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I've always heard that the freezer works better when full but never really took any action. Every two months my freezers are VERY full, then they slowly empty until there's enough room for a family of four to live in there.A couple weeks ago when the world's nicest appliance repairman was over to fix my dishwasher, refrigerator, and pronounce my washer not-worth-fixing, he convicted me to work harder to keep the freezer full. It seems that the freezer uses the frozen food to cool itself down when defrosting. This results in less energy used and the freezer doesn't have to work as hard and will therefore last longer.So the question was "How to accomplish the never emptying freezer?" Here's the our simple solution:- After big grocery, the freezer is full.
- Every time we empty a jug of milk, fill it 3/4 full of water and stick it in the freezer.
- As time goes on, we end up with a freezer full of frozen jugs.
- When it's time to grocery, (since we live a ways from the store) we'll use some of the jugs in our coolers to keep our food cold on the ride home.
- We'll water the flowers with the water and recycle the jugs.
- Repeat.
In our house it seems that four-year-olds always want to come into our bed in the middle of the night. And, since there always seems to be a four-year-old around, that makes for many interrupted nights of sleep. I really love sleep. Haven't gotten much in the past 14 years, so I treasure all the shut-eye I can get!Since Bryan and I have a queen-sized bed, putting a third party in with us makes things uncomfortably cozy. And those smart little children have figured out that if they go to Dad's side, he'll just scooch over onto my side and keep on snoozing. Meanwhile, I cling to the edge of the bed and dream of falling off skyscrapers.Our solution is "The Floor Bed." Basically it's a folded quilt on the floor with a pillow and blanket. We explain to the current-four-year-old that if they need to be close to Mommy and Daddy, they can come into our room and crawl in their floor bed to sleep for the rest of the night. Without waking us up! If they get in bed with us, we will take them back to their own bed.Often I wake up to see a little angel sleeping beside my bed. This might seem indulgent to some, but having experienced 5 previous four-year-old plus the current four-year-old, I know that this phase will pass. The Floor Bed helps it pass with less stress for all.
Here's a quick and easy dish that's easy on the pocket book and unbelievably yummy!
Potato Ham Skillet
4 cups cubed, cooked potatoes
2 cups, diced, cooked ham
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 tea salt
1/8 tea pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
In a large skillet, combine potatoes, ham, mayo, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until heated through. Stir in cheese until melted. Try to keep yourself from eating it all before calling the family to dinner!
Stumpf Notes: I roughly doubled this recipe. I cooked about 10 potatoes. For the ham, I used 2/3 of a 1 lb. package of diced ham cubes. I didn't use as much cheese as called for and it was plenty cheesy.
I'm kicking myself because I didn't take a "before" photo of my pantry. Bryan spent Saturday morning building me more shelves, and I'm going giddy with the space. When I get everything into it's new home I'll post the "after" photo.This week is our annual venture into the theatre as the Missoula Children's Theatre dives into town. My children absolutely love participating in this crazy week of casting, rehearsals, and performance. The best part is that Jammers and her girls move in for the week to join in. Praying that auditions go well on Monday.Since all rehearsals are in the evenings, and at different times, I've planned a host of crockpot meals. This will serve us well since we'll likely have three different dinner shifts in the midst of a lot of driving.Monday (auditions) - Taco Soup, CornbreadTuesday (rehearsals, Mom's Meeting) - Tater Tot CasseroleWednesday (rehearsals, AWANA) - Hot Dogs, ChipsThursday (rehearsals) - Maple Glazed Chicken, Mashed PotatoesFriday (rehearsals, Bible Study?) - Spaghetti & MeatballsSaturday (dress rehearsals, performances) - Tortellini AlfredoWhat's on your menu? Find more at orgjunkie.com.
I've recently been turned on to a series of sewing books (thanks, Sharon!) and bought them with a gift card for my birthday (thanks, Mom!). What's even cooler is how much my daughters are enjoying looking through them and getting inspired to create. They are geared toward someone with little or no sewing experience, but I've learned some neat tips, too.
This was my first creation from Sew What! Bags. I recycled the fabric from purse that I had made a couple years ago that I never really liked. It was very easy to scale down the dimensions from the Messenger Bag to make this crazy little number. What the photo doesn't show is all the pockets to hold and organize all those essential girl things. I cut it out as I found time in the day and sewed it in about 1.5 hours that evening.
Today I made Emelie a skirt one of the other books. If I can get her to let me take a photo, I'll post it soon.
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