It's Potato Day!

Wow.......4:30 sure comes EARLY!!  For some reason, the kiddos cannot sleep past 4:30 AM.  They are up, lights on, playing in their room, and ready for the day!  I'm sure it has something to do with the time change, but even so, that would mean it's "really" only 5:30, and they didn't even used to get up that early!  I'm really not sure what's going on, but I sure hope (and pray!) this doesn't last long!!!

Ahhhh.....anyway, since I'm up early, that means I can get more done, right?!  (Oh, which, by the way....Miss Anna is a sleeping gem!!  She's just 10 weeks old, and for the past week, she has been sleeping from, about, 7:30 pm until around 4 or 5 am!!  9-10 hours straight!  Goooooo Anna!  Plus, I nursed her around 4:30 this morning when the kids got up and she's back down sleeping again!  I've completely stopped swaddling her, too, and she's now sucking on her fingers to soothe herself back to sleep!  This girl is amazing.)

Alright, so on to my Potato Day!



Today I will be doing some FREEZER potato recipes.  In the past, I have to admit, that I never really thought freezing potatoes would work, but after much research, I have found that if you do it the right way, it CAN be done!!

So, here's what I hope to get accomplished today:

1.  Prep and peel, at least, 90% of the potatoes.  (Can I just say that I REALLY dislike peeling potatoes.....plus, I feel like I'm taking away all the vitamins and nutrients!!)

2.  Roast Squash (read on--you'll see why)

3.  Make Panera's Cream Cheese Potato Soup  (Recipe HERE)  This soup is DELICIOUS!!

4.  While the soup is going, I'll start on Marbled Mashed Potatoes.  (Recipe HERE)  I just found this recipe last night, but it is so intriguing to me, because it includes squash--I LOVE squash!  In fact, over the weekend we ventured out to a Grocery Outlet and found squash (of ANY size!) for 50 cents each!!!  The best deal I've found on squash is about $1.00/pound, so 50 cents/each was a STEAL!!  It's called Marbled, because of the different colors of the squash and the potato, but the squash I'm using is actually a light, white color:

I believe these are called Sweet Dumpling Squash, and I'm using them, in hopes that I can easily incorporate them into this side dish and not have the kids know it's in there!!  :-)

5.  Then, THESE Freezer Mashed Potatoes, but, instead of cooking the potatoes in the crockpot (my Pot Roast will be in there for dinner tonight!), I'm just going to boil them on the stove.

6.  And, last but not least, I'll be making good 'ol regular mashed potatoes (with butter and cream), and I'll be scooping them into muffin tins.  I'll then pop the tins in the freezer until the potatoes are good and frozen, then I'll bag them up in freezer bags in their cute individual portions!  That way, whenever mashed potatoes fall on the Menu Plan, I can just pull out as many portions as I think we'll need!

I'm also hoping to get THESE French Bread Rolls done!!!

Is this too hefty of a load, while taking care of 2 toddlers , a newborn----AND all my SAHM duties?!  Only time will tell.......I'll post tonight how it all went!!

Here's to the great potato.......

Potatoes

As a loss leader, Safeway has TEN POUND bags of potatoes on sale for .98 cents!!!

I couldn't help myself, so I bought 2 bags!!

Now.........what am I going to do with 20 pounds of potatoes, you ask?!?!

Check back with me tomorrow and you'll find out!!!  :-)

Tip Tuesday

I've been meaning to post this tip for WEEKS!!  I'm just now getting around to it.



Check out THIS link to Fabulessly Frugal and read through her entire post.

Pinching Your Pennies has a great way to show you exactly the items that are the BEST deals, the not so best deals, and the best STOCK UP deals!!  PYP does all the work for you!  Just click your store and get your list!

Read through the post and she'll walk you through the entire steps.  It's super easy and will make your shopping trips so much easier!

Thanks for the tip, Melissa!!

My 3 Amigos on Halloween

Luke--The Monkey

Anna--The Pumpkin

Ava--The Princess

Menu Plan Monday

I'm in awe of how quickly the weekends pass.  I'm also in awe of the fact that it's NOVEMBER!!  I honestly don't know how that's possible!  Time is truly flying by and I want it to SLOW DOWN!!

It was a great, busy weekend.......A few highlights:  1.  Ava attended her first "classmate" birthday party on Friday morning.  It was a darling little birthday party and Ava did so well!  They were even generous enough to include Luke in on all the festivities!  They both enjoyed themselves immensely.  2.  Halloween was a fun, exciting day for all.  There's a downtown trick-or-treating event, here, on the Island for all the kids, so we attended that for the second year.  They got tons of loot and had so much fun!  (So did Mom and Dad!!)  We then had dinner at my In-laws that evening.  It was a fun day!  I'll try to post a few pictures soon.  3.  Yesterday we took a drive and just enjoyed our time together as a family.  We did some "sightseeing" around the area and threw in  some errands here and there.  We ended the night doing a "baking" project:  Rice Krispies Treats.

The kids had a pretty hard time with the time-change, and I have a feeling they won't get used to it for a little while.  Luke was up at about 4:30 Sunday morning and Ava wasn't far behind him.......I really don't feel like we gained an hour at all!!!

This week I am going to try, TRY, to start potty-training Luke.  He seems very interested, sits on the potty all the time, and talks about it all the time, so I thought this week would be good, given that we don't have much else planned.  I hear that potty-training a boy is a little bit different, and sometimes more difficult.....so.......here's to a good, hefty try!!

Well, here we are at Monday, again, so here's what I have planned:

Monday--Honey Baked Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Fried Cabbage

Tuesday--Homemade Minestrone Soup, Buttery Rolls, Apple slices

Wednesday--Pot Roast with carrots, onions, and potatoes, served with Roasted Butternut Squash

Thursday--Crockpot Stew (using leftover Pot Roast), French Bread Rolls


Friday--Bourban Street Chicken, Sticky Rice, Veggies (carry-over from last week)

For more menu planning ideas, check out I'm An Organizing Junkie!!

Have a blessed week!!