Freezer Friday - I'm an Idaho girl!

We love the Stuffed Bleu Cheese Potatoes from Our Best Bites Blog. I really don't like bleu cheese, but these are delicious. I made a bunch of these when potatoes were on sale at Thanksgiving time. We have really enjoyed them and they have been gone for a while. Lucky for us potatoes went on sale last week and I got the bug to make up a big batch. I just follow their recipe but adjust the amounts for how many we want to use. 

Once they are all stuffed, I freeze them on cookie sheets. 

 Once they are frozen I put 6-8 in a Ziplock freezer bag. 

 I stack the still frozen bags of potatoes in the freezer. They come in handy for making a Sunday dinner feel fancy, with not much work. I just cook from frozen or thaw in the fridge, depending on when I decide what's for dinner.

The Plan... Dallin's turn

Dallin has not been the biggest fan of "the plan". He thinks I'm always trying to train him or teach him something. He already knows everything, so I am just wasting my time... :)

Sunday night was the exception. He really wanted chocolate chip cookies (sadly our freezer supply has been depleted) He said, "But mom, don't you need to teach me how to do this? I need to learn this!" (He had me at hello...) He was a great student and even though he wouldn't let me initial it in his book, he is well on his way to being a great cookie baker. 

 Everyone has to test the dough... it was great!

 

"Mom I think things just taste better when you make them yourself, and you appreciate them more. I don't want all the boys to eat up all my cookies! I worked hard on these!"

Lesson learned. Great job Dallin!

Freezer Friday - Double is No Trouble

I used to be able to set aside an entire day or two just for stocking my freezer. Those days are gone for now, but I have found that just grabbing a little bit of time when I can get it allows me to keep it pretty well stocked.

Whenever you make something, ask yourself, "Could I double (or triple) this recipe and freeze the extra?"

1.Double the food for your family with the same amount of dirty dishes and minimal extra prep time.

2.You save time and money because you don't have to buy fast food or eat out on nights when you are in a hurry. You have something on hand if you need to take dinner to someone without a lot of notice.

A super easy thing to freeze is home-made pizza. When you are making the dough just double it. When the pizza comes out of the oven fill your empty pan or pans with another pizza, cover it in plastic wrap and pop it in the freezer for next Friday night. You can cook it from frozen, or allow to thaw if you would like, just adjust cooking times accordingly. I like to use homemade frozen pizza within about a month.

"On the first day of first grade..."

 

Man they grow up fast.

Summer to do list... UPDATE!

We have really enjoyed our "Summer to do list" (read about it this post). 

Here are pictures from recent activities:

Slip and Slide!

Talent Show!

Jeff demonstrated his incredible Rubik's cube skills

Grant did a pretty amazing card trick.

Dallin ate 13 pancakes! (after eating dinner, he also ate his candy bar prize without skipping a beat. I am beginning to understand what people talk about with teenage boys and their appetites!)

There were also many other talents: push ups, uno skills, fruit snack eating and piano playing.

Run a Race!

We inaugurated the first Judd/Lish/Hall family race around the block 

(.38 miles... I don't know how many "k's" that is)

Of course David won, but Haley was a close second. 

I came in last, but at least I finished :)

Thank you Summer to do list - We're having a blast!

Freezer Friday, Sanity Saver!

I don't know about you but my kids are always needing a plate of cookies to take somewhere... treat for YM/YW, fireside, sick friend, presidency visit... etc. They also love cookies during these long summer afternoons. 
One idea that I'm sure a lot of people do is freeze cookie dough balls. You can just make a few without messing up the entire kitchen or heating the house for very long. We have even been known to cook a couple in the toaster oven for cookie emergencies. 
It's very simple. Make your favorite cookie dough. (I've frozen many different kinds and they have all worked just fine.)

Use a cookie scoop to fill a large cookie sheet with dough balls.  Put cookie sheet in the freezer and let them harden. Pull sheet out of freezer and put 12-15 into quart size freezer bags, date them and pop them in the freezer. 

Next time your kids or you need a cookie fix (there could be a legitimate reason) pull one out of the freezer and put right onto the cookie sheet. Preheat your oven. Frozen cookies usually need to cook 2 or 3 minutes longer than normal.  

Put some ice cream between two cooked 
cookies to help you survive a hot summer day!

He'd better eat his Wheaties!

I noticed on one of my son's desk calendar that he's got a pretty big day coming up. 

I wish him the best of luck!