meal plan

Here is the meal plan I used for my freezer meals. 

**Just a disclaimer: I found these recipes on pinterest and other blogs. They are not my own. 

Chicken and Broccoli casserole- makes four 1 gallon freezer bags

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

• 10 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
• 4 cups cooked chicken, chopped (I bake mine in the oven like this.)
• 4 cups chopped broccoli, lightly steamed (can use frozen or fresh)
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup (or 2 batches cream of mushroom soup)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup (or 2 batches cream of chicken soup)
• 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

To freeze: Divide into four ziptop freezer bags and seal tightly. Freeze flat.

To serve: Thaw overnight (or for 8 hours) in the refrigerator. Dump into a greased casserole dish (each bag will fill an 8×8-inch pan; two bags will fill a 9×13-inch pan). Sprinkle with additional shredded cheese, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.

This recipe makes around 15-18 servings. Each freezer bag serves 4-5 people.

Crockpot Chili-

Ingredients

·         Ground beef/turkey (about a lb.)

·         1 Can of diced tomatoes

·         1 Small can of tomato sauce

·         1 Can of kidney/red beans

·         1 packet of "chili seasoning" (any brand, I get what's on sale)

·         * If you don't have the packet just add 1 tsp. Lawrys + 1 tsp. dehydrated onions

Instructions

1.       Cook the ground beef or turkey in a pan and if you like onions I would add diced onions to this mix. Add this cooked meat, the can of diced tomatoes, kidney beans, and small can of tomato sauce to your crockpot / slow cooker. Mix. Add packet of "chili seasoning" or 1 tsp. Lawry's and dehydrated onions (optional) to the mix and cook on low all day.

Tex Mex Chicken Casserole- makes four 8x8 foil pans

Tex Mex Chicken Casserole

(makes 4 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 four 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.

Parmesan Chicken Casserole- makes two 8x8 foil pans

Chicken Parmesan Casserole Recipe

Yields: Makes: one 8x8 casserole dish

An easy and delicious way to use up leftover chicken.

Ingredients

4 cups fully-cooked chicken, shredded or cubed

1 jar (28 ounces) of marinara sauce

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup panko or whole wheat bread crumbs (Here is how to make your own)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

fresh, chopped herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, etc), to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Grease an 8x8 casserole dish with cooking spray.

3) Layer the chicken in the bottom. Dump in the marinara sauce and mix with the chicken. Next, top with cheeses until all the chicken is covered.

4) In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, olive oil, fresh herbs and a dash of salt and pepper together.

5) Sprinkle the seasoned breadcrumbs on top.

6) Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling on the sides.

Freezer Meal Directions:

Put casserole together and freeze it before baking. When you're ready to cook it, let it thaw in the fridge over night. If it's still slightly frozen in the middle, you'll just have to cook it longer than the recipe calls for or defrost a bit in the microwave before baking. Cover it with foil if the top gets too brown in the oven.

- See more at: http://thrivinghomeblog.com/2013/07/chicken-parmesan-casserole-recipe-an-easy-freezer-meal/#sthash.IhuO2D1h.dpuf

Turkey Taco Lettuce wraps-

Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 4 • Size: 2 lettuce wraps • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 6 pts
Calories: 255 • Fat: 11 g • Carb: 6 g • Fiber: 2 g • Protein: 30 g • Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 849 mg • Cholesterol: 108 mg 

Ingredients:
  

·                     1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey

·                     1 tsp garlic powder

·                     1 tsp cumin

·                     1 tsp salt

·                     1 tsp chili powder

·                     1 tsp paprika

·                     1/2 tsp oregano

·                     1/2 small onion, minced

·                     2 tbsp bell pepper, minced

·                     3/4 cup water

·                     4 oz can tomato sauce

·                     8 large lettuce leaves from Iceberg lettuce

·                     (optional) 1/2 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar - (7 pp)

Directions: 

Brown turkey in a large skillet breaking it into smaller pieces as it cooks. When no longer pink add dry seasoning and mix well. Add the onion, pepper, water and tomato sauce and cover. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

Wash and dry the lettuce. Divide the meat equally between the 8 leaves and place in the center of each leaf and top with your favorite taco fixins! With the cheese, 2 wraps are 7 pp (toppings extra).

Taco Filling for Burritos or Stuffed Peppers-

ONE POT SPICY TACO RICE SKILLET

INGREDIENTS

1lb ground beef

1 large onion, diced

2 bell peppers, diced

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilis

1 cup salsa

1 cup long grain white rice (NOT minute rice)

1 cup water

1 cup beef stock

2 tsp cumin

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 cup shredded cheddar or jack cheese

green onions, to garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large pan, brown beef.

When beef is lightly browned, add diced onions and peppers.

Cook until beef is fully cooked, onions and peppers are soft.

Add can of tomatoes with green chili- no need to drain.

Add salsa, rice, water and stock.

Stir well to combine.

Add in spices and mix, cover.

Let simmer on low until rice is soft and liquid has cooked off.

Top with cheese, stir in until it melts.

Serve!

** For the recipes above I needed 4lbs of ground beef, 1lb ground turkey, and 8 chicken breasts.

**I also made some burgers, chicken with bbq sauce, chicken with spaghetti sauce, stew meat, taco meat, and sloppy joe meat. Its all cooked ahead of time so all I have to do is defrost and heat. Then I just throw it over rice or noodles.

**Steve loves the chili so I made two batches.. one I didn’t put in the crock pot. I just cooked the meat and froze it. And the other batch I completely cooked and then sectioned off into lunch sized containers for him. Then just defrost overnight and heat.

An update on our life and Steve's return to training!

I’m feeling a lot of emotion today as we get ready to go to Steve’s class winging. I’m so sad for him because I know how much he wants to be done and officially become a winged aviator with his buddies. I’m also frustrated because of the extra time we will be spending in Meridian. It is no secret that I am miserable here and not knowing how much longer we will be here is so incredibly frustrating. I’m also feeling guilty because of my frustration and “bad attitude” about the situation. Steve has been nothing but positive about everything and is genuinely excited and proud of his friends’ accomplishments. Sometimes I wish I could be more like him.

It has been almost two months since the accident and I *think* we have mostly healed. Steve is so ready to get back in the plane and I, of course, am terrified. I know it won’t be too much longer before he is back in the air and training for the boat again. I’m just trying to enjoy these last few weeks I will have him home. With today being such a bittersweet day, I figured it’s time for me to finally write down what happened. So here it is..

Steve left for San Diego on May 20^th, 2015 to land on the aircraft carrier for the first time. If he passed, he would have only had about two more weeks left of training before finishing the program and finding out what aircraft he would ultimately end up flying for the Navy. Unfortunately, he never made it to the boat. It was Friday, May 22^nd, 2015. Steve was flying from San Diego to El Centro for some practice flights before heading to the boat that weekend. My mom and dad were in town helping me with the kiddos. Tripp was only 6 weeks old at the time. We were getting Penny dressed so we could go out to dinner and I didn’t have my phone by me. We were about to walk out the door when I realized I needed my phone. When I found it, it was ringing. The number was unknown, but it said “San Diego area” on the screen. It then dawned on me that I hadn’t heard if Steve had made it back to San Diego. I thought that was strange, but felt prompted to answer it when usually I don’t answer numbers I am unfamiliar with. I said “hello.” A man asked if he was speaking to Steve Scoville’s wife and I said yes. He then gave the phone to Steve. Steve said “hey, how are you.” I was extremely confused, but answered cautiously, “I’m ok, are you ok?” He said, “yes, I’m ok.” There was a moment of silence and more confusion on my part. He then said “I had to get out of the plane.” My mind is thinking what on earth does that mean?! I finally muster up the courage to say “wait, does that mean you had to eject?” His answer, “Yes.” And then the call was dropped. I was pleading on the phone for him to answer me. I tried calling back and I couldn’t get through to him. It was almost an hour before I spoke to him again. At the time, he thought I had already been contacted about the accident, but since I wasn’t near my phone, he was the first person to notify me.

After the call dropped, I checked my phone and had numerous missed calls from Steve’s Skipper, the base, and a couple other unknown numbers. They had been trying to get in contact with me for quite some time. I called back the base and was put in contact with Steve’s Skipper. He explained to me what had happened and that Steve is probably the best source to get information from. He also said someone was on their way over to the house since they hadn’t been able to notify me. A few minutes later a car pulled up and Steve’s advisor came in. By this point everything was pretty much a blur. I was making phone calls to Steve’s mom and sisters while waiting for Steve to call me back. More people showed up throughout the early evening to check on the kids and me. The Navy is truly amazing when it comes to taking care of their own. I am so appreciative of that.

Steve finally was able to call me back. By the grace of God he escaped the incident with just some cuts from the glass from the canopy shattering. He was being released from the hospital after very thorough testing because of the violent nature of having to eject. He had to stay in San Deigo for a few more days to answer the safety investigators’ questions and then was sent home to me. Those were probably the longest four days of my life.

The safety investigation still hasn’t been released so my explanation of the accident will be pretty brief. This is also being written from a spouse’s point of view so some of the terminology probably isn’t correct, but it gives you the main gist of what happened. Steve got a warning light after taking off in El Centro that something was malfunctioning with the brakes. They decided he would continue to San Diego and attempt to land. Upon landing, the plane wouldn’t slow down and was showing signs that it was going into the water at the end of the runway. After many attempts to stop the plane, Steve decided his best option of survival would be to eject. All of this occurred in a matter of seconds. It still amazes me that these pilots can make so many decisions in a matter of seconds. Later on in the investigation, Steve was told that something on the front of the plane broke off when it hit the water and landed in the back seat of the aircraft. It is assumed that the plane part that flew off could have struck his head if he had remained in the plane. Oh how grateful I am that he made the right decision to eject. He ejected before the plane was over the water, so him and his parachute should have landed hard on the ground, but a gust of wind on a calm day carried him over to the water and he landed “softly” in the San Diego Bay. Civilian fishermen witnessed the incident and were able to rescue him and take him to shore. Right now we are waiting for the investigation to be over and for them to determine if Steve will be returning to training. It has definitely been a slow process, but regardless of the outcome, we are so grateful to still have our little family together on Earth. I am so blessed to have this man as my husband and the father of my children!

**Steve came in as I was typing this saying he got a phone call. He was just notified that he will return to training on Tuesday and will be going to the October carrier qualifications!**

Tripp is 1 month old!

1 month

Tripp,

I can’t believe you are a whole month old already! The time has just flown by. It feels like yesterday that I was obsessively trying to walk (and even run) you out of my womb. But now you are earth side and I couldn’t feel happier and more at peace with life. You seriously are just the sweetest little boy. You love snuggles, especially from Mama. I think you are definitely going to be my little Mama’s boy. You pretty much just slept the entire first two weeks of your life. I was so hopefully you would be a good sleeper. Oh boy, was I wrong. However, you still are a much better sleeper at this age than your sister ever was. You sleep about 2-3 hours at a time overnight; waking around midnight, 2 or 3am, and again at 5 or 6am. You usually need about an hour of snuggles before you will go back to sleep after your 2 or 3am feeding. You are also feeding every 2-3 hours during the day. Unfortunately we have had lots of feeding issues. You wouldn’t even try to eat while we were in the hospital and latching at the breast was very difficult for you. We would spend about 20 minutes trying to get you latched, you would suck about 3 or 4 times and then pass out until the next feeding. There was absolutely NO waking you; you were out cold! We had your mouth checked and learned that you are slightly tongue tied, but not severely enough to have it snipped. You should just “grow out of it.” In the end, feeding the baby was more important than what type of nutrition you were getting. After three weeks of pumping breastmilk for you, I decided it was time to switch you to formula. I’m sad, but have accepted it is what is best for you and our family at this time. You are gaining weight great now and I might even get to squeeze some cute little baby rolls in the upcoming months! You are about 9 pounds (WOW!), growing out of your newborn clothes, and have grown two inches since birth. Grow Tripp grow!

Baby boy, I feel like we have won the lottery with you! You are easy going and don’t cry a whole lot. You only really cry when you are hungry or when your tummy is hurting you. You are so loved by your big sister! She constantly wants to kiss you and be right where you are. If she can’t see you, she will go looking for you. When you cry she yells “oh!” and runs to shove a paci in your mouth. I can’t wait until you start to notice her and interact with her. You really will be the best of friends! 

Tripp, we love you so much! You are the perfect addition to our family. I feel so blessed that I was chosen to be your mommy and I love that I get to watch you grow and become your own little person. 

Love,

Mommy

Tripp's Birth Story

Tripp’s Birth Story

When we found out we were pregnant again only 8 months after having Penelope, I was absolutely terrified. We had decided just a couple days earlier that we were nowhere near ready to try for another baby. Fast forward through the weekend of August 8^th, 2014 and I decided to take a test. It was a Monday and Penelope and I had just gotten back from a long weekend in Ohio where we visited with family. I was absolutely exhausted and the feeling was so similar to how I felt when pregnant with Penny. I had also been having dizzy spells. When I saw those two pink lines only about 20 minutes after getting home from the airport I just couldn’t believe it. I immediately told Steve and we both were in denial for much longer than I think we like to admit. Eventually the shock wore off and we started to feel overjoyed about our new little blessing. 

Fast forward again to about 36.5 weeks pregnant… I started contracting every couple minutes for hours on end. I was convinced I would wake up in full blown labor just to be disappointed in the morning. I went to my 37 week checkup and was 3cm dilated. That evening I started having contractions 3 minutes apart that got more and more painful. My mom and I went out walking, came home, and then decided it was time for Steve and me to head to the hospital. We got there around midnight on April 1^st. It was officially my birthday. After laboring at the hospital for a while, I wasn’t progressing and was sent home after being injected with pain medication and a sleeping medicine. Exactly a week later I had another appointment. I was 4cm dilated and I begged the midwife to strip my membranes since she would be inducing me next week anyway. She agreed, did the sweep, and sent me home. The cramping started pretty immediately, but she said I would cramp a ton from the sweep. Around 2pm my mom and I decided to leave Penny with Steve and go walk around the mall. We walked for a couple hours and then decided to head home. I was exhausted and after having several strangers ask me if I was ok, I thought it was best to go home and rest. Around 4pm light contractions started. I got in the bath tub and tried to convince myself I wasn’t in labor. Why would today be any different than all the other days filled with constant contractions? The contractions were definitely getting more painful and it was getting harder to deny that I was in labor. I labored on the ball for a while and texted my friend Perryn in between contractions. We mostly talked about how I didn’t want to give birth again. It was going to hurt and I just absolutely did not want to do it. She eventually said Alex you should probably head to the hospital now considering you were 4cm dilated this morning. I told Steve it was time to go and he said that it wasn’t. I was pissed! We went back and forth on the matter for a little while until I finally told him I would drive myself if he wasn’t going to. He then got our bags and we were on our way. We got about a mile down the road and he pulled into a gas station. Again… I was pissed, but agreed he could go inside and grab some snacks in case it was a while before the baby was here. In the 5 minutes he was in the store my contractions went from 3 minutes apart to about a minute and a half. I was in pain and trying to accept that we might have this baby in the car. We made it to the hospital a little before 6pm and I had to stop and squat through each contraction as we made our way up to labor and delivery. We walked in and I explained I was in labor. They nodded their heads and slowly got the paperwork ready, weighed me, and walked me to a room to decide if I would be admitted. The nurse that was helping me in the room noticed how close my contractions were coming and asked if I was dilated at all at my appointment this morning. As soon as she heard I was 4cm at 10am she started moving a little faster. She called in another nurse to check my dilation while she tried to get the baby’s heartbeat on the monitor. I was 5cm dilated. They moved me to a delivery room and started an IV. I was in so much pain and experiencing excruciating back labor. I asked the nurse to prep me for an epidural in case I decided I wanted one. She started fluids and that is when my midwife showed up. She checked me again (it had been about 40 minutes) and I was 8cm at that point and that’s when we realized little man was sunny side up. I begged for the epidural and they called the anesthesiologist. She broke down the bed so I could get on my hands and knees and hopefully get some relief from the back labor. Nothing worked! They checked me again- 9cm at that point. And yes, I still wanted that epidural. The doc came in and was able to get the epidural going and thankfully it worked this time! (it didn’t with Penelope’s birth) Only a couple minutes later it was time to push. Before I started pushing my midwife thought it would be best to manually turn the baby face down to hopefully make the pushing stage shorter. She reached inside and literally just turned his body. I am forever grateful for that epidural! I pushed for about 15 minutes and my baby boy was born into the world! Born at 8:18pm weighing 6lbs 14oz and 19 inches long. I didn’t get to hold him very long because he was blue and they thought he needed some oxygen. Thankfully he didn’t and he was brought back to me shortly after! I am so grateful to have a baby boy! 

 Steven Poulter Scoville III (aka "Tripp")

 Born April 7, 2015

8:18pm

6lbs 14oz, 19 inches long

Just Sleep.

Oh Penelope, how you frustrate me. All I want is for you to sleep; so you can be your happy, cheerful self. It is no secret that you are not a star sleeper. You never have been, and I’m starting to wonder if you ever will be. Maybe in your teenage years? As I sit here and clench my fists, trying to ignore your oh so heart wrenching crying, I think why? Why am I doing this? Why would any mother sit in their bedroom with the door closed so she can’t hear the crying, just so she can say “I didn’t give in.” You are one strong willed little girl, but you have an even stronger willed mother. I want to feel like I am doing what is best for you. I just want you to sleep! I KNOW you are tired. I can see you rubbing your eyes and lying down for a few moments before popping back up and crying some more. You lay your head on my shoulder when I go in to comfort you and rock you. So why won’t you just sleep?! And where is the line drawn where I give in and give up on napping today? The experts say oh they may cry for 30 minutes, maybe even an hour, but then they will sleep. Where is the “expert advice” for parents who have kids who cry upwards of 2 plus hours? Am I really supposed to let her cry for over 2 hours? What are WE supposed to do? Usually I give her 20 minutes or so to try and figure things out and then we give up for the day and move on. But after a couple weeks of this nap fighting every day, I had to put my foot down. So you have now been crying for 2 hours, after initially playing nicely in your crib for an hour. We are three hours into naptime and only an hour and a half away from bedtime. What is a mom to do? My sweet Penny, I love you more than anything, so please bear with me. I’m just doing what I think is best for YOU and that will help you be a happier, healthy child.

Update: I gave her 5 more minutes after writing this and gave in. She is now sitting in her high chair and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, happy as a clam. Did I do the right thing? Well, I don’t know. But it is the best I could do today and that is all that matters right? 

100 Days of Real Food Challenge: Week 1 Review

Well, we survived our first week of the 100 Days to Real Food Challenge. Our assignment this week was to eat two fruits or veggies at every meal. We accomplished our goal! I think breakfast was probably the hardest for us. I tried to make it easy by eating overnight oats and topping it with some fruit. Having something prepared and ready in the morning for us made it super quick and easy. Lunch was easy for me because Penelope is at a stage where she loves to try and eat anything I eat so I just cut up a piece of fruit and a veggie and we shared a couple bites. Lunch was definitely more difficult for Steve. He typically has a flight or two in the afternoon. I send a lunch with him whenever he thinks he will have time to eat before a flight, but if not, then he usually eats when they get to their first destination. I told him to try and make healthy choices, but that isn’t always possible at the small airports, or so he tells me. :)

 

At the end of each week I want to talk about how we felt throughout the week; mostly physically, but I’m sure some weeks also mentally. This week I noticed myself feeling STARVING all the time. I kept thinking, “man, is this huge appetite from nursing finally kicking in?” I haven’t felt this hungry since I was pregnant. Once I mentioned it to Steve he figured it was because we had been eating fast food which is very filling. Now we are eating much healthier and my body feels like it needs more food. I’m sure after a few weeks my body will adjust and not feel so hungry constantly.  I was also super bloated this week. Ugh, I hate it! But again, this shall too pass. Overall, I am very happy with how our first week went. We plan on continuing our goal of two fruits or veggies at every meal each day throughout this challenge. 

Week 1 weigh in:

Steve: 182.4lbs

Alex: 102 lbs. 

We both actually gained weight! I gained 5 pounds and Steve gained 2. I’m sure most of it was from bloating so I’m not super worried. 

For week 2 we will be limited to “real beverages”. This includes water, milk, tea, coffee, and a little bit of juice. I have been dreading this week. Steve and I both drink a lot of soda, both for the taste and the caffeine. We do not drink coffee and therefore need to get our caffeine somehow! Anyone who knows me knows that I love diet coke, like seriously love it. My name is Alex and I may be a diet coke addict. So we are changing the rules up a little bit this week so we can both keep our sanity. Instead of giving up soda completely which would result in a very cranky mama and horrible headaches (yes I would be having withdrawals probably!) we are committing to drink 100oz of water daily and two cups of milk daily. With all the water we will have to intake, drinking soda will inevitably be put on the back burner for a while, but at least we will still be able to drink small amounts and not fail week 2! Remember we are trying to set ourselves up to be successful; if changing the rules a little helps you to become successful, then by all means do it! Eventually we hope to cut out soda completely, but it just isn’t realistic for us and our lifestyle right now. Wish us luck with week 2!

Please join us on our healthy eating journey! It is never too late to start! :)

Happy Blogging!