McCoy's 2nd Birthday Party

Choo!  Choo!  Choo!  McCoy is TWO!!

We had a choo-rific party for McCoy last month!  I think he had a great day and we had some great visitors here!

I can't believe that my baby is two years old!  He is doing some fantastic things, both developmentally, behaviorally, socially and physically.  But I'm going to devote another post all by itself.

:)

Crock Pot Freezer Meal.....

Here is a successful story about my crock pot freezer meal.  I made this one on the same night I made all the others.  It's called Slow Cooker Veggie-Beef Soup with Okra.  

INGREDIENTS

• • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1/4 cup onion, chopped
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
  • 1 cup sliced fresh or frozen okra
  • 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • salt and pepper to taste

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef and onion until beef is evenly brown and onion is tender. Drain grease.
2. In a slow cooker, mix the beef and onion, diced tomatoes, Italian diced tomatoes, vegetables, okra, potatoes, ketchup, salt, and pepper. Pour in enough water to cover.
3. Cover slow cooker, and cook 4 hours on Low.
• I didn't have the Italian diced tomatoes (overlooked that one on the list!) so I added in Meatloaf sauce.  The end product was good, but a little too ketchupy for my taste.  McCoy and Whit ate it with no complaints though.  It tasted especially good with potato chips and sour cream. :)

I added all the ingredients to a gallon sized freezer bag (AFTER I browned the hamburger) and put it in the freezer.  Then I threw the whole thing in the crock pot in the morning.  I had Whit turn it on Low about 7 am and then he got home before me and turned it to warm about 4 pm. 

All in all, I give it 3 stars.  It was disgusting like my chicken last week, but it was pretty tasty.

Name Change

I was in need of a name change. My blog has been called "Tenessa" ever since I started it and it sucks.  It's so boring.

So I thought about my life.  I strive for Harmony.  I strive to create peace within my family and friends.  I'm a peacemaker by nature-- always the first to say I'm sorry and always initiating re-kindling friendships.  I live in harmony most of the time.

But enter McCoy.  And music.  And work.  And family.  And mama chores.  And messy houses.  And laundry.  And Rezound.  And my go-to attitude.  My always-wanting-to-be-in-the-middle, never-wanting-to-miss-out attitude and you get Jumbled.  My life was once organized, but is now jumbled.  I strive for perfection, but I only get jumbled, dissonant chords.  It's okay, though, because I've accepted the fact that I don't live a perfect life.  No one does.  And no one will ever be able to.

I know that I live in chaos and I will do what I can do make it harmonious.  

It's Jumbled Harmony.

Epic Fail

Okay, tonight... fail.

I made a freezer meal: Honey Garlic Chicken.  And I cooked it for 12 hours on low in the crock pot.  It was burnt and yucky when I got home.  It looks like this:

I think I may have to invest in a timer.  I'm just gone too long during the day.

Any of you ever had Epic Fails from the crock pot before?  Please tell me I'm not the only one.

I have more of this recipe.  I think I made like three batches.  I will try it again, but not cook it as long!

First Success!

I mentioned that I was experimenting with freezer cooked meals for the crock pot.  Well, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen (ha!  only 2 and a half hours!) making many 14 meals.  I still have more to make, but I got tired! :)

My first trip to the freezer: Four bags of Mexican Soup, Four bags of Honey I Fed the Kid, and three bags of Garlic Honey Chicken.  Yes, I rock!!

My first success: Mexican Soup
Here is the recipe:

• 1 can of chicken broth
• 1 can of green beans
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can corn
• 1 can beans (any kind)
• 3 chicken breasts (you can toss them in frozen)
• 1 packet taco seasoning

Throw into a gallon sized freezer ziploc and throw it in the freezer.  I placed mine in the freezer very carefully, though.  :)

When you want to cook it, throw it in, cook it on low until you can shred the chicken (6-7 hours). I cooked it on low for a very long time.  I put it in about 6:15 am and Whit and McCoy ate around 6:30. When Whit got home around 4:45, he turned it on low.  I ate around 7:30 pm.  It was not burnt at all.   It had excellent flavor and not too much taco seasoning.  We put sour cream on it and it tasted wonderful!

Now, I cooked four batches of this soup!  The one recipe called for 3 chicken breasts, but I only put in two and I would probably just do one chicken breast the next time.  It seemed like a lot of chicken to me, once the veggies and tomatoes cooked up a bit.  But it tasted wonderful!  Left-overs included on small bowl for lunch today, and a big bowl for left-over dinner.  The best part, it did NOT stink up the whole house!!!  

Okay, that's not my first try at the freezer thing.  I also did a recipe called Honey, I Fed the Kids Chicken dinner.  This is called a "Dump Recipe" from the Lazy Day Gourmet.  Here is the link.  I grilled it and we had roasted potatoes and okra, and also green beans (with thyme and parmesan cheese mixed in-- great way to spice up a plain ol' can of green beans!).  I give it 4 stars.  It was received well by my family.  Whit said the chicken had great flavor.  I just like grilled chicken!  We ate this on Saturday night.

The Little Things