8 cups chicken broth Simmer all of the ingredients…except for the tortillas for about 30 minutes. Just before serving, tear the tortillas into bite sized pieces and stir into the soup. Heat for five minutes. |
Search Results for: tomato soup
Beefy Vegetable Soup
1 lb soup bones
4 cups water
4 cups tomato juice
1 medium onion
2 cups frozen peas
2 cups frozen green beans
2 cups frozen corn
4 medium potatoes
3 carrots
Sea Salt
In large stock pot or dutch oven, mix soup bones, water, and chopped onion. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about two hours. Cut meat off of bones and add meat back to the pot, discarding the bones. Pour tomato juice into pot.
Scrub potatoes and carrots and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Add potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans and corn to the pot. Stir and salt well.
Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring occasionally for about 25 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked chicken
2 cups frozen corn
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green chiles
1/2 t. chili powder (or more to taste)
1/2 t. sea salt
5-6 whole wheat tortillas
Simmer all of the ingredients…except for the tortillas for about 30 minutes. Just before serving, tear the tortillas into bite sized pieces and stir into the soup. Heat for five minutes.
Beefy Vegetable Soup
1 pound soup bones
4 cups water
4 cups tomato juice
1 medium onion
2 cups frozen peas
2 cups frozen green beans
2 cups frozen corn
4 medium potatoes
3 carrots
Sea Salt
In large stock pot or dutch oven, mix soup bones, water, and chopped onion. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about two hours. Cut meat off of bones and add meat back to the pot, discarding the bones. Pour tomato juice into pot.
Scrub potatoes and carrots and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Add potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans and corn to the pot. Stir and salt well.
Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring occasionally for about 25 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender.
C’mon Little Tomatoes…Hang in There With Us
When I’m knee deep in tomatoes and making jar after jar (after jar) of tomato sauce and tomato juice and salsa and tomato soup…I get to a point where I don’t really want to even look at another tomato for a long, long time.
Then, as the tomato growing season comes to an end…I begin to feel a little sad that we won’t be able to eat a good fresh tomato for several more months. It is now that time of year. We just pulled our last red tomatoes out of the garden. :(
But…we’re not quite willing to give those good tomatoes up yet. Matt heard about a way to possibly make them last a little longer.
He pulled out the healthiest of our plants…the ones that had quite a few nice green tomatoes on them….and he hung them upside down in our storage room. Apparently, the nutrients in the plant are supposed to go down into the tomatoes and keep them strong and they’ll eventually turn red and be delicious. Maybe?
Hey, it’s worth a try. Now my storage room smells like dirt in a garden. Now that’s not something everyone can brag about.
Another thing we’re gonna try…
Our friend Brenda has an uncle (who has a cousin who has a neighbor who has a dentist who has a florist…)
Just kidding. Our friend Brenda has an uncle who wraps his green tomatoes up in newspaper and they eventually turn red and are very tasty. She told us that her uncle has yummy tomatoes even up until Christmas time! (To which Matt asked, “And do they also still have fruit flies at Christmas time?”) (We’re a little tired of fruit flies around here can you tell?)
Fruit flies or not, we’re going to lovingly wrap up some green tomatoes in newspaper. Because what do we have to lose?
I’ll be sure to let you know how our little tomato experiments go!
Have any of you tried any of these things (or anything else) to make your tomatoes last a little longer? Do you think we might be crazy for trying this?
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Visit Rocks in my Dryer for more Works for me Wednesday tips!
Canning Tomato Juice and Tomato Sauce
Okay, we’ve covered the basics of canning…freezing corn…freezing green beans…canning and freezing peaches…making and canning applesauce…
Now lets talk about tomatoes!
Last year, I planted 40…yes FORTY tomato plants. On purpose. Because I’m crazy.
I ended up having SO MANY tomatoes, that by the end of the summer, I had canned almost two years worth of tomato sauce, tomato juice and tomato soup. And, I still had tomatoes! I was begging people to please come pick my tomatoes and take them far, far away from my house.
While canning that many tomatoes was a wonderful thing…I still hadn’t fully recovered from it when it came time to plant tomatoes this year. Therefore, I only planted 20 tomato plants this spring. *cough*
The good thing is…I never have to buy any tomato juice, sauce or soup. Ever. And the home-canned stuff is SO GOOD!!!
Here’s the way I make tomato juice and tomato sauce…
First, you start with bunches and bunches of pretty tomatoes, like these. You can take the skins off and the seeds out if you want to…I pretty much just WASH them. I leave the skin on and and the seeds in…mostly because I’m just too lazy to do otherwise. My family doesn’t know the difference, and you can’t really even tell that the seeds and skin are still there. At all.
Next, I cut the tomatoes into fourths and put them into my blender.
The tomatoes are then blended up until they are liquid.
(Mmm, tomato smoothie anyone?)
After I blend up my tomatoes, they go into a big pot. Obviously this pot was not quite big enough! Filling your pot this full will just about guarantee that your pot will boil over and spill all over your stovetop creating a cooked on tomato mess. (Picture of the boiled over mess not available…because I scooped some out before it boiled over, thank you very much.)
Next, I boil my tomatoes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. After a while it begins to look like this. Once that bubbly froth is just about all gone from the top (about an hour and a half or so after beginning the boiling process), you have made tomato juice, and you’re able to go ahead with the hot water bath process of canning tomato juice.
But, if you want tomato sauce, continue to let it boil for another hour or so. You’ll know your tomato sauce is done “saucing” when most of the watery liquid has evaporated. If you continue to cook it at this point, you will have tomato paste…which is fine…if you want tomato paste.
Can your tomato sauce for 25-30 minutes following the hot water bath instructions here.
Then, you will have tomato juice for yummy veggie soups and such…and tomato sauce for sloppy joes, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, enchilada sauce…and whatever else you use tomato sauce for. (If you want to, you can add your herbs and spices into the sauce while your making it so that you’ve got your spaghetti and pizza sauce already put together in your jars!)
I have a wonderful recipe for tomato soup that I’ll be sure to share soon!
Yumm-eeee!
Big Family Food and Fun: March 17-23, 2024
Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 17-23, 2024 post!
Big Family Food and Fun: March 17-23, 2024
We had been gone all day the day before, so this Sunday started off with an easy breakfast of Breakfast Cookies from the freezer.
We were finally able to meet for church back in our own building after many weeks of being displaced due to a frozen pipe bursting situation. It was so good to be there! Sam’s is right on the way home so we grabbed two Rotisserie Chickens for lunch to share. (And I picked up hamburger meat while I was at it.)
I’d made sides in the morning before church so we warmed them up to eat with our Rotisserie Chicken: Cheesy Potatoes, Green Beans, Cream Cheese Corn, Baked Beans, plus Pineapple Fluff.
Our friends Kermit and Caitlyn joined us plus Justus and Kelsey and Asa and Eva came. There were 15 of us altogether. :)
Justus had picked up a turkey super cheap ($0.58/pound!!!!!) but they didn’t have freezer space so it had landed in our freezer. I had been thawing it and decided to get it baked that afternoon.
I do it this way – boring but good. :)
We had leftovers for dinner, random bits of whatever we could find in the fridge. So this freed my time to work on the turkey plus the kids helped me use over-ripe bananas to make a Banana Cake for Monday’s breakfast.
They turkey finished baking and Matt turned on an audio book to listen to while he took all the meat off the bones after the kids went to bed. My hero. :)
Meanwhile the Banana Cake had cooled and I had made a simple Cream Cheese Frosting for it and covered it to have Monday morning.
Monday morning we enjoyed pieces of Banana Cake with bacon. I made quadruple the amount of bacon we would need for that morning so that we would have extra ready for future meals that week.
Matt had saved the turkey bones for me, so I got out our huge stock pot and started a big batch of broth.
Eva arrived to help Matt so Keith and I headed off to help set up food for Tuesday’s Food Distribution. It’s always a bit hard for me to keep him focused on our work, but if I say, “Keith, will you help me take this apart?” he is ON IT.
Monday afternoon I spent some time making some Turkey Bacon Cheese Sandwiches for easy grab and warm up meals.
Elias had taken Brayden out for Bro Time and Kiya wanted to help me in the kitchen. So she put cheese on all of the sandwiches after I assembled them.
We packaged them up for the fridge or freezer, feeling great about having 25 ready-made sandwiches plus 5 wraps!
I used more of our cooked turkey plus the broth that had cooked all morning to make Turkey Noodle Soup for dinner. Oh, this is good stuff! So good that I was excited to eat it and almost forgot to take a picture until we’d already filled our bowls and worked on seconds. (By the way, I shared turkey sandwiches and cooked turkey with Justus and Kelsey since it was their bird, after all.)
Tuesday we stayed home all morning because we had a case worker visit for BabyBoy#11. (We’re working toward adoption!!!!!)
After getting Keith and Anna on the bus for their afternoon preschool, Matt stayed home to put the baby down for his nap and I took Acacia and Josie to Walmart to pick up a lot of our WIC items for the month. This gave Matt an hour and a half of quiet time to get some work done and it gave the girls and I a little outing plus restocked our fruit and veggie supply. :)
We got home in time to put groceries away. Then I left to pick up Brayden and Kiya from school so that we could head over to our Food Distribution to hand out food to the community. We came home with some too:
Remember the van door debacle from last week? The parts came in and Matt was able to get us all fixed up with a working door again. PHEW. That is a relief and now no children are allowed to touch the new door handle. ;) Isn’t she beautiful?
I had put Baked Potatoes into the crock pot to cook all day so we had them for dinner with leftover Rotisserie Chicken from Sunday and cheese dip.
A friend of ours is the principal at Lincoln High School and Matt had been talking to him about trying to watch at least one of their home soccer games. The weather was just right for this so after we fed the kids we loaded everyone up and headed over. We found a perfect spot on the “non-fan” side where we could climb all over the bleachers and not drive everyone crazy.
I sent this photo of the game field to Malachi who had played both teams last year during his senior year of high school soccer. :)
We got home just in time to brush teeth and tuck everyone into bed so Wednesday morning we had a simple breakfast of cereal so that we had more time to clean up and get ready for school.
After Brayden and Kiya got off, we got the other five ready and went to the indoor play area at the Zoo.
The snacks I packed turned into the kids’ lunch because they just kept eating and eating. We had cheese and crackers, applesauce, fruit/veggie pouches, and juice.
Then Anna, who was being very sweet and grown up that morning, took out the clementine she had packed. She peeled it all by herself and enjoyed her dessert.
Subjects not covered and photos not taken to share with you here: One major preschooler fit as we were trying to get out the door to go to the zoo, one baby puking on the zoo indoor play place floor, and one major toddler fit all the out of the zoo and all the way back home. BUT, these outings are super fun and super worth all the effort to get there and get back home. Truly. :)
Back at home, we got Keith and Anna on the bus for preschool then Acacia and Josie went outside to enjoy the sunshine.
Acacia: “I a Mommy!!”
Josie: “I digging! I outside! I not inside. I outside.” :)
Malachi stopped by that afternoon to pick up some of his mail and Acacia promptly put on his shades. :) Note the little sleeping blob on the bean bag beside Acacia. That’s Josie. She “doesn’t need a nap anymore.” Okedokee.
When Brayden and Kiya got home from school, Elias took Brayden out for some Bro Time. (They go out twice each week so Elias can pour into him.) Kiya and Acacia helped me in the kitchen, cleaning out a dishwasher all by themselves. :)
Meanwhile, Josie was making BabyBoy#11 belly laugh with her games.
For dinner that evening, we pulled out leftovers to eat so that nothing went to waste in our fridge. Kiya made a package of Caesar salad to go with our meal.
We finished off the Taco Rice Dinner that I’d made last week – eating it as a dip with chips. Plus we had Kiya’s salad and leftover green beans.
The next morning we got out pre-made Breakfast Sandwiches and Pancake Sausage Muffins for everyone to warm up in the air fryer.
This particular day turned out to be quite amazing for me. We had made arrangements with a dear friend/babysitter in York for Matt to drop off our three youngest with her while he worked on one of our properties for a few hours. That left me at home with only four kids – and part of the day they were all in school. So I had three and a half hours of COMPLETE QUIET TIME in our house that afternoon. Oh, it was life giving and wonderful! And our little ones loved their time with their precious Emma!
I decided to grill burgers for dinner that night because the weather was lovely and because as meal-prep time, I didn’t have any littles underfoot. We had our Burgers with Tator Tots, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Pickles.
We decided to go to Costco on Friday morning to grab diapers and ended up turning it into a big stock-up trip. I’d been trying to focus on using up what we had in the pantry and freezers but getting restocked on all of our basics brought a lot of relief to me that day so that meal planning and prep will be easier.
I’d had a first breakfast around 5:30am and a second breakfast around 7:30 but those were small “meals” so by the time we loaded up at 10:00 I was ready for my first lunch, ha. I grabbed the one leftover burger from the night before, chopped it up, and warmed it up with leftover corn to eat on the way to the store. Weird? Sure maybe. But it hit the spot and kept me going!
Matt ended up with four of the five kids in and on his cart on the way in. Anna hung with me until we redistributed kids in our two carts for the actual shopping time.
We got a variety of random items from crackers to berries to applesauce to chicken and hamburger. We got avocado cups, cream, half and half, coffee, sliced cheese, shredded cheese, pistachios, chicken nuggets, and several items we use that were on sale. I love watching the end caps of each aisle to see what is featured at a big discount! (Matt’s cart was full of two more kids, diapers, water bottles, and chips.
We got to enjoy some free samples, the likes of which made a sweet chocolate mess all over Acacia’s face.
We made it home in time to get Keith and Anna on the preschool bus then Elias and Matt brought in all the groceries with Acacia and Josie trying to help them bring in huge, heavy boxes. :)
I dropped off Acacia and Josie to spend time with a friend from church who watches them for two hours each week. They love going there and always have fun adventures. :)
Matt picked them up and brought them home. Again we see evidence that Josie doesn’t need a nap anymore. ;)
For dinner that night we had Orange Chicken with Rice and Spinach. This is one of our favorite splurge meals from Sam’s. We go through two boxes in one meal, which costs $25.96 – much more than our typical homemade meals. But this fed 5 adults and 6 kids on Friday night, which breaks down to $2.36 per person. MUCH cheaper than ordering take-out!
We were able to find the Husker men’s basketball game and watched it, sort of, between chasing kids and changing poop diapers. ;)
Saturday morning I made 15 Scrambled Eggs and cut up leftover Baked Potatoes from Tuesday night. I fried the potatoes in butter with salt and pulled apart several Clementines for us to eat.
After breakfast we loaded up to go to York just like we did last Saturday. We had been invited to a birthday party so we worked out details for Asa and Eva to help us spend the day there (they were already in York for a photo shoot).
I packed up a big bag full of extra “just-in-case” clothes, diapers, wipes, and snacks.
Matt and Asa spent four hours at our rental house working on repairs while Eva hung with the kids and me, first at a Carnival and then at a Birthday Party. We saw so many York friends that day!!
We got home in time to make Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup for dinner.
Then we got all seven kids through bath time.
And that was our week!
Big Family Food and Fun: February 25-March 2, 2024
Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 25-March 2, 2024 post…
Big Family Food and Fun: February 25-March 2, 2024
Before sharing all about this week, I’ll back track to Saturday afternoon, Feb 24 as I spent a little bit of time getting ahead in the kitchen but didn’t have time to add these photos to this post.
While the baby was napping I made:
I had some really good help making the muffins. :)
There were a few Uncrustables leftover from our Saturday picnic so I baggied them up individually to grab and go as needed.
For lunch on Sunday, I baked one pan of the Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips I’d made the day before. We ate them with steamed broccoli and sweet potato crackers. :)
Meanwhile I’d been working to pack a bunch of picnic food for us to eat at a park after church that afternoon. (Just a few more weeks until we should be able to meet again in the mornings back at our repaired church building!)
This along with quite a few drinks (juice and sparkling water) that I packed filled three bags!
It was a piggy tail day for our four girls. :)
There were 24 of us that met at the park that day after church. It was so great that I want to do it every single Sunday that the weather allows. Post-church-potluck-picnics for the win!
Together we enjoyed turkey/ham/tuna sandwich options, oranges and apples, avocado and salsa, chips, drinks, and rice krispie bars.
Monday morning I cut our Simple Bran Muffins open, buttered them, then melted them in our air fryer. They are SO GOOD this way! We had them with yogurt and bananas.
Eva came over to help Matt, and Keith and I went to the Food Distribution site to help set up for the next day. Keith got to use a sharpie to make marks on all the UPC codes. Phew, if you give a kid a sharpie…
We came home and played outside with everyone before the preschool bus came for Anna and Keith. Eva snapped this photo of the little girlies. Yep, I had just redone yesterday’s pigtails for today…
It was so gorgeous that I carried plates of Corndog Bites (from Costco, a great find!), apples, and olives to the picnic table for the kids.
For dinner that night I made 2-pounds of whole wheat elbow noodles with 2-pounds of hamburger meat spaghetti sauce and served it with corn and spinach. I’ve found that elbow noodles are so much easier for our little ones to eat (compared to spaghetti noodles) and when I make them, they eat a ton (with butter and salt).
We ate outside and some of us ate with ear protection. ;)
Elias and Brayden had been out for their Bro Time and everyone was excited to see them when they pulled up!
Later that evening, the neighbors who had hosted a 50th Anniversary party Saturday stopped by with leftover fresh fruit and veggies that needed to get eaten quickly. They guessed we could probably help them out and they guessed correctly! (They also gave us a lovely package of ground sausage that she’d ordered by accident. Yep, we’ll eat that too.) So sweet that they thought of us!
For breakfast Tuesday morning I set out the pretty tray of fruit with sausage links and cottage cheese.
Brayden, Kiya, and I went to hand out food at the Food Distribution that afternoon so Elias and Matt warmed up Burritos from the freezer plus some Burrito Filling to eat with chips.
They sliced some avocado to go with it. This girl LOVES her avocado.
Matt had hung a hammock in our basement for the kids because we wanted to see if it would help with their sensory needs. So far so good, now that the initial excitement is over and we are no longer fighting over it. :/
Wednesday morning I scrambled 15 eggs and warmed up bacon I’d baked last week. Mid morning, I put what was left of the eggs plus two pieces of bacon into a sandwich for my “third breakfast” and it was SO GOOD. (My “first breakfast” was a Peanut Butter Honey Puff with coffee at 4:30 during my quiet time with God before all the hubbub of the day began. Around 7:00 I had a glass of Smoothie for my “second breakfast.” And by 10:00 I needed bacon, apparently.)
We got out a few hidden containers of toys this morning which was fun and engaging. It’s worth a mention that our days can be so long and challenging with this many littles who struggle to regulate (read: there’s a lot of screaming and tough behavior in our house every day). So when I upload these photos and look back at our days, I see a lot of goodness too. It’s hard to remember the good when we’re working so hard against the struggles. Thank you, God, for these sweet moments captured.
If you see anyone pouting in this photo, it’s because I insisted that she put on shoes to wear to school. Sometimes I can be entirely unreasonable. ;)
Brayden and Kiya had discovered the Tie Quilt Kits they’d gotten for Christmas last year and were excited to work on them after school.
For dinner that night, I made 5 cans worth of Tuna Salad and spread it onto 19 rolls. Brayden topped them with cheese and we put them into the oven to create Tuna Melts.
We had our Tuna Melts with Mixed Veggies, Tomato Soup, Strawberries with Chocolate Cream, and Chips with dip.
Justus joined us for dinner so he could give Brayden a piano lesson. Plus our friend Bruce was in town and joined us.
Thursday morning we were sending Matt and Malachi off to York to work on our properties for the day. So I declared it a cereal morning, plus I cut some apples to eat with peanut butter.
Since Malachi went to York (he had other business to take care of there so it made sense for him to work with Matt this time), Elias stayed behind to help me with the little ones. We stayed home all day (because Matt had our van in York), and I took advantage of the time to get caught up on three loads of laundry.
Keith had been asking to make Breakfast Cookies and this morning was a good time to make it happen. We doubled the recipe so we could freeze some.
He was having a very calm behavior day and I was able to keep him engaged in the kitchen with me for quite a while. He took pride in refilling my Oatmeal Container for me from our bulk package.
Then he helped me make a Chocolate Cake because I had spinach that needed to be used up.
Our Breakfast Cookies turned out great, though some of them crumbled because I didn’t have time to let them cool properly on the pan before transferring them. I needed my pans so I could make our pizzas for lunch!
We finished our baking projects and baked some pizzas in time to eat before the school bus came for Keith and Anna.
Once the Breakfast Cookies cooled I put half of them into our covered dish to serve for tomorrow’s breakfast. Then I put the other half into the freezer for another time.
After school that day, Kiya and Anna helped me turn our Spinach Cake into what was supposed to be a layered pudding cake.
Ah well. My idea didn’t go so well and it all fell apart. Somehow we still ate it though. ;)
Dinner before cake was Monday’s leftover spaghetti meal turned into a Casserole topped with cheese plus Steamed Broccoli.
Friday morning we followed a tip by reader Julie and went to a store here called Super Saver to check out the Mega Meat Sale they were advertising. Woot! We got some amazing prices on meat!
We discovered Popcorn Chicken and French Fries on sale there too. So Friday night that’s what we had for dinner for a “Mom’s Night Off.” I sliced some nectarines and pears to go with our two pans of chicken and three plates of fries (with meals like this we just keep making more in our air fryer until we’re all full). :)
Malachi had told me he would run over for dinner after the game he was filming. But I forgot, ha. So when he showed up it was a fun surprise!
Saturday morning I scrambled 15 eggs for breakfast and served them with fruit and Apple Bread that I’d pulled out of the freezer the night before. While I was at it, I put together the smoothie Matt and I drink every day so that we get enough greens without having to take time to eat salad. ;)
Justus and Kelsey came over and took six kids to Sensory Storytime at the library – joined by a friend of ours who had come to spend the weekend – while Matt and I took BabyBoy#11 to church for a special Child Dedication Brunch for the newest little ones.
Asa and Eva met us there to pray with us for our little guy. It was a beautiful, rich morning. And it was super relaxing because we only had one kiddo with us – wow. How great was it for us to share a table with our youngest and our oldest (and with the sweet mama with our grandbaby on the way). Sure, I cried. Most of the morning, actually. :)
Back at home, Justus, Kelsey, and our friend Kermit had fed the kids Sloppy Joes, Mac and Cheese, and Peas. Matt and I got home in time for me to turn right around and head out to watch some dear friends in a Homeschool Melodrama. Malachi had been a part of this during his last years in high school and oh how we’ve missed it! I got to enjoy the entire afternoon by myself, which was very much needed. Plus I got to see all kinds of wonderful friends and grab lots of hugs. Praise God for this!
I didn’t get any pictures yesterday, but here’s a flashback of “old man Malachi” in last year’s Melodrama.
Elias and Matt held down the fort while I was gone, played outside with the kids, and made frozen pizza for dinner.
And that was our week!
Big Family Food and Fun: February 4-10, 2024
Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: February 4-10, 2024 post!
Big Family Food and Fun: February 4-10, 2024
My brother and his wife had spent the might so Sunday morning we enjoyed a little bit more time with his family before they headed out to join my niece for church in York. I made bacon and set out fruit, yogurt, Bran Muffins, and Lemon Bread.
If you recall, our church is currently meeting in a temporary location on Sunday afternoons while we wait for flood-related repairs to be done at our building. So we spent the rest of the morning giving all seven kids baths and showers. Plus I took a long bath – woot!
We warmed up leftovers for lunch, then enjoyed a Snacky Dinner after church with some of our older kids and some friends coming over to join us.
Matt turned on some soccer highlights to watch and I captured this happy moment of hoopla in our living room. :) :) :)
Monday morning Eva came over to help and I took Keith to our Food Distribution site to help set up to give out food the next day.
When we got home, I discovered that Eva had cleaned my kitchen and made it so shiny! Bliss!
We warmed up leftover Instant Pot Mac and Cheese for lunch and the kids requested frozen peas to be stirred in. Who am I to argue when the kids want veggies?
That night, Elias and Brayden made dinner as part of their weekly Bro Time. They had purchased the groceries during last week’s time, and this night was a great night for them to put it together for us. Hiring Elias for this special task of pouring into Brayden was such a good decision. It’s making a big difference in Brayden’s life, even more than we’d hoped.
They mixed up Brownies to bake before starting dinner.
Then we all feasted on the meal they made: Pasta with both red and white sauces, Garlic Butter Shrimp, Meatballs, Caesar Salad, and Garlic Toast. We all loved it and Brayden beamed with joy.
That afternoon, since I had the night off from making dinner, I put together a batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs for snacks.
While the guys were cooking, Kiya spent time with the loom she’d gotten for Christmas to make her sisters bracelets and necklaces.
Tuesday morning we ate Breakfast Cookies that I pulled out of the freezer. While the kids ate those, I made a batch of Warm Vanilla Soother.
Matt walked Brayden and Kiya to school, then our Speech Pathologist came to work with Acacia. Josie joined this morning too, and she was wearing her life jacket – just in case. ;)
Afterward, we loaded everyone up to do some shopping. Matt dropped two girls and me off at Sam’s then took the other three littles with him into Menards. Divide and conquer, right?
It had been a while since I’d been shopping so I over-filled our cart.
I got lots of fresh produce, sparkling water and 100% juice “pop” for our Super Bowl gathering, shredded cheese, applesauce, chips, chicken nuggets, eggs, milk, chicken thighs, hamburger meat, and a few ingredients and condiments we needed.
That afternoon, I picked up Brayden and Kiya from school and we headed to the Food Distribution to help hand out food. Brayden got to give out Runzas and chicken; Kiya gave out boxed side dish options. Over 100 people come through the line each week, giving us lots of opportunity to smile and show love.
We brought home three bags full of food – lots of bread, buns, and bagels and even a container of strawberries!
Back at home, Elias and Matt warmed up Green Beans that I had made that afternoon and baked this Easy Ham and Hashbrown Casserole that I’d put together over the weekend. In the hubbub of getting home, I almost forgot to take a picture. By the time I remembered, the green beans were gone and people were going back for seconds on the casserole. :)
Matt and Elias went to York on Wednesday to work on our properties and Malachi came over to help me with the kids. For breakfast before sending everyone off to school or work, we had toasted bagels/bread/English muffins, and ate them with sausage and grapes.
To keep the kids busy that morning, I filled a container with dry rice then gave everyone a yogurt container and measuring cups.
Was this messy? Yes. But it was a controlled mess and it kept the kids engaged for several minutes. Malachi and Keith decided to go outside and ride their skateboards together so the girls and I continued to measure and scoop.
I had a lot of help sweeping up the floor afterward.
Once the mess was cleaned up, we spotted the boys through the dining room window with their skateboards.
BabyBoy#11 got up from his morning nap so Malachi came in and took care of him while the girls and I went outside to join Keith. His regular bike is missing (might have been taken??) so he’s making do with his old balance bike for now.
Everyone worked up a big appetite so we came in and ate applesauce pouches and finished off a small bowl of leftover Cream Cheese Salsa Dip with chips.
Dinner that night was simple: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato Soup, and Stir Fried Veggies.
After kitchen clean-up, one of the kids brought me a book to read. We opened it up and before I knew it there were six kids piled up on and around me. This was perfection!
Thursday morning was apparently not picture-worthy, ha. I had a treasured phone call with one of my cousins while the kids played and Matt took Keith to get a hair cut before school. Then I took BabyBoy#11 to yet another specialist to see if we could get to the bottom of his eating issues. I’m so thankful for everyone at Nebraska Children’s Hospital, and I’m extra thankful that there is a satellite clinic in Lincoln so that our appointment needs with his specialists are more convenient. I came home overwhelmed with information but also hopeful that we are on the right track to meet his needs.
We got the big kids home from school and played outside again since it was so nice!
That morning, I had put Crock Pot Fajitas in to slow cook all day. I fried some corn tortillas that I had tucked away in the freezer so we ate the Fajita meat more like Tostadas. :)
I cut up a fresh pineapple for dessert. So good!
The most exciting part of Thursday was that I found a few minutes to actually find the bottom of two laundry baskets that night! This is no small thing to celebrate.
Friday mornings are a bit more hectic because Brayden has to be at school an hour early for Ukulele class. So I decided to not cook and instead get out cereal and granola choices that morning.
Here’s what our couch looks like each morning after I make my way to our laundry room and bring up outfits so that we can dress the five littlest.
Everyone was dressed and ready for the day when our friend Courtney arrived for a visit!! She’s one of our dear York College friends we become close to during her time as a student a few years ago. It was so good to catch up with her!
We fed the kids a snacky lunch of crackers, cheese, grapes, cucumbers, and sliced turkey or ham before the preschool bus arrived to pick up Keith and Anna.
Then Acacia, Josie, BabyBoy#11, and I walked around outside our house and enjoyed the sunshine for a while.
I dropped the girls off at Ms. Kathi’s house for their special time with her that afternoon. They started off with a tea party which was so cute that I snapped a photo before I headed out. :)
I took the night off for dinner and got out frozen nuggets and fries.
Besides not cooking, the best thing about a meal like this is that everyone eats it without complaint! After dinner, I got to go out by myself to an Adoptive Moms Support Group that meets once-a-month. My time at these meetings is incredibly valuable and helpful to me. Oh how I need the support and understanding that this group offers.
Saturday morning I made Scrambled Egg Sandwiches with fruit.
Then we loaded up and headed to Sensory Friendly Story Time. (Saying it this way makes it seem like it is actually easy to feed everyone breakfast and load up in the van, hahaha. In reality, it takes a solid hour to get everyone ready to leave after we feed them breakfast. Getting out the door doesn’t always bring out the best in me, oy.)
Today the kids got to enjoy waving scarves along with Valentine-themed books, rhymes, and songs.
I love seeing Keith so engaged. :)
After story time, Librarian Diane gets out lots of tubs full of sensory toys for the kids to enjoy for about 20 minutes. Brayden and Josie weren’t able to play though, seeing as they were buried under all the scarves.
That afternoon we worked on Super Bowl Party food. Kiya had helped me make a double batch of Brownies the day before and we got them frosted.
I baked several pans worth of Bacon like this. I needed cooked bacon so that I could make this dip, plus we’ve found that it’s really nice to have pre-cooked bacon in the fridge to pull out for breakfasts or sandwiches. And yes I had just baked several pans worth of bacon on Sunday, but indeed, it was already gone. What can I say? 13 people live here and six of us are adults. Food comes and goes, then comes again, then goes. :)
I cut several pieces of cooked bacon into a bowl and Kiya stirred ingredients together to make Bacon Ranch Chip Dip for our Super Bowl Party.
I had recently made a big jar full of Ranch Dressing Mix, so it’s possible I went a little bit too Ranchy as I made our party food. I was just trying to use what I had and I didn’t feel like getting out a bunch of different seasonings. So Ranch won when I was working on recipes. Bacon Ranch Chip Dip, Spicy Ranch Dressing (to eat with these Potato Wedges), and regular Ranch Dip to eat with veggies. I didn’t put ranch in the brownies though, so I feel like we’re ok. :)
I was in “use up what we have” mode so dinner that night was a little bit of this and that as I cleaned out the fridge. I had olive oil in a cast iron skillet on my stove from Thursday night’s Tostadas, and I had a small bag of pizza dough that Eva had given me. So I baked the dough in the olive oil in the oven then topped it with leftover marinara sauce from the night Elias and Brayden had made dinner. Then added cheese and we had a skillet pizza!
This was obviously too small to feed our entire clan, but we just pieced it together with whatever fruit everyone wanted plus I asked everyone to eat some fresh spinach on the side. We didn’t sit down to eat dinner together that night, just ate in spurts as I kept working in the kitchen.
Acacia crushed some cornflakes for me and we made another batch of Peanut Butter Honey Puffs. (We go through these faster than we go through bacon.)
I also made a small batch of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars. The Puffs and the Bars are just my way of staying on top of everyone’s hunger when kids (or mom) needs a little bit of protein throughout the day.
Super Bowl Dips in the fridge, snacks made, sink full of dirty dishes, and it was time to get everyone ready for bed to wrap up our week!
Big Family Food and Fun: December 31-January 6, 2024
Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 31-January 6 post…
Big Family Food and Fun: December 31-January 6, 2024
This week’s big goal was: CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE. We had enjoyed so many fun meals the week before when we celebrated Christmas and birthdays! So our refrigerators were full of all kinds of tidbits we needed to eat up.
Sunday for lunch, we pulled everything out and prioritized what needed to be finished first. We warmed up Nachos, Chicken Tenders, and Orange Chicken and put everything else away for another meal.
Justus and Kelsey joined us, plus our friend Kermit who comes almost every Sunday after church and feels like a part of our family now. I mean, you know you’re a part of the family when you’re only offered random leftovers for lunch, right?
Dinner that night? More leftovers. This time it was cheese, crackers, and meats. We got out Avocado Cups to provide something green with our meal. :)
Breakfast on Monday was Yogurt and Granola with the rest of our Blueberries.
Eva came over to help Matt with littles and I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to our Food Distribution site to set up food to give away the next day. We did everything we could and then had some down time while we waited for the next delivery truck to show up. So we enjoyed some Tic-Tac-Toe. :)
When we got home, we built Magna-Tile Towers with Eva.
Lunch was leftover pizza (that I almost over cooked when I warmed them up in our Air Fryer). I sliced an entire bag of pears to eat with the pizza.
We snacked that afternoon on Bananas and Pretzels to help tide us over because at 5:00 we’d been invited to tour our neighbor’s house. They decorate for every holiday in a BIG way. While we’d enjoyed looking at the outside of their house, they told us that their inside decorations were even more impressive. They were correct!
We had our Bonus 5-Year Old with us (former foster son) so we bravely took eight little kids into this beautifully decorated home full of breakables. Our neighbor took us into every room of their house, showing us all that they’ve collected through the years and telling us where they’d bought their treasures. The kids did amazing and were fascinated!
We headed back home and pulled out a Ham I’d put into the oven that afternoon (one of these awesome $5 hams!). We enjoyed it with leftover Mac and Cheese plus Buttered Peas and Corn. I also drank my Smoothie because I hadn’t had one yet that day. :)
Tuesday morning I baked a batch of Pumpkin Muffins, scrambled some Cheesy Eggs (with spinach), and peeled some Clementines.
BabyBoy#11 had his one-year check-up that morning and Anna went with us for the appointment. They had fun looking at the very sweet kids in the mirror while we were waiting for the doctor to come in. :) :) :)
Back at home, Matt sliced apples to serve with peanut butter and sprinkled cinnamon. We needed a substantial snack because we decided to take all the kids to the zoo for a late morning run around with the Spider Monkeys!
I grabbed Cheese, Summer Sausage, Crackers, Applesauce, and Juice to take with us for a snacky lunch.
It was a sunny 38 degrees, so a great winter day to walk from the van to the indoor play area! (…with an unnamed three-year-old who “wasn’t cold” and refused to wear the spring jacket she brought to wear with the spring dress she’d chosen to wear that day.)
We stopped off at the Tigers on our way as they were sitting in their hay bed soaking up some sun. How many Coppingers can you fit into the Tiger Truck? Quite a few, as it turns out.
The kids ran around and played for a solid hour, stopping eventually to eat and drink every last drop of food I’d packed.
We took some time in the room next door to enjoy the Iguanas and Chinchillas before heading home for rest time.
I had used soup bones from last night’s ham to make a pot of broth that morning. That afternoon, I blended up the veggies to stir into the broth for extra nourishment, planning to use it later in the week for soup.
Brayden, Kiya, and I headed out to hand out food at the Food Distribution while Matt and Elias kept everyone else happy at home. We came home with some extra food, including some Izze drinks they were handing out. The girls found them and pretended to chug them down on the step.
Matt had warmed up Tomato Soup and leftover Sandwiches from last week for our dinner. Everything was too crazy when we got home so I forgot to take a picture of our meal. ;)
Wednesday morning we had Toast/Bagels with Cottage Cheese and Peaches/Pineapple.
We loaded up and drove to meet some friends at a library for a Snow Much Fun Story Hour.
After fun stories and songs, we got to make crafts.
I had used the broth I’d made on Tuesday along with leftover Ham from Monday to make Spicy Ham and Potato Soup. We were all super hungry when we got home so it was great to have it ready to serve when we got home.
The kids also enjoyed Tuesday’s Pumpkin Muffins with their soup.
Justus and Kelsey came that afternoon so that Justus could give Brayden a piano lesson. Kelsey was awesome and played games with Kiya and Keith during that time!
I made Spaghetti for dinner that night with Salad and Corn.
Thursday morning was busy as we had an appointment in the morning and then needed to leave for York so that some of our kids could have a scheduled visit with their bio mom. Emotions were running high that morning.
I had a container of Homemade Instant Oatmeal in our pantry so I used it for our breakfast. We had bananas that were over ripe so I smashed those in the bottom of each bowl so that the kids could have Banana Oatmeal – their favorite.
Meanwhile, I made a pot of Chili to take to York for our dinner and a bowl full of Tuna Salad for us to eat quickly for lunch after appointments and before heading out.
Brayden, Kiya, and Keith stayed home with their big brothers while Matt and I left with Anna, Acacia, Josie, and BabyBoy#11 for their WIC appointment. I was able to snap this sweet photo of Anna as she got her height checked. (All three of the little girls are almost exactly the same height and weight. No wonder people ask all the time if they are triplets!)
An hour+ later, we waved goodbye and said thank you as we headed out the clinic door.
The rest of the day was a blur as we made Tuna Sandwiches at home before loading all the kids and heading to York. The kids and I played for a few hours at a friend’s house (delightful!) while Matt and Elias spent some time working on our York properties. Then I took three of our kids to spend some time with their biological mom. It was bedtime when we loaded everyone back up and made the drive back to York.
Friday morning after breakfast and general hubbub, we loaded everyone up to go to a Sensory Library Storytime. These are our favorite as they provide an intentionally calm environment with fidgets and weighted animals for the kids as they sing interactive songs and read fun stories. Quite a few of our kids become overwhelmed so easily (as do I, honestly, as everyone’s emotions start to run high with overstimulation). These story times have a smaller audience – and in fact, this day we were the only family who showed up. We filled the room, ha. And the librarian was so sweet to all of our kids as she engaged them in the interactive songs and stories.
Afterward, the librarian pulled out some fun learning toys for the kids to enjoy.
Then we all explored the rest of this library as we hadn’t visited this one before. We loved it and will likely visit often even though it isn’t super close to our house.
Everyone was “starving” when we got home at lunchtime. The plan was to warm up leftover Spaghetti, which we did. But while it was warming up, I quickly spread some peanut butter on tortillas and folded them into triangles to fill their bellies as fast as possible.
For dinner that night, we put together a simple Nacho Bar with chips, seasoned meat, white queso, shredded cheese, salsa, cilantro, spinach, and corn.
Saturday was an exciting day as it was my niece’s wedding day! We spent the morning taking baths and getting dressed up for the big event. I also took some time to get our Sunday lunch ready since we’d be gone all afternoon/evening Saturday.
But first, Bacon.
We baked (like this) the last of a big box of bacon we’d gotten at Sam’s so we could enjoy it for breakfast and for upcoming easy meals.
I made a huge pot of mashed potatoes, then added sour cream, butter, and cheese to bake for our Sunday Lunch the next day.
And I made Oatmeal Raspberry Bars (x2) for our Sunday dessert.
After the baking and cooking, we got all seven littles through bath and showers. I had grand plans of braiding all the girls’ hair but time got away from me and I only ended up getting Josie’s and Acacia’s done.
We quickly threw sandwiches together for lunch so that we could get dressed in wedding attire and head out the door.
I filled a bag with non-messy snacks knowing that we’d likely need them to get us through the day while we were gone. Before Christmas I’d found Party Trays at Sam’s marked down to only $6.91 – crazy low and not near expiration. I still had one in the fridge and it was perfect to take along to feed hungry kids (and grown-ups for that matter). I also grabbed granola bites, pistachios, and applesauce. I was glad I packed all this because the kids worked their way through quite a bit of it throughout the day.
The wedding was lovely and we got to see so many people we hadn’t seen for years! We are so happy for the new Mr. and Mrs. Heinrichs!
Our girls spent as much time as they could with their very favorite Emma.
Keith was determined to dance to every song and took this job very seriously.
Before heading out we said our goodbyes and took this photo with two of my favorite friends. There’s Anna, still attached to Emma and acting as silly as possible.
And that was our week!