February freezer cooking menu

In a little over 3 hours of freezer cooking, I came home with 8 freshly made meals and a gigantic fruit salad to feed my family.  My sisters, sister-in-law, parents and I have been freezer cooking at a local grocery for many months now and absolutely LOVE it.  We don't have to go shopping for groceries, pre-cook any of the meat, nor do we have to do any clean-up.  All we do is pick out our meals, send in a grocery list, and show up to assemble meals.  What a breeze it is!!!  

Here is our February menu....

BBQs

Crockpot Chicken Burritos

Breakfast Burritos

Taco Pasta

Meatloaf

Goulash

Salmon Patties

Dijon Pork

Fresh Fruit Salad

I now have a full freezer waiting to feed that crew of mine.  Thank you God for freezer cooking and the blessing it is to my family.  

Here's pictures of our fun night, cooking away!  .....

My dad opening up cans

A smiling sister of mine

One of my sweet nieces cracking eggs for the breakfast burritos (and one of the amazing helpers at the grocery store)

Another sweet niece of mine cutting up fruit for the fruit salad

the "trick" for getting marinades to stay in bags and not spew all over the counter as you pour them in

Viola!  and not a drop spilled! 

my sweet niece again beating the eggs

My sister and her husband making taco salad

My dad with FREEZING cold hands mixing together the salmon patties

Another one of my sisters and her goofey husband (making BBQs)

Another amazing helper at the grocery store, reading to my niece as we finish things up

8 meals and a giant fruit salad = $105 and no clean-up! 

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  To see more, visit SouleMama.

plans for Lent - 2012

"Lent must renew in us our union with Jesus who speaks to us of the need of conversion and shows us the way to reach it.  The Church, a wise and loving Mother, suggests useful ways to reach this wonderful purpose; these are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving."                         

-Pope John Paul II

Today begins the holy season of Lent.  So, what is Lent all about?  It's about preparing our hearts and setting straight our crooked paths so that we can better love and follow Christ.  I came across a quote last week...

"There is PEACE in P-E-N-A-N-C-E" ...

and this is the most important part of Lent.  True peace comes from following our Lord, and we can't follow Him fully unless we get rid of all the garbage that is keeping us away from him.   We have many devotions that we will do throughout Lent, but the most important is taking part in the Sacrament of Reconciliation often.  We will be doing much of the same as last year, along with adding a few new things....

1. As we sit down for a meal, we will read one of the following (one per meal):
Bringing Lent Home with Mother Teresa
Welcome Risen Jesus
Bible Story to go with our Jesus tree banner  (note:  this is a kit and does require assembly)

2.  We will also use crown of thorns and take out a thorn as we perform kind deeds and make sacrifices.

3.  After lunch we will all take some quiet prayer time and we will have an opportunity for any of the following:  read a spiritual book, pray the Rosary (using this lovely version), pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet (we have this recorded on our DVR and it is played weekly on EWTN), or the pray the Stations (we have a poster set that is hung up around the house plus we will also be making this kit). 

4. Daily Mass at least once a week.

5.  No desserts after meals.  

6.  I'm thinking about simplifying and giving away items using a plan similar to the 40 bags in 40 days, but for sure we'll be collecting money using our rice bowl.  

7.  We will also be watching the Lenten Adventure videos as well.  

 8.  I got the idea from a couple sites to print a Lenten Journey book for each child.   Here are the pages that we have included in ours...

 Lenten calendar (where the kids color a square a day - of course, in the specific liturgical color)
Ash Wednesday
Sign of the Cross
Our Father
Hail Mary
St. Katherine Drexel (printed off this cd - to be colored on March 3rd)
St Patrick (to be colored on March 17th)
St. Joseph (to be colored on March 19th)
Palm Sunday 
Holy Thursday

9.  We will also be coloring the Stations of the Cross pages and create a carousel to display them. 

10.  Also included in their Lenten Journey books will be a checklist and pages for "Growing Good Fruit for God" (found in A Year With God).  We will practice the five ways (one per week) listed to help us grow good fruit for Jesus - (1)  Good Words, (2)  Good Signs, (3)  Good Thoughts, (4)  Good Energy, (5)  Good Imagination 

"We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world"

 **For more great ideas, visit....