
We had friends over for lunch and part of the afternoon yesterday, so by the time we got our afternoon chores and projects done, it was almost 5:30 p.m. when I finally started doing my Freezer Cooking in an Hour session.
5:30 — Open my laptop tabs to the recipes, turn on Josh Groban on iTunes and start making the Amish Baked Oatmeal. Go to melt the butter in the microwave and hear loud popping noises coming from the coils or something at the top of the microwave. Decide to forgo the microwave idea lest I catch the kitchen on fire and instead use the stovetop.
5:35 — Oatmeal is almost done and the children are already getting antsy. Give them a pre-dinner snack and hope it won’t ruin their dinner, try to remember to be calm and patient (!) and get back to work.
5:45 — Jesse calls and is on his way home from work. Must hurry so the kitchen isn’t a disaster and dinner is finished by the time he comes home. Stick the tilapia and vegetables in the oven to bake for dinner. Finish the oatmeal and start the Asian Barbecue Chicken.
5:55 — Ouch! Squeezing lime juice is not fun when you have dry, cracked hands (remind me to use lotion after washing the dishes; I always seem to forget and then pay for it later!).
6:00 — Two bags of chicken are done. The noise level in the house is rising. Must pick up the pace. Measure out the flour that I ground earlier in the day while our friends were visiting. Realize I am out of cream of tartar. Oh well. I can add it in later.
6:15 — Finally done — in less than an hour! Tidy up the kitchen quickly, pull out dinner and Jesse walks in the door — perfect timing!

The final results of my 45 minutes’ worth of work:
4 bags of Homemade Baking Mix
2 pans of Amish Baked Oatmeal
2 meal’s worth of Asian Barbecue Chicken






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