Homemaking Archives - Pea of Sweetness

Freezer Meals Made Easy {MyFreezEasy Review}

October 12, 2016 by Emilee Evans

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Please refer to my Disclosure Policy for more information.
Freezer meals have always been something I know would make things a little easier, but I didn’t know where to start. Despite multiple pins it still just felt like it was something that wasn’t attainable. When I was presented with the opportunity to share a MyFreezEasy review, I was thrilled! I was ready to jump right in with the MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership.

What excited me most about MyFreezEasy is not that it offers detailed information and meals plans for freezer meals, but that it was designed to make freezer meals easy. As a busy homeschooler and homemaker, anything that saves time is a huge blessing. Freezer meals have always seemed overwhelming due to the time required to prepare the meals. I knew that it would save time and be better overall, but 2-3 hours of preparation? It didn’t sound too difficult, but it was surprising how hard it was to set aside that time!
Of course, as someone who has never prepared freezer meals, there was a major learning curve as well. With so many different ingredients and meals, it got overwhelming quickly. That’s why I was so encouraged by MyFreezEasy. MyFreezeEasy offers meal plans and instructions for creating 10 meals in less than an hour. That definitely sounded like something I could easily commit to!

MyFreezEasy offers a variety of different meals plans including: Traditional Plan, Gluten-Free Plan, Slow Cooker Plan, Clean Eats Plan, 20 Meals Plan, All Chicken Plan, All Ground Beef Plan and All Pork Chop Plan. I love that there are different options. The Traditional Meal Plan and 20 Meals Plan offers a variety of different meals for both the slow cooker and oven. If you prefer the slow cooker, you’re all set! If you need gluten-free options, the Gluten-Free Plan not only has gluten-free meal plans but also tips for making sure ingredients are gluten-free. If a certain meat is on sale at your local grocery store, you can use one of the plans for that specific type of meat.
Members get access to all 8 of the meal plans each month. They are only available in your account for that month but can be downloaded as a PDF for later use. I love this because we quickly discovered a few favorites that I definitely plan on making again! It’s also great to receive a set of new meals each month! There is even a Build Your Own Meal Plan option! It’s really so flexible!

MyFreezEasy Review

To get started, I chose the Traditional Plan for my first time. I did this for a couple of reasons – I wanted to have a variety and because the Traditional Plan has a step-by-step video for preparing the meals. It’s recommended to start with watching this video even if you do choose another plan. Because I am completely new to (or basically new to) freezer meals, I figured this would be the best place to start. I actually watched the video while preparing the meals and paused as necessary while I went.
Shopping for the Traditional Plan was easy. With each meal plan there is a list of ingredients to print out (or save on your phone). I chose to print out the list that included the sides and listed ingredients by sections in the store. It was so easy, and having a list made my whole shopping trip that much shorter.

Freezer Meal Prep Day

On Prep Day I laid out all ingredients on my table. Unfortunately, we have a tiny kitchen with no counter space, so this is the best way for me to prepare the meals.

The first time, it did take me a little longer, which is expected. Plus, since I was following the video step-by-step, this delayed it as well. I still got it all done under 2 hours, though, which was still exciting for me! As I prepared meals the next time, it definitely went much quicker.
With the Traditional Plan for September, there were a few more pre-prep ingredients. Because I was using my stove for those ingredients, I did have to go back and forth from the kitchen to dining room. I do feel if I had watched the video first rather than during, this time would have been quite a bit faster. I did use some of my fancy kitchen tools to make things easier, though, like a mandolin for slicing onions. Meat scissors would have also been very helpful! Even without fancy tools, though, I do think it’s possible to make the 10 meals in less than an hour.

Building the Meals

There are different ways to build the meals – by ingredient or by recipe. I chose to do so by recipe mostly because that’s what was in the video. I have chosen to stick with this method, though, and it works well for me. With everything laid out and prepped, it was easy to just put the meals together. I love how the ingredients for the recipes work together to make it quick and easy! I actually think it’s kind of fun, too!
I did find I was able to leave out and/or substitute ingredients to better fit my family’s taste. Then I simply printed out the labels (which also includes cooking instructions) and stuck them to the bags or lids. Easy!

Overall, I find MyFreezEasy to be the solution I was looking for. The meals are easy to shop for and prep and it saves me time and money. I’ve had a lot less waste in both my fridge and pantry, and I can continue to make and freeze meals to have a variety of meals for dinners to come! It’s really been a great blessing for our family. I wake up and simply dump a meal into the slow cooker or get ready to bake a meal about an hour or so before dinner. That’s it! Now we have good meals made at home!

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Many members of the Homeschool Review Crew shared their MyFreezEasy review as well. Be sure to check them out by clicking on the banner below!

How to Freeze Green Beans and Wax Beans {Without Fancy Equipment}

September 3, 2016 by Emilee Evans

How do you freeze beans? I actually wasn’t planning on freezing the beans, but sometimes you have to innovate!

A couple weeks ago I was so excited to take home a big harvest from our garden. One of the biggest challenges we have is that our garden is at my dad’s house in a small town just south of ours. So it’s not as easy as just walking outside, harvesting what we need (and what needs to be harvested), and going back out the next day. Because of this, I had to dive into the world of preserving. I have to harvest a bunch of stuff at once and make sure we can still use all of it!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Please refer to my Disclosure Policy for more information.
So, as I was making a few jars of refrigerator pickles, I was also preparing our green bean and wax beans for storage. I was so excited to put the great canning set I got last year for Can-It-Forward Day! I have great memories of canning beans when I was young. Unfortunately, though, I discovered beans should only be canned with a pressure canner. As much as I’d love to have one, I don’t! *Pout*

Freeze Beans

What I could do, though, was freeze beans – without any fancy equipment. The “equipment” I used was a simple dutch oven, a large bowl, a colander, and Ziplock Freezer Bags. That’s it!
So how did I do it? Read on!

Prep the Beans

Wash the beans. First, wash the beans. I washed them with Lemon essential oil.
Cut and/or snap the beans. Then I prepped the beans by cutting off the ends and into 1-2 inch pieces. Of course, they can be snapped as well. (If you have kids, this is a great way to get them involved!) Throw out any that are overripe (tough), or have dark spots.

Blanch the Beans

Boil the water. Fill your dutch oven (or large pot) with water – just enough to make sure it will cover the beans. You can make multiple batches if necessary.
Bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, add the beans to the water for 3 minutes.
Add the beans. Be sure to have a large bowl full of ice water. After boiling for 3 minutes add the beans immediately to the ice water.
Transfer the beans. Because I was doing both green beans and wax beans, I simply used a slotted spoon to scoop the beans out of the boiling water and into the ice water. This way I still had boiling water for the next batch. With the last batch I dumped them into the colander and then into the ice water. Leave them in the ice water for around 3 minutes.

Prep Garden Harvest for Storage — Just a few of our garden goodies

Store the Beans

Then put the beans into the freezer bags. Be sure to remove the air. It can be helpful to run it under hot water (after sealing) to further seal the bag. Many will use vacuum sealing, which is great. Once again, I don’t have it, and I wanted to share a way to do this as easily as possible without fancy equipment!
Be sure to label the bags so you know what date they were frozen. If you freeze beans in this way, they can be stored for up to 3 months.
That’s it! Easy peasy! You can even opt to take out a few beans at a time to thaw and keep the rest frozen to use later!
What are some of your favorite recipes with green beans or wax beans? I can’t wait to make some delicious green bean casserole!

A Better Egg {And a Breakfast Burrito Recipe}

July 19, 2016 by Emilee Evans

When it comes to food labels things just aren’t straight forward anymore. I used to think buying “Cage Free” eggs was ideal until I learned what’s really going on. “Cage Free” no longer means the hens are treated humanely or have plenty of room to live naturally. Now it simply means they’re not in a cage. They can still be overcrowded in a small building, though. Talk about disappointing!

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate my review and recipe. Regardless, all opinions are my own and those of my family.
Nellie’s used to be known for having “Cage Free” eggs, but as that definition shifted they knew they’d have to find a better description. Free range eggs. Nellie’s treats their hens humanely and are even Certified Humane. Their hens have free range to scratch, dust bathe, and have real grass to peck. They have access to antibiotic free feed and fresh water at all times. Occasionally they are kept in a barn, but only if there is an outside threat, and yet they still have plenty of room to continue chicken behavior.
The hens at Nellie’s farms are never given feed with antibiotics or hormones. They truly get to live their lives as chickens are meant to, and the result is an overall better egg! Nellie’s Free Range Eggs are packed with 13 essential vitamins and minerals, high-quality protein, “good” fats and antioxidants, and all for just 72 calories each! Plus, we can feel good knowing there aren’t things like antibiotics and hormones and the chickens are treated humanely!
Nellie’s Free Range Eggs are available at a variety of grocers. Visit their Store Locator to find Nellie’s Eggs at a grocer near you!
For our review we received two cartons of Nellie’s Eggs, a great t-shirt and other swag and a gift card with the challenge to hunt down some ingredients for a recipe. The Nellie’s eggs we received are large brown eggs.

As you may know, I’m a simple person. We have a pretty crazy life (and the past couple of months have even been crazier than usual), so I like to keep our meals simple as well. This also ensures even our picky eater will give it a try! So I decided we’d make some breakfast burritos with our Nellie’s eggs!

Breakfast Burrito Recipe

(This Breakfast Burrito Recipe yields 4 burritos)
Ingredients:
6 Nellie’s Eggs
1/3 Cup Milk
1/2 Pound of Ground Sausage (For this recipe I am using Lightlife Veggie Sausage)
1/2 TBS Coconut Oil
Pepper, Salt and Garlic Powder to taste
1 Tomato
1 Banana Pepper
4 Tortillas (Any kind will do. I used wheat, but if gluten is a concern corn tortillas would work as well)

Directions:
Add 1/2 TBS of Coconut Oil to a non-stick skillet.
Add 1/2 Pound of Ground Sausage and cook until brown making sure to break it into small pieces.
Add spices as desired.
When Sausage is cooked thoroughly, add to a large bowl.
Using the same skillet (or optionally use a different skillet), add 1/3 cup of milk and 6 Nellie’s Eggs. Mix well until eggs are thoroughly cooked and fluffy.
Add the eggs to the bowl with the sausage.
Dice the tomato and banana peppers and add to bowl.
Mix well.
Add the mix to the tortilla.
Wrap and serve!

This is a recipe the whole family loves! Having a few picky eaters in our family, though, but it easy enough to leave out the tomato and banana pepper (or even sausage) for some but mix it all up for the others. I grabbed a tomato and banana pepper straight from our garden, which was amazing!
Overall, I’m so impressed with Nellie’s Eggs. They are healthy brown eggs, and I am thrilled they are Certified Humane and really care about their hens. Plus they taste great!
To find Nellie’s Free Range Eggs near you, visit their Store Locator!

Get Connected with Nellie’s

Giveaway!

Would you like to try Nellie’s Free Range Eggs? Two winners will each receive one full product value coupon for a dozen eggs. This giveaway is open to US residents ages 18+ and ends 8/3/16.

Enter the Giveaway Here!

Gardening with the Whole Family

June 25, 2016 by Emilee Evans

Gardening for us is a family activity. Family gardening can be such a rewarding experience. I love getting the kids involved in our garden. They helped us plan our garden and get right into the hard work as well. Gardening can be a great educational experience as well as a family bonding experience.
Here are some great tips for family gardening in this guest post written by HappinessAmbassador.

Family Gardening – Gardening with the Whole Family

Some things are difficult to teach kids at a very young age, such as sustainability, the need to appreciate nature and learning how to care for the environment. But there are a myriad of activities that can help your children gain a better understanding of the great outdoors, starting with your very own garden.
Gardening is a great excuse to get the entire family to spend some quality time together, as well as grow some plants to eventually put food on the table, or simply improve your landscaping.
Earth Easy suggests children are natural gardeners, so if you ever thought that you would have a tough time bringing out their green thumbs, we’ve got you covered with these fun gardening ideas:

1) Work with plants they can easily identify and eat

Your kids may like flowers, but planting fruit and vegetables will increase their dedication to their care and growth, checking on them every day until they’re ready to be picked. Something else to keep in mind is that “children want quick results,” according to an interview on Tootsa with freelance gardener Sophy Lennon from London. So opt for plants that are easy to work with in terms of maintenance and short growth cycle. Herbs, sweet peas, and strawberries are a good place to start.

2) Give them the appropriate tools

Young gardeners need the right tools, which means child friendly and colorful. These include brightly colored gloves, a set of hand tools, a watering can, and garden markers to differentiate between their plants. Something else that might increase their excitement for this outdoor activity is a costume. Even if all of you are just wearing straw hats or bandanas, they’ll show more interest in playing the part when dressed in the proper gear, states Jennifer Chait from Inhabitots.

3) Let them design the garden

Give the kids some freedom in the garden by not only allowing to pick and plant their seeds, but also by letting them design their own garden path. Begin by handing them a twig or stick draw the layout in the soil. To outline the design, kids may use white play sand, pebbles, gravel or small stones, also allowing for some creativity in the garden.

4) Have them paint rocks that you can decorate the garden with

Ask your kids to help you collect rocks that you can paint and then place in your garden. Have everyone sit around a table with a selection of paints to color the rocks. For a fun little twist, you can tell your kids to paint the rocks according to the seeds they’re going to plant. One family outlined their strawberry garden with strawberry decorated rocks, and as an added benefit, the rocks confused animals and prevented them from eating the fruits.
By following these little tips, gardening may turn into a regular activity for family bonding!
– Written by HappinessAmbassador