what to write about, I started not tracking, stopped attending Weight Watcher meetings, and only working out 2 days a week (and that was only because I had people to go to the gym with and didn't want to let them down). I tried to correct this in September but I didn't start on the 1st, then it was starting on a Monday... then, well you know how that works.

What needed to happen was I needed to recommit to what I started back in November 2011. I started going back to meetings. I tried tracking at least a few days a week and getting in my water intake. I am still not at 100% but I am doing better.

I set a goal of 8 to 10 pounds off by Thanksgiving (in 8 weeks!). That would give me a total weight loss of 40 pounds in one year. Considering I have really enjoyed this year and not changed too much, I call that an amazing win. I still have 60 pounds to go after that but it is one step at a time.

As for things to write about I have found a few new topics that people may be interested in. This will still be about my weight loss journey, races, food, but I will add some other projects along the way. You will see what it like for me to be a stay at home mom and trying to organize my life and home.

First up is some freezer cooking posts. I had a lot of people open up about having questions about how I cook for 5 people, even though we don't live a 9-5 job life. It can get challenging but I have found a way.

This is just that 'sorry I have been gone' post that I hate to write but felt I needed to document that  I did stumble but did not completely fall off that wagon.