Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Freezer Food: Teriyaki Chicken

Here is the second freezer meal (found here) this Conner Clan has tried.  I'd probably give it 3 out of 5 stars, mostly because of the ease of the recipe, and a little for the taste.  I'm not sure what I would have done differently, but the carrots tasted like they came from a roast instead of teriyaki chicken...and that kinda ruined the meal for me. Bummer.  So, as promised...

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
1 Large Bag of Baby Carrots
1 Red Onion
2 (20 oz) Cans of Pineapples undrained
4 Chopped Garlic Cloves
1.5 C Teriyaki Sauce
2 Gallon Freezer Bags
2 Quart Freezer Bags

Directions:
1. On each bag write: Teriyaki Chicken, Date, Low 8 hrs. OR Hi 4 hrs. Serve over Rice
2. In each bag put: 2 chicken breasts, 1 can of undrained pineapples, half of the large bag of baby carrots, 2 chopped garlic cloves, and .5 C teriyaki sauce.
3. Cut the onion into large chunks and put half of it in each bag.
4. Put .25 C teriyaki sauce into each of the quart bags. (You will add this to the crockpot halfway into cooking)
5. Let all the air out, lay flat, and freeze

See?  Super easy to assemble.  Maybe it was something I did wrong, so if you enjoy it, let me know!

Until next time...
j squared & e squared

P.S. I have an appointment on Thursday, and will update you on No.2 then!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Freezer Food: French Dip

I've officially joined the freezer meal fan club.  I seriously cannot believe how long it has taken me to actually send in my membership information, but after months of dreaming, planning, and wondering how nice it would be if I did it, I FINALLY decided it was time.  Monday, Elliot and I braved the beautiful weather, and made our way to Pearland's trusty HEB.  There, I spend $84 and got enough food for 7 recipes that made enough food for 16 meals!  That's $5.25 a meal.  Jarrod should buy me something nice with all the money I'm saving him...or something like that! ;)

Anyways, today we decided to try out the French Dip Sandwiches.  They.  Were.  Tasty.  Jarrod actually went back for seconds (he normally gives me the lam-o "I should really cut back" excuse.) AND Elliot even enjoyed it.  Uh. Double score!  Since a few people asked for recipes, I decided to actually try them before sending them your way.  If they're awful, you'll never hear about it.  If they're good, I'll tell you ALL my secrets!  So, as promised...

French Dip Sandwiches
Ingredients:
> 2-3 lb beef chuck roast
> 2 14.5 oz cans of beef consomme' (right next to the canned beef broth)
> 6-8 hoagie buns
Prep:
> On a gallon freezer bag, write "Fr. Dip Sandwich - Thaw in fridge 24 hrs. - Cook on low 8-11 hrs/high 5-7 hrs"
> Place roast in bag.
> Put consomme' in bag
> Lay flat
> Freeze
Directions:
> Thaw in fridge for 24 hours (this way if you end up not eating it, you can refreeze it.  What! What!
> Cook on low 8-11 hrs OR high 5-7 hrs.
> Use extra juice for dippin'!

*Since we aren't feeding an army, I actually cut the steak in two and divided the ingredients between two bags.  I had one sandwich, Elliot had half, and Jarrod had 1.5.  There were enough leftovers for one small sandwich, so this worked out perfectly for us.  I also put the roast on Low for 4 hours and Warm for 4, but you could just do low for 4 hours and be perfectly fine.

I feel like I should note this is NOT my recipe.  I did something really dumb and copy/pasted it into a word document.  I've looked everywhere for the website, but I can't seem to find it.  As soon as I do, I'll post it for all to enjoy!

Enjoy!

Until next time...
j squared and e squared

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Easiest. Omelets. Ever.

Being pregnant with No. 2 has been nothing short of crazy, and this includes my cravings!  I won't go into detail about ALL of them, but one in particular has me scratching my head.  The culprit?  EGGS.  It's not that I don't like them or have anything against them, it's just that they're...well...eggs.

Thankfully, I remembered a recipe my daddy found a few years ago from a website somewhere in some state far away.  I (obviously) don't remember where, but if I ever do, I'll be sure to link it HERE!  Until then, I'll share the recipe for the Easiest Omelets...Ever!

Ingredients:
-2 eggs
-Anything you like in your omelet
   Suggestions: spinach, onions, cheese, chives, bell peppers, tomatoes, bacon, ham, turkey, sausage, etc.
-Toppings (salsa, sour cream, etc.)

Directions:
1. Boil water
2. While your water is heating, mix your eggs and extras in a glass or bowl (glass is easier).
3. Pour egg mixture into quart size ziplock.
4. Boil for 13 minutes.

*The directions specifically say TWO eggs and THIRTEEN minutes. I've never strayed from this, but you're more than welcome to try!
**You can fit 6-8 bags in a large pot, and still have a good outcome.  Anymore, and they might take longer to cook.

Hopefully you enjoy this as much as our family does!

Did/do you have any weird cravings during your pregnancy?!

Until next time...
j squared & e squared

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

'Tis the Season...

...for family and friends, eating, parties, avoiding the mall, cursing traffic, baking sweets, wrapping gifts, online shopping, looking at Christmas lights, telling your kids not to open the gifts (especially if they're not theirs!), Christmas themed commercials disguised as "holiday" commercials, eating entirely too much, drinking hot chocolate (unless you're in Southeast TX, then just chocolate milk), mistletoe, telling your sweet daughter that Santa won't bite, red sweaters, and singing Christmas carols!

But most importantly, for our family, Christmas is the season we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior (blah, blah, blah, Jesus MIGHT have been born in the spring, blah blah blah.  Whatever.)  Here's how this Conner Crew celebrated this year...

December is generally our busiest month.  Between family Christmases (5 to be exact), Christmas parties with friends, and our annual Radius Christmas party, our weekends are booked with travelling and spending time with family and friends.  This year, however, I can't travel, so we went to fewer parties, and finished a lot of projects! Yay!

Here's our Christmas season:

December 9, we headed over to Jarrod's aunt and uncle's house for the "small" Moore Christmas.  This includes grandparents, their children, and their children's children.  When I say small, I really mean like a guhzillion people...sorta. I love love love these crazy people and spending time with them.  There is honestly never a dull moment around these folks!  This year was even more fun, since EBaby is old enough to keep up with the bigger kids!




More Women for the Moore Family!

December 15 brought our Annual Radius Bilble Study Class Christmas Party. For the past two years, we did an ugly sweater theme, but this year, we did couples' creative costumes.  After we all voted and decided the Chhengmas' deserved to win...
I'm not even sure why they won...
they didn't even dress up or anything. Dumb.
 (jsquared got 4th - what what!) - it was probably only because I posed like this.  Awkward, I know, but this was right after I asked if it's weird that I still "suck in" while taking pictures.
...we did the obligatory white elephant gift exchange.

My favorite gifts...

A phone head set that connects to
your cellular tracking device
Creepy horse head

 And my least favorite gifts:







I have a thing about adult onesies.  They.  Are.  Gross.



But then this happened....

And I was scarred.  For life.

FOR LIFE :)

Anywho, December 22, the whole Conner Clan came to our house to celebrate Christmas.  We had entirely too many boyfriend cookies, watched too much of a tv show that shall forever remain unnamed, and played way too many board games, but we had a great time hanging out and, well, being awesome!

Yes, we are wearing matching pj's.  It's ok, you can be jealous!

Pop & GiGi with the ADD crowd

Trying on Carson's helmet
Carson showing us his mean face.

Christmas Eve morning, the three of us woke up and opened 1 gift from under the tree.  EBaby got a new movie, so we watched it and began our tradition of the kids getting a movie for us to watch that day!


That evening, we went a gorgeous candlelight service at church and to Jarrod's brother and sister-in-law's house for steaks and Happy Birthday, Jesus Cake...

At church after the service


Christmas morning, we woke up and ate Santa's leftover cookies opened gifts...

...and that afternoon we opened gifts with my parents!




More than anything in the world, I want our children to know that Christmas isn't about Santa and all the gifts, or anything besides the fact that Jesus gave up royalty to become nothing for me...and you!  

I think EBaby already has that idea though!


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We hope 2012 was a good one, and that God brings you innumerable blessings in 2013!


Until next time...

Sincerely,
jsquared and esquared