Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: January 12-18, 2025 post!

Before I share about our new week, I’ll fill you in on the last part of our day Saturday, January 11th. (We enjoy a Sabbath rest beginning Saturday evenings so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoon instead of adding these to our weekly post.)

Elias and Malorie have started a tradition of taking our birthday kids out for a special treat as a gift for their big day. With all the sickness we had after Christmas, they had not yet been able to take Brayden out. So on this particular Saturday afternoon, they made it happen. Their idea was perfect since he loves music: they took him to the Guitar Center where he tried out various instruments. Then they treated him to a milkshake at a restaurant next door. He loved this!

Back at home, we were prepping to celebrate Anna’s 5th birthday. She requested Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Avocado and Chips, and sliced fruit for her birthday. (I’m telling you, she was very specific about wanting all the fruit – sliced. It was very sweet.)

All the kids were able to join us except for Malachi who had been invited to go on a last minute video shoot in California. We missed him!

Anna chose this cake “with sprinkles” and I baked it in a sheet pan. Did she request that her cake be filled with spinach? No. Well, that was just a bonus. It’s how we make cake now. :)

The three little faces in this picture are the sweetest. Thank you, God, that we are chosen to be their family.

After dinner, we gathered in the living room for present time. The great thing about gifts for 5-year-olds is that you can pick up a Scratch Art Princess book at Aldi for $5 and the birthday girl will think it is the best thing ever – because for her, it is.

Does all of this feel very “Sabbath-y” to you? Hmmm. The evening was certainly not calm, quiet, or particularly restful. But the more we learn about what it means to Sabbath, we are understanding that especially in this season in our lives, taking a “day off” doesn’t mean “do nothing.”

We are learning that Sabbath allows us to take a break from the normal days’ needs, to enjoy community, to delight in every bite of food we take, and to really take in what is going on around us. Our Saturday evenings and Sundays give us all of this and we are grateful to experience it.

Big Family Food and Fun: January 12-18, 2025

Sunday morning, we enjoyed Breakfast Cookies turned into bars. This has become a standard Sabbath Sunday breakfast for us because I can make them during the week and freeze them. I’ve actually been doubling the recipe (you’re so surprised that I do this) and freezing them on two plates to give us two Sunday breakfasts for one amount of effort.

The day before, I had made Beanie Weanies to share at a Kids’ Ministry Potluck and Game Time after church. So I warmed those while we ate breakfast plus got out Grapes and the rest of Anna’s Cake to take with us.

After church, families with kids shared a meal together.

Then the games came out. Have you ever played Happy Salmon? It’s so fantastic (and LOUD). But wait. Have you ever played Happy Salmon with Brayden?? This kid loves to yell, so Happy Salmon is HIS GAME. Come to think of it, you probably heard him playing from wherever you live. Now you know what that noise was on Sunday afternoon. :) It was kind of awesome.

Meanwhile, look at all these darlings playing board games together.

That afternoon, Matt and I got to enjoy our Community Group with three other couples. We had taken a break from meeting during the holidays so being together again on this day was extra sweet. We turned on a movie for the kids, then we grown-ups met around our table with coffee and carrot cake, sharing life and prayer needs. We’ve been going through Practicing the Way together – diving deep into what it looks like to be more like Jesus and do what He did.

Dinner that night was Leftovers and Salad. I gave the kids a weird snack of Muffins and Salami for a snack before bed. Did they think it was weird though? No, they just chomped it down.

Monday morning we used some overripe bananas to make a batch of Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins.

Mid-morning, I baked a pan of Stick of Butter Rice to use with our dinner that night. And for the record, I need to change the name of that rice because I’ve stopped putting butter in it, haha. All the other ingredients (salt, minced onion, and chicken broth) give this rice amazing flavor, and butter has gotten very expensive. So Butterless Stick of Butter Rice is what I make now, what can I say?!

I used the cooked rice to make a version of Tator Tot Casserole: this recipe but with rice instead of green beans. I served Broccoli and Corn on the side.

Brayden has been wanting to take Mac and Cheese for his school lunch so I walked him through making it that evening to rewarm on Tuesday morning. Kiya got in on the project too so that she could also take some.

Tuesday morning for breakfast, everyone chose between Breakfast Sandwiches and Flourless Chocolate Banana Muffins. I also got out yogurt to help fill everyone up.

After getting the elementary kids off to school, I made a double recipe of Breakfast Cookies and baked them into bars.

Since I already had the oven on, I also made Crustless Cheesecake. I love having these in the fridge so that I can grab one when I need a filling snack.

Later, I cut the Breakfast Cookies into bars and froze them on two plates to pull out the next two Sundays for easy Sabbath breakfasts. The Crustless Cheesecakes went into the fridge for snacks this week.

As I prepped for dinner, I experimented with a variety of Chili Mac – using leftover Chili from the fridge stirred into leftover Mac and Cheese from the fridge. This is one of the big ways I save money on food –  using up leftovers, turning them into a new meal to make them more exciting. (For the record though, the little kids did not love this meal. So I won’t do this again. But at least we ate up some leftovers!)

That afternoon, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food at our our weekly Food Distribution site. Kiya and I ran our stations at a food table while the boys washed coolers as they got emptied out.

Afterward, I vacuumed while the kids mostly played at a chalkboard. But I love that the other grown-up volunteers know that they can ask my kids to help them with jobs during clean up time. Here, all three of them were lugging boxes out to the recycle bin. (Keith is behind Brayden – I missed getting him in this frame.)

Back at home, Matt had made Caesar salad and was feeding kids. They all ate this, but didn’t have seconds so our snack that night included bread or crackers with peanut butter to fill them up.

Wednesday morning, we enjoyed some of the breads and bagels we’d brought home from Food Distribution. There’s always a lot of bread up for grabs there, and we are thankful for this gift. This time, we had Cinnamon Swirl Bagels and Blueberry Bread – very fun!

We also brought home some almost-expired spinach from Food Distribution that I needed to use up quickly. I made a batch of chocolate Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters and added a huge wad of spinach to the blender.

Then, instead of turning the batter into muffins, I baked it in a loaf pan. I love that it has both pumpkin and spinach in it! (Adding chocolate chips would have made it taste even better.)

Mid-morning, we loaded up the youngest four kids and went to the Children’s Museum to play. Look how big they are, hanging up their coats all by themselves…

There are three levels at this museum, and we typically stay on the main floor or go to the basement. This time, we spent our whole morning on the top level discovering new favorites!

We got home in time to eat Avocado Cups with Chips before the bus came to pick up the girls for preschool.

Arrow came to hang out with us this afternoon. His sweetness is overwhelming. Goodness, that face.

Dinner that night was leftover Tator Tot Casserole plus a few other leftovers we pulled out of the fridge.

Malachi had returned from California and came over to catch us up on his adventures. He grabbed a bite of dinner with us, then took kids on rides throughout the house.

Thursday morning the kids ate Yogurt with Granola for breakfast – a super easy meal. After we got the older three to school, I left Acacia and Josie behind with Matt while I took Anna and Auggie with me to Walmart.

Taking only two kids to the store? Sort of easy. But only having one cart? Yikes. We barely made it work. :)

Back at home, Justus had dropped off Little Sweetheart. I got home and we got all the groceries carried in and put away, got the little girls off to preschool, put Auggie down for a nap, sent Matt off to a meeting, and then I had some Little Sweetheart snuggle time!

For dinner that night, I made two pans of Pizza Chicken Bake. We had been given a been given a box of Instant Mashed Potatoes so I made these for a side dish. (Why do they not taste great and pretty much not actually taste like potatoes?). I also steamed Green Beans and toasted some Buttered Rolls.

At the last minute, we texted our neighbors Coleman and Sarah to come eat with us. During the warm months, we often hang out with them at their garage and the kids LOVE this. So we’d been missing them as we’ve all been cooped up inside. It was so great to catch up with them during dinner.

Friday morning, I let the kids chose cold cereal for breakfast so that I could focus on other food projects I wanted to get done. Kiya was completely ready for school by 7:45 (we don’t need to leave the house until 8:40), so I asked her to crack 20 eggs into a pan to bake for Breakfast Sandwiches.

Meanwhile, I browned a pound of hamburger meat and made a quadruple batch of Simple No-Bake Granola Bites.

Mid-morning, I cut the baked eggs into 20 pieces. (I always put shredded cheese on the eggs as soon as they come out of the oven, so it melts and is ready for sandwiches.) Then I put a frozen sausage patty on each of 20 buns, along with a square of egg/cheese to complete the Breakfast Sandwiches.

I bagged the sandwiches up individually for an easy-to-grab breakfast option for the grown-ups who take breakfast and lunch to work. Then I put several into the fridge and the rest into a freezer bag to be frozen and pulled out as needed.

Next, I stirred the cooked hamburger meat into a casserole dish with tomato soup, corn, and last night’s leftover green beans. I spread the leftover mashed potatoes over the mixture, then topped it with cheese. This was my way of using up leftovers to make our dinner of Shepherd’s Pie for that night!

This turned out SO GOOD. The kids ate it well, and I’m so glad I was reminded of this meal idea that I’d forgotten about. We will definitely make Shepherd’s Pie again. As an added bonus, it’s an entire meal in one pan. So easy!

There was to be a potluck on Sunday after church, so on Saturday morning, I prepped our dishes to take and share. I made a crock pot with Baked Beans and another with Cream Cheese Corn. I had a Chocolate Fudge Pie in the freezer so I pulled that out to take.

It was Elias’ birthday so that morning, I also prepped for his family birthday dinner. He requested Fish Tacos and I made Taco Meat from hamburger, too, for those who didn’t like fish.

He asked for a Brownie Sundae Bar for dessert. So I pulled Brownies from the freezer that I’d made a while back, plus made a quick batch of Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

We ate leftovers for lunch in an effort to clean out the fridge, plus did some much-needed cleaning.

I put away my computer in the early afternoon as we headed into our time of Sabbath rest. I’ll share about Elias’ birthday dinner next week!