Freezer meals!

This is a totally random posting compared to most of my other ones, but I have had a lot of requests to know how my freezer cooking project is going! So I am going to update you on what I have found so far and what has or hasnt worked for us!

If you dont know what this is, the idea of it is to take a day and do all your cooking and prepping for all your meals for a set time. My goal is to be able to do all the cooking in 1-2 days for the month. This is my first cooking attempt at trying to reach that goal so I cant tell you yet if I reached it! Some of the recipes I am using come from the book Don't Panic Dinner is in the Freezer, and some are recipes I have already had. Part of the concept is to take one batch of ingrediants and make as many meals as possible with it. Its important to do a couple things right off the bat with this. 1. BE REALISTIC! Dont make a bunch of meals you wont eat! Everyone has their own preference. Dont be afraid to try new things, but dont feel you need to change how you eat too. You can always change a recipe to suit your need, or just dont use it! 2. FOOD WASTE! Change portions, double or triple recipes based on the amount your family needs, not just what is listed. All the recipes I will list will be based on my family size which is 2 adults and 2 kids (one of which doesnt eat much so I usually plan a pretty small amount for her!), plan based on what you will use! I keep extra plain meat in the freezer so I can always add to a recipe if company shows up, or it you double or triple meals just pull out a couple bags.

I plan my weekly meals by picking the meal then breaking down the items. Sometimes I alter meals a little to make items fit. The rule of thumb I use is plan 5 meals for 7 days. That way you have 2 days for leftovers, or the lazy pbj night! I am going to list the meals I have planned and then if you are interested in specific recipes, you can message me and I will get you the recipe for it! There are certain things that are always made the same, if a recipe calls for ground beef, I use ground beef, green peppers, and onion. SO, I cook up 3-5 lbs ground beef at a time and divide it up in bags for casseroles or spaghetti. I also do the same with a big batch of taco meat and use it for tacos or to top twice baked potatoes.

Recipes I cooked:

Twice baked potatoes (ten pound bag)

Spaghetti

Several different types of marinaded chicken or pork chops for grilling

Cherokee casserole and green bean casserole

Cranberry chicken

Cheesey Chicken bundles

Chicken Caccatori

Chicken enchiladas

Honey pork chops

Steak picada

As of writing this I still have several recipes to finish up, I am about halfway through but I started so late I cant finish tonight! I will finish up tomorrow afternoon. I also have Creamy wild rice soup and Chicken tortilla soup that I will use some of what i have already cooked to add to it. I also keep several types of unseasoned uncooked meat in the freezer for hamburgers, or to add to other recipes if I need to stretch them or as back ups.

This is the start! If you want to know more about a recipe, let me know or have questions, I will try to answer them! I am learning as I go along myself, but so far I am saving about 1/2 what I normally spend on groceries because you can shop sales on meat etc. You are cooking and freezing it right away, so if the expiriation date is only a few days away its ok.

Brat fry!

We had our first official fundraiser yesterday for Congo! We had a brat fry at Walmart on Rib Mt drive! It was a LONG and totally fun filled day! My sister-in-law, Leah, and her two youngest kids, Noel and Olivia (or as Grace says... Oweebia LOL) came to help us out! We got a little later start than we planned but we were up late the night before making posters to put up and getting everything ready. We were set up and running around 10:30 in the morning. We had a pretty steady stream of people most of the day. Whenever we started to run out we would get a lull and by the time we picked up again we would have had time to restock our supplies! We had a great time! I was very blessed by the amount of people who just donated straight to Congo! I was able to make several connections with other moms and even found a group who offered to help us raise money! It was a great day overall! I had intended to start out the morning once we were set up with all of us praying for a great day. We got hit so fast I never even thought of it. Around the middle of the day my sister-in-law and I both realized we had not had a chance to pray yet and so we did then and prayed for blessings on everyone who visited us that day, the rest of the day was even better after that! The past week I had been feeling very down and discouraged and questioning if should do this, or if anyone even cared about it. I have been praying for an answer to my thoughts and feelings. I feel like I got that answer yesterday!

There were 3 adults (Aaron, Leah and I) and 2 older children as well as Grace in the morning. Even with ALL of us actively watching her, she ran in front of 2 cars in the morning! We were having to keep physical contact with her to stop her from running away. She was increasingly getting upset with the commotion and the new environment she was in. After about an hour, she was just sitting in my lap crying and covering her ears. THIS is EXACTLY why we want a service dog for her! There is an added safety net, and research has shown children's anxiety in new situations is great decreased! A HUGE shout out and thank you to April for being willing to watch her for the day! I would have loved for people to meet Grace, but it was much safer for them to hear about her instead!

I was also able to speak with several other parents of children with ASD. I met parents who had children all over the spectrum, and consistently, EVERY one of them told me what a GREAT idea they thought this was. They all had children who were older than Grace.

God will NEVER give us more than we can handle. He tells us this in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He will never give us more than we can handle and He will always provide a way out so that we can stand up under it. This weekend was wonderful! We didnt make thousands of dollars, but we did earn a couple hundred, but this isnt a sprint, its a marathon! More important than the money, I learned that when I feel discouraged and I feel like nothing is ever going to work, all I need is prayer and my Bible, and the answers will always come! THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed for us this far and I ask you to please continue praying! Follow me if you would like to continue to hear about how this journey goes!

Puffin' Stuff

This is taken from The Out of Sync Child Has Fun:

"Puffing on objects strengthens oral-motor skills and also teaches valuable lessons about how things move"

My daughter has a very strong oral need. She will chew anything she can put in her mouth, still uses a pacifier (although we are slowly taking that away), has a special chewie tube she uses as well as a vibrating teething toy. Often times there will be certain things she craves to eat because she likes the texture of them, and certain things she cannot eat because of the texture. When she isnt getting this need met she will resort to biting (herself or others), chewing on her hands excessively, or mouthing other items that are non-food items and may not be safe for her to put in her mouth. This game is great for helping to get that oral input in a safe and fun way!

ITEMS:

Straws (different shaped ones can make for fun and different amounts of blowing will be needed)

Masking tape

different shaped object for blowing (cotton balls, cans, paper cups, ping pong balls, blocks, lids, all different shapes and sizes)

Clear out an area and make a start and finish line using the masking tape

what your child can do (taken from pg 212-213)

Take a straw, choose an item and experiment with puffing it across the floor. Talk about them.

-Weight- heavy objects are more resistant than light objects

-Shape- cones will only move in a circle unless the wind is strong enough to lift them

-Force- brief puffs are less effective than strong, sustained blows

-Angle- blowing straight down on an object is ineffective; finding and aiming at the correct 'sweet spot' is necessary

-Direction- Blowing toward the end of a straw or popsicle stick make it spin, whereas blowing toward the center will move it forward

If one item doesnt move just choose another one (for those kids who are easily frustrated only choose items that will have a positive outcome!)

OTHER VARIATIONS

-Blow without a straw

-blow into a bowl of feathers

-use a tissue or other lightweight item and try to keep it afloat in the air, do this with a friend

-have races with objects

-build obstacle courses to blow objects through

BENEFITS OF THIS

-puffing promotes oral-motor awareness and excersises cheek and lip muscles

-Breathing deeply and sustaining long puffs benefits respiratory system

-Exploring how to puff 'just right' to get various objects going teaches about movement of objects (mechanics), spatial relationships, logic, physics, and forces that act on objects. Also strengthens motor planning and force

-Handling objects with various properties strengthens tactile discrimination, eye-hand coordination, and fine motor skills

-Friendly competition builds strong social skills

Info taken from:

The Out of Sync Child Has Fun by Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A. pages 212-213

The Out of Sync Child Has Fun!

Do you ever wonder what on earth you are going to do ALL day long with your kids this summer? It is SO easy to turn the TV on and get an hour of peace, but its also easy to let the hour turn into a whole day. I know I am guilty of doing that! The Out of Sync Child Has Fun is the companion book to The Out of Sync Child. It is written by Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A. It's a great book for anyone but especially for those mom's who struggle with sensory issues with their kids. I have decided to pick one or two activities every week this summer to try out and share with you how it is working. Feel free to try out the activities and tell me what you think of them and what the results are! I am going to be targeting specific behavior in my youngest daughter in areas I feel she needs more sensory input, but this is for ANY child not just one who has sensory needs. Follow me a long this summer and see what kind of fun we can have! My next post will have our first activity!

Grace and I met with the Behavior specialist again yesterday. It went really well! He has had some very effective and useful advice for us! His suggestions yesterday were to set up some playdates for Grace with kids that will be laid back and understanding and that we can set up some specific situations to encourage her to interact with other kids. She does great with adults that she likes, because she doesnt have to share and they will seek out her attention most of the time instead of her needing to do it. Thankfully, Grace has a friend that is a great playmate and does a wonderful job of playing with her! I was able to talk with him about Headstart as well and I am feeling more comfortable with the idea of sending her there a few days a week this fall. What ways do you encourage your kids to be more social?