Cleaning Naturally

I ran out to the store this morning to buy some products to clean naturally. Mainly I just want to save money and brain cells. I bought borax, white distilled vinegar, a huge box of baking soda and some 97 cent spray bottles. I didn't realize my oven was so greasy until I couldn't get it cleaned and I have a gas oven so I'm not sure about spraying toxic chemicals in there. I will have to let you know how that goes and post my pictures from my soup session.

It is a little scary to live in an area with known cases of this new flu that is going around and this morning on the radio it isn't confirmed but there might have been a death from it in this city. I'm a military spouse and a command went out that if you are at the hospital or the clinics and you have flu-like symptoms you have to wear a mask (which is good) but now the gate guards have gloves on their hands. It's all a little scary to be this close to it.

We are moving in 9 days.  Oh my!

Cooking Session

Chicken ready to go into the refrigerator. I let the chicken stay in the refrigerator so the flavors of the bbq sauce could start to set in. Before I went to bed I moved them to the freezer.

Preparing the pork chop assembly line.

The lightly breaded pork chops ready to go into the freezer for flash freezing.

The only thing left to do is make the soups which I will do in a free moment today. Today's lunch is the last of the soups from the first session. Check back tomorrow for that.

May Mini Session 1

This is not very original but it will get us through the next two weeks.

Guiness BBQ Chicken Legs (3 meals)
Hickory Honey Smoke BBQ Chicken Legs (3 meals)
Italian-Style Pork Chops (5 meals)
Italian Fish (3 meals)

Tomato Basil Soup
Chicken and Stars Soup

Grocery Cart Challenge

This counts as the start of May since I purchased some items to do my mini-freezer session.

No Photo

HEB

• Hunt's Ketchup - $1.09
• Bullseye Guiness BBQ Sauce - $1.55
• Kraft Hickory BBQ Sauce - $0.99
• Value Pack BNLS Pork Chops - $5.79
• Hill Country Fare Chicken Drumsticks 3.80lbs - $3.80
• Hill Country Fare Chicken Drumsticks 3.83lbs - $3.83

Total - $17.05

Sam's Club

• 102oz. can Diced Tomatoes - $2.38
• 24pk Powerade - $11.27

Total - $13.65

Grand Total - $30.70

How did I do? From what I purchased I can get 10 meals out of the meat. The powerade is for his running, he is training for a half marathon, that will last him for 24 workouts. I could have saved money by making my own bbq sauce but right now is all about convenience.

My nutritionist was very happy with our diet. I was concerned that I wasn't getting the right amount of protein and fiber etc with the freezer cooking. It turns out that I am right on track with it as long as I don't go too frugal and get the whole-grain pasta and use turkey instead of beef. I just have to balance my carbs with protein so that my insulin resistance stays stable... which it has been. But other than that my first month of freezer cooking was nutritionally sound and for the first time I actually got the amount of calories in that she wanted me to get.

I'm going to be glad when we get done moving so that I can get back to planning and cooking a ton.

Menu Plan 4/27 - 5/3

This is the last week of food from my very first freezer cooking session! I have some chicken legs and pork chops in the refrigerator that I will be doing a mini-freezer cooking session to get us through the move. More thought out Freezer cooking will be back on May 18 and I will have a normal size oven to cook in! Right now my oven is barely 16x16 inside.

Monday 4/27
Fish, Broccoli Medley

Tuesday 4/28
Sloppy Joes, Broccoli w/ Cheese

Wednesday 4/29
Fish, Corn

Thursday 4/30
Sloppy Joes, Broccoli

Friday 5/1
Turkey Burgers, I haven't decided yet.

Saturday 5/2
BBQ Chicken Legs, Corn on the Cob

Sunday 5/3
Oven Baked Pork Chop, Spanish Rice, Broccoli

We eat a lot of broccoli.

Check out more menu ideas at orgjunkie.