Simplifying life in the kitchen.

I had a couple ideas on how to simplify life in your kitchen and I thought
I would share them and hopefully bless some other Mamas/Wives!

Amazing kitchen time saving tip #1
- Hire a Chef. Just kidding.

Ok seriously one of the things I do to save time is once a month my sweet friend and I get together and we have a massive baking day. We do plan ahead what recipes we would like to bake and make sure we have all of the ingredients we need. We usually bust out approx. 12-16 gf, df, recipes! We make anything from breads, cookies, snacks, coffee cake, muffins, hummus, salsa,  dips, bars, etc. But here's the kicker.... we hardly bake any of it. We just get the batters/dough prepared and then put it in large baggies and then store them in the freezer/ refrigerator. That way we can guarantee healthy, freshly baked yummies all month without messing up the kitchen! It has been an amazing blessing and frees up so much time! Plus I get to fellowship with my friend, our children have all day to play and our husbands usually go fishing, it's a win/win situation for all!  My friend usually brings her kitchen aid mixer (and I use mine) and then we each just pick a recipe and double or quadruple it then put it in 2 different bags, one for her, one for me.  This enables us to get alot more done!

Another tip is to double your dinners. Things like soups, casseroles, batters (such as bread, waffles, pizza crust) and shredded meats ( bbq chicken, shredded beef) all freeze well. Just double your dinners and freeze the other half so you can pull it out on a busy day and still supply your family with a delicious, nutritious meal!

My last tip is to grocery shop monthly. I will never look back and grocery shop weekly again! Some of you may be thinking "Wait! How does her produce stay good?" "What about her bread?" Etc.. Ok so here it is.... I grocery shop the 2nd week of the month and I usually hit Costco, Trader Joes, Target, etc. This is where I spend the bulk of my monthly grocery budget. And yes I shop for the month, and yes I usually only take one child (date time!) with me well because frankly, I couldn't fit anymore in the car with all those groceries!! I also try to get one big roast or chicken that I can use the meat for atleast 3 different dinners but cook it all at once and freeze what I don't need right away. I get enough bread for the month but then freeze what I don't need right away, if I run out, I make some!` Also I order from Azure Standard every month which comes the 4th week of the month. This order consists mainly of gf bread, coconut milk, hot dogs (for lunches), chips, some produce (to ensure we have fresh produce all month!), grains, potatoes, etc. Then around the first week of the month I order from Vitacost, this order consists mainly of vitamins, cereal, snacks, etc. Lastly the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month I either order from bountiful baskets or on our library days I run into the Farmer's Market store and pick up veggies and fruit. It takes me all of 10 minutes and I am done! So you see we are receiving fresh food every week of the month but it mostly comes to my door, saving on my time, gas money and spending more money than your budget would allow. I admit it did take me awhile to figure out this system and how much money it would take but I will tell you it has been worth every minute it took me to perfect it! Well it's not perfected but it works!

Time is precious whether you have 1 or 10 sweet kids at home, whether you work out of the home or in it, homeschool or not, it's precious. Let's spend it wisely! I hope this blesses some of you! It was definitely not to overwhelm you, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask! Blessings!

Ways to save money and get better use of your chicken!

I feel like I have had a chicken revelation last month and I wanted to share. Maybe you all have already thought of this and/or already doing this but I am going to share anyways. Just in case someone else hasn't thought of it. Who knows maybe I am going to be embarrassed by the amount of "duh" comments I will get! :)

I have found that if I buy whole chicken (they come 3 to a bag) from Costco I can get more for my buck. What I do is I immediately cook two of the chickens in my crock pot with a little seasoning. I then shred the chickens and put into two separate containers. One is used for meals, from soups, burritos, quesadillas, stir fry's, wraps, to anything your heart desires. The second container is used for lunches. I make chicken salad out of one and provide my hubby with a weeks worth of lunch. I then use whats left to make chicken salads or just to add some protein for our lunch. I serve the kids some with hummus to dip it in. Then as soon as I am done shredding and separating the chicken I throw the bones back into the crock pot, add some carrots, onions, fresh garlic, seasonings such as: thyme, oregano, s&p, etc. I then continue to cook it overnight and into the next afternoon. Next I strain the broth (be sure to have a bowl under the strainer- last week I literally dumped my broth down the sink, I was bummed) and store it in containers and jars. I put the extra containers in the freezer until I need them for soup! So lets compare the prices, I am going to use all Costco price since that is what I know and where I buy all of these things.

1. Bag of whole chickens- $23.15
2. Box of organic chicken broth- $11.69
3. Nitrate free turkey breast lunch meat- $14.89

That's a total of $49.73 < that's alot of money!! For our family that is basically weekly!

Now if we only bought the chicken, made our own broth and used the leftover shredded chicken for lunches that equals $23.15. That being said I think its only fair to add a few bucks for the garlic, onion and carrots for the broth. So let's say the total is $26.15. That's a savings of $ 23.58 a week!! Now alot of you might be thinking its only $20 I'd be saving a week, the extra $20 is worth all of the time I would have to spend making all of that stuff....... I must inform you that it is sooooo easy! The broth literally takes 4 minutes and 37 seconds to put together. Seriously. And if you have children to help you shred the chicken it goes by so much faster, makes them feel like they contributed to dinner and gives you time to see whats on their hearts just by chatting or listening to them chat! Think about it the "just 20 bucks" turns into $1,226.16 a year you could be saving!! Now that's alot of money!
                                                     

Homemade Mayo! It's easier than you think!

I have been making our own mayo for 2 months now and can't believe I wasn't before! It's so easy and the best part is there's NO soy in it!!! It literally takes 2 minutes. I really am a little too excited about this. Sorry, I know I am a nerd.

Homemade Mayo

1 egg, preferably free run or organic
1T organic white vinegar
1/2T lemon juice
3/4 tsp. Redmond's real salt
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. organic garlic powder
1c extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil, we use evoo

Put the first 6 ingredients in vita mix or blender. Blend well. While the blender is on medium or medium-high slowly pour the oil in. It will thicken up. I blend the mayo until my vitamix makes a sound like its contents are no longer moving. Voila!!! Mayo. Love it. Enjoy.

LOVE days.....

Ok so I am not a new spokesperson for Vita-Mix but I could be I love mine so much! James and I have wanted to get one for over a year now and I am sooo glad I finally have one! We have already made our own smoothies, juice, butter, mayo, frozen coffee treats, rice milk, hot soups, whipped cream, pancake mix and when my order comes in we will be grinding our own wheat and spelt! I just thought I would share........another share is my husband surprised me with concert tickets to see Casting Crowns on Saturday!!!!! I can't wait. Yeah he loves me! I LOVE Casting Crowns! I love my hubby! Yup it's one of those I love everything days......it's gonna be a good day! Hope your day is blessed!!