Freezer Cooking: Round 2!

Today, we had another full day of cooking, and I am happy to report that we have an entire freezer full of meals, fixed and prepared for busy days! Due to the fact that my previous freezer cooking partner, Chelsey, was pregnant/has a newborn, I had to find a new partner. I put it out there on facebook to any of my friends that were interested in joining up and within seconds, another really sweet friend of mine, Brianne, told me that she was interested! Easy enough!

We planned a day to cook and are so happy with the results! It went GREAT, and so much better than last time! Not because I didn't love doing it with Chelsey! It was so fun, but just like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it, and that is the same for Freezer Cooking! We still used the website Once A Month Mom and we followed (mostly) the April 2011 menu. She has a new menu that comes out out on the first of each month that try to go with the seasons and what is cheaper.

The things that made this freezer cooking easier this go around were that we were able to do it on a Saturday and BOTH husbands joined in on the fun! The lady on the website says to send your husbands off that day, but we now know different! I really thought that we would only have the husbands come into the kitchen to do the dishes or help assemble/package some of the meals we made, but they were AMAZINGLY helpful to us! They ended up cooking several of the meals entirely themselves to speed up the process, and didn't sit down to play video games at all, which I totally thought they would!

Here we are with our husbands!

(Justin with black bean burger hands!)

(With Hart making Teriyaki Chicken! Excuse the NO make up/my hair is a MESS! You don't have to look your best for cooking...which is wonderful!)

It was really hard on me last time, because I didn't have Micaiah at home, and I told myself that I would pump, but didn't, and that didn't go very well for my body. This time, I wanted to plan it when I would be able to have Cai around, but have Hart and I able to tag team him and keep him on his routine easier. I was able to slip off to feed Micaiah and we could both entertain and keep him busy during the day. My mom also came by for a little bit, so she did a little babysitting while we finished up and that freed both Hart and I up, as well!

Having 4 persons, instead of 2, was awesome, because we were able to be more leisurely! We took a pretty long lunch break and, last time every spare second Chelsey and I had, we spent preparing/getting things ready and there was always a sink full of dishes. This time, the sink seemed perpetually empty and I think by lunch we only had 4 recipes left to do! Brianne and Justin were at our house from about 9 to 5, but I think we probably only did a total of 5.5-6 hours of cooking altogether. The first hour we just ate Chick fil a together/talked about what we were about to do, then we cooked and got almost everything done before lunch, then we just had a few left and it was time to clean up! I'm not completely wiped out this time, whereas last time I could barely walk the next day from being on my feet all day.

Last time we learned that we should have printed out labels for the ziplock bags to stick on the meals as we prepared them for the freezer, because it took up so much time writing (4 times each) all the directions. I did that the night before, which made that part of things go smoothly. We also learned last time to PREP ANYTHING THAT WE COULD THE DAY BEFORE. We cooked all pasta, rice, meats/chopped all veggies we could the day before, which made everything go quickly.

I also learned that while it does take some planning to accomplish making all these dinners, lunches and breakfasts, you can actually really only start preparing a week in advance, and just have ONE crazy week. It worked out really well for us to do it this way. I even was able to be the MC at my mom's dance studio's recital the night before...totally crazy week in my life!

Some how my mom drafts me to be the MC of her recital. I secretly enjoy the opportunity to wear flashy earrings and talk on a microphone...here's the only shot I have (of my back) with a little girl. Hart's mom also MC'd (a word?) with me in the beginning! She was so sweet and everyone loved her, of course!

Here's Hart's 2nd cousin (far left w/cheesy smile), Carly, in her ballet outfit with some of the other sweet girls! Are they not totally precious!?

I have to have a little girl one day, because of this picture! I don't think Micaiah would appreciate it if I dressed up in a pink tutu like a little girl would!

The only other news, which may seem so NOT important is that Micaiah has finally figured out how to sit up by himself in his crib. Now at the end of his nap, he sits up and cries for me to come in! I can't believe how fast he is growing up!