Preparing for Baby Chewy!!

I've had some high energy days over the last 2 weeks so I've tried to make the most of them and bake some yummies for the freezer. The problem is that I'm running out of room in my two freezers. Yes I am blessed to have two freezers- one under our refrigerator in the house and one that is a chest freezer (about 3 cubic feet I think) in the garage- both are packed full! We also have our landlord's frig in the garage but the frugal side of me just can't justify plugging it in only to use the freezer... so for now I'm just waiting until we cook some of the other food in the freezers and then I quickly fill up that space with something new! Here's what I've been creating recently:

English Muffin Bread: This stuff is amazing!! We really like it toasted with butter and honey. This recipe makes 4 loaves but I halved it so we got 2 good sized loaves, one was left out for eating and the other was sliced and went into the freezer.

Yum! These smelled soooo good right out of the oven!

All sliced up and ready to eat!

I also tried making my own bagels. The process was fairly easy but certainly time consuming... but I do have to say that it was worth it! They were so good!! These didn't even make it to the freezer, we had all 10 of them eaten within a few days! I got the recipe out of my bread machine cookbook and I'll be happy to share if you let me know.

Bagels rolled out

In the water bath

All done! Don't they look tasty!!

I can't tell you how much I LOVE my crockpot!!! I use it to make yogurt at least once every two weeks. I also like to use my crockpot to cook beans. We've really started stretching the amount of protein in each meal by adding beans. I buy dry pinto and black beans and after soaking them overnight, can cook 2 pounds at a time in my crock pot. They cook on low for most of the day, then once they're cooled I separate them out into 2 cup baggies and freeze them. Now they are ready to be tossed into anything- tacos, burritos, enchiladas, taquitos, etc. Another way we've been stretching protein is to change the cuts of meat we buy and how we prepare the meat. I used to buy boneless skinless chicken breasts exclusively, but a girlfriend (Thanks Allison) shared with me that they started baking and then shredding their chicken and they were able to use a lot less per meal. So now I buy chicken leg quarters or even whole chickens and either bake them in the oven or in the crockpot. Once the meat cools I shred it and separated it out into 2 cup portions. Now it's ready for all different kinds of dinners: tacos, fajitas, casseroles, etc. I love that I can take a whole chicken which would maybe feed us for two dinners if we just cut off chunks and ate them, once shredded I can usually get 5 meals worth of chicken off each bird!!!

Pretty chicken in my crock pot

5 meals of shredded chicken!!

The other night I was going to be making roasted potatoes as the side dish for dinner. Since I was going to be running the oven for at least 45 minutes I decided to put 10 whole (washed) potatoes on the other oven rack and let my oven do double duty for me! Dinner was delish and the whole potatoes cooled while we got the boys to bed. After they were down for the night I pulled out some cooked turkey bacon from the freezer (I like to cook a couple pounds at a time on my griddle- another favorite kitchen tool and freeze it for quick uses like this one), chopped some green onions, added some homemade yogurt (in place of sour cream), and shredded cheese and TA-DA in less than 20 minutes I had 20 twice baked potatoes!!! I wrapped each individually in plastic wrap and then put in a freezer bag. Now when we want to have them with dinner I just take out however many we need, let them thaw, bake for 20 min and then broil for a few min more (because I like the skins and tops crispy), and they are sooo yummy!!

2x baked potatoes! YUM!

I also threw these freezer granola bars together one night in less than 10 min! The boys had them the next day for snack and gave them rave reviews!! I didn't get any pictures of my granola bars, but they look just like this:

No bake Freezer Granola Bars

All my preparation for Corban has not revolved around food, lol. We opted to use cloth diapers for him and they arrived last week! I was so excited to get them all washed and ready to go!! We ordered from Sunbaby.com and I am very pleased with the quality and design of the diapers! I also scored a bunch of inserts/prefolds off of freecycle, so I think his bottom will be good and covered, lol. We were also gifted quite a few disposable diapers and we look forward to using those as well as we get the hang of this cloth diapering thing.

Lots of diapers!!

I also finally broke down and washed his clothes. We had a labor scare this week (more details in another post to follow I promise) and just in case this little man decides to follow the ways of his brothers and force his way into this world before I'm ready, I don't want to be caught unawares. It's been 4 years since I've seen the tiny newborn socks, onesies, and sleepers! Oh how I can't wait to see Corban wearing them!!!

As of today I am 35 weeks and 5 days. Just for reference Jonathan was born at 36weeks and 3 days and Aaron was born at 36 weeks and 6 days. So in a week and two days I will be the most pregnant that I have ever been!! YIPPEE!!!