Defrosting is Not My Friend

Lately I have not been very good with defrosting food efficiently. On Monday I made the honey sauces chicken in the crock pot like I planned. Only I didn't put in fully defrosted chicken, it was all sort of still clumped together but I've cooked chicken in the crock pot before and it's always cooked pretty fast. Except I forgot to account for that when I timed the recipe so about 5:15 rolled around when my boys thought they were starving and I come to find that the chicken is still a little raw in parts. That just won't work. So I ended up making homemade lunchables for dinner for them and eating the chicken later when Shane got home. It turned out really good and we ate it again the next day for our real dinner but it was disappointing to not be as easy as I had planned.

I think the boys would rather have these any day.

Then today came... Yesterday we rearranged the chest freezer because it was becoming a black hole and I couldn't find things I was looking for. I took out an elk roast at 9am and put it in the freezer figuring 24 hours would be plenty of time for it to thaw enough to cut into chunks for the stew I wanted to make. Wrong again. It will be plenty thawed by tomorrow but knowing I needed it to cook so long in the crock pot again I had to scrap my plans and save them for another day. Here some of the freezer ingredients are thawing at a nice little plate party.

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

So I ended up making hamburgers which were pre-formed and precooked from the freezer and the loaded baked potato casserole from the picture above. Mine didn't have green onions because I didn't have any but I'm sure next time Shane would love some of those too. Really not hard to make and so yummy. In the end everything always works out fine but I just don't think my brain is working correctly at the moment.

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Overnight Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

I've been tweaking this overnight sourdough cinnamon roll recipe over the last few months and I think it's finally, exactly, the way I like it. We love this for slow weekend mornings, to take to family and friends, or for special holiday get togethers. It's also the same recipe I use when making them to sell locally. I've been keeping it under wraps for no reason in particular but it's just too good not to share. I don't have a reliable kitchen scale so this recipe uses good old fashion cups and goes a lot by the feeling of the dough. It will get messy but don't be discouraged if it doesn't turn out just right the first time. No matter the flop, these cinnamon rolls will never disappoint taste wise. The PDF printable can be found here or you can keep reading. Overnight Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls The night before you want to make rolls: 8 Tablespoons cold butter, shredded (a whole stick) 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour 1/2 cup sourdou...

Oh Lovely Chicken Divan

Today marks my last official planned freezer cooking day for now in preparation for the new baby. I might end up making something next month, but really the freezers are getting quite full and until we eat down some things, it's quite a tight squeeze at the moment. Chicken divan, if you've never had it, oh you are missing out! This was probably the most requested birthday dinner in our house growing up and it is one of my ultimate comfort foods. It has vegetables, kids like it, and it really isn't that expensive to make either. It takes a little time because of the different layers so doubling it is a great time saver anyway (or if you have a smallish family just put half in one pan and half in a different pan for another meal. And finally the long awaited: Chicken Divan 2 packages/heads broccoli frozen or fresh (I like to use the florets when I can find them) 2 cups sliced/shredded/chopped cooked chicken (cook any way you like, baked is probably juiciest) 2 cups conde...

Keeping up with the Sadlers

Lincoln favorite new past time, listen closely for "Dada" Dylan had cowboy day at school and could dress up and meet "real cowboys". We live in a hick town and his school was having an assembly about the cowboy way , or having character. Yes, Lincoln's bib is purplish, but it says I Love my Sister so it's ok :) Cute big boy outfit Auntie Jackie got Lincoln, while sticking out his tongue. I think it looks like a little pickle. Weird, another tongue shot, he does it a lot. While playing with a plush orange (like the fruit) it sort of landed like this and I thought it looked a little like a bikini top and snapped a pic. Hey you have to have fun with life right?

Free Range on Fairview

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