More Spring Cleaning

I’m making myself tackle some major chores today.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can reward myself by spending the next two days outside.  Anyway, it is time for spring cleaning.

Here are a few things I’ve done around here already:

• Moved all the furniture in the living room and mopped under it during my normal weekly sweeping/dusting routine.
• Had Brian pull out the stove so I could sweep and mop under it.
• Scrubbed the underside of the range hood and the wall behind the stove.
• Cleaned the bottom drawer of the stove.
• Pulled out all of our winter clothes from the closet and the dressers.  They’ll each go in our own Rubbermaid containers.
• Washed all of our winter coats and Carhart’s that we won’t be using.  They get their own Rubbermaid.
• Took down the living curtains to wash and rehang.
• Swapped out our comforter for a thinner bedspread.
• Air out and store our heated blanket.

Still on the docket is to clean out the bottom cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and mop the floor.  There is a lot more I could do but I’d hate to overdo it.

Do you do spring cleaning?  If so, what’s on your list?

Spring Cleaning: Cabinets

When I can tear myself away from the garden I’m slowly reorganizing our kitchen cabinets.  So far I have all the upper cabinets done.  Next, I need to tackle the drawers and bottom cabinets.  Everything is stuffed in there and it is so frustrating to have things falling out when you open the doors.

Here’s the before:

And the after:

It looks a little bare but a lot of my Pyrex is in the fridge right now.  That bare spot on the top left is for Brian’s lunchbox on the weekends.  It is so much nicer now, I like it!

Are you tackling any spring cleaning?

You Know You Worked Hard…

…when the water in the shower runs black!!  I put in 40 tomato plants today and did a whole lot of weeding to make a place for them.  It feels good to get so much done plus church, breakfast out with the family, and a bridal shower.  Garden update coming soon, I promise!

Thank you everyone for your support and feedback on my last post.  I think I’m just going to go with the flow for awhile and see what happens.  Don’t be surprised if a few different posts pop up.  It sounds like as a whole my readership is pretty open to whatever.  You guys are great.  I don’t know why I’m so nervous about negative feedback when I can’t recall having much of that here ever.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I’m off to warm up some dinner and dig in to the last book in the series I’m reading.

Must.Write

Ugg.  Can’t I just write that?  Lol.

Might as well just say what’s on my mind…  I haven’t been writing because I’m not sure in which direction to take this blog.  It seems like all I ever post about anymore is farm animals and menu plans.  I have a lot more on my mind than that!  I think it freaks me out a little bit that so many people I know in “real life” read this now.  It’s not that I don’t want people to read… I just forget how much I put on here and then someone will surprise me and make a comment about something and I’m like… how’d you know that?  Oh, duh, I blogged about it.

Of course it doesn’t much matter if the whole world knows what I’m planting in my garden or eating for dinner.  I just don’t think I write like I used to because I’m not sure I want to put certain things out there.  I already shared that I want to blog about God and I don’t know if this is the place to do it.  I also want to share the steps I’m taking to prepare for having children someday.  I’m just not sure I can handle everyone’s opinions about those topics.  It seems like too often bloggers who talk about parenting end up stopping because they tire of all the ridicule and opinions.  Oh, and I’m also afraid to blog too much about planning to start a family because we don’t need any rumors circulating, since we’re NOT trying or even close to trying yet.  I just want to be super prepared.  And I don’t need people tell me that preparing is stupid, it will be fine, blah blah blah.  Anyway, since I haven’t yet decided to blog about THAT I’m going to stop talking about it.

Like I said… ugg.  Oh, and to top it all off I’m kind of in a funk anyway.  Like, not really depressed, and still very happy with my life over all but kind of tired of the day to day.  I don’t feel like I’m pushing myself in my career like I normally would.  The computer dying didn’t help any, and this is the worst time of year for us financially because all the big bills come in.  When other people blog about feeling down or blah I silently cheer for them to pull out of it and force themselves to man up.  Now I have to kick my own butt and tell myself that.

I think I just need to quit worrying about who’s reading and blog like I used to.  Who probably really cares about the details anyway, right?  Am I blowing this out of proportion?  The other thought I had was just making the whole blog private and pretty much accepting anyone who wants to read but at least then I would know.  Maybe I’m exaggerating the whole thing because of this mood I’m in.

If I’m gone..

I was unlucky enough to get a virus on our laptop early Saturday morning so if I’m not around for awhile that’s why.  I’m hoping to get it back on Monday but we’ll see.  TTFN!

Freezer Cooking: Precooked Chicken

It never hurts to have some chicken precooked and waiting in the freezer.

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts (I prep them to stretch them farther)
• Oil or butter

You can cook the chicken a few different ways.  If it’s nice out you may want to grill it.  Or, this would be a perfect use for a George Foreman style grill.  I made mine in a large frypan with a stick of butter swiped on it.  I flipped them a couple times until they were cooked through.

When they are done cooking, put them on a plAdd New Post ‹ Married To The Farm — WordPressate and cute them in to bite size pieces.  Spread on a cookie sheet and freeze.  When they are frozen solid transfer them to a bag or freezer container.  That way they won’t stick together and you can pour out what you need.

I use these for a lot of recipes.  Two common ones are chicken tacos (just warm them in a pan with taco seasoning) and chicken alfredo (warm and serve over pasta).  Meals like that are great for stretching the meat since it’s usually the most expensive.

This wraps up my chicken breast freezer cooking series.  I’ve shared with you some of my favorite recipes that work well for us.  If you’re looking for more great ideas here’s a link to a search for OAMC (once a month cooking) chicken recipes, sorted by rating. If you have a recipe to share please share it or a link to it in the comments.  Now go settle in with a good book because a good share of your cooking is done.

Freezer Cooking: Lemon Chicken

This is one of my favorites.  Not because of the taste, although it is good.  It’s my favorite because we like to grill it and hubby does the grilling. i.e. less cooking for me.

Ingredients:

• Your favorite herbs (I use parsley and oregano)
• salt
• pepper
• Garlic powder or minced fresh garlic
• Lemon juice
• Chicken breasts (prepped)

I don’t measure for this.  Decide how many pieces you want for each meal and select the appropriate size freezer bag or container.  I put 3 or 4 pieces in quart bags.  Pour a generous amount of herbs and seasonings in each bag.  Add in enough juice to slosh the seasonings around.  Then add the chicken.  Press the air out and seal the bag.  Mush the chicken around to coat it.  Add more juice if you need to better distribute the herbs.  Lay flat and freeze.  You can stack them  sideways once they freeze.

For the bag: “Lemon Chicken: Set out to thaw in AM.  Bake in oven at 450 F for 35-45 min. or cook on grill.  Serve over rice.”

If you bake in it the oven be sure the pour the juice in to the dish with it.  If you grill it you can baste it with the juice.  We don’t and it still tastes delicious.

Freezer Cooking: Cheesy Chicken Bundles

From Don’t Panic: Dinner’s in the Freezer.

Ingredients

• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup grated or powdered Parmesan cheese
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• Chicken breasts (prepared as so)

Melt the butter in a small dish.  Don’t try to skimp, trust me.  I used less and was annoyed when I had to melt more.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a medium bowl (except the chicken!).  Coat the chicken in the butter and then in the dry mixture.

Fold the chicken into a nice little bundle.  My pieces were rather narrow and long so I just folded them in to thirds, one end over the other.  If your pieces are wider you can fold the sides in too.  Once they’re folded you have two choices on how to keep them that way:  wrap them securely in plastic wrap OR lay the bundles on a cookie sheet and freeze until they hold their shape.  Either way, bag them in a gallon freezer bag (or your preferred freezer container) when you’re done.   I made 12 bundles with one batch of dry mix.  12 fit perfectly in to a gallon bag as 3 rows 4 wide.

Write on the bag:  “Cheesy Chicken Bundles, Date, Place in baking dish.  Drizzle with butter and sprinkle on your favorite cheese.  Bake at 350 F for about an hour or until cooked through.”  I don’t thaw mine first and it still only takes about an hour for them to cook.

My husband LOVES these things…

Him:  Whatchya makin’?

Me: Oh you know… cheesy chicken bundles

Him:  Oh YUM!!  I love cheesy chicken bundles!  *smooch for me*

Try this one… maybe you’ll get the same results!

Freezer Cooking: Herbed Chicken

Once you have your chicken prepped you’re ready to make up your meals.  I usually gather the recipes and order them by what I want to make the most or what we’re low on.  Then I just go down the line until I run out of chicken.  You can decide on exact quantities ahead but I find that marinades and coatings tend to get wasted if I’m not flexible.

This is my version of Herbed Chicken.  The original recipe came from Once-A-Month Cooking.  I am usually a little leary to post recipes out of books but most of these are already all over the web.  I like this one because all you do is dump it in a pan and put it in the oven.  It does take awhile to cook but I like that too because it gives me time to do other things when I get home.

Ingredients:

• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• Generous dash lemon juice (1-2 tablespoons)
• Dash salt
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Chicken breasts, halved
• You’ll also need freezer bags or freezable containers

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a medium bowl.  Feel free to add other herbs you like.  You can make 2 gallon freezer bags or 3 quart bags with one batch of soup mixture.  I usually make up 3 quart bags with 3 or 4 pieces of chicken each.  That’s enough for a meal for the two of us.  Divvy up your chicken however it will work for your family.

Spoon the mixture over the chicken.  Press the air out of the bags and seal.  Squish the bags and chicken to spread the mixture around.  Press the bags flat.  Label them clearly with black permanent marker:

Herbed Chicken
Date
Pour entire mixture in to a greased pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until cooked through.

Lay the bags flat in your freezer.  Once they freeze solid you can stack them in the door or whatnot.  Move them to the counter or fridge in the morning and they’ll be thawed enough to go right in the oven when you get home.  Enjoy!

Freezer Cooking: Prepping Chicken Breasts

Chicken breasts were on sale last week at 3 of our local chain stores.  I stocked up with 4 family packs.  Hopefully after this we can transition to eating only our own homegrown chicken.  BTW, I still have some chickens available for the early June batch so get your orders in soon!

When chicken breasts go on sale like this I like to make up a bunch of freezer meals.  I’ll share some great recipes in the next couple days but the first step is getting the chicken ready.

What you’ll need:

• One or two thin, sharp knives
• A cutting board (one you use for meat or that can be thoroughly cleaned)
• A bowl large enough to hold all the chicken
• A discard bowl or plate
• Something to cover the bowl with (I used plastic wrap)

Gather all your supplies and the packages of chicken.  Clean your work surface and scrub your hands really well.  Try to minimize interruptions if possible – you don’t want to be touching anything with slimy chicken hands.

I am very picky about tendons and fat and things in my food.  If you aren’t so picky you may need to do only minimal trimming.  I open each breast out and trim off anything that’s not pure chicken.  I cut off any bits of skin and fat.  I usually cut out a little triangular piece at the wider end where some of the vessels come together.  I set my scraps aside on a plate and discard them.  If you’re braver than me you could cook them and feed them to your pets: I’d rather not have mine getting any extra fat.

Once the breasts are trimmed to your liking press each one flat on the cutting board.  Hold the knife parallel to the board in one hand and continue pressing down with the other hand.  That way you can slowly draw the knife through the breast and make two thin pieces from the thick breast.  I always do this.  It doubles the quantity and makes for much faster cooking times.   You can always serve two pieces instead of one, etc., but I think we eat less this way.  Plus, sometimes 3 pieces is just right instead of stuffing yourself to eat 2 full breasts.

I did my trimming while dinner was in the oven one night.  Then I put all the chicken in a covered bowl and put it back in the fridge for the night.  I made up my recipes the next night.  Try to pick out the chicken with the best dates so you don’t have to run home and do everything the same day you buy it.

Recipes coming soon…