Cooking stuff

Okay, so i tallied the shopping receipts and it looks like we spent $230 for a month. This is pretty good considering we had to start over with condiments and things like that. I can break down what we buy next month along with the menu. I will do the whole month of September on my food blog that will break everything down. I'm just too busy until then.

Today is a good example though of how i cook and use my freezer. By the way, i have a small freezer. I never specified what i had and i only have a small side by side fridge and freezer but i can pack that puppy full. Anyway, here's what's happening today.

I thawed all my chicken breasts - 4 or 5 large ones. In the crockpot I have chicken and northern bean soup stewing for LD. I made a big batch which he'll eat today and tomorrow (once each) and then i freeze the rest in LD size portions (those glad to go snack cups). I also got done making mac and cheese which i do the same except i put them in baby food jars. That's what i do with kitchery too. I make rice and lentils and he'll eat it like that with a little butter or i'll add different stuff to it. All of this is in the top shelf of the freezer. I'm going to post a picture soon of my freezer so you can see how i do it. Okay...so in another pot i have plain northern beans stewing in chicken stock and herbs. He eats those as a snack. In another pot i'm boiling chicken breasts which will be used for chicken pot pie later today. In another i have butter chicken going. A big pot because quite frankly i'm addicted to the stuff. I've been on a burnout of pakistani food for a while now but that is one dish i always look forward to. And there is one breast left which i will make sweet potato and chicken (thick) soup. This feeds my kid for basically the next week along with stuff we have for dinner. It fills in the gaps and gives him good lunches. I always cook like this. I will spend an entire day in the kitchen and the next four just doing small stuff. It's easier for cleanup, thawing of meat and time. I don't like spending nap time every day cooking but love doing it once a week. It feels good to provide. On a sidenote. Today i used a lot of chicken stock and there's always leftovers. Here's what i do with it. I freeze it in those snack cups too (they are 1 exact cup - how perfect is that?). Any remaining i freeze in ice cube trays and once frozen i transfer to a freezer bag.

I cook this same way when i thaw out chicken on the bone too. I thaw it all out and allocate it to three dishes. Cut onions for all that. And then continue making three pots of food. It saves a lot of time which i'm very short of these days. This house just won't come together or stay neat for me. It's a hard house to keep clean and i can't quite figure out why.

Here's a funny tidbit that cracks us up. LD loves the song Old MacDonald and also loves chicken. He always asks what i'm cooking and when i say chicken i feel like i'm ruining his innocence because of old macdonald. But lately he sings "old macdonald chicken e-i-e-i-o mmmm chicken lol. My kid is definately not a vegetarian and i don't think he'll be wearing a t-shirt that says "i don't eat my friends" like i did.