Stocking Up

Just before my shoulder surgery, my friend Summer and I got together and made a bunch of freezer meals for each of our families. We ended up with 14 meals for each of us and we didn't spend too much money. As I was enjoying the fruits of our labor, I considered all of my friends who often lamented about not having time to cook at home, or who just didn't know how to go about planning and executing meals for their families on a regular basis. As we got to the end of our stockpiles and decided we needed to do it again, we thought it would be a good idea to invite some of these friends, in addition to some friends who just liked the idea of having some ready-made homemade meals in their freezer.

I invited 6 friends to join us and promised that everyone would leave with 15 meals for between $125-$150. As the event drew near, I realized that 15 meals was a little too ambitious, so we settled on 10 meals and each family contributed $100. Here's a list of the meals we created: pot roast, chicken & wild rice casserole, king ranch chicken, baked ziti, chicken cacciatore, chicken coq au vin, bbq pork loin, crock pot ribs, meat loaf, and 3 bean soup.

When the ladies arrived, they were greeted with the pantry:

Here are some of the ladies as they worked:

Summer & Cathy -- the wine was for one of the recipes...

Jenni

Laura -- she needed the goggles to protect her eyes while cutting all the onions

Jenni -- staying away from the mayhem of the kitchen

Summer -- I made the mistake of freezing the pot roasts before I separated them. The only way for us to get them apart was to throw them on the ground (fully wrapped in plastic bags, of course). They split right down the middle. Don't tell anyone!

10 dinners!

The Season's Bounty

I'm assuming that anyone who reads my blog knows me well enough to know about my love of cooking and food. I mean, I am passionate about food. It is my creative outlet, it is how I serve my family, friends and my church, it's how I entertain, I often find myself thinking about new recipes or how I can use something fabulous that I found at the grocery store, and I really love to eat my (and anyone else's) creations. This might all explain why I still haven't taken off that baby weight...but that's another story.

You might ask yourself (or me), why don't you cook for a living? I've tried that. I owned a catering business for a while and I've cheffed for one of my friends. While I enjoy cheffing for pay, I've found that I find more joy in cooking when I'm serving my family, friends or church rather than getting paid for it. (Stacey--if you read this, I still really, really like working for you, so please don't take me off your email list).

All that to say, I have been in foodie heaven lately. Have you checked out the produce section at your local grocery store recently? Seriously, I'm like a kid in a candy store, and I can't stop myself from buying fresh fruits and vegetables. I've been buying so much that I'm having to give it away, make smoothies, feed it to my family at every single meal, or, shamefully, I've even had to throw some fruit away that I've let go bad. I know, that's horrible.

This love of all food is a lifelong romance for me. I will say, though, that when I was growing up there were a couple of things I absolutely could not eat: beef liver and tomatoes. I still don't eat beef liver, but tomatoes...

Tomatoes....

Now that's a different story. Particularly this year, I have ventured into the many varieties that are available at the grocery store. Recently, I bought yellow cherry tomatoes, cherubs (grape tomatoes), and I finally purchased a couple of heirloom tomatoes. Top that off with my friend Kristin's tomato garden. She bequeathed us with several large garden fresh tomatoes and a bag full of cherry tomatoes that you can pop in your mouth and eat like a grape. So...what have we eaten this week?

Monday we had baked potatoes with caprese salad (the heirlooms combined with Kristin's large tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil picked from the plant on our front porch). Who knew vegetarian could be so good?

Wednesday we had whole wheat spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. I used every single little tomato in my house, fresh basil, store bought pesto, white wine, LOTS of garlic, lemon, salt & pepper...oh, and can you see the Parmesan?. I served it with a salmon fillet, but the kids and I didn't eat the salmon...this was good enough for us.

I dare you to try to eat better (or cheaper) out at a restaurant.

Best Encourager

Corinne participated in the Winshape C3 Camp at the Methodist Church last week. It was an awesome week of fun games and teaching about God being Enough in our lives. Corinne's activities were cheerleading, gymnastics and science. It was a great experience for her and a good introduction to camp without having to go out of town and spend the night away.

On the last day of camp, the families of the campers were invited to spend the day going through the tracks to see what our kids had been doing all week. First up was gymnastics. Corinne went through her routines and she was so thrilled with herself. At the end of the session, the instructor passed out awards to three of the campers. One of the awards was for the camper all week who had really cheered on her friends and kept everyone's spirits up. This was the Best Encourager Award, and it was given to Corinne.



This award really fits Corinne, and it warmed my heart as her mother when she received it. It's not because I've just instilled in her encouraging words and she's a reflection of my great inspiration — it's who she is. I truly believe this is a gift given to her by God that, up until this point, I have been woefully inadequate at helping her to cultivate (does that sound like a mother's guilt or what?). It probably has something to do with the fact that I don't get to witness "Best Encourager" behavior when she's with her brother...but that's another story.

Another example of this was at the swim team banquet where she received The Most Spirited Award for her swimming group. While she was spending her time diligently swimming her workouts every day, she still found time in between swims and sets to bolster her teammates, and her coach.

Corinne has really had a desire to be a cheerleder, and for various reasons, it hasn't worked out for her to participate in that sport. I think the reason she really wants to be a cheerleader is because it really would fill a deep need inside her to encourage and cheer on other people. I'm looking for other ways to fulfill that need for her (I would take any suggestions).

I'm guessing the best way to cultivate this gift in my daughter is to be her Best Encourager, to tell her when she's doing a great job, and to point out when she could do better. And that's in all areas of her life...not just in sport. It's funny what a huge role sports have played in my life, and I think this is why: there's always a lesson to be learned, especially when you least expect it.