My little guy, David, got sick. High fever, waking me up at night and a bad cough. This alone is enough to make you crave your comfort foods, but I stood my ground. If that wasn't bad enough, I grabbed one of my meals that I had frozen in a FoodSaver bag and decided to make that. It was my home made Chicken and Dumplings. It happens to be one of Sarah and Davids favorite meals. The first time I made it, I gave David a taste while it was cooking. I turned around to stir the pot and when I turned back , David had picked up his plate and was literally licking it clean. That's how much they like it.
Back to my story. I put the bag in water and bring it to a boil. When the bag was done, I lifted it out of the pot and the bottom seam ripped open, sending our dinner sliding down into the boiling water.
The day before I had made Bread bowls, so I took the two remaining bowls, made a large batch of Tuna..and....that was dinner.
My husband loved it. You should know that my husband is the most appreciative, happy man i've ever met. He NEVER complains about what I make and always thanks me and has the kids thank me for making dinner. That is really sweet.
What did I learn this week?
1. Having pre-made or quick dinners is a MUST.
2. Don't boil your FoodSaver bags, or they open up on you.
3. Take a deep breath if unexpected events happen.
4. Perfection isn't needed. If you make it, they WILL eat it.
My plan, is to make 1 or 2 crock pot meals in bulk a week and freeze the left overs for other quick meals.
Sometimes a simple thing like taking the time to make bread in the shape of bowls, can turn an ordinary meal into something special.
I made some bread bowls for some BBQ pulled chicken I made. I had the pulled chicken made so making the bread bowls was simple. I used my bread machine, milled the wheat and put it on the "Dough only" cycle. When it was done, I took put the dough, pulled down some ramikens and used those to form my dough and bake in.
When it was done, I had a cute ramiken filled with a delicious, healthy circle of bread. I carved out he center and filled it with BBQ Pulled Chicken.
Crock Pot or Dutch Oven Recipe:
Crock pot liners ( I love these. I just recently discovered them)
Large Package of chicken breast
BBQ
Put chicken in your crock pot or Dutch oven, pour some bbq sauce over it and let it cook on low for 4 hours..or more.
Once it's done the chicken should easily shred with a fork.
Serve on bread for sandwiches, or if you want, spoon into bread bowls.
You can't mess up this recipe.
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| Pulled BBQ Chicken in my home made bread bowl.
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When you think about it, we would order Chinese food every other week...sometimes every week. That's a minimum of $45.00. So if we stop that...we save over $200.00 a month on that alone!!
It's so nice when your spouse is on the same page. My husband and I believe in being debt free, so that means cutting back when we've spent too much money for the holidays.
My husband asked if i'd pick up some snacks for the football game. That's when I dropped the bomb that i'm trying to make snacks to save money. He quickly agreed and I told him that Sarah and I would make him Oatmeal Raisin cookies. His favorite!!
Later that day, Rob and David were napping, so Sarah and I started Baking. She loves helping me in the kitchen. She and I watch cooking shows and will often ask me if she can be my "Helper Chef" or "Sous chef".
I love cooking with Sarah and using these opportunities to teach her. She loves cooking and is so enthusiastic.
We made our cookie dough and I decided to add in some Chia Seeds to sneak in some extra nutrition. I grinded them up a bit and put them in. They were a HIT!! Everyone loved them.
We went a full week with out ordering in and we made our snacks. I can't complain. Let see how it goes next week.
God Bless,
Laura
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