(originally published March 13,2008)

(and a “where i’ve been for 2 days!”)

i’m learning as i’m going, folks, but i thought i’d pass on what i’ve learned recently.  now, i know to large families (those of you that have more than 5 children) we’re a drop in the bucket, but to those of you who have 1 child we’re a phenomenon - it’s all in our perspectives.  but i’m trying to learn from you larger families and pass a little of that learnin’ on to you others.  one of those things that i’m trying to incorporate is “days.”  a day for laundry.  a day for the kitchen.  a day for the office.  a day for town.  a day for deep cleaning.  you get the idea.  now, i’m on the very front end of this right now, but baby steps, people.  the idea is that you set aside one day a week for each of these large projects and there is predictability and consistency and order.  i could use a little of those.

now that i have the money for food (in abundance, might i add) i can put into practice what i have dabbled in before.  (and can i just say, as an aside, that i rarely go to the cabinet or fridge now that i am not overwhelmingly thankful for the overflowingness.  my middlest said the other morning, “i’m hungry, mama.  and there’s millions of food in there.”  yes, there is, son of mine.  yes, there is.)

i went grocery shopping tuesday.  the big one.  the shop for a month one.  i was thankful to go alone.  that’s right.  you heard me.  i went alone.  i used my parents-in-law and ran for the hills, aka wal-mart.  i even left the baby.  second time ever.  3 whole hours.  (he survived, just in case you were wondering!)  and i used only one shopping cart.  by the time i made it up to the produce section i had stuff falling off the cart and was using my full weight to turn it.  i wish i was kidding.  people were staring at me like i was nuts.  it’s easier to explain away that kind of scene when you have 4 little ones in tow, but when you go alone you just look stupid.  oh well, i’ve said before i have no shame left.

so, i planned menus.  i shopped.  i picked up the fast food for dinner (you think i’m cooking at this point in the day?!) and the kids.  i came home and everybody helped me unload.  hubby helped me get the cold stuff put away.  and we put all meat in the fridge for seperation later.  it was 8pm by this time, so we left all the other non-pershables on the counter.  got kids in bed and relaxed on the couch.

i got up wednesday morning turned my menus into a calendar on the ‘puter to post in my cabinet.  i planned days for dinners according to what would perish first.  and spread them out a little allowing for improv, left-overs, and sandwhiches.  since my honey is all about improv - i only listed lunches for him so that he can pick what he wants when.  same with weekends.  the weekdays are more my cooking territory so i planned those a little stricter.  breakfast and snacks are very loose - just a list to pick from since it all depends on if i’m up to cooking first thing in the a.m. or if i’m in desperate need of a poptart.

after making the menu calendar i went to work first thing.  boiled a whole bag of chicken breasts.  baked 5 loaves of bread - that i had let set out and rise all night (i bought them in the freezer section 5 for $3 - good stuff).  baked potatoes for twice-baked.  peeled and boiled the other 2 1/5 pounds of potatoes for mashed potatoes and for the ground beef recipe i posted the other day.  i had onions left over from last month, but if i had not, this would be the time i would chop and freeze several of them at once to pull from through the month.

while these things cooked i put away all those groceries i left out the night before, made the mix for the twice-baked potatoes, shredded 3 pounds of cheese and ziplocked them.  and set out food for immediate consumption because by now, my munchkins were smellin’ the good stuff and whining.  since i was cooking for the future and they were excited about all the new stuff - cooking day became grazing day for them.  easy for me.  fun for them.  dried cranberries, string cheese, chunks of the fresh baked-bread, apples, bananas, peanuts, hot mashed potatoes, etc.

when the chicken finished i pulled it out and let it cool on a plate.  pulled the baked potatoes and let cool.  i put seasonings and onions in the broth and left it on to simmer for homemade stock to freeze.   i drained the water from the potatoes, added milk and butter and mashed them.  put them away.  unloaded and loaded a set of dishes (they’re pilin’ up by now!).  the chicken was cool so i shredded and divided it according to meals and froze it.  the potatoes were cool by now so i halved, scooped, mixed, reloaded and topped with some of that cheese i shredded.  wrapped them individually to freeze for grab and go snacks.

daddy came home for lunch which was a deli pizza and frozen pizza for the kiddos (picked especially for this busy day - the oven was already hot - i just fit it in between potatoes and bread).  at this point, i took a break.  the kids were flippin’ out and in desperate need of attention and naps (before you get all up in the air, i had stopped constantly for all their needs and perceived needs, several nursings, many “i wants”, and bottom wipings.  and it was a pretty day so out they went for most of it.)  i put the bread into bake and left the kitchen.  i put a girl to bed who was beside herself.  i nursed and held a sleepy baby.  and i read to and did a st. patrick’s day lesson with the bigger boys.

when the bread got done, our bellies got full on it, the babies woke up, and the boys got bored, i went back to the kitchen.  now for the ground beef and ground sausage.  i seperated the beef into browning for meals and patty for burgers.  i put 2 pounds of sausage for egg casserole to brown and 2 1/2 pounds of beef on to brown simultaneously.  when these got done and drained i let them cool while i seasoned the other half of beef and pattied it out for burgers.  individually wrapped them and put in freezer for another quick meal.  by now the browned meat was cool enough for prep.  i put the sausage in the fridge.  seperated the ground beef by meal (3 seperate ones) and froze each of those baggies.  i had made chicken and dumplins last week and had lots of chicken and the broth left over (because the dumplins are the best part, of course!) and i hate to throw all that out.  so i froze that in a ziplock for another meal and will just reboil and drop fresh dumplins in next time.  by now, the chicken stock was done, so i strained the seasonings and set in the fridge to cool so that i could skim the fat off and seperate and bag for future soups and anything that calls for chicken broth.

at this point, the dishes were done and in need of reloading, the house was in ridiculous disarray, quittin’ time was on the horizon, and the kids were getting bored again.  clean up time!  everybody in for a quick pick up of the house.  we had left over pizza, quick sandwiches, fresh bread, and mashed potatoes for dinner.  i washed, folded, and put away 2 loads of laundry (still catching up from all those soggy snow clothes!), play time, bath time, bed time.  and, of course, american idol time for mama and daddy!  i also baked these ridiculously good double chocolate chip muffins after the kids got in bed so that honey and i could munch them and i’d have insta-breakfast this morning.  oh my!

so, 2 very busy days, no less than 24 planned, pre-prepped-much-easier-to-fix whole food meals for a family of 6, and $230.00 later and i’m sitting on my bum in front of my computer.  if you made it this far and are interested at all in some of the recipes, let me know.  i’ll post ‘em.

hope this helps one of y’all and happy eats, people!