10 make ahead time saving freezer foods

Life is on fast forward here.  But being busy is not an excuse to stop eating healthy meals & snacks!

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Health Journey

For 2+ years I’ve been on a journey to health while eating on the THM Plan.

It has shown me that if I can keep good fats, healthy protein, plenty of fruits and vegetables, plus unprocessed, low glycemic foods in my diet, then I can FEEL better AND have energy again. (affiliate link).

That makes this busy life doable.

Juggling school, blogging, errands, activities, cleaning, hobbies, gardening, & classes can make this momma feel overwhelmed!

The to-dos truly NEVER end.  

Food Decision Fatigue

At the end of crazy, busy days, okay every day, I do NOT want to cook, make decisions, or clean up.  I just want to sit and stare at the wall for a few hours.  I realized that if I wanted to keep my sanity, then I needed to put some food in the freezer for those days when I can’t face another decision.

I have made a list of 10 meals for THOSE days.  You know those days when you are standing at the freezer at 5 p.m. wishing someone would just decide what to make for supper?  Some one besides you?  A few weeks ago I made a list of 10 go-to meals to battle Food Decision Fatigue.  Check it out!

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Smart make ahead foods

Getting foods prepared for the freezer has been my priority each week of September and I'm continuing in October. If I do a few each week then I'm not overwhelmed.

I keep it smart and simple. 

• Making French Toast? Do a triple batch and freeze what isn't eaten. 
• Make a meatloaf?  It doesn't take much extra time to make 3 or 4. 
• Making muffins?  Scoop batter into tins.  Frozen then pop out easily to be baked another day. 

It doesn't have to be complicated.

The following prepared frozen foods have kept me from loosing my mind.  The meat, that is either precooked or prepped for easy meals, makes getting a wide variety of meals on the table a little easier.  When I bring the meat home I process it up and get it in the freezer so its ready for another day.

Freezer foods for busy days

1.  Chicken

• raw diced or cut into tenderloins
• Lemon Chicken--one of our favorite freezer to crockpot meals
• chicken breasts cooked, diced or shredded

2.  Hamburger

• cooked ahead with spices for tacos or spaghetti
• sloppy joe’s
• meat loaf

Part of changing my morning's to be AWESOME has been turning breakfast over to my kids to fix on their own.  Having some premade options makes this a breeze.

4.  Egg cups--sausage, cheese & eggs baked in muffin cups for 15-20 minutes on 350 degrees

5.  Muffin in a Mug Mix

6.  Baked oatmeal--Blueberry, Apple Cinnamon

7.  Chia Porridge

These are my favorite sweet ending to a meal!  Gotta have them on hand.

8. Homemade peanut butter cups

9.  Luscious Lemon Pudding actually it's yogurt but I eat it like pudding!

10. No bake cookies

All of the linked recipes are on my Food Decision Fatigue board on Pinterest. 

• If you would be so kind, you can click on my THM affiliate link to purchase your THM goodies! It gives me a little kick-back and doesn’t cost you a penny. You can always find a THM button on the right side of my blog.

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Blessings from the week volume 9

It's been a hard week.  Monday's & Tuesday are FULL.  Like to the brim, cup over flowing, soaking you when it spills FULL.  We are so busy that my head hurts.  That is not good.  It makes me snap at everyone and doubt myself.

I'm working on changing that situation but for the next month there isn't a lot I can do about it.  Thankfully the garden work is ending as I have run out of jars for canning.

Counting Joys was a choice this week.  I wanted to be cranky(and was a lot) and wallow in my self pity. 

Yeah it was fun around here.

1.  Physical Therapy

It is helping. 

My hip is not as ouchy. 

Going is not fun as it puts a crimp in my already tight schedule.  When I'm done it leaves me with shaky legs and sore muscles. 

But it is working. 

I'm stronger and have much less pain.

2.  Elizabeth

Of course I'm thankful for my daughter. 

She really rescued me on Tuesday though and I'm grateful.  I declared I HAD to stay home and get some stuff done.  Since she was home on fall break she became my chauffeur for the afternoon.  Feeling overwhelmed can be paralyzing and keep you from moving forward. 

Sometimes all it takes is someone saying "I can help" to bring a sense of peace.

3. Sleeping in

I'm still marveling in the fact that I have changed to a morning person and actually like it! 

Going through the Make Over Your Morning course has really helped me to focus on using my time when the kids are still sleeping. I crave the quiet still time before the day gets going (affiliate link).

But Wednesday I was VERY tired.  I went to bed late and knew I needed to get some extra sleep.  I shut off my alarm knowing that I'd gotten up early all the other days of the week and had accomplished many of my goals. 

The sleep was wonderful. 

Until I heard the cat puking on my carpet at 7 a.m.  Wonderful way to wake up.  NOT.

4. Best Friends

Some days I feel really isolated.  I interact with my family but not very many others. 

But in the last week I've gotten to spend time with two dear friends.  Megan and I went to K's house & watch a fun old movie.  We laughed, talked and ate popcorn.  Good times.

This weekend we have guests from out of town.  It is so fun to reconnect with L & her family.  We stayed up late talking and now I'm wishing for another morning of sleeping in. 

But it was worth it. 

I don't have tons of close friends but I really cherish the ones I do have.  It is such a blessing to walk through life with women who GET you and still want to hang around.

What were your blessings this week? 

Who did you love hanging out with? 

Comment here or on Day to Day Adventures Facebook page! I'd love to hear what you are celebrating.

Recent posts

End of the Garden (for this year)

The air is cool and nippy this morning.  Jeans and sweatshirts are sounding cozy instead of hot.

Fall harvest

Our crazy garden is still producing.  We have tomato puree & tomato sauce to last the winter. 

And we are still picking. 

The green beans were not as abundant due to the water flooding the garden after we planted in the spring.  Thankfully we have green beans from last year so we can make them stretch. 

The weeds have finally gotten ahead of us but the hay on the garden kept them away most of the summer.  We had to do some minimal watering in August and September.  

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This method did a great job of retaining the moisture and giving us an abundant amount of tomatoes!  The tomato plants have gotten so heavy that they are bending the supports and falling over. And I don't really care. 

My focus has switched from spending time out there every day to going out every couple of days to pick tomatoes and nothing else.  That makes it easy for the weeds to win. 

But I'm ok with that.  Frost is coming. 

Pumpkins

Our pumpkin plants did well again.  A few big ones and several little ones! 

Put it all to bed

I'm thrilled with the deep mulch method.  Putting hay on the garden was a BIG success. 

So after the frost we will be covering the garden with a layer of leaves and hay.  Then next spring we can start again.  We have learned some things and will be making some changes.

But I'm not ready to start dreaming of 2016 yet.  That's what January and February are for right?

Did you have a garden this year?  Tell me what you harvested in the comments!