Friday, December 4, 2009

Food Storage Challenge - Day 18-20

A quick post...


Day 18 Menu
Pumpkin Soup
Pizza
Apples & Bananas dipped in Caramel
Day 19 Menu
Leftovers
Day 20 Menu
Turkey Pot Pie
Salad
Orange Juice
Oreos (Okay, I bought these!)
Day 21 Menu (Saturday)
Leftovers again.
We are heading to Blanding for a few days. So the challenge will continue when we return!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Fudge Season

Today is the official start of Fudge Season at the Christensen home. Some people like Deer Season, or as Grandpa Lyman said, 'Dear' Season, and some people like the Harvest season, or the birthing season. I like Fudge Season! I am so excited to begin!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Food Storage Challenge - Day 16 & 17

Yesterdays menu was delicious...

Shrimp Fried Rice
Spring Rolls
Oranges
Graham Cracker Cookies
Today was another 'date' with Mike. We first talked about going to the Bountiful Temple, but then decided on Jordan River, only to find that was closed for its semi-annual two week cleaning. We finally ended up at the Draper Temple. Afterwards, we went out for a late afternoon lunch at Hires B H in Midvale. Did we ever have a great lunch.
Our dinner Menu this evening, IF we are hungry will include the following:
Pumpkin Soup
Tuna Sandwiches
Apples & Bananas dipped in Caramel

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Food Storage Challenge - Day 15

With the Thanksgiving Holiday, I decided not to include Thanksgiving and the last couple of days of leftovers in this food storage challenge. (Aren't turkey sandwiches the best!) Today, we are now back to eating from our food storage. Day 15 report...

Menu

Tuna Sandwiches
Cream of Mushroom Soup

(For Mike, he loves it. Doesn't sound too good to me, though!)
Mashed Potatoes
(Final leftovers)
Apples



And, a photo... A friend, Deeann, told me that she'll put all her dry ingredients into containers and create several containers of the same meal. Then, when she cooks, all they needs to do is dump in the dry ingredients, and add any liquid ingredients. It has made cooking so much simpler for me. I've done this for my spaghetti sauce, pumpkin soup (stored in freezer), spanish rice, and many other. Anything I can do to simplify cooking is a bonus for me!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Images From Our Thanksgiving

The Christensen Family hosted Thanksgiving Dinner this year in our home. Here are a few pictures from the day...


Turkey Brine


Playing card after dinner (Sidney, Alexis, Mom)

Mike, listening to conversation.


Madison's Clarinet Concert

Dave and his Kiss imitation/shirt.

Dinner guests, Dad, Steve, Mike, Alishea, Mom, and Alexis

Dinner guests - Mom, Alexis, Chantelle, Dave, Madison, Dad, and Steve


"Normal" Dave


In conversation, Alexis, Chantelle, and Steve


Alishea and Mom

After dinner... The girls playing cards, the guys watching football

Seven Layer Dip
(I didn't take this photo. I suspect it was Alishea, proof that we did have this on Thanksgiving.)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Food Storage Challenge - Day 12-14

I was thinking last evening that I'm not sure if this test is working or not. I feel like our freezer is just as full as it was when I began and our shelves look just as stocked. Oh well, it is a good test to see what we have.

A quick story... I was making the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving last evening and it called for one apple. Well, the apple I had been going to use was eaten a couple of day ago, so I thought for a few moments and came up with the idea to use the dried apples I have in my food storage. They worked great! Can't wait to eat the sauce with our Thanksgiving meal...

Day 12 Menu
Hamburger/Rice Casserole
(I substituted my last zucchini for the celery, which I didn't have!)
Peaches
Day 13 Menu
Spaghetti
Corn
Bread
Oranges
Day 14 Menu
Leftover Spaghetti
Fried Rice
Smoothies
Purchased: Oranges, bread. (I guess I could have made homemade bread but I wasn't in the mood. There are too many other things to make in conjunction with Thanksgiving!)
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving... I'm brining our turkey and quite excited about this. We are also having Seven Layer Dip - not the traditional Thanksgiving food, BUT a request from my niece Alishea!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Food Storage Challenge - Day 11

This morning during our Relief Society Presidency meeting, one of my counselors suggested I list the blogs I subscribe to for deals, etc., on my blog. So, this post is for you, Annette!

On the side bar is a Provident Living section and links to the sites I subscribe to via google reader. (I LOVE google reader, except for those blogs which require a password, causing me to access those blogs manually. Thanks to those of you who don't require passwords, and thus I just receive your feed!)

Okay, back to the business at hand... See the sidebar for the links. And here is today's menu post...

Menu for Day 11
Enchiladas (leftover)
Meatloaf & Baked Potatoes (leftover)
Baked Potato Soup (leftover)
Pizza (for my brother Steve, who doesn't eat 'leftovers')
Smoothies (My answer to when we don't have fresh fruit, but need fruit to balance out the meal)
Learnings, con't.
1. Always have Pizza in the freezer because 1) it is easy to cook; 2) it doesn't qualify as a leftover; 3) and everyone seems to like pizza
2. I need a freezer. While I've been using items out of the freezer, I still don't have much room for when I make a dinner that I can freeze 1/2 of it and use at a later date.
3. I need to have a year supply of tinfoil pans that I can make dinners and freeze them in.
Other items I have purchased (that we used) during this experiment
1. Milk - I know that Mike would drink powdered milk, but I'm not sure Steve will. So, milk was a necessary purchase.
2. Items for Thanksgiving dinner. Since I'm hosting this year, I feel obligated to provide the traditional Thanksgiving meal.