Once a Month Cooking

So I decided to try out the newest fad hitting blogs and Pinterest- Once a Month cooking. 

The idea is you spend one day a month cooking all of your meals at once. You can then freeze and cook daily. Sounds awesome right?! Everyday you have very little prep work and an easy clean up, no big mess and no time spent chopping, sauteing and everything else. 

All of my recipes I made big enough to provide Dinner and Lunch the next day so I could save even more. We are a family of about 2 and a half eating since I have a picky and petite 2 year old and an infant just trying out table food for now. I ended up making 21 Dinners (again these are large enough to provide at least 1 lunch also) and 20 Breakfast Burritos. SO all in all 21 Full lunches and Dinners and several breakfasts.

It took me 6 hours to make all of this up, that includes a full kitchen cleanup before and after (didn't get my kitchen cleaned the night before as planned) During this time I was also chasing my kids out of the kitchen, providing several snacks, lunch and naps. Next time I do this I will be sure to shuttle my kids off somewhere. I know I could shave an hour or 2 off of my prep if I wasn't constantly interrupted :)

My grand total for my Meals was just under $122

I wanted most of my meals to be throw in the crockpot meals so that i wouldn't have to do much or heat up my house. I did do a couple casseroles. For these I bought throw away tin pans for easy cleanup and so that my dishes weren't stuck in my freezer. These I got at costco for .22 each!

Here are the meals I made

Breakfast Burritos (20 mini burritos) Microwaveable

Teriyaki Chicken (2 Bags)- CP
Lazy Lasagna Chili (2 bags)- Veggies thrown in makes a 1 pan meal! CP
Chicken Spaghetti (2 Casseroles)- I added Broccoli and Cauliflower so its again a 1 pan meal
Beef Enchiladas (Filling for 2 pans) I chose not to assemble them right now but I cooked up all the filling to make it easier later.
Meat Loaf (2 loafs)
Mashed Potaotes (3 bags)
BBQ Chicken (2 bags) - Full of Veggies
Chicken Curry (2 Gallon Bags)- Full of Veggies
Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos (2 Bags)- CP Filling is in the freezer and I bought the tortillas and toppings too so thats all part of the $122 total
Green Chile Chicken (2 bags)- CP
Taco Stoup (3 Bags)- CP

Can't wait to try out some of these new recipes and I will probably be doing this again.

Michelle

4 Years ago my life changed forever. I lost one of my best friends, my big sister who I turned to for advice and a good laugh. She was hilarious, amazing, smart, crazy and most of all strong. She was a fighter and had been fighting a painful battle for years. I remember gathering in her hospital room every time something changed. She would tell me to crawl into her bed and snuggle with her. Even when I was 20 years old it never mattered. I would squeeze into that hospital bed and hold her hand while I cried. She always told me it was ok, she was going to be fine. She had a plan, it would all work out. No matter what she had a calming smile on her face. She was strong and fearless.

In the end she was put into a drug induced coma to numb the pain. As a family we had to decide to pull the plug on the machines that were keeping her a live. I have to admit despite the years of fighting I didn't think it would end like this. I really thought she would get better and go back to dancing. I dreamed of her holding my babies and being the amazing aunt I knew she would be. On that final day I remember all the regret I had. I let life get too busy, I didn't visit as much as I wanted to. I missed my sisters life. We each got to say our goodbyes. I admitted to her that we had decided to try for a baby- since the day I was married she had spent time rubbing my stomach "Keeping it warm for her future niece or nephew" she said. She never got to meet my kids on earth, but I know that she played with them and kept them company in Heaven. I can imagine this is why it took so many months of trying to be blessed with my little Taycee. I imagine another angel (or two) had to pry that little girl out of her arms because she didn't want to let go. Who would want to let go of sweet Taycee. :) I see a lot of Michelle in Taycee. She must have taught her so much before she came to me. From her silly faces to her love of dancing and music, I know she knew her aunt Michelle. She was of course named after her:)

After her death we were asked to put together memories we had of Michelle. The shock of her death was too much for me. I refused to let it register. I pretended she was still away at BYU. I didn't write down any memories. Admitting she was gone would only mean she was actually gone- and how could I live without her.

I have so many memories of my sister, it's about time I share a few. She was an amazing dancer. She took so many classes on the different types. From ballet to modern to clogging. I loved watching her dance. I always wished I could dance like her. I tried in high school but lacked her grace. She came with me on the pioneer treck to teach everyone clogging. We got to spend a lot of time together during that. She wrote me one of the sweetest note and I cried for a long time while I read it.

She loved to play jokes and embarrass me. More than once she stole my phone and sent text messages to my boyfriends (Or who she thought were my boyfriends) One time in particular she sent a few messages to one boy telling him how much I missed him and loved him... little did she know we had broken up the night before. We had a very awkward conversation the next day :)

She loved learning new things and I got to be the lucky one to try them out. When she went vegan she tried very hard to convert me as well- making me try all her funky recipes. She showed me how to cook regular recipes as well, maybe thats where I got my love of cooking? I did learn how to make some yummy split pea soup. She also made me try out a butt massage. Yes it sounds weird but it was amazing! And mostly not on the butt- she probably just called it that to scare me.

She loved animals- especially wiener dogs. When we had been married just a few months, we had decided Michelle would come live with us. We had this whole plan that we would get a family puppy. Unfortunately she got very sick following a surgery and didn't get to come live with us. But we still went through with the plan and got our puppy Spykle- of course he was the beginning to a very long stream of wieners in our family. When there was only 2 puppies she was in the hospital and hadn't met them yet. We didn't want her to miss out so we put them in our purse and snuck them into her room. She was so excited to see them. She hid them under her blanket so the nurses wouldn't catch us.

She was very strong, brave and not embarrassed of her illness. She smiled through all the pain always. She never let it show. She had some sweet friends who would throw head shaving parties when she was losing her hair. She bought a shirt that said "Who needs hair with a body like this" and wore it proudly. When her hair did come in she died it funky colors- she was just the right amount of crazy.

She was the best big sister I could have ever asked for. She constantly reminded me that life needs a little (or a lot) of silly. I miss her everyday and can't wait to see her again. I only wish she could have been here with us longer...

Teagen 7 Months

So Teagen's half year has come and gone. No I didn't miss it, but I did miss blogging about it. (But obviously I miss blogging about a lot!)

Here's a little blogging tribute to my sweet Little T!

At 6 Months
you weighed 15 pounds 7 oz. 30%
you were 26 inches tall. 75%

Teagy (as you are so lovingly called by your older sister)
You are one amazing baby. You are strong and bubbly and wiggly- oh so wiggly.
You are still exclusively breastfeeding, although it is a fight each time to get you to sit still long enough to get enough. You have taught yourself to eat at super speed in order to get back to moving and watching.
You love blowing raspberries and babbling loud enough for the room to hear. Your favorite words right now are "baba" and "dada"- but let the record show you definitely said "mama" first!
You have been sitting up on your own for a few months. You can bend all the way tummy to the ground and back up.
You are so grabby its impossible to keep anything from you.
You can pull yourself up from sitting to standing just by holding someone's finger.
As soon as you get yourself up you giggle and squeal with delight.
You can walk along the furniture- and sometimes you walk faster then we can keep up with and you fall. Sorry baby!
Since you were only a few months old you could scoot around the floor with your toes. You continue to do this along with rolling around back and forth. For an unmobile baby you are very quite mobile.
Just like your sister did, you have decided crawling is overrated and are trying to walk before you crawl. -Your doctor has told us to push you down ;)
You are very interested in what everyone is doing. You love your sister and think she is one of the funniest people in the world (We do too!)
You are a very happy baby and you have the sweetest little giggle, though we don't get to hear it as much as we'd like.
The nurses at the doctors office think your crazy. You are one tough kid to measure since you WILL NOT stop moving.


Every day I am impressed by how much you can do. Your strength is amazing. I am so blessed to be your mommy, Our family would not be the same without you.

We love you Teagen, can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!

February 14th... anything but loving.

I'm not the biggest fan of Valentines day. No I'm not one of those "this is a lame holiday created by hallmark" kind of people, in fact I actually used to like it. In elementary school it was a day for those cute little cards, making sure the "special" ones went to that one certain boy and of course lots of Candy. In junior high valentines day was the day I got my most memorable Boyfriend, who asked me to be his through a what could have been very embarrassing game of truth or dare- oh yes, this definitely happened. It was also a day to give my single friends big flashy lovey dovey gifts to make them feel special. High school the day changed into a day to be spoiled by my boyfriends- the most memorable being the year I was dating Seth. He REALLY spoiled me while we dated.

Our first two valentines days when we were married were far from exciting. Not on purpose, of course. Just being young and poor seemed to rain on our parade. The first year Seth was working late and the year after I was. The 3rd year of marriage was scheduled to be different. Little did we know it would be a day that changed Valentines day.

In November 2008, after months of trying, I was FINALLY pregnant. The first trimester was full of nausea and tiredness as expected. In February, after changing jobs and starting fresh, we excitedly prepared for our first valentines day as soon to be parents. For once we were not working on valentines day and had actually planned a date night.

February 13th, came quickly. After a long day of work I was getting ready to clock out for the day. Thats when I felt it. Something was off. I went into the bathroom only to discover a single spot of blood. 'it's only one drop, that happens right?' I thought to myself. I quickly went to my car. My mind took over at this point expecting the worst. Tears started streaming down my face - please keep in mind I was very hormonal pregnant woman. Seth sister happened to call at that moment. I answered the phone blubbering and told her what had happened. She of course told me to calm down and it was probably nothing. if I was worried just call the doctor.

So I did. All the signs of pregnancy were still there and they told me not to worry but they would see me on Monday. (This was a Friday) I called Seth at work and told him. He too told me to calm down. The doctor said it should be ok. I went to Seth's moms, where we were currently living. Of course by the time I had got there his mom and other sister already knew- news travels like wildfire in this family. My mother in law is quite the worrier. See you Monday was not good enough for her. She knew I was still worried and insisted I call back and say I could not wait and worry all weekend.

My fabulous doctor called back and said 'If you are that worried I won't make you suffer. Meet me at my office tonight and we'll do a quick ultrasound' Seth came home and we were off to the doctor, along with our mothers and Skye.

We talked and joked with the doctor nervously and then we got down to it. I'll never forget that first Ultrasound. We got to see that sweet little tiny bean inside my belly. I was 12 weeks at the time. It looked so cute in there. But something was missing. 'There's no heartbeat' The doctor said quietly. Those words hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart sank and the tears started once more. 'It appears this fetus is around 8 weeks.' I couldn't believe it. For months I had prayed for this little baby and after 12 sick weeks it was over.

After that one drop there had not been any more blood. My baby had died but my body wasn't letting go. My doctor suggested a D&C to remove the baby, since my body was not doing it naturally. It was scheduled for the following morning.

I spent the night crying in the arms of my sweet husband. February 14th we went to the hospital. It was a quiet morning. The tears had finally stopped but I didn't have much to say. I went through my then perfect health history with the nurse. Talked about family history and the death of my sister less then a year ago. Then they came in with the IV's. They asked me to count down from 10. I think I got to 7.

Next thing I knew I was waking up again. I turned to the nurse.
"Where is it?" I asked
"What?" The nurse replied.
"My baby? I want to see the baby."
"Oh... you can't see it, we've already taken it to the lab." she said typing on her computer.

My tears started up again as Seth and our moms came back into the room. Everyone assured me I didn't want to see it. But I did. I can't tell you exactly why. I knew it wasn't a complete baby. Only 8 weeks, but it was still mine and I still wanted to see it, but they wouldn't let me.

I got to go home just a few hours later. At home Seth had gotten me flowers. A few family members stopped by with more flowers. I felt empty and sore. From this day on I knew. February 14th would no longer be Valentines day. While others were out celebrating their loved ones I was mourning the loss of my much loved young fetus. This was my February 14th- anything but loving. Forever changing my thoughts on this "holiday"

Of course we'd never been ones to follow all the rules. The doctor told me to wait 3 months before trying again. So naturally at my 6 week check up I was 5 weeks along. :) 8 months later I got my baby I had been dreaming of. (Followed by a second) Of course I have moved on from that day but each year when the hearts come out I get a not so sweet reminder of February 14th 2009.

Motivation

Motivation, this is one thing I am seriously lacking these days. I am so exhausted beyond belief I can't even think about moving forward- which is exactly what I need to do. Baby Half Off has grown and grown and hit a plateau. We are looking for that push to get us going up to the next growth spurt. I am constantly thinking of what to do to get us there but its as if all creativity has drained from my brain. Life has become a cycle. I get up, chase my crazy little bean around the house. Kiss my husband good-bye and we go to work. There I check my email, make my pages and try to keep my eyes open long enough to make it through the day. When I get home I try to finish my work while again chasing Taycee around. I am too tired to think about anything but her, Seth and my pages. Now we are adding in the extra exhaustion from this little baby... I am just ready to crash. Crash hard and sleep for days. I want to spend the next week laying in bed and not have to look at a laptop or a webpage or even facebook.

So how do I wake up and get my creative juices flowing? How do I create the motivation to grow my business into what we hope it can become?

Don't get me wrong I love my life, for the most part. I love my sweet and obnoxious husband. I love my crazy screaming happy dancing Taycee. I love this unborn little baby and hope he/she is just as fun and adorable as the first. I am extremely grateful for what my business has become and the potential it has. I see exciting things in my future. I am just so..... tired.....! I need a break and I need it now! Unfortunately I now know any break I will get will not be 100% freedom. No matter where I go or what I do BHO is on the brain. I obsessively check facebook, website sales and emails. I can't not look it up. I can't get the thoughts of BHO out of my head, yet I can't think of ways to help us unstick....

Just gotta keep looking forward to tomorrow..

New Car!!

My baby is growing up so fast. Seems like she went straight from walking to running! She follows me all over the house and has to do everything I do. when i blow dry my hair, i have to blow hers too. When i put lotion on, she has to have lotion on. Its so cute the way she copies me.

She has also started talking, or at least she thinks so. She blabs on and on non stop, if only I could understand a word she is saying. She does pick up some things. "Uh oh" seems to be a favorite. Everytime she drops something she chants it over and over. Then looks at me and gives me a big squinty smile.

I am seriously so blessed to have such and amazingly adorable little girl. I wish she would just stop growing and be my sweet cuddly baby forever!

As far as updates in our life... we have a big one! We got a new car! We were finally able to get the Nissan Pathfinder and I have been wanting for a long time. Its sparkly grey, with a 6 disk cd player, moon roof and tons and tons of room, for whatever life brings us! Best part is... we finally got rid of that lemon impala. It was a little sad to see it go, we've had it for 4 years, but such a HUGE relief that I don't have to waste any more money on the thing. I am absolutely loving my new car.

Cardinals Game

Another Crazy Week has come and gone... I am determined to write on my blog, despite the chaos.

So last week we went to a Cardinals Football game. I bought the tickets back in August for Seths birthday and we finally got to go. Seth was super excited. He is such a football freak. I love watching him get so into it. He made us leave 3 hours before the game started because a friend of his said it took a while to get parked and everything and he didn't want to miss kickoff. It is about a 40 minute drive and we parked far enough away that we had a good walk, but we still ended up being there and hour and a half early... lol We got to watch the players stretch and warm up. Taycee found a cute little boy to stare at and flirt with while we waited. Seth took LOTS of pictures.

The game was very intense. They teams stayed right on each other the whole time. Taycee was in her Cardinals Cheer dress and got a ton of attention. She even made it on to the big big screen. Then in the 3rd quarter she fell asleep. I have no idea how you could possibly fall asleep in that stadium. The crowd is nuts and everyone is screaming and cheering, Taycee didn't even flinch. It was pretty awesome lol.

Happy Sethy!

Waiting for the game to start

The Stadium!

The view from our seats

Cardinals Entry

So close to the players!

Sunday my partners left for the ABC kids Expo in Vegas. I stayed behind to run things. I was completely exhausted by the time they got home Thursday. Thankfully we have awesome employees who can manage themselves.

I bought a new crockpot this week. It is totally awesome. It has a temperature gauge so if you are cooking a roast it will automatically turn to warm when the meat hits the right temperature. It also has a timer so I can set it in the morning and leave it without it over cooking. Needless to say I will definitely be looking for a lot more crock pot recipes. If you know of any good ones let me know! :)

Taycee has become quite the Dancing freak. Anytime there is even a hint of music she starts wiggling and bouncing around. Everything from commercials to cell phone rings to dad drumming to Sacrament hymns. She also loves to sing along to the radio in the car. Music has become such a part of her life. It is totally hilarious and adorable all in one. This baby gets cuter and cuter everyday.

I have been in a very crafty mood lately. All i want to do is bake and sew and scrapbook. Unfortunately if I ever have the time to do it I am just way too tired. With the holidays coming up I hope to make some time to have a life again. I love my job but I am so burnt out! I need a vacation oh so badly... I really am losing my mind. I just can't get Baby Half Off out of my head.

Today we went to sacrament with my mom. We got to listen to the Bluths say good bye as they move onto Safford and the Hunts give their farewell as they prepare to leave for a mission. It was a really nice meeting. Now I am off to make some chicken tortilla soup... yes in my crock pot!