What's Next?

If there is one thing I can NOT stand it's a disorganized and horribly messy house. I  just can't think when I have laundry piled up and zero plans for dinner. I'm feeding a family 9....no meal plan=major stress.

Today I sat by the pool pondering my lack of motivation and wishing, really, that it were still June. I love summer. I love the heat and the green trees and the muggy air. The sounds of the frogs, crickets and cicadas singing is intoxicating. (No, that was not the pre dinner beer talking.)

                                 The ladies cooling off with the central unit fans.

At any rate, summer is quickly drawing to an end and this girl needs a plan to get things back into school year shape, ie. organized house and a game plan.

I have stated in the past that one thing I have learned when I feel overwhelmed with projects and ideas is to simply "do what's next." For me today, that meant dinner.

I have started by cooking a Cuban dish, Picadillo. Who doesn't love chicken and rice simmered with olives and garlic?
While the dinner simmered I threw all of my kitchen rugs into the wash. I then swept the floors downstairs and ran a quick mop over the floors.

That's it, really. I have no other plans but to get a solid night of sleep and then tackle "what's next" tomorrow.

                                                      Back into a milking routine!

I suppose chores, a grocery list and meal plan for the week are top priorities. My pantry will then get a good dose of organizing and then I will be a good way towards my "normal life."

Who knows, maybe I can get enough done by Friday that I will have more time to sit by the pool to ponder summer and listen to the cicadas.

 Just maybe.

Happy Hump Day Ya'll!

Large Family Meals: Fast Food

*This is not a paid review. The authors of this book have not asked me to review it. This is just my opinion and experience, hoping it can help others families.*

Like most large family moms, I spend about half my day (everyday) thinking about food and meals and grocery lists. It can be an exhausting aspect of running a large household but it offers many lessons in being prepared and organized.

Of course there will be days when activities consume the day and meals are difficult to prepare. There are also days when one or more family members is sick and meals are difficult to get on the table.
Ya'll I am the first person who LOVES a greasy fast food burger, seriously, but I really do try to eat healthy and I haven't the cash to be buying burgers for 7 kids at a whim.
 Prepared moms have a plan, and after a few hours of work yesterday I am once again a prepared one.

Enter freezer meals.
I admit right now that I am not a lover of casseroles. I am not a fan of processed cream of anything soups. Many of the freezer meal plans have never worked for me, until I found this book

.
This book does have casseroles, but it also has food such as Sweet Asian Chicken. This meal consists of chicken pieces frozen in a homemade marinade that, once thawed, is cooked as a stir fry you can eat over rice.
I also made Pecan Crusted Chicken. This dish is again chicken frozen in marinade. The instructions include a separate bag to freeze that contains a special panko and pecan breading to roll the chicken through once thawed. The result is a delicious crispy baked chicken strip.

Of course those two examples require a minimal amount of preparation for a home cooked meal. For days when I just have no time at all I did prepare a couple of casseroles. I made lasagna (my kids' favorite), chicken enchiladas (my favorite) and a chicken-broccoli bake that is served over rice.

A new recipe I also made consisted of making and pre-baking Salisbury Meatballs that have been frozen with a made from scratch Salisbury sauce. Once thawed it can be reheated in a skillet and eaten over mashed potatoes.

Finally, I decided to prep for quick lunches, especially for Journee, who is working 2 jobs and attending school full time. I cooked up refried beans and seasoned ground beef to make 30 bean and beef burritos. These are wrapped individually and ready for a quick heat up.

You will not find any cream of soups in this book either. All of the sauces are made from scratch and are simple. There is also advice on exactly how to organize a grocery list for this type of bulk shopping and meal prep.

I chose foods that can be eaten with rice because I have a rice cooker. Families need rice cookers! It is an absolutely easy way to cook wholesome rice without making a mess and it is very quick. Rice in bulk is inexpensive and versatile. Rice cookers will also keep the rice warm after cooking, so you don't have to be perfect in your meal timing either.

A few hours of kitchen time resulted in 18 entrees and 30 burritos. This will be a great supplement to my  weekly meal planning, and on hectic days I know that I have meals ready to go.

Of course I now have the task of organizing my freezers and making sure I have everything where I can see it. This picture of my freezer is just what I made yesterday, but I still need to pack my roasts and chickens back in the space. My morning should be interesting.

Now all I have is to finish going through school books that arrived via my favorite brown truck yesterday.

Happy weekend ya'll!

A Cold Reminder

I am back from the living dead. OK, that might be a little dramatic, but I must admit that having a bad head cold in the middle of summer is not fun at all. Of course when is a cold ever fun?

Being sick when you are single is one thing, but adding a farm and 7 kids into the mix takes on a whole new meaning. With that said I was reminded this week of some important aspects to running a large family.

1. It pays to teach your kids early how to do chores. This week would have really been terrible except Indiana and Willow are well versed in farm chores and they managed to keep everything done on time. This includes milking the cows. Journee and Quinn kept the house picked up and everyone pitched in caring for the youngest 2 kids. Laundry? They can all do that as well, so at least I didn't have to worry about daily house and farm chores.

2. I do not have nearly enough meals frozen and ready in my freezers. I would love to say that we ate healthy meals while I was down, but that is so far from the truth I am ashamed. I think some pizza and taco takeout were eaten, you know , the take out crap. What can I say? Lunch was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but dinner was a quest for anything. Normally, in months when I have my act together, we have several meals in the freezer for hectic days and times when I am not up to par. Today I plan to write up a store list and menu plan and get my act together.

3. Blue Bloods is now one of my favorite shows. Yes, I laid in bed and watched several episodes now that it is on Hulu. Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlburg? (sigh) I have always liked shows about the NYPD, I am a life long fan of NYPD Blue, and now I have a new show to love.
 Of course, this has nothing to do with managing a large family except sometimes mom needs a show to watch.

Now that I am back with the living, I am trying to get everything organized for the new school year.
Yesterday I spent hours at the kitchen table organizing curriculum and getting a *plan* ready for the first 12 weeks of school.

One thing I am doing differently this year is our math. I have always used Math U See until the kids get to Algebra and then I switch them to Teaching Textbooks. This year everyone is using Teaching Textbooks, except Zeb (kindergarten).
It was an expensive switch, but I think it will work best. Math U See made changes to their books several years ago I never did like, and Teaching Textbooks has been a good program.

We are also going to concentrate on one state each Friday. This is an idea I learned from  Kris at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. We will start with the west coast and move east.

It's all in the logistics. It's all in keeping things organized. It's all in having a nice cup of coffee each morning to get motivated!

Happy Sunday Ya'll!

1 Hour Whole Wheat Bread

I have a small secret to share. I bake bread a few times a week. OK, that's not the secret.

 The secret is that I am able to bake bread so often because my recipe bakes up in an hour. An hour from grinding the wheat to pulling it out of the oven.

This is a miracle in the world of large family baking! I can have fresh bread baked up for lunch or dinner in a snap!

 

Because many of my friends and customers are so mystified by my abilities to milk cows, churn butter and bake bread, while homeschooling 7 kids, I feel it only time to set the record straight!

I am not super woman. I do not slave over bread baking, or any chore for that matter.

In fact, if bread required that I spend half my day tending to rise times and punch downs, I would be buying those cheap store brand loaves at the grocery store. While we are at it, lets' set that record straight too. If I am having a crazy week, You will find store loaves on my pantry shelves:-)

 

No super powers here, but if I can keep my attention focused, the house will run smoothly and I will be baking bread in the evening while the kids clean up the dinner dishes.

 

So here is where I will share my recipe, developed by my fabulous big sister...who also has quite a household to manage.

 

I grind my wheat up first. I prefer hard white wheat, but hard red wheat will do. Red wheat is more dense and I do not like it alone as my only bread flour. Sometimes I will use half whole wheat and half bread flour, such as those times I need a new wheat bucket opened and my strong husband is not home to pry the lid off for me. Sometimes I will throw some oats in too because it will really add a nice crunch to toast.

 

 

 

 

 

This bread uses about 10-12 cups of flour, so you have to have a sturdy way to mix it up. I use my trusty (and old) Dimension 2000 mixer with the dough hook.

 

First I add very warm, almost hot water. 4 cups of water. Then I add 2 TB of instant yeast. I buy my yeast at Costco, and if you start baking bread several times a week you will buy it in bulk too.
I also add 1/4 C gluten and 4 cups of flour. I mix the dough quickly for about 10 seconds and then let it rest while I gather the rest of the ingredients.

Gather 1/3 C oil, 1/3 C honey and 1 TB salt. I use olive oil, but you can use whatever oil you want. Again, I buy my olive oil in bulk because we use it so often.
Your dough is starting to look a little bubbly now. Pour in the oil, honey and salt.

Start the mixer and start adding four, one cup at a time. You will add 6-8 cups, depending on the season and weather. Add flour until the dough pulls from the sides of the bowl well, then keep mixing it for another 5 minutes.

Get your pans ready by lightly spraying them with oil. I use two large pans I bought from Bread Beckers. These are 2 lb loaf pans. If you use regular loaf pans, you should be making three loaves of bread.

Take your dough out and divide it into 2 pieces (or three) and shape it into a loaf and put t in the pans. I do not stress too much over making these loaves look perfect. I just smooth them out and around and put them in the pan.
If you are feeling creative, you can roll the dough out into a rectangle and cover it with honey, butter, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, apple pieces...you name it! Then roll it up and seal down the edges for a loaf of specialty bread!

Now for the rising part. Your oven should be cold. Place the loaves in the oven and turn the oven on to 170 degrees for 20 minutes. Do NOT be tempted to open the oven door while the dough rises. This is the beauty of this bread. It will rise in 20 minutes. Set the timer.

When the timer goes off, bump the temp up to 350 and set the timer for 30 minutes. DO NOT open the oven door:-) Turn on the light and see how the dough is rising. Now we bake it! Set the timer.

                                            ***Dough after 20 minutes of rise time***


When 30 minutes is up, remove the pans and let them sit for a few minutes on a cooling rack.

Remove the bread (carefully) from the pans and let them sit on the cooling rack. Take some butter and rub it all over the tops and down the sides. This will soften the crusts and make your sandwiches yummier! :-)

I usually let them sit on the racks overnight, and we have fresh bread for toast in the morning.
I suggest using an electric knife to slice the bread too. A regular serrated knife will work but and electric knife allows you to get even and smooth slices quickly.

After a day and night full of Halloween candy tonight, I bet a slice of fresh whole wheat bread would be delicious!
 If you have an hour this afternoon, get to baking!


One Hour Whole Wheat Bread

4 C very warm water
2 TB instant yeast
1/4 C gluten
1/3 C oil
1/3 C honey
1 TB salt
10-12 C whole wheat flour

In large mixer combine water, yeast, gluten and 4 C flour. Allow to rest 5 minutes. Add  oil, honey, salt and start mixer. Add remaining flour one cup at a time until it pulls from side of bowl well. Allow to mix 5 minutes.
Remove from bowl and divide into 2 sections.  Shape dough into loaves and place in lightly oiled pans.
Place in cold oven and turn oven on at 170 degrees for 20 minutes. Do not open oven door.
Increase temp to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven to cooling rack for a few minutes. Carefully remove bread from pans and rub butter over tops and sides. Allow bread to finish cooling on rack.

Yields: Two 2lb loaves or 3 regular loaves

Happy Halloween Ya'll!

All Business, Some of the Time

Happy Wednesday! If you are near my location then it is a rainy, cold day with a slight chance of snow tomorrow. Unusual for Georgia but it boosts the business at the grocery stores because everyone makes a mad dash to buy milk and bread. Kind of funny. As for me, I hit Costco for hot chocolate mix and bananas.

 As I sit upstairs with Bumpit, she loves watching the kids play outside in the rain, I am trying to get down to business.

Business entails paying bills, compiling a meal list for the next month and also writing out a list of what areas need to be de-cluttered and organized next.
I have so far held to my goal of going through a room or area a week to get the mess out and organize. Over the weekend I decided my studio needed to be organized. It is an area where I sew and quilt and keep some of my fabrics and current projects at hand. I also put Indiana's new sewing machine in there so I could be close to her while she created projects.
It took me a long time to find the best spot for my studio, but I finally found a place close to the kitchen where all of the chaos majority of the days' happenings occur.
Studio sounds grand doesn't it?

Meet my studio, aka the laundry room!!!! (This is my keepin' it real photo of the day!)

 Here it was before I tackled it. I know, I know it's a small room with my laundry equipment, but when you have 7 kids you take whatever space you can manage to find.

 Goodness, sewing is a total mess sometimes, and I really let this space go because I have been so busy with home schooling and sewing little foxes and bunnies.

 It didn't take long to clean the junk out and straighten up the rest.

I got a bit smaller table for Indiana's machine so that there is a little more wiggle room. This week I might tackle my bathroom closet or one of the kids' rooms. It's an ongoing project that is constantly being perfected and tweaked. If I had no children or maybe just a couple of kids I would be able to de-clutter and keep things fairly neat throughout the majority of the house. 7 kids makes it more difficult because kids are constantly growing out of clothes and toys or , like my kids, collecting things such as rocks and sticks. You would be amazed at the number of "shiny rocks" we have in this house!

**************
Another business essential for us with so many kids is my meal planning. I try and keep my grocery budget in check, although some days I find myself at Costco on an empty stomach and the budget suffers:-)
I have tried many different ways to keep meals going and easy such as once a month cooking, Emealz, and couponing. Our needs change sometimes month to month depending on if I am pregnant (and consumed with morning sickness) or caring for a newborn. The last year or so I have resorted to the old fashioned method of making out a menu and planning shopping trips accordingly.

My husband is paid once a month, so I make a menu for the entire month at a time. I write the dates down and put  a star by the days Devin will be working. I do this because he does not eat meals with us on those days (he works 12 hour shifts) so I sometimes choose my smaller, more simple meals on those days such as pancakes. I also try and not repeat a meal within the month. This can be challenging sometimes. I actually typed up a list of meals I make so that I can refer to it when I get "stuck" thinking of a meal. I also change meals sometimes during the month if there is a deal at the grocery store for things such as roast or chicken.

 Speaking of menus and recipes, I have a stash of recipes scribbled down on papers that I need to type up and place in my recipe binder. It is a notebook with most of the recipes I use typed up and in page protectors. This keeps me from having to flip through cookbooks to find recipes we use often. It was a big project to tackle but has been worth it.

Do you see this recipe? Fried pickles are so, so good and I bought everything to make these this weekend. I will let ya'll know how they turn out!
That's business at my house! How do you plan your meals?

Hope your mid week is as good as fried pickles!