Hello June Eats

Welcoming summer, can't wait for ice cream faces again!

June is going to be a wacky and wild month for us. May was crazy busy but we got through it, so now it's June and I'm ready to settle down, or a least have a plan. May brought the birth of sweet baby Warner and made me realize how much I don't have under control. I've let the boys go wild, become sleep deprived and definitely unorganized. We had some meals delivered to us from friends and family, some out and some from the freezer. I made a couple from scratch but cooking with a new born and a whiney toddler under foot is definitely more challenging. My stir fry with noodles was a giant hit. (maybe it was the "fancy" ramen noodles I used, or the homemade teriyaki sauce, but everyone raved about it, yippee) Chicken piccata from the crock pot, not so much.
So here are tips and things I am going to be doing this month:
1. Use up those freezer meals! I spent time and money making them so I might as well make things easier all around and use them up. Less clean up usually too. Just make sure they thaw properly so you don't end up eating dinner at 7 pm, when the kids are supposed to be getting ready for bed.
2. Nap Time is your friend. I've pretty much given up on the idea to sleep when the baby sleeps. I want to, I really do! But the older baby only takes one nap a day now and somehow the time flies by too fast. When else am I going to shower, fold laundry or empty the dish washer? I have also started to use this time to prep, throw something in the crock pot, or even entirely make dinner to bake or serve later. This has helped cut down on spending time in the kitchen at the witching hour.
3. Take advantage of community events. We have a senior in our house this year which means tons of end of the year BBQ's and parties. My MOPS group is also having a family BBQ. There was a Memorial Day community BBQ last weekend at the park. Do you see I don't have to make a full dinner for any of these events?
4. Eat out of the pantry. My sister and I are taking a road trip with all of our kids down to California this month so we won't be home for a week. I'm going to make sure I don't leave anything that will spoil while we are gone, and hopefully save some money too. Shane will be home but he's on his own creative diet, eating lots of BBQ'd chicken, tuna, salad and hard boiled eggs. Luckily he can fend for himself this way well.

So anyway here we are June Eats for the Sadlers...
1. Random day. I had a MOPS retreat and left home early.
2. Stir Fry with veggies and ramen noodles
3. Chili from the freezer, cooked in crock pot
4. Chicken Piccata from freezer, cooked in crock pot - w/ mashed potatoes
5. Porcupine Meatballs from freezer, cooked in crock pot - w/ pea salad
6. Sloppy Joes from freezer with corn and black bean salad
7. Mexican casserole from freezer with rice and left over corn &bean salad
8. Senior BBQ
9. MOPs Family BBQ
10. Pulled Chicken Sandwiched from freezer, homemade baked beans, zucchini sauté
11. Graduation Party
12. Beef and Bean Burritos from freezer, cheesy rice
13. Grilled Vinaigrette Chicken from freezer, grilled garlicy potatoes and veggies
14. Moroccan Stew from freezer in crock pot, served over garlic mashed potatoes from last night
15. Pizza! It's officially summer vacation!
16. Chicken Divan with rice and salad
17. Father's Day, Dad's choice!
18. Trip
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25. Lentil Casserole
26. Stuffed Meatball Sandwiches
27. Tacos
28. Curry Chicken from freezer, with rice
29. Chef's Choice
30. Family Choice