Stay Home Sundays

I love my home. I love making my home a place to just be. Our house is busy–the 6 of us all have things that interest us and take us away from our home but on Sunday we all come together and become “homebodies”. We limit our activities to church and school on Sunday. Ideally, we go to Mass on Saturday night so we have all day on Sunday to:
  • stay in our pajamas
  • read an entire book
  • have pancakes and bacon without rushing
  • spend time alone with each kid
  • bake bread
  • take a shower without looking at my watch to see how far behind I am
  • pray and entire rosary
  • make lots of cookies and freeze the dough
  • make a huge train track and turn it into a city
  • plan our week
  • fold laundry (see my previous post on our laundry system)
  • listen to the kids have a concert
  • go for a long walk
  • breathe
  • think without being rushed

I try to prepare our meals for Sunday on Saturday so I need to spend less time in the kitchen. Our Sunday kitchen time is spent working together at a slower pace and enjoying our time rather than the Monday through Friday flurry of meals in under 15 minutes.   

When my kids were younger it was much easier to have stay home days–a time to catch our breath and rejuvenate ourselves. That time of having leisure toddler time has passed and our family needs to be mindful of how important it is becoming to spend time together in a very intentional way. As  our lives become busier I feel it is hugely important to balance it with calm.

Thank you God for taking a day of rest. You have shown us that what we accomplish in 6 days through your blessings and grace will not crumble while we rest on the 7th day.

Leviticus 23:3 You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the Lord, no matter where you live.

Recipe Organization

I love cooking.  I love food.  I love the smell of cooking.  I love dinner time with all my kidlings sitting around the table and laughing, talking about their day, enjoying the moment of being together.

Before kids I cooked very elaborate meals both at home, in my catering and in the various restaurants that I worked in.  Now my meals are less complex but still delicious and wholesome.  Over the years I have worked with some awesome chefs and I have always kept lots of recipes.  Too many really for one person to ever cook in “real life”.

One day I decided to get rid of the zillion cookbooks that I had and just keep the recipes that I used.  I found a 3 ring binder and began filling the page protectors with my favorites.  Some of these included recipes from my wedding shower (I had asked for a fat quarter of fabric and a recipe) these heirloom recipes are so wonderful to have and I really do treasure them.  I did make a beautiful wedding quilt as well. 

I have continued to add to this three ring binder as I try new recipes that everyone enjoys.  I have also started writing down the recipes that I want my kids to have.  You see when my Mom died she had lots of cookbooks and tons of handwritten recipes.  It is so special to follow a recipe that is in her handwriting–it feels like she is really with me in my kitchen.  My mom also had tons of recipes stuck in books that were held together with rubber bands.  The year after my Mom passed I decided to replicate all of her Christmas cookies–she made dozens of different kinds–no exaggeration, plus fudge and chocolate covered cherries–crazy amounts of baking.  I had success except for her date pinwheels. 

I tried every date pinwheel recipe and none of them tasted like hers.  I don’t even LIKE them but I felt consumed to find that one cookie recipe.  I gave up.  I gave up on chasing a memory of a cookie.  It wasn’t really about the cookie, it was about sharing something with my Mom after she was gone.

What I want for my kids is to have the recipes that I use.  I want them to work with me in the kitchen, not only because it makes it more fun for me but I want them to have something that I don’t have.  I want them to have my muffin recipe. 

I make muffins every two weeks–24 muffins and I freeze 18.  You see every week we have Muffin Monday.  I usually make pumpkin or banana–it needs to be predictable for the kids.  I always have 3 weeks worth of muffins in the freezer.  It lightens my mental load to know that one breakfast every week is taken care of with food the kids love. 

Thank you God for giving me the gift of organization so the my house might run smoother giving me even more time to serve you.  Thank you for giving me the gift of cooking and nourishing those closest to me.  With Your grace I hope that I can feed their souls as well as their stomachs.

Top 10 Chicken Dinners

Easy Weeknight Dinners is the topic this week at Ultimate Recipe Swap and I find that often I cook a chicken, rice, pasta, prep veggies and then spend the week assembling different combinations.

Feeding a family of six on a budget can be a challenge.  We rarely eat out so coming up with interesting things for dinner, that everyone will eat, can be sort of boring if you let it.

I plan out all of my meals because it helps my budget, helps maintain my sanity and I crave the predictablily of the evening meal.  Our days are filled with enough impromptu, glitches, and oppsies.  My kids are young and I curb our evening activities so that we can eat together each night.  I treasure this time with my kids because I know it is fleeting.

I have 10 go-to chicken dinners.  I usually use my crockpot to cook the chicken one day for meals the following days.  If I am baking all day I like to roast the chicken.

roasted chicken

1.)  Chicken and White Bean soup.  I use the Frontera grill chili starter base and have added peppers, onions, celery, carrots, more beans and rice or whatever else I have in my refridgerator.

2.)  Chicken and Stuffing bake.  Chicken, gravy and some veggies in the bottom of a oven safe pan and top with stuffing and bake until hot and bubbly.  This can be assembled ahead of time.

3.)  Chicken quesadillas.  I heat a pan, toss in a tortilla then add cheese and warmed chicken.  I use plain chicken for some and seasoned chicken for others.  I serve it open face so everyone can decorate with sourcream, salsa and lettuce.

4.)  Chicken stock.  When ever I cook a chicken in the crockpot I always save the stock and freeze it in ziploc bags or mason jars.

5.) Leftover Chicken noodle soup.  I use the homemade chicken stock and and simmer veggies and the chicken and then add noodles and simmer until they are done.  I use leftover baked chicken–I find that crockpot chicken reheated in this slower cooked soup falls apart and that is not appealing to me.

6.)  Sunday dinner.  I put the chicken in the oven, prep the potatoes for mashing and prep the veggies.  Serve with a salad.

7.)  Stir fry with Rice:  We love having this dinner with Grandpa Pop Pop.  I cut the chicken as thin as possible–you can freeze the chicken for a while to make it easier to cut, find as many veggies as possible and cook them in my wok.  I do not add sauce to the stir fry but have some teriyaki (I love the Soy Vay sauces) and peanut sauces on the table with some roasted cashews.  I set the wok in the middle of the table and enjoy.

8.)  Grilled BBQ Chicken.  We have this at least once a week in the summer.

9.)  Homemade chicken nuggets.  I find boneless, skinless chicken breast or do it myself and cut them into 1 inch squares or for tenders you can make them strips.  I coat them in salad dressing and dredge them in bread crumbs.  I make homemade bread crumbs by saving the bits and ends of bread in the freezer and when I need crumbs or want to make a batch I just zoom it in the food processer.  I always have storebought just in case as well.

10.)  Chicken Salad.  I use leftover chicken of any kind including boiled chicken.  Basic salad I add mayo, celery, onion, two touch of hot sauce.  For variation I add cranberries and yougurt or ginger salad dressing with they mayo and sesame seeds.  The kids only eat the basic salad but I love to play with different combinations.