Meals in Minutes!

We got home from Pastor's School Saturday at 2:00 P.M. As soon as we got home, I grabbed my shopping list and headed for the grocery store. I had used the 4 hr. road trip to plan out 4 weeks worth of meals, using the "Once a Month Cooking" method. It only cost me $89.00 to buy all of the food for 30 dinners. I was pretty excited about that! Once I got home and unloaded my carload of groceries, I started to cook my meals. 4 1/2 hours later I had enough meals in my freezer to last me a month, and I even had cleaned my kitchen and washed the dishes. The next thirty days would prove weather or not this was going to be a way of life for me.

Tonight we tried the first "freezer meal." I was a little afraid that it would taste like left-overs, but to my delight, it didn't! The meal I chose for tonight was Meatball Subs. The meatballs were already cooked and frozen, so all I had to do was put them in a saucepan with marinara sauce and toast the bread. They were DELICIOUS! Total time to prepare dinner tonight: 5 min. of preparation, 10 minutes of cooking. So far, this "Once A Month Cooking" is a lifesaver! Can't wait to see how the rest of the meals in my freezer turn out!

A Year Full of Memories

Today is Kyndra's first birthday. It is amazing to me that it has already been 12 full months since I was in the hospital delivering her. I remember telling the nurse that NO child was worth the labor pains I was having.... I took it back as soon as I had my little one in my arms! Along with the fun and excitement of bringing home a baby, I remember being filled with sobriety, realizing that a person now depended on me. My husband and I were talking yesterday about the new fear a child brings. You are responsible for teaching and training them. My child's view of God, authority, marriage, and a myriad of other concepts is shaped by mine. When Kyndra was only a few weeks old a church member remarked, "She still wakes up to feed at night. This is the hard part." I knew how untrue that comment was. Yes, it was hard to wake up several times a night to feed her. Yes, the lack of sleep was tough and exhausting. However, I knew that a few years down the road I would be missing the days where sleep deprivation was my biggest problem. Sleepless nights spent praying about my daughter's spirituality, who she was dating, who she was marrying, who she was friends with, and where she went to college were only a few years away. I was thankful for the small problem at the time!

I want to take a minute and reminisce about the last 12 months. So much has changed. What a great year!

I remember telling my husband that it was time to go to the hospital. It was a particularly stressful time in our ministry, and he had not been sleeping a lot. I had been having contractions all night, but decided to let him sleep until I HAD to go to the hospital. His alarm went off that morning like it had every morning before. I brought him a cup of coffee and said the line that every man can't wait for and dreads at the same time. "Honey, it's time to go to the hospital." He simultaneously he was nervous and excited!

I remember telling the anesthesiologist that I loved him after he game me my epidural and it kicked in. He laughed and said that he gets marriage proposals all the time from soon-to-be moms who just got an epidural. I remember my mom taking time off from work to help me out when I came home from the hospital. She was such a help and blessing to me! Thanks, Mom!
I remember going to every store in the mall to find an Easter dress that would fit my 3 week old sweetie. All of them were too big! Finally, Mom found one that would work! She looked so adorable!

I remember the first time her GiGi (Josh's mom) got to meet her. It was so exciting! We had her dressed up in her little cowgirl hat and boots and put her on the doorstop. I, hiding in the bushes nearby, had brought the camcorder to record the introduction. Josh knocked on the door and ran, I zoomed in on the baby and grandma. Later I realized that I had been so excited to see GiGi's face that had forgotten to hit the record button, so I had NOT recorded any of it after all! (Sorry Mama G! Can't find any of my pics of you two together!!!)

I remember Kyndra's first pedicure. Just a few weeks old, my grandma's birthday was at hand. My mom and I took Oma (my grandma) for her first pedicure, and while we were there, the nail tech also painted Kyndra's toes. "No charge for baby," she said in her cute broken English. 4 generations all getting pampered together!

I remember the blanked that Grammie made for Kyndra, and how she would LOVE to sleep with it. She would pull it over her eyes and snuggle up in it.

I remember the first time Kyndra said a word. It was "Mama." However, she said it because she wanted me to pick her up and I wouldn't. She didn't say my name out of affection!

I remember her first Christmas. She was so excited, and didn't know why. We were excited so she was excited!

I remember the day that I thought Kyndra had died. She had what the doctors believed to be a seizure. I remember shaking and trembling as I rushed her to the hospital and waited for the diagnosis. I remember thinking what a wonderful church family we had. We had only been on staff at Calvary Baptist Church for two and a half months, and yet we felt like we had been there forever. Our church was so supportive, bringing meals, sending cards, calling us, and visiting us. We felt so loved!

I remember the first time she walked to her daddy. He beamed with pride as his little baby toddled to him and gave him a hug!

What a wonderful addition to our lives you have been, sweet Kyndra. I can't wait to see what the next year holds in store!

Love,

Mommy

Frozen Dinners Again?

What a busy time of year! We have a youth conference, we are moving, my parents are coming to visit, Pastor's School..... the list goes on and on! I have been so extremely busy this month that the majority of my meals have been "Healthy Request" microwave meals. Knowing that these are full of preservatives and way more expensive than cooking at home, I decided that as soon as I get home from our trip, I am going to make my own frozen meals. After spending some time researching online, I can across a great meal preparation idea. It is called OAMC, or Once A Month Cooking. The idea is to spend a day cooking and freezing so that you will only have to cook once a month. Anybody that knows me knows that I LOVE to cook, so the idea of only cooking once a month disinterested me at first. Then I decided that it would actually be nice to have a couple of weeks worth of meals ready for times when my schedule is hectic. I found a website that I LOVE, and it features a bunch of OAMC recipes. You can also find all sorts of great household tips and ideas. After looking at the site I immediately added it to my list of favorites. I can't wait to try out some of the new recipes. I will post the good ones for you to try!