One, the need for greater flexibility right now, for things like the impromptu girls night that popped up on the calendar for tonight. And secondly, to give us a chance to eat the freezer and pantry.
We have a lot of food coming in next week as we prepare to host Christmas. Clearing some space for it and saving a few bucks this week by eating food we already have made sense. On Sunday I took inventory and mapped out a loose plan.
- Monday: freezer chicken tenders, pantry mac n cheese, salad and wraps
- Tuesday: freezer sausage, freezer corn, freezer spinach, and pantry orzo to make into a soup
- Wednesday: freezer brisket (already seasoned and vacuum sealed, so we just stuck it in the sous vide so it could cook for 48 hours) with freezer rice and whatever veggies I can scrape together
- Breakfast: Finish up the breakfast taquitos (similar to breakfast burritos but roll in smaller tortillas and baked for about10 minutes before freezing)
- Lunches: tuna salad from the overstock of tuna in the pantry, pumpkin chicken chili, and Daily Harvest bowls and flatbreads
I hit up the store yesterday to round everything out with some produce and also to get the ingredients to make breakfast casserole muffins. The recipe is in Heather’s new cookbook, Everyday Muffin Party, that she sent me an e-copy of to check out.
All the recipes in it are naturally sweetened and gluten free and though the gingerbread sweet potato muffins were tempting, I’m much more of an egg girl. Hailey helped me put together a batch of these veggie-heavy breakfast “muffins” and it made me remember just how handy a good muffin tin can be! I think I might need to invest in a silicone version though for easier cleaning. Santa, are you reading?
If you’re in the mood for muffins, check out Heather’s cookbook and visit some of my personal favorites:
- Apple Cinnamon Oat Muffins (that had a viral moment last week which was exciting)
- Chocolate and Pumpkin Blender Muffins (I remember thinking this was a brilliant concept)
- Pancake Muffins (which if you have nieces and nephews visiting for the holidays are a ton of fun)
- Toddler Approved Mini Muffins (pictures are terrible)
- Lemon Zest Spinach Muffins (which should really be named Grinch muffins for their appearance… ugly but delicious)
Tangent: Yesterday morning I felt a little infiltrated by outside noise. I fully blame my own mindless scrolling and over consumption of news. I struggle between wanting to be informed (there is a lot of crazy happening in the world right now) and wanting to stay sane. It feels selfish to have the option to choose to block it all out, but that’s what I did yesterday and it did wonders for my mental space. We baked, we went on long walks with Finley, we read Christmas books. It’s amazing how much more time and mental capacity I have for life with my people when I have my focus right. Something for me to think about as I start to ponder ’22 goals.
Days Until Christmas: 11
Christmas Movies Watched: Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Home Alone 3, The Santa Clause, The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3, Just Friends (just me), The Polar Express, Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, Deck the Halls, Christmas Chronicles
Kelli says
It’s cool to see you use up your pantry and freezer food to see what you can make of it. I always am tempted to by those chicken tenders for the girls as an easy dinner or lunch but still have never done it.
I don’t read the news anymore. I felt the way you did that it seems weird to be oblivious to what’s going on in the world but I think back to decades before where people didn’t have the worlds news at their finger tips and they weren’t selfish. I also find that making my world smaller and focusing on my own community makes me feel like life isn’t as bad as it seems through the news. I truly believe MSM is out to put fear in everybody. They never report anything positive and it makes me feel depressed. Especially for the future of my daughters. If taking a day off it makes you feel better emotionally do it!
I haven’t looked at the news in a few months and if something big happens I hear about it and then can look it up if I feel the need. Sometimes I still watch some YouTube videos from Dave Rubin while I eat lunch but not often.
Brittany Dixon says
This is super helpful to hear You’re right; I don’t know why it feels selfish or I feel obligated to know what’s going on, especially for the things that I can’t control or have an impact on. And I agree with you- local community is where it’s at. I was at the food bank yesterday and that kind of goodness and kindness I saw actually put some faith back into me rather than having it drained out. <3
Kelly says
I am the same way!!! <3
Marie says
Instead of buying a new muffin pan, try silicone baking cups / cupcake liners. I bought a pack of the Amazon Basics Reusable Baking Cups and they are great! You can use them to line your muffin pan just like the paper liners or they can be used on their own, like for use in an Instant Pot (I used them to make egg muffins in the Instant Pot). They’re even great for making individual frozen treats (I make my dog frozen treats in them in the summers.
Brittany Dixon says
Oh my gosh I just realized I actually have some and I’ve never used them for baking; I used them to portion off toddler food or for dips I can’t believe I never actually baked with them… thank you!!