Freezer Meals

Stress has tried to get the best of me this week with migraines, trouble sleeping and fatigue.  Due to my stress-induced migraines, I had to miss my Bible Study, a wedding coordinator meeting with a bride, and a half day of work.  This cannot continue, so I have decided to take action.  First and most importantly, I'm doing a lot of prayer and Bible reading.

Then my grandma gave me a book by Dale Carnegie about ridding your life of worry called, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Right up my alley. 

 I'm on chapter 4 and so far it's been pretty helpful with giving real strategies that I can apply to my daily life.  I'm also considering letting go of my responsibilities as wedding coordinator for my church.  I think that will help my stress level.  My mom came and helped me with my classroom after school yesterday for 2 hours so we got 4 hours worth of work done.  YEAH!  I feel so much better about my upcoming work week now.  Also, we go to dinner with Tom's parents every week so we decided to change that to every other week.  It was a hard decision, because family is very important, but it's hard to rush home from work, rush to their house, rush to Bible Study and rush home to bed.  Too much rushing in one day.  Finally, I have decided to make better use of my weekends so I can better enjoy my weekdays.  As a result, I decided to take three hours of my Saturday morning to make as many freezer meals as possible.  That is exactly what I did this morning. 

Here's what I made...

8 servings of 3 Ingredient Chicken Tacos

8-10 servings of Mom's Turkey Chili

8 servings of Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

5 servings of turkey and mushroom spaghetti

8-10 servings of 1 Skillet Chili Mac

That equals approx. 40 servings of food!!!  How exciting!  Our week night dinners and week day lunches are DONE for TWO WEEKS!  All we have to do is warm them up.  Praise the Lord for the invention of the microwave! :)

This is what made it so easy...

• I chose recipes that are SIMPLE.
• I used recipes with similar ingredients to make grocery shopping easy (ground turkey, diced tomatoes, chili powder, etc.)
• I only used 3 pans-1 skillet, 1 medium sauce pan, 1 dutch oven (just kept rinsing them out and resusing).  This is SUPER important for not having a hige pile of dishes afterwords.
• I never had to turn the oven on for the stuffed peppers because I just boiled the peppers, pre cooked the meat and rice then mixed the stuffing.  It will all cook together when I warm it up in the microwave.
• Choose one recipe to put in the crock pot so it does the work for you.

**Happy Dance**

Mexican Chili...hot hot hot!!

Tonight I put together a new recipe inspired by a recipe I found the other day. 

It was really hearty and spicy. 

Mexican Chili

1 lb ground turkey
3 c. chicken stock
28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayanne pepper
4 garlic cloves
2 c. frozen corn
3 jalepenos
1 green pepper
1 onion
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 small can tomato paste
8 oz. pepper jack cheese

Combine chicken stock, raw ground turkey, cumin, chili powder and cayanne pepper into dutch oven on stove top.  Simmer chicken stock, spices and ground turkey until turkey is browned.  Meanwhile, chop garlic, jalepenos, green pepper and onion then add to pot.  Add diced tomatoes.  Simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add corn, black beans and tomato paste. Simmer 5 more minutes and then shred pepper jack cheese into pot.  When cheese is melted it is ready to serve!  Top with cheese, sour cream or cilantro.  Side with tortilla chips and dip into chili!

The Great Migraine Update:

January: 4
February: 4
March: 12 (This was the month when I found out about my nut intolerance.) 
April: 3

Now the only things I have cut out of my diet are refined sugars, nitrates, nitrites, MSG, any other preservatives and alcohol (except wine).  The triggers are getting narrowed down!  YES!!

This weekend I went to my cousin's wedding and I had no idea what contained sugar so I passed on the chex mix, chocolates, cake and rolls.  I had chicken, green beans, cheesy potatoes, salad, cheese and my first glass of wine of the year!  It has been over 48 hours and no migraine yet so wine must not be a trigger.

Turkey Chili & Whole Wheat Pancakes

Well, it will be a week tomorrow since I have started on anti-imflammatory foods.  It might just be lessening the frequency of my migraines.  I've only had one in the last 8 days.  Normally, I have 8-10 a month so we will just have to see.  It's been hard at times, but I'm learning that food is fuel, not comfort and the hope of less migraines really spurs me on.  I've also learned eating is not something to do when you are bored or upset.  God made food to be enjoyed and to give your body the nutrients it needs. 

Today I was going to make a turkey, but I was too tired from all that baking last night to think about defrosting the thing.  So I used some ground turkey we had in the freezer.  This chili is a new creation of mine inspired by my mom's chili.

Turkey Chili (serves many...probably 8-10)

1.5 lbs ground turkey
1 green pepper (chopped)
2 tbsp minced garlic (of course)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp minced onion
1 pkg. McCormick Chili Seasoning
3 cans chili beans
3 cans diced tomatoes
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 can mushroom pieces

Brown turkey while combining all ingredients in dutch oven pot.  Once turkey is browned, drain and add to pot.  Simmer for 1 hour or more...I simmered mine for about 2.5 hours.  Stir occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.  Top with cheese, crackers or whatever else you enjoy on your chili!

On Saturday I got to have pancakes AND syrup!  We found this great whole wheat pancake mix made by  Hodgson Mills and some great syrup from Walden Farms at the grocery store. 

http://www.waldenfarms.com/

Walden Farms makes all kinds of dressings, syrups, spreads and sauces that are zero calorie, zero sugar, zero fat.  I don't know how those people at Walden Farms do it, but they do it well!  The syrup was delicious.  We have also tried the ranch and italian salad dressings.  The ranch gets a thumbs up for taste...it's runnier than normal ranch but it's good.  The italian is ok...I plan to use it as a marinade for chicken and see how that tastes.

So because of these amazing products I was able to have pancakes and syrup.  I thought the whole wheat pancakes tasted better than regular ones, but maybe I am just appreciating my food a little more lately. :)

I served the pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs and an orange.  Perfect!