I'm back.

Well tomorrow it will be three weeks since I posted and took my break. This week we have been on holidays so I have broken my hiatus a bit and been on facebook and playing wwf.

Over the last three weeks, I didn't get any sewing done at all until Thursday when Steve, Madeline, Brigette and Tom went on a hiking trip and I was left with just Sam, Amelia, Christopher and Joseph at home. When they left, I had a big clean out of our bedroom and sewing area and then prepared one pattern. I will get more done this week though and my time off social networks has been rewarded with a much more organised house.

This week is the second week of holidays. My plan is to get term 4 curriculum ready for Christopher, do some sewing and relax. This will be Christopher's last term of home school. Next year, he will be going to our local primary school around the corner. I will be at home with just Joseph and my life will be very different I think. I do think that it is the right time to finish of our home schooling though. Christopher can manage his diabetes a little bit more now and the school will support us in caring for him too.

Last Monday, Steve and I had a day trip to Adelaide to get our car serviced. We left all the children home and had a great day out by ourselves. The car had a few extra things that need to be done so we may be going back this week for another day if the parts arrive in time. If they don't, it will probably be the Christmas holidays before we can get it done. I really hope they arrive and we can get it done this week though

We have also booked a weekend away for next weekend. We are going to Endilloe lodge in Quorn. We will just have the one night away but I am looking forward to having more time alone with Steve. This is one of the things I love about having older children and young children. We have plenty of baby sitters to help out and I am going to take full advantage of it.

I also have a little prayer request for you all. Last night, we got to church early and I was going to pray the rosary. Joseph ended up been a typical 2 year old so I decided to sit with him rather than pray the rosary. I thought I put my rosary in my handbag but this morning when I went to get it out, it wasn't there. We looked at church and out in the car park and around the house but it still hasn't shown up. This rosary was made for us by a friend and they have great sentimental value to me. I really hope I find them so if you could all say a prayer and hopefully I will find them.

Thanks
Therese.

Hiatus.

Going to get some summer sewing done and a few other priorities in order. Going to stay off social networks for three weeks except for Sundays. Will keep up with blogs in my reader each weekend but probably won't leave any comments. Anyone that visits here will be in my prayers.

See you all when I get back.

Therese.

What we have in the freezer now.

I have managed to get 21 meals in our freezer this weekend. Tomorrow I will finish off the other 6. 

Here is what I have done so far. 

Moroccan meatballs. 

chicken schnitzels. 

cooked the meat for the Singapore noodles.

Tuna patties.

Eggplant Parmesan

spaghetti bolognaise.  

I have also made some chicken stock for the meatballs. 

Tomorrow I will finish off by cooking the mushroom pasta and preparing the meat for the Warm Chicken Noodle Salad. 

I was going to do a run down of what I do for each meal in my prep and what I do when it is time to prepare each meal but really need an early night and to do a few other things so I will just go through one meal. .

I will post more about it this week. 

First on the list was the Moroccan meatballs.

I mixed up the meatballs, rolled them together and laid them out on trays. I put the trays in the freezer for about 2 hours and then put the meatballs into freezer bags. 

I will get the meatballs out of the freezer the day before we have them and let them defrost in the fridge. On the day we cook them, I will put them in my slow cooker and then add pasta sauce, diced tomatoes and onions. They will be served with pasta and vegetables. 

OAMC

Today I started getting ready for our big cook for the next 4 weeks.

I have done my menu plan, shopping lists and been through our cupboard to see what we already have.

I have been cooking our meals ahead off and on for a long time now. Over the years I have learnt many things and I am much more efficient at it now.

I start off picking out the recipes I will be doing. I do 9 different meals 3 times each and on the last night, we either get take away or just have some leftovers.

This month we have:

Moroccan meatballs.
Singapore noodles
Teriyaki chicken noodle salad
Tuna patties
Chicken fried rice
Schnitzels
Eggplant Parmesan
Spaghetti bolognaise
Mushroom pasta.

Once I have chosen the meals I put them in a calender and print it off. This way I know what we are having and we spread the meals out.

After the menu plan, I do my list. I put a 3x3 table on a word document and each section has a meal. I then put all the ingredients we need for the meals for each one.

I then go through my list and work out what I need for our cooking day and what we will need to buy each week. I highlight the things we need for our cooking day and then put them into a shopping list. Many things are doubled up but I simply put amounts next to them rather than write the item twice.

Next is the weekly shopping list. I work out what fresh items we will need and put them in a list. For instance, when we have the schnitzels, I want to have salads to go with them. I generally buy this when I do the weekly shop rather than ahead.

Once all the lists are made, I go to my cupboards and see what we have already and cross them off the list.

Then I do my shopping.

Tomorrow I will go into details with my meal prep on the cooking day and how I freeze them.

If any one wants to see my lists, I have put them in google doc's and you can find them here:

Menu list and ingredients.

Weekly menu plan. 

Weekly shopping list for week 4.

This is what I need.

Watch "Robomaid RM-770 Robot Vacuum Cleaner" on YouTube

At the moment, Sam mops our kitchen floor. Next year though, he is probably moving to Adelaide for study.  I need a robot to sweep :he tiles and then mop them. I will have to show this to Steve.

The end of the weekend.

Spring has sprung here and the weekend has been great. Steve and I went for a walk yesterday and today. We are going to be walking in two weeks in the City to Bay run/walk. We are doing the 6km walk with Brigette and Daniel is running the 12km. I am pretty confident we will be able to walk the 6 km in one hour.

This week is going to be pretty busy. Tomorrow morning Joseph has his final physio session for a while. They give the children a break so that they still enjoy coming along. On Tuesday, Christopher will have speech therapy and then on Wednesday I am taking Tom to Adelaide to get his new pump.

This weekend is our oamc. I want to get a post up here for Nancy since she is going to start doing this for her family. 

Now that we are in spring and summer is not far away, I am going to start doing some different meals. In winter we have a lot of crock pot meals and soups. In summer, I tend to do salads and meals that don't need a lot of heating and make the house hot.

These are the meals I have decided so far are going to be on our list this month:

Teriyaki Chicken noodle salad.

Singapore noodles.

Moroccan meatballs.

Chicken Fried Rice.

Tuna Patties.

I will choose another 5 later this week.

So the weekend is just about finished. I will roll our fruit buns out soon and then head to bed. I hope you all have a great week. I will probably be scarce on blogging since the week is going to be so busy.