It's a Kiick'n Life! : 2014

I'm by no means a wonderful cook. I've done several of these cook-a-thons now and wanted to mix things from different ones. I would recommend to have a friend or babysitter to come over and help. Curstin, our babysitter came over and helped me all day. It was a lifesaver! We started by 11 and were done by 4. That included keeping an eye out on four kids, feeding them lunch, a grocery store run (oops), and nursing a newborn. We did 26 meals because I forgot to double one of them. It cost less than $300 and this included the pans. The other cooking menus I tried in the past were never enough for our growing family. Some of these meals were 4 small meals and I just made two out of them. So you may find that you have leftovers. I used 13 X 9 pans for all of the casseroles and gallon zip lock bags for the crock pot meals. I am allergic to chicken so I substituted turkey for chicken, cream of mushroom for cream of chicken, and vegetable broth for chicken broth. For the pork chop meals I made sure each one had 4 or 5 thick cut pork chops. The recipe calls for less but I have hungry humans. If you need less then you'll have to fix your grocery list.

Here are our meals…

2 Easy Chilli Recipe

2 Tex Mex Chicken Casserole

2 Basic Chicken Casserole

2 Pineapple glazed ham

2 Slow cooker creamy pork chops

4 Slow cooker pepper steak

4 Manicotti

2 Broccoli and pasta Bianco

2 Mediterranean Pork Chops

2 Three Baked Ziti with spinach

4 Sausage Stuffed Green Peppers

Heres our grocery list….

Meat

Chicken Breast 8 breast (I got three packs of fillets)

Ground Beef 2 lbs (I used turkey)

Thick cut Pork chops 17-20

Italian Pork Sausage- 4 lbs No casing if you can find it. If not you can easily remove it.

Thick slices of boneless ham- 8-10 (I got 10 and from the deli. Original calls for cooked but I used deli)

Round Steak (I used stew) - 4lbs

Dairy

Cheddar 9 cups

Ricotta- 15oz containers times 7

egg- 4

parmesan 4 cups

mozzarella- 15 cups

milk- 4 cups

Veggies

4 onion (I don't ever use as much as it calls for)

Cloves of garlic (I use minced) -4

green peppers 22

Bag of Baby spinach-2

Potatoes-8

Cherry tomatos 4 pints

Frozen

pees and carrots- 2 bags

broccoli 2 bags

Canned items

Cream of chicken - 4 cans (I used cream of mr)

chicken broth- 5 cups (veg broth)

Rotel- 3 cans

whole kernel corn- 2 cans

black beans-2

chilli beans-3

20 oz of crushed pineapple- 2 cans

Seasonings

Taco packages- 2 packs

Chilli seasoning- 2 packs

Ranch packages- 2 packs

Paprika

Poultry

Oregeno

Italian

Garlic Powder

Ginger

Basil

Soy sauce

Baking

French onions- 3 cups

Rice- 13 cooked cups

brown sugar

Pasta

Jumbo shells 12oz X3

Ziti 16oz X2

Penne 16 oz X2

Other

Marinara - I jumbo jar

Prego italian sauce 2 regular jars

1 huge jar of spaghetti sauce or marinara for the manicotti

olive oil

Djon Mustard

I have some pointers I think you should take note of. Do the crock pot meals first. With a sharpie write all the meals and instructions on the front of the bags. Work on two recipes/ four meals at a time. Get all the ingredients out for those four meals. I did the pepper steak and the glazed ham first. The easiest thing to do is set out four large bowls to sit the gallon bags in to help prevent spilling. Cut all the veggies at the same time. For the pork chop meals add all the chops in first. While you're making these meals start boiling a large pot for the chicken and start cooking the rice. After you're done with these meals take the chicken out of the pot and start boiling water for noodles. While thats boiling start shredding chicken. Don't forget to add spinach in the last 10 minutes to the ziti and broccoli to the penne. Also make sure the Manicotti doesn't get too soft.

Start making the chicken meals. Basic chicken casserole. Add all ingredients except topping. Add 1/2 of your pile of cut up chicken and the veggies stir then add the cups of cooked rice.

Start grounding the meat and cooking the sausage.

Start making the noodle meals. Mix all ingredients except noodles into a big bowl first then split into the two pans. Add the noodles and mix in the pan. If you add the noodles to the bowl they go everywhere!

We covered each tin in tinfoil and wrote on top the directions and what it is.

Making the crock pot meals...

Made the toppings for the Chicken casserole and shredded he chicken…

All the ingredients in my big bowl to the left and added it on top of the rice I already had split into the two casserole dishes.

Make sure you let them cool before freezing. I also removed the lids and added foil to the tops.

Curstin is the best Manicotti maker ever.

Recipes

Slow Cooker Pineapple Glazed Ham -sixsistersstuff.com

I doubled this and made two

4 thick slices of boneless ham from the deli

1/3 c brown sugar

1 20oz can of crushed pineapple (don't drain)

2 T Dijon mustard

Place all ingredients inside a freezer bag. Mix together in bag and freeze. When ready to eat thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on High3 hours or low 5-6

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

makes two so I doubled for four

2 lbs beef round stew (I used stew steak)

2 pints of cherry tomatoes

3 green peepers (sliced)

1/4 cup of soy sauce

2tsp sugar

1 onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp ground ginger

Slow Cooker Creamy Pork Chops and Potatoes

Ingredients:

4-6 thick sliced chops

6-8 medium potatoes chopped in large pieces

2 cans of cream of chicken

2 packages of dry ranch dressing mix

1 Cup of milk

Dried parsley to sprinkle on top

In a bowl mix the soups, milk, and dressing and pour in two gallon bag. Combine all the other ingredients an split in to two bags and zip closed. Freeze. When ready Thaw 24 hours. Cook on High for 3-4 hours or low 6-7

Use the sauce in the crockpot as gravy.

Mediterranean Pork Chops

Makes Two

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cups chick broth

4 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp poultry seasoning

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

6-8 thick cut pork chops

Directions: Split all ingredients into two bags. Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with salad and rice or noodles.

Easy Chili Recipe

Makes two

2 pounds of ground beef

1 onion, diced

3 cans of chili beans

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can of diced tomatoes (14 oz can)

2 packs of chili seasoning

1/2 table spoon salt

2 cups water

Put browned ground beef into a pan with onions and cook until onions are soft. Add in all the other ingredients (including the juice of the tomatoes) and cook for 30 minutes or so until flavors have combined.

Mix in to two bags

Manicotti

This makes four pans

6 – 15oz ricotta

4-6 cups mozzarella shredded

2 cups Parmesan

Italian seasoning – However much you prefer. About 6 tbsp

4 eggs

Mix above together

2 – 12 oz Jumbo Shells – cook al dente

Two double size jar of marinara or spaghetti sauce.

Stuff cheese into shells

Thin layer of sauce on bottom of pan

Layer shells – then top with more sauce

Then layer parmesan cheese

This made 4 pans with 8 in each.

Day of Cooking: Defrost and cook at 350 for 30 minutes–or cook frozen for ~an hour

Sausage Stuffed green peppers

I multiplied this times four

Ingredients

1. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2. 1 pound sweet Italian pork sausage, casing removed

3. 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

4. 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed

5. 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)

6. 4 medium green peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeded

7. 2 cups Prego® Traditional Italian Sauce or Tomato, Basil & Garlic Italian Sauce

Instruction

1. 1 Heat the oven to 400°F. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat.

2. 2 Stir the onion and oregano in the skillet and cook until the onion is tender. Stir in the cheese.

3. 3 Arrange the pepper halves, cut-side up, in a 3-quart shallow baking dish. Spoon the sausage mixture into the pepper halves. Pour the sauce over the filled pepper halves. Cover the baking dish.

4. 4 Bake for 40 minutes or until the peppers are tender.

Three Cheese Baked Ziti with Spinach

Times Two

Ingredients

· 1 pkg.

(16 ounces) uncooked medium tube-shaped pasta (ziti)

see savings

· 1 bag

(6 ounces) baby spinach, washed (about 4 cups)

see savings

· 1 jar

(1 pound 9 ounces) Prego® Marinara Italian Sauce

see savings

· 1 cup

ricotta cheese

· 4 oz.

shredded mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup)

see savings

· 3/4 cup

grated Parmesan cheese

see savings

· 1/2 tsp.

garlic powder

see savings

· 1/4 tsp.

ground black pepper

Directions

1.Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Add the spinach during the last minute of the cooking time. Drain the pasta and spinach well in a colander. Return them to the saucepot.

2.Stir the sauce, ricotta, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and black pepper into the pasta mixture. Spoon the pasta mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

3.Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes or it’s until hot and bubbling.

Broccoli Pasta Bianco

Multiplied times two

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 8 servings

1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta

4 cups fresh or frozen broccoli flowerets

o 1 (10.75 ounce) canCampbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

7. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Add the broccoli for the last 4 minutes of cooking time. Drain the pasta and broccoli well in a colander.

8. Stir the soup, milk and black pepper in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Stir in the pasta mixture, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

1. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until the pasta mixture is hot and the cheese is bubbly

Tex Mex Chicken Casserole

(makes 2 freezer meals)

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

8 cups of cooked rice

2 can of Rotel tomatoes

2 packs of taco seasoning

2 cans of whole kernel corn, drained

2 cans of black beans (undrained)

1 small can of black olives, drained

6 cups of cheddar cheese, grated

Mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl, except the cheese. Divide out into 2 pans, then top each with the cheddar cheese and top with cardboard topper. To cook, remove cardboard piece and bake at 350 until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted (all ingredients are already cooked, so it’s just a matter of heating it well.) I serve with sour cream and salsa on top and tortilla chips on the side.

Basic Chicken Casserole Recipeasic Chicken Casserole Recipe

(makes 2 casseroles)

4 shredded, cooked chicken breasts

5 cups of cooked rice

2 cans of cream of chicken condensed soup

1 cup of chicken broth

2 bags of frozen peas and carrots (I used mixed, but you could use one bag of each)

1 Tablespoon of salt

1/2 Tablespoon of black pepper

3 cup of French’s onions

3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

In a small bowl, combine the cheese and onions together – set aside (for the topping)

In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients together, then separate into pans. Top each one with 1/3 of the topping mixture and freeze. When ready to cook, bake at 350 until thoroughly warm and cheese is melted (everything is already cooked in the casserole.)

He asked for TWO helpings of Manicotti!

Links to blogs that helped me and my pinterest where some of the meals are :-)

http://therealisticorganizer.blogspot.com/2014/01/organized-slow-cooker-freezer-meals.html

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/2013/10/freezer-meals.html

http://www.pinterest.com/tiffanykiick/yum-yum-for-my-tum-tum/

This kid is going to age me about fifty years. Everyone who knows us knows Koah has seen some struggles in his six years. He's had low muscle tone since birth resulting in physical therapy the past 5 1/2 years. He's had a couple MRI's, EKG, EEG, more blood work than I've had. At two the Dr's noticed sensory problems and several things that pointed to him being on the Spectrum. But in all honesty we've done great. We've had behavior issues but if you've met Karsyn you'd understand any child would be hard to top her with behavior problems. It seems like every year we've had these downward slopes. For a couple months he starts to regress and do some out of the ordinary things. He becomes more sensitive to sound and stimulation. I notice it in his behavior. But we always get out of those slumps and he does great. He's really been an awesome kid. He hasn't really noticed he's "different". School work is hard for him but I'm blessed enough to have the opportunity to homeschool. I'm able to take that alone time and teach in other ways that help get his brain going. Our life works and we've made it our "normal".

But Lately… I noticed about a month or so ago a behavior change. He's talking very immature he's acts closer to a four year old than a six year old. He's started to be extremely impulsive and do things he typically wouldn't do or that he knows not to do. A few examples in the last few weeks… He let his brother outside and out of the front gate and Kabe almost drowned, He went on a walk with my mom and rode his big wheel and he left her and drove around our block on his own, He went to a birthday party last weekend and threw a toy over the fence, He spit in a kids plate, He shot another kid in the eye with a nurf gun, He threw a bouncy ball as hard as he could across the living room, He's starting to squeeze or press on the baby really hard (not in a mean way, in a over excited I can't control what I'm doing way while he laughs.) , He's trying to pick the baby up for no reason, He told his sister to cut her hair…She DID. He pinched one of my friends butt, and NO he's never seen anyone do that. I know some of these things sound silly but he knows better and has been told not to do every single one of these. I've talked to his therapist about it and she notices the change in behavior. He's blank, He's "not there", He sits with his mouth wide open and his tongue hanging out. He's needing a lot of oral stimulation. It seems as if he completely changed in such a short amount of time. He isn't getting or processing things like he should be. He's just a different kid and it sucks. His Ot therapist, who is amazing by the way gave me some pretty good advice. She thinks maybe since we've had the baby our schedule has completely been lost. He has no structure. Its summer so we go from here to there and we have something going on every day. His body doesn't know how to react to it. He's always needed organization, a schedule, and some structure or he acts out. So for now we're going to try to get back to a routine. School starts soon so that will help a lot too.

I just miss my Koah. I miss my kid who made good choices and never argued. I miss him being a helper and now I have to keep the little ones safe from him. I miss not having to constantly get on him for making some impulsive bad decision. I miss not having to worry when I go to a friends house what he's going to do to get in trouble. I just want this phase to be gone.