Freezer and Slow Cooker Recipes

Last week I bragged a bit on Facebook about the fact that I had just prepped four great, healthy meals for the slow cooker and put them in the freezer for later use, all for just a little bit of money.  Everybody instantly wanted the recipes.  I have to give my bestie Sarah all the credit for sharing these recipe ideas.  Here's the list she sent me a couple of weeks ago.  (Please note you may need to increase the recipe for a larger family.)

Freezer meals for the slow cooker:
2 - BBQ Chicken
2 - Teriyaki Chicken

Freezer Meal / SlowCooker Meal Ideas

*I consider one meal enough to feed 2 adults for dinner plus have some leftovers for lunch the next day!*

Italian Crockpot Chicken (1 Freezer Meal)

*Everything for this recipe goes into the bag raw*

4 Chicken Breast

16 oz Fat Free Italian Dressing

1 Packet Dry Italian Seasoning

½ C Parmesan Cheese

4-6 Red Potatoes

½ bag mini carrots

Close up the bag, mix and bit, and Voila!

Reheating: This can go in the Crockpot while still frozen. Add about ¾ C Water or Chicken Broth. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.

Chicken Macaroni Bake (1 freezer meal)

¼ C Onions, chopped

2 Tablespoon butter

½ C Milk

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 ½ C Chicken (or turkey), cooked and cubed

4 oz shredded cheese

8 oz pasta (any kind)

½ C Bread Crumbs

Directions: Prepare pasta according to package direction. Brown onion in butter. Stir in Soup, chicken, milk and ¾ cup cheese; heat until cheese melts. Blend sauce with cooked noodles; pour into buttered 8x8baking dish (I use the throw-away aluminum ones you buy at the store). Mix the remaining cheese and bread crumbs and place on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot.

Freezing Instructions: Prepare up to the point of baking - DO NOT BAKE. Place foil on baking dish and write the following instructions: "Remove Foil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (if thawed) or 1 hour (if frozen) or until hot.

Chicken and Black Bean Chili (4 freezer meals)

4 Chicken Breast, Boiled and Shredded

56. oz tomato sauce

30 oz. Black Beans

30 oz Corn

2 Onion, Diced

4 stalks of celery

Garlic Powder

Directions: Chop everything up, put into a gallon sized freezer bag and put into freezer. When ready to cook, de-thaw and put into Crockpot on low. (Everything is already cooked; it will just need to be heated up)

BBQ Chicken (Crock Pot) (2 freezer meals)

*Everything for this recipe goes into the bag raw*

Chop the following ingredients and divide them between2 bags…

3 sweet potatoes (cubed)

1 Zucchini, chopped

1 onion, sliced

2 green bell peppers, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

4-5 chicken breasts, diced

In each bag place…

8oz Tomato Paste

1 T Worcetshire

2 T Brown sugar

1 T Mustard Powder

1 Garlic Clove

½ t Salt

Close up the bag, mix and bit, and Voila! Reheating: This can go in the Crockpot while still frozen. Add about ¾ C Water or Chicken Broth. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.

Layered Enchilada Casserole (1 freezer meal)

1 lbs of ground beef (or turkey), browned

1 can diced tomatoes, drained (15 oz)

1 can black beans, drained (15 oz)

1 10oz pkg Cream Cheese

1 Packets Taco Seasoning

3 flour tortillas (I used 6 inch)

Directions: Mix the ground beef, tomatoes, beans, and cream cheese in a bowl. Combine Well. Place a ½ C Mixture on bottom of an 8x8 pan (I use the throw-away aluminum ones you buy at the store). Top with 1 flour tortilla. Top tortilla with beef mixture and cheese .Repeat layers and end with beef mixture on top and top with last bit of cheese. Wrap in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Label.

Cooking Instructions: Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 degrees 30 minutes or until heated through.

Teriyaki Chicken (2 freezer meals)

*Everything for this recipe goes into the bag raw*

Chop the following ingredients and divide them between 2 bags…

1 Large Bag of Baby Carrots1

1 Red Onion (cut into large chunks)

1 20z can pineapple (undrained)

2 Garlic Cloves

4 Chicken Breasts

In each bag place…

½ C Teriyaki Sauce in each bag

Directions: Unthaw Meal; add ½ cup teriyaki sauce to mixture. Cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours. Serve over Rice.

Tater Tot Casserole (1 freezer meal)

1lb ground beef, browned

1 can cream of mushroom soup

½ C Milk

1 small package of Tater Tots

3 C Shredded Cheese

Directions: In a small bowl mix 1 can of soup and fill the empty can 1/3 full of milk. Mix the milk, soup, and 2 handfuls of shredded cheese. Microwave about 2 min and stir in the browned beef. Put the beef mixture in a freezer bag. In a separate bag, put 1 C of Cheese. You will also have 1 bag of frozen tater tots.

Cooking Instructions: Remove the beef mixture and cheese from the freezer and let thaw. Pour into an 8x8 pan and then cover with frozen tater tots. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot in the center. Remove from oven and sprinkle the top with shredded cheese. Return to oven for about 5 min, or until cheese is melted.

Lazy Day Stew (4 freezer meals)

*Everything for this recipe goes into the bag raw*

Chop the following ingredients and divide them between 4 bags…

4lb cubed stewing beef

4 C Baby Carrots

4 C Baby Red Potatoes (Cut in ½)

2 Medium Onions, chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

4 tsp quick-cooking tapioca

2 tsp salt

2 15oz can tomato sauce (1/2 a can in each bag)

2 C water

2 Tbs brown sugar

Directions: Put everything into four one gallon freezer bags, shake it up, seal, label, and put into the freezer

Cooking Instructions: Thaw; cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Eat as a soup or serve over hot noodles or rice.

Sewing Projects

Who says sewing is hard??  This girl.  There are a lot of things that my brain does well, like play music and learn foreign languages, but piecing fabric together in the right order is NOT one of them.  My brain just doesn't think logically like that!  It hadn't really occurred to me when I started out that I would be doing math (see kids? stay in school!) and engineering just to fix up a set of curtains & make a baby sling.  But hey, all that aside, I'm doing just fine! 

I have two projects near completion.  Two out of three curtain panels are finished and hung, and hopefully the third will join them this weekend.  And, with the help of my friend Hannah and my next-door neighbor, my ring sling is coming right along and we'll finish it tomorrow.  Here are a couple pictures of my ring sling-in-progress.

Finished tail with pocket.

Almost ready to sew in the pleats & rings.

If you'll all pray that I can find the charger cord for my camera, I might be able to get some pictures of the curtains, because the ones I tried to take on my phone aren't great. They are super cute, though, so they certainly deserve their share of the spotlight!

Talk about feeling accomplished!  Special thanks goes to my neighbor, Barbara, who first offered to answer a few questions and then went above and beyond to actually teach me how to do this stuff.  She's awesome!

I've got a long way to go before I feel comfortable using a sewing machine, and I have a feeling I may not ever quite love sewing, but I am determined to know how to do it so that I can teach Addalyn.  If nothing else, I owe my daughter a few basic sewing skills.  If I start learning now, maybe I'll be ready to teach her by the time she's old enough...

Sewing for Dummies Divas

This is getting serious. One project at a time?? Pffftt. Wimps.  I have three projects.  Better get busy. I borrowed an ancient-looking sewing machine from a friend and bought a few basic sewing supplies at Walmart.  There's a box under Addy's crib with adorable black gingham curtain panels (made by one of my mothers-in-law) that need to be pleated, shortened, hemmed, and attached to the ladybug valances that came with the crib bedding set.  There's also one set of super cute teal fabric to make myself a new ring sling, and another set of even-cuter polka-dot fabric to make one for my sister-in-law, whose baby boy is due in June.  Never mind that I don't even know how to make a ring sling yet; I just went ahead and promised her one.  Gulp.  I'm committed whether this goes well or not. 

I broke the news to my mom that I am going to try to learn how to sew.  She had the good grace not to laugh at me.  In her words, it will either "frustrate the heck out of me" or "be very enjoyable and rewarding."  I'm hoping for the latter. I have also been warned to stick to the directions on the patterns in the order they are given, and not to try to skip steps to save time. (Step #1: Learn how to thread the sewing machine.)  I'm not sure that it bodes well that I do not have a pattern for the curtain project, but I'm hoping this will be basic enough that I can watch a few Youtube videos and follow the generous and much-appreciated advice from a couple of friends and figure it out.  How hard can it be? 

Stay tuned...this could get interesting.

Domestic Diva Wannabe

The Domestic Diva. You know who I’m talking about. She’s the neighbor down the street who is always cranking out delicious meals worthy of a spread in a culinary magazine. She’s the mom in your playgroup who not only whips up a superman cape for her little guy out of a spare piece of fabric, but has a whole imagination-packed trunk of handmade dress-up clothes in her kiddos’ playroom and ornaments her entire home with cute, made-from-scratch curtains and bedding. She’s the one who has a whole room in her house dedicated to scrapbooking and its materials, who can dream up anything and then knows exactly how to create it (AND make it look good!). She's the lady with an eye for detail that is reflected in every beautifully decorated room in her house.  That gorgeous flower garden you drive by every day on your way home? She planted it. That cute blog background? She designed it. From making her own soaps and shampoos to finding natural alternatives to cure just about any common ailment to changing the oil in the car, domestic divas are popping up all over my friendship garden.

I aspire to be one of them.

In an age of post-feminist culture, homemaking seems to be a lost art. Today’s little girls are being raised very differently than their moms and grandmothers. Basic skills, like cooking and sewing, that girls used to learn while growing up, have died out so much that to meet someone who can sew a new cutesy duvet cover for her bed is every bit as cool as meeting the President - and he probably doesn’t even know how to sew!

I have decided recently that I am tired of not having these real-life skills in my toolbox. I’m tired of letting myself rely on other people to do things for me because I don’t know how to sew a new hem on a curtain that’s too long. Granted, I haven’t really ever had much time to learn to do these things, since I have spent much of my adult life in school or working two full-time jobs at the same time. And to my mom’s credit, she really did try to teach me to sew. The teenage me simply did not have the patience for sewing, or care to learn how to do it. 

Now that I am a stay-at-home mom of one darling baby girl, my priorities have changed and I finally have time and a need to know how to keep my home. I have an obligation and a desire to raise a daughter who knows how to cook, sew, maintain a home, and fend for herself BEFORE she marries her prince. For as much as we girls try to compete the with men in our lives to keep pace with all the things they can do, I have discovered that my husband is the most appreciative when I serve an awesome new recipe at dinner or put a button back on his shirt; not because he is chauvinistic (he’s not) or thinks I should do those things (he doesn’t), but just because it really is kind of cool to have someone in your home who can do those things.

So this summer, I am going to use this season of my life to my advantage and set a new course and a goal to learn how to do a few new things so that I can one day pass those skills to my children. For starters, this blog was sorely in need of a major facelift (tadaaaaa!!!!). I’m going to plant an herb garden (and with any luck, I’ll keep it alive!), and I’m going to figure out what in the world I’m going to do with the overgrown ivy in my front flower bed. My daughter’s room is finally going to be complete when I put the finishing touches on some curtains, and I plan to make a new ring sling or two. And in my spare time, I’m finally going to start (and finish) those fun crafty projects for my house and the nursery. 

In my quest for new knowledge, I’ll be using resources like books, Internet articles and Youtube videos, asking friends for a little tutoring, and maybe even finding some cute blogs to link up with and share. And I’ll probably be asking you, dear reader, for advice as well. And while I’m at it, I’m going to scratch the itch to write and maybe actually keep this blog somewhat current (although you’ll have to bear with me – baby’s naptimes are still somewhat short!). So I invite you to join me on my new summer school adventure and choose something new to learn and share it!

I am going to be awesome. I am a Domestic Diva in training.  (Hey, that line would look really cute on an apron…)

Homemade Greek Yogurt (Updated)

True confession: I used to think greek yogurt was waaay overrated. It was just a fad, a fancy item to add to your grocery list so you could feel like you were actually buying something healthy and not just a sugary cup of pastel-colored, ultra-pasteurized dairy product.  Then one day I gave in, feeling on the desperate side of hungry & very nauseous, thanks to about 16 weeks of pregnancy.  I stood staring into the refridgerator case, and then reached for that little blue cup that cost a whole entire dollar.  And when I put my groceries away at home, I actually decided to eat it and see if it would stay down.  It was delicious.  It was also the first food that had followed the natural flow of digestion in about four months, and remained so for about another two weeks and you can believe me when I say I really took advantage of finding ONE food that I could keep down.  I bought it in bulk and ate it for every meal. 

Yes, greek yogurt may well have saved my life (well, at least my protein intake), so it has certainly earned its place as the focus of this blog post. (I don't think I've ever written a whole paragraph about yogurt before!).  It continues to be a favorite snack, but I've gotten really tired of paying $1 or more for an individual cup of yogurt - especially on our modest grocery budget.  Then a couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with a bunch of really neat ladies at the Trust Birth conference who were talking about making yogurt. What?!  MAKE yogurt?!  As in, do it myself, in my kitchen, and possibly even save some money and preserve some nutritive value in the process?  Yes, please!  So, without further ado and a couple of experiments later, here is the process that I have found works best for me.

Oh...important fact:  Full-fat yogurt is sooooooo much better for you than low-fat.  (News flash: Your body needs good fats! Milk fat = good fat.)  Use whole milk!

You'll need exactly two ingredients:

• Half a gallon of whole milk (as organic as possible & not ultra-pasteurized, or it will NOT set up right.) Update: I actually just used good-ole' Great Value whole milk from Walmart. It worked just fine.
• 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt with active yogurt cultures.  Either use a 6 oz single-serving cup of store-bought yogurt (the last cup of expensive yogurt you'll ever have to buy! YAY!), or 1/2 cup leftover from your last batch (just make sure to use it within 7-10 days, or you'll have to revisit the expensive yogurt again).

You'll also need a few basic household supplies:

• A 5-6 quart crockpot
• A timer (or a good memory!)
• A whisk
• A bath towel (for insulation, not for clean up! :) Although I have used it for both... )
• A big colander that will fit down inside a larger mixing bowl.
• Flour sack towels or 2 or 3 paper towels for straining. (good quality, thick ones) 
• A container to put your yogurt in. (I re-used a large yogurt container)

Oh, and you'll need about 14 hours to make it.  This is a project you want to start around 5pm (or about 5.5 hours before bedtime) so that you can leave it overnight.

1.  Pour half a gallon of whole milk into the crockpot.  Put the lid on tight.  Turn the crockpot on HIGH for 1 hour, and then turn down to LOW for another 1.5 hours.  (This step takes a total of 2.5 hours to complete).

2. After 2.5 hours, unplug the crockpot.  Do NOT lift the lid. (I know it's tempting, but you must resist!!)  Let it stand on the counter for 3 hours.

3. Three hours later, you can remove the lid & whisk in the 1/2 cup of prepared yogurt.  (Don't worry that the milk still looks and feels an awful lot like...well...milk, at this point.  It will thicken up later, I promise!)  NOTE: the milk will have a very thin film (or "skin") on the surface.  This is normal - it's just what happens when you cook milk!

Please do not be tempted to flavor your yogurt at this point. Do not add any flavorings until ready to serve.

4. Replace the lid.  Wrap a thick bath towel all the way around the crockpot and over the lid to keep in as much of the remaining heat as possible.  Make a mental note of 8 hours from right now.  (Or 9.  Thankfully, yogurt is very forgiving.)  Go to bed. Zzzzzzz

5. In the morning, line a colander with thick paper towels or flour sack towels.  Place the colander in the sink or inside a larger bowl (best method, this way you can put it in the fridge) and pour the thickened, heavenly smelling yogurt into it.  Let it sit for at least an hour in the fridge to strain off the whey & to give it a chance to thicken up better. The longer you strain it, the thicker it will be. Strain for several hours for cream cheese texture. If you forget and it thickens up too much, you can scoop some of the whey from the catch-bowl and stir it back in a little at a time until you find the consistency you want.

(Update : The best yogurt I made was the batch that I put into the fridge to complete the straining process and forgot about for about 3 hours.  The texture was FABULOUS.  Unfortunately, it was also fajita flavored, due to a bit of renegade fajita seasoning trapped in the lid of my crockpot.  Very sad day and waste of 16 or so hours. Not recommended.)

6. Put it in a container in the fridge & write the date on it.  It will keep for 7-10 days.  Don't forget to reserve at least 1/2 a cup as starter for your next batch, and use that within the 7-10 days!

(Update: There is no pretty way to transfer the yogurt from the colander to the container.  I suggest doing it over the sink. The best method I have found is to spoon as much of it as possible into your container, and then carefully pick up the flour sack towel and scrape and/or squeeze the rest into the container. Yes, it's messy. But your hands wash and so do the towels!)


Voila! Yogurt! And it's soooo easy. Literally, all you had to do was pour the milk and stir in yogurt and sleep. It's foolproof. (Unless you lift the lid!)  Serve it with granola or fresh fruit or jam or honey.  You can sweeten it with stevia or eat it plain. I also like to puree strawberries or other fruit with stevia or honey to mix in to my yogurt.  You can even use plain yogurt in place of sour cream - it's basically the same thing except not *quite* as thick.  Enjoy!

Bonus recipe: Baked Potato Salad (soooo yummy!)

Ingredients

• 3 large baked potatoes, cooled, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled ( I use the precooked kind)
• 4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 green onions, sliced and then chopped ( green part only)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 dash celery salt or 1 dash seasoning salt
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 1 dash paprika
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Gently stir together all the ingredients in a large bowl using a large spoon, reserving a little cheddar, green onion and bacon for garnish.
2. Transfer to a serving dish.
3. Top with reserved shredded cheddar, green onion slices and bacon crumbles for a beautiful presentation.

Chicken Stuffed Manicotti

Here's a recipe that came from a company cookbook at the bank I used to work for.  This may be one of the only positive outcomes of that particular job experience, but it's really yummy! This three-part recipe is a little more involved but really yummy and still fairly easy.  Read CAREFULLY before you start, and start a little earlier so you have time to cook your chicken.

Chicken Stuffed Manicotti

·         1 ½ cup chopped cooked chicken

·         1 cup small curd cottage cheese

·         1 egg, beaten

·         ¼ c. minced onion

·         2 Tbsp minced parsley

·         ½ tsp Italian Seasonings

·         ¼ c. bell pepper, chopped

·         8 manicotti shells (jumbo shells are easiest to work with!)

Before starting recipe, chop up your chicken and cook it in boiling water in a large saucepan for about 30 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon, saving the water/broth, and put it into a bowl with the other ingredient.  Cook 8 manicotti shells in the broth/water according to directions.  Remove shells from broth carefully with slotted spoon.  Drain well and pat dry with a paper towel.  Fill shells with the chicken mixture.*

*You can attempt to stuff the manicotti with a spoon, or you can cheat like I did and slice the manicotti shell open down one side, put the filling in, and roll it back up around the filling.  Put it seam-side down in the baking dish and no one will know!

Cheese sauce

·         3 Tbsp butter

·         3 Tbsp flour

·         2 cups milk

·         1 ½ cups monterrey jack or cheddar cheese mixture (just the shredded kind in the bag works!)

·         ¼ tsp salt

·         ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter in a large heavy skillet.  Stir in flour, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add milk, stirring until sauce comes to a boil and thickens.  Add cheese, salt and Worcestershire sauce.  Reduce to low heat and stir until cheese melts.  Do not allow it to boil. 

Buttered crumbs

·         2 Tbs (or more! J ) butter

·         1/8 tsp. paprika

·         1 cup soft bread crumbs (about 2 pieces of bread, torn up into small pieces)

Melt butter in small skillet.  Stir in paprika.  Put bread crumbs in and turn until well coated.

Assembly:  Spoon about ¾ cup cheese sauce into a 9x13 baking dish and place stuffed manicotti shells on top of the sauce.  Top with remaining cheese sauce, then top with bread crumbs.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or heated through.

(Note: I had a little leftover spaghetti sauce from the night before that I also poured over the top of the cheese sauce.  It tasted great!  I also sprinkled some grated parmesan cheese on top when it was done baking.)

Creative, Easy chicken dinners

This week I have eaten three of the most delicious meals I’ve had in a long time, all suggested by Taste of Home (found a free subscription!) and prepared by Yours Truly.  I finally got fed up with spending millions of dollars {only a small exaggeration} on a bunch of ingredients and started looking for easy, inexpensive recipes.   We eat a lot of chicken in our house because it’s cheap, full of protein, and yummy.  But your average chicken and rice, grilled chicken, shake-n-bake chicken, and ho-hum chicken start to get a little boring after a while.  So I set out to find easy chicken recipes that were a little different than my normal culinary routine (let’s face it, I think we all sort of get into a rut of making the same 5 dishes over and over until our families want to scream “NO MORE!!”).  Also on the criteria list were ingredients that are inexpensive or at least pantry staples (read: budget friendly), and not anything outrageous or hard-to-find.  I shop at a country grocery store and South African veal is a little hard to come by.  Not that I would ever eat that anyway.  Anyway, let’s just say that I succeeded in making a very happy husband this week with a few new experiments that were easy to make, even with a tiny helper strapped into a baby carrier.  (She’s gonna be a great cook someday if she keeps watching me make all these recipes!)

Here are two of the three recipes.  The third one will follow in a different post.

Cheddar Bacon Chicken: 
**I love any kind of smothered, “loaded”  chicken recipe, so this was right up my alley!
Dip 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts in ½ cup teriyaki sauce.  Place chicken on a greased baking sheet.  Bake, uncovered, at 425 for 13-18 mins until thermometer reads 170.  Spread chicken with ¼ cup barbeque sauce; top each with 1 slice cooked bacon and 1 slice cheddar cheese. Return to oven and bake for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

(Notes:  You can cook your bacon while the chicken is in the oven.  And instead of sliced cheddar cheese “product,” I had a block of cheese that I grated coarsely.  A little extra elbow grease is worth having real cheese on your chicken!)

Seasoned Green Beans (side dish) 

Place  3.5 cups fresh or frozen green beans (about 1 pound) in a steamer basket; place in a saucepan over 1 in. of water. Bring to a boil; cover and steam for 7-8 minutes or until crisp-tender. In a small bowl, combine:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt  (such as Lawry's seasoned salt)

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon onion powder 

Drain beans; add butter mixture and toss to coat.

(Note: add extra seasonings to taste.  I added some coarse sea salt & gresh ground black pepper)

Chicken Philly Sandwiches 

Cut ½ lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts into strips.  In large skillet, sauté chicken in 2 tbsp olive oil until no longer pink. Sprinkle with ½ tsp each salt and coarsely ground pepper.  Remove and set aside.  In same skillet, sauté 1 halved and sliced large onion and 2 julienned sweet red peppers until crisp-tender.  Return chicken to pan, reduce heat to medium.  Cut 6 slices of provolone cheese into strips and add to pan; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve on 4 split whole wheat hoagie buns.

(Notes: I think I used about 1 lb of chicken and had a little leftovers for lunch.  To each his own, but salt and pepper makes boring chicken.  I gave it a generous shake of Kroger’s grill time chicken seasoning and it was amazing.  I only used one large red pepper & it was more than enough.  I used Sargento’s provolone cheese slices, because at least they take the time to create semi-real cheese.) 

To Sleep or Not to Sleep?

There is nothing like a long walk to put a baby to sleep! :)  She was so out of it that I was able to take her out of the carrier and lay her down in her bed without waking her up at all! 

I would nap with her, but this morning I realized that for some reason over the last few weeks, my whole goal in life has been to sleep as much as possible. I wake up in the morning hoping that I will be able to feed Addy and bring her back to bed with me.  When that doesn't work, I'm thinking of morning nap time.  And when we wake up from morning nap, I can't wait for afternoon nap. And THEN I'm looking forward to bedtime and have been feeling pretty crabby lately about the 2am feeding, especially knowing that miss girly has proven herself perfectly capable of sleeping through the night.  Not that I'm sleep deprived at all - we go to bed early and Addy really sleeps pretty well, and she usually sleeps in til around 7am.  Overall, she's a pretty easy baby & really happy most of the time.  So what gives? 

I've realized that I have a pretty unhealthy perspective on sleep right now, to the point where it is almost my raison d'être.  It's not really fair to my tired husband, who is out working all day, to come home to an untidy house, dinner not started & a wife who brags about all the naps she has taken today (which has happened two out of four work days this week. Yikes.)   After all, he helps me with night feedings, and then gets up at 5am to go to work & comes home 11 or 12 hours later.  So I have decided that it is time to get a grip and face the day like a big girl, and not as if I am an infant who needs to sleep all the time. :)

Today when I laid Addy down for her morning nap (after our walk), I curled up in a comfy corner of my couch with my Bible & Beth Moore’s study of James and savored it along with my cup of coffee.  This study is really speaking to the exact place where I am in my life right now and is walking hand-in-hand with the chapter about contentment that I’m currently “stuck” on (because I keep re-reading it!) in “The Resolution for Women.”  Perseverance through trials and learning to be content in every situation are definitely skills that I could benefit from in my life.  I want my daughter to remember a mommy who looked to the Lord for her strength and who thanked Him constantly for His good gifts. 

During the next nap, I washed the dishes, got a load of laundry started, and had time to pick up.  And during the NEXT nap (not long ones, mind you. My kiddo is the Queen of the 30-minute Catnap), I laid down with her and let her nurse while I downloaded “Babywise” on my Kindle & read a bit, just to see if anybody could shed some light on the situation.  And, as a bonus, since we were snuggled up together, Miss A snoozed long enough that I got to treat myself to a little 20-minute power nap of my own.   I chose not to feel guilty about that one. J

Cheeseburger Soup - Easy Monday dinner!

My friend Laura furnished this yummy recipe.  We had a houseful for dinner last night, so I made a double batch of this hearty soup & had plenty for leftovers for tonight. 

Cheeseburger Soup

1 lb. Ground Beef
¾ c. Onion, chopped

1 t. Basil

1 t. Dried Parsley

3 c. Chicken Broth

4 large Potatoes, cubed

4 T. Butter
¼ c. All-Purpose Flour

2 c. Cheddar Cheese

1 ½ c. Milk

¼ c. Sour Cream

Salt and Pepper

In a large stockpot, add ground beef, onion, and herbs. Cook until hamburger is browned and onions are tender. Stir in broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer until potatoes are soft (about 15-20 minutes).

In a small pot, whisk butter and flour to create a roux. Slowly add milk and stir until thickened. Gradually add milk mixture to soup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese. When cheese is melted, add sour cream and heat through. Enjoy!

Yield: 6-8 servings

Addalyn's Adventures in Millerville: Our Birth Story

Most of my birth story takes place on December 10, 2011.  However, I would be remiss not to prologue our tale with a few details from the days leading up to the birth of my beautiful daughter.  Such as walking up to five miles a day for the last two weeks of my pregnancy.   Such as seven weeks of practice labor (aka, Braxton-Hicks).   Like dreading checking Facebook or answering my phone or going to church or anywhere else where someone (everyone) was guaranteed to ask why I hadn’t "had that baby yet". Or the daily tears of frustration when it seemed like I would be pregnant forever.  Like laughing with my friend Hannah about all the ways that we might be able to jumpstart things without actually inducing labor (like chocolate cupcakes with blue frosting and green dinosaurs, sworn by another mom to have started HER labor).  Like constantly telling Addy that the members of my birth team were all taking a long vacation, to try to provoke her to come at a seemingly inopportune moment.  Like getting really irritated whenever some wiser, experienced mom would tell me that I would “just KNOW” when I was in labor. Or driving my friends crazy while I waited very impatiently for 43 very long weeks until my superstar made her debut.

Don’t get me wrong.  I loved being pregnant. (Yep, I’m crazy like that.)  But when you are huge and feeling the social pressure to have a baby YESTERDAY, forty-three weeks is an eternity.  And so on December 9, when the Walmart employee rotating the chicken in the cooler sidled up to me and predicted I would start labor at 7pm that evening and followed it with a declaration of her prophetic track record where births were concerned, I shot off a text message to my birth team warning them to clear their calendars.  Good thing I did, because the good lady was right again. 
 

That evening (Dec 9), my back was getting pretty uncomfortable as I headed out the door to a choir dress rehearsal for our Christmas Cantata.  We’d had so many false alarms by this point that I was determined to go to choir to keep my mind off things.  Once I got to church, I stopped walking several times to lean against a wall, a door frame, a chair to counter the pressure in my back.  By the time we filed into the sanctuary at 7pm to start rehearsal, my back ached so much that I couldn’t stay on my feet.  After rehearsal, still unconvinced that something was actually starting, I foolishly agreed that I would cover for the main soloist if she was still sick by Sunday and headed home.

When we got home, Chris and I took a long walk (about 1.5 miles) around the neighborhood, arriving home just in time to greet my dad and grandma as they arrived from Wichita.  They were coming to visit for the weekend and the whole bunch of us was pretty sad that there was no grandbaby (or great-grandbaby) for them to play with.  My dad walked in the door, gave me a hug, and told Addalyn she could come any time since he had arrived.  Feeling tired, achy and a bit nauseous, I excused myself and went to bed.

 

I woke up around 1 AM from a silly dream in which one of my Wichita friends was in my kitchen washing dishes because she believed the smell of the dish soap would make me go into labor.  Those pregnancy dreams, I tell ya!  But I digress.  However, that imaginary dish soap must have done the trick, because I woke up with the most intense discomfort around my middle.  It felt like someone had looped a rope around my waist and was pulling it too tight.  I ignored it and rolled over, only to have another wave hit me.  I glanced at the clock every time it happened and soon realized that I’d had four or five contractions exactly four minutes apart.  Soon I couldn’t lay down anymore.  Not wanting to wake Chris, I went to Addalyn’s bedroom, sat on the birth ball, and rocked until all I could do was groan through the contractions.  Around 2 AM, I texted my friend & labor coach that it was baby time.  At her directive, I went back to bed for all of ten minutes and my groaning woke Chris up and I told him we were going to have a baby.  Soon I sent out another text to my team to come over and crawled into a hot shower, kneeling on the floor of the tub under the water while the contractions continued. 

At this point I lost all track of time.  By the time my labor support arrived, I was back in bed trying to relax, while Chris was gathering birth supplies.  I quickly came to the conclusion that I could not labor in bed.  At all.  I had to move and I had to try to shift the pressure from the back labor.  Soon I was back on the birth ball in the living room trying to have a conversation between contractions, and absolutely unable to focus on anything else during them.  Hannah arrived some time later just as I was puking my guts up into a pink bowl that someone so graciously held for me.  Labor is not so pretty and that’s the honest truth of it.  

[Some of you are getting anxious for the part where I finally decided it was time to go to the hospital before it was too late.  Not happening.  We had started researching and planning for a home birth around 18 weeks.  Once I did the research and learned the often unnecessary medical interventions & saw the evidence-based truth that birth is actually safer (in most cases) for mom & baby to be at home than in the hospital, I was sold!]

I don’t remember much about Chris filling the birth pool.  We'd had it blown up and resting on its side in our bedroom for weeks.  But I do remember how awesome it felt to get into it.  The pressure lessened significantly as I settled into the water.  Not that I had too much time to enjoy my warm bath in between intensifying contractions.  My water broke a little while later and the next several hours went by in a blur.  The back labor was intense and I thought several times that my body was going to turn itself inside out.  I changed positions several times, from floating on my back in the water to hands and knees, to being draped over the side of the birth pool. 

My birth team was absolutely fabulous.  I could not have asked for better friends and support.  Chris held me through various positions, reminded me to breathe deeper, fed me popsicles and trail mix to keep me hydrated & energized, and reminded me to stay calm and focused.  My friend prayed for me a couple of times when I felt myself spiraling into feeling like I couldn’t continue.  Hannah popped in and out of the room from time to time, doing whatever she could around the house to help out and even running a few errands to pick up a few items as after thoughts (we decided I needed bananas for extra potassium to get rid of the nasty leg cramps that were really an unwelcome part of the program).  Somebody gave me a rogue M&M from the trail mix bag.  That was the best chocolate I have ever tasted!

I got a laugh out of my team when I announced that I understood then why people use pain meds in labor.  Hey, I never said I didn’t need pain meds; I was just determined not to have a drugged-up sleepy baby!  Hannah disappeared for several minutes and returned with a bottle of whiskey (Baptists, stop reading now!), from which I promptly received a good, strong, nasty-disgusting shot to take the edge off.  (Note: if you think I’m a horrid mom for drinking whiskey while in labor, it was ONE shot toward the end and NOT a constant pumping of meds into my baby’s bloodstream through an epidural).  I wasn't really supposed to tell that part, but it's one of my favorite parts of the story so I couldn't resist.  There aren't too many things you find amusing while in active, intense labor, so you have to make the most of it!

Soon it was brought to my attention that I should probably try to go to the bathroom before I reached the pushing stage.  This in itself became a problem, because although my coach’s experienced eye could see the physical signs that it needed to happen, I felt absolutely no urge to go or to get out of my warm pool.  So it didn’t happen.  While it probably didn’t help speed things along, I’m not sure how much of a difference having a full bladder actually made in the scheme of things.  The one time I made the effort to get out of the tub to head to the bathroom, I had to sit on the side of it for a minute to let a contraction pass, and that was when I felt the baby start to descend & I started feeling like my body would start pushing her out on its own soon.  So I got back in the pool and there I stayed and stubbornly refused to come out.  I’m sure it has happened, but giving birth in a toilet was not quite the romantic birth story I had envisioned!  

I changed positions so many times that my memory is fuzzy as to what happened when. So I’ll just tell it the way I remember it. My one and only dilation check found Addalyn’s head to be less than an inch away from crowning and only a tiny bit of cervical lip left, so we knew it wouldn’t be long. I did stand up (with strong support) for a few agonizing minutes to encourage baby to move down a little bit more. That was probably the most uncomfortable part of the whole ordeal and I had to make eye contact with my friend directly in front of me in order to focus and make it through those contractions.

At some point soon after that, my friend asked for a camera and started taking pictures of my progressing labor (which I still have not seen!).  I felt a little bit frantic when I sat on the side of the pool again to see if I could bring the baby down any farther.  Although she wasn’t quite crowning yet, it sure felt that way and I was a little bit panicked that my labor coach was standing across the room, casually taking pictures when I just knew my baby was going to pop out any second (for the record: it was another 8-10 minutes)  I actually find it a bit comical that the first time rookie was shooting orders at the experienced baby-catcher to GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW! (Sorry, friend! Hehe). 

Soon Addalyn started crowning. My mother-in-law came into the bedroom then with the video camera (more camera footage that I haven’t seen!), since she was designated the official birth videographer.  I was on my knees, leaning on my arms on the side of the pool with Hannah kneeling in front of me, who kindly donated her fingernails to the cause as I somehow started biting HER fingernail.  Oh, the crazy things that happen when you are completely out of your right frame of mind and focused on getting a child out of your body! (Hannah, I think I owe you a manicure!)

Crowning felt like a lot longer than it probably took.  It felt like I pushed and pushed forever (reality check: about 5 minutes) without making any progress.   While I knew Addy was not actually stuck, I felt like I could not work with my body well enough to get her head down & around my full bladder.  I had to change positions again and knelt on my left knee with my right knee up. (Seriously, I don’t know how women do this flat on their back in a bed with their legs in stirrups…that would NOT have worked for me!)  That was when I was able to reach down and feel the top of her head, and that gave me a new determination to keep going.  I knew I was going to meet her any moment. 

Looking back, I now know what women mean when they say they are totally focused on the task at hand.  I made myself focus and graphically visualize the baby’s position and what I needed to do to help her out.  A moment later, her head was born (with her right hand pressed against her face) and I took a deep breath, pushed with the next contraction and Addalyn shot out into her daddy’s waiting hands at 12:22pm.  I’m told she was wide-eyed and a bit startled when he scooped her out of the water. [Note: Water birth is safe for the baby because the placenta & umblical cord are still the baby's oxygen supply, so there is no need for her to breathe under water.]   I then had to stand up and lift my leg over the umbilical cord so that I could sit back down and meet my daughter.  The cord was so short (8 inches!!) that I couldn’t lift her high enough to hold her to my chest, and had to lean forward a little.  My dad got the first phone call (follow up to the excited text in the middle of the night that I was in labor).

 

The short cord caused a little bit of pulling on the placenta, and thus a lot-a-bit of bleeding.  The placenta completely detached pretty quickly.  We had every intention of waiting several minutes or even an hour or two before cutting the cord, but due to the amount of blood in the water, we decided we needed to get a move on and get me out of the pool.  The cord was cut, Terri got some time with her new granddaughter, and my birth team & Chris helped me stand up with such a sudden gush of blood that I apparently fainted and woke up on my bed about 5 or 10 seconds later.  I opened my eyes and was looking directly into my friend’s concerned face, with my husband standing next to her wearing a terrified expression and a few tears.  Yikes.   

 

My bleeding was quickly brought under control.  While my friend helped me clean up, Addy hung out with her grandparents for a few minutes, totally alert and staring fixedly around the room, taking everything in as if she was determined to remember every detail of her birthday.  But soon somebody placed my angel next to me and even though I felt like I was going to break her, I was glad to get a little snuggle time.  It was a beautiful thing to be resting with my newborn baby and my husband in our own bed, minutes after giving birth. 

Addalyn Mae clocked in at 8 lbs 1 oz, and 21.5 inches long, at exactly 43 weeks gestation.  Her Apgar scores were 10 and 10, and she was absolutely perfect in every way. 

In those moments after birth, I felt so much gratitude.  I was so grateful to the Lord for a beautiful, unassisted birth.  Grateful that He created my body to carry a child and give birth as naturally as breathing, and that He had given me the strength to birth without medications.  Grateful that He led Chris & I to the research, people, and decisions that allowed me to experience the beauty of birth in my own environment.  Grateful that my dad and Grandma were in town and able to be at the house within an hour of Addy's birth.  Grateful for the friendships that developed with my birth team during my pregnancy, and for the fact that they were both there to love me through my labor and celebrate my daughter’s birth with me.  And most of all, grateful for my healthy, perfect baby girl trying to nurse and looking at me through great big, trusting blue eyes. 

<><> <><> <><>

Moments after birth

<><> <><> <><>

Daddy with his baby girl



Best labor coach ever! :)
So thankful for this sweet lady's wisdom & friendship
throughout my pregnancy.