Have you ever watched the show "Clean This House"? I'm always in shock when I see how some people choose to live. With that said, I must admit a few weeks ago I was worried my family would be on the next episode. Each week I try and try to catch up on laundry with no luck. I was also attempting to clean the bathrooms, do the floors, dust, vaccuum and do laundry on Sunday afternoon. I wasn't enjoying any rest on the weekend.
Two weeks ago, I told my hubby and the kids we have got to do something. I've resisted hiring help because I'm just too picky. The kids and I made a chart of all of the household chores we must get done every week. Next I made a six column chart titled with Monday-Saturday. I divided the chores amongst the days of the week. We placed the charts in our kitchen on the refrigerator. Two weeks ago on Monday we put our plan into place. The kids don't mind helping because we only have a few task per day-most deal with taking laundry to the laundry room, folding and putting away. My busiest day is Thursday or Saturday depending on which day I choose for floors and bathrooms.
I waited to blog about our little system because I was afraid it would not work, but to my surprise after two weeks it is still working. Tomorrow is dust day along with a little laundry. I would not promise a perfect home if you come to visit, but we are keeping up with the laundry each day and the house is somewhat presentable if someone knocks. Thank goodness they have not scheduled our family for a "Clean This House" episode. Maybe I have escaped life as a reality star.
Inspired by an article in Southern Living, several friends and I tried a monthly supper club. We started with six people. Since I was the home economics major, I was given the task of making a quick fact sheet about what types of foods you should not freeze. All of us shared websites with good recipes. We decided each person in our group would prepare one frozen meal each month, but make it six times. Finally we determined a date for our swap.
This worked great for the first couple of months, but then several people got overwhelmed by the schedule. We then dropped to four people and four different casseroles or meals per month. This was still beneficial since you still had a really delicious meal at least once per week.
We found out that assigning each person a type of meat was helpful. With this determined, we did not have so many casseroles or meals with ground beef. We also found a need to distinguish the type of cuisine we were preparing- i.e. Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc.
Summer rolled around and two of the final four moved. We have not started back, but I learned a great deal from the swap. Husbands and kids got tired of casseroles. Some begged for McDonald’s, Huddle House, Taco Bell, etc. Quiche was a good addition to the meal rotation and so was a monthly frozen soup.
I don’t know that I could find enough people in my new neighborhood to start the swap again, but I do utilize some of the things I learned along the way. I try to chop up all of my onions if I need just one. The extra goes into the freezer for a later date. This is also something I do with peppers and celery. If we have leftovers of fruits and veggies, I try to puree and freeze. These purees are great in quick bread recipes. There are several popular cookbooks recipes utilizing purees. Fall and Winter are great seasons for the weekly soup recipe. My family alternates between potato, chili, vegetable and jalapeno cheese soup.
If you research Make-Ahead-Frozen Meals, Once a Month Cookie, or Supper Clubs, you will find most of the recipes are high in fat due to the use of creamed soups and cheeses. I think this is why our husbands and kids got a little worn on the meals and craved something different. One solution is to use low-fat versions of the soups and cheeses (even though I am convinced that stuff isn’t real food). Most meats can be cooked ahead and reheated. Make sure you add plenty of liquid (broths, sauces, and vinegar/oil) in the reheating process to keep the meat from drying out. I like to enclose the meat and liquid in aluminum foil for reheating. Do not freeze any recipe with mayonnaise (forget the hot chicken salad, seafood salads, veg-all casseroles and many broccoli casseroles).
My younger sister is an avid Sunday cook. She and her dedicated husband grill fish and chicken once a week. They also boil dozens of eggs (only eats the whites). On several occasions I have seen her steam large amounts of fresh veggies for the week. She packs her lunch everyday. Most of the time she carries a lunchbox when she goes out to dinner. The lunchbox contains salad dressing and grilled chicken. She usually attempts to order from the menu, but sometimes just adds chicken and salad dressing to a house salad if needed. Just in case you are wondering, my sister is a professional all natural (no steroids) figure competitor (bodybuilding). She also eats a gluten free diet as part of her therapeutic treatment for Crohn’s disease.
I hope you gain something from my experience with make-ahead-frozen meals and supper clubs.
Here is a list of my favorite freezer friendly dishes:
Quiche (create low-fat versions by using one whole egg and egg whites)
Meatloaf
Soups and Chili
Pancakes (create whole wheat versions with those purees)
Baked Spaghetti (Paula Dean recipe)
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce w/ground beef (at least making this ahead allows you to heat and serve with noodles.
Grilled or Baked Boston Butt (cook, shred and freeze—Just wrap in aluminum foil w/liquid to reheat)
A friend shared this recipe with me a year ago, but as with most recipes I added my own twist. So far this fall I have cooked at least one soup recipe per week. This is our soup recipe for the week. Enjoy!
1 lb. Boneless skinless chicken breast
1 onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans chicken broth
1 jar salsa
24 oz. green chile peppers
1-tsp jalapeno peppers (I use the jalapenos in the jar- pickle section)
16 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed
Boil chicken and onion in 2-3 cups water. When chicken breaks apart easily, remove chicken and onion, drain and cool.
In a large pot add broth, cream soups, salsa, green chiles, pepper and velveeta. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Shred the chicken and add along with onions to soup mixture. Heat a few minutes longer and serve. YUMMY!!! You can control spicy flavor by using mild flavored salsa and chiles. Increase the heat by using medium or hot.
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