I can't believe that tomorrow is D.E.C.E.M.B.E.R.!! Really?? Time has been buzzing by. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We spent a lot of time with family and did very little shopping! Jeremiah, the kids and I ran out and got a few items like bird seed, bird suet and then ran to Wal-Mart and got Christmas cards, a calendar and the boys picked up some hunting supplies. Madi got a few little items she wanted but nothing we got were Black Friday special items.
Jerm and the kids have been battling some head colds. Nothing serious but tissue use has been up! :-) Jeremiah was able to go to work but Madi had to call in sick on Monday. I have been drinking lots of water and staying consistent with my vitamins and so far I haven't gotten sick. I have two diffusers and I have been diffusing essential oils. I ordered another one on Monday because I didn't have enough for each of our bedrooms. I diffused two different kinds of oils. One was for respiratory and the other blend was to boost the immune system and fight off the germs. I also put some lavender in to help with sleeping. I also put the oils on the bottoms of the their feet and behind their ears. I'm not going to say it "cured" them but it helped their symptoms.
Since everyone has been feeling icky I have decided to stick with easy foods. One of my favorite appliances is my crockpot. I have quite a few of them. I'm thinking like 7/8 or so- maybe a few more. I really don't know. I like how easy it is to throw some simple ingredients in it and let it cook! I end up with a healthy dish to serve and I know what ingredients are in there. I use my crockpots for soups, stews, whole chickens, roasts, meat and to keep foods warm like pasta dishes. I think the crockpot is pretty versatile so I try to use it often.
I use my bread machine weekly also. I make my own pizza dough and we eat pizza frequently. I prefer homemade pizza to store bought or the local pizza shops. As you can see in the picture I also use it for bread. I have a bread recipe that I found online years and years ago. I made quite a few changes to that original recipe until I finally got one my family likes. The kids can eat half a loaf as soon as it's cool enough to slice. Ryder likes butter and strawberry jam on his slices, Madi likes butter (the one and only time she likes butter) and I will occasionally eat mine with butter and honey, otherwise just butter.
I need to get some stuff ready for tomorrow and finish loading the dishwasher. I had to let the crockpot cool and the insert will go into the dishwasher and the leftovers need to go into the fridge. I will have some leftover chicken to make into something for lunches for tomorrow. Have a great evening!
Our home is busy. We are always going somewhere or doing some fun activity. We fill in our days with visits to friends, going to the local bike trail, picnics, swimming, trips and family activities. Those kind of days make for a lot of laundry and a dirty house so there is a lot of cleaning to do also. I like to make quick meals when the schedule is full. One way that I do that is by keeping browned hamburger in the freezer.
I divide it in 3/4 to 1 pound containers. Just enough for a recipe- I usually do not need to use a whole pound of meat in a recipe so it stretches the meat further. I keep the meat plain. I have read many suggestions mentioning that they seasoned it for taco meat or add onions to their hamburger and those are great ideas. I find that I don't care to do that because I like the flexibility to make the meat into what I need for each meal.
If we decide we want tacos then I add the salsa, seasoning and the optional refried beans to the hamburger. I make the meat mix while I warm the soft taco wraps. Add corn or a veggie/salad and you have an easy meal.
If we are having spaghetti, I don't make meatballs, I just add some of the browned hamburger to spaghetti sauce and make it a meat sauce. I take a container of browned meat out of the freezer while the pasta is cooking and sit it on the counter. As soon as the pasta is done, I drain it and leave it in the colander. I put the spaghetti sauce and hamburger in the pasta pot and heat it up, stirring it to break up the hamburger. When it is heated thoroughly, I add the pasta. It makes for an exceptionally easy meal served with garlic bread and a salad/green beans. Clean up consists of one pot and a colander.
I make my own version of Hamburger Helper but you can make it even faster; just pull out a container of hamburger and add the water, milk and seasoning to the hamburger. Stir and heat and the meat will easily break up.
Do you brown and freeze hamburger? If you do, what is your favorite way to use it?
