Meal Planning

I just began the meal planning process of freezing 2 weeks of meals at a time. It's actually not even for me but for my brother who hired me to make his meals and do his grocery shopping for him so he can focus on other things and eat healthier and better than eating out. I've had a lot of people ask me how I do it and what meals I make so I'll share with you this section of meals I made for this 2 week period. I don't do every 2 weeks the same. Because that would be boring to keep eating the same stuff every single week...although I could totally do that! My method is that I choose 7 meals/dinners and I make each one twice so that for two weeks the meals are the same for each day of the week. My brother was having too many meals left over because he is often gone on the weekends so this time around I only did 12 meals/ 6 different meals..They are:
1. Grilled Chicken Breast/ Rice with black and red beans/Asparagus
2. Grilled Chicken Breast/Sweet Potato Mash/Broccoli
3. Meat Loaf/ Sweet potato Mash
4. Salmon Foil packs
5. Steak/Asparagus/Sweet potato mash
6. Jambalaya Type of Meal (Don't know what it's called)

These are the meals that my brother picked out and I made each meal up in a foil pan and covered it with foil and stacked it in the freezer. So when it was all said and done, he had 12 pans stacked in his freezer that he could just take out the night before and put it the fridge to thaw and then microwave it. Keeping the same sides makes it easier to meal plan because then you just need to make a big batch of it and then measure it out. He also wanted to me count the calories of each meal and the protein count which took a lot more time than it normally takes me to plan.

My "helper" She likes eating all of the meals. She tells me "just a little bit mom," 

Some of the many groceries it took!

Foil Packets...the easiest meal ever! 6 stalks of asparagus...top with Salmon...season with salt, pepper, and garlic. Place 2 slices of lemon on top and 1 TBS of butter and 6 cherry tomatoes. Fold up and freeze. When you want to eat it place it on a pan seam of the foil side up and bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes. 

This is the steak meal. It looks worse than it tastes. Lol it tastes so amazing! The sweet potato mash is my new favorite thing! I just boiled potatoes then drained the water...add as much butter as you want and mash. Add salt, pepper and garlic to taste!

I didn't take a pic of the Jambalaya stuff I made but here is the recipe

4 Polish sausage links

1 14 0z can of black beans

1 14 oz can of red kidney beans

1 can of chopped chili and tomato

2 C white rice

4 C chicken broth

Cut the sausage up in bite sized pieces and fry in some coconut oil until browned. Make sure you're using a saute pan. Add rest of ingredients and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium low heat until rice is cooked. Serves 6

This dish is so easy and so so good! But if you're watching carbs...this isn't the meal for you. I also make his breakfasts which is sautéing a 1/4 of an onion in coconut oil until browned and soft. Add 1/2 of a small zucchini chopped in bite size pieces. Add 1 breakfast sausage link chopped up ( I like to get mine at Aldi that don't have any junk in them) In a separate bowl while that is cooking scramble up 5 eggs. Once mixture in pan is cooked and zucchini is soft add the eggs..season and cook until done. Super delicious...600 calories and 46.5 Grams of protein :) 

I put the breakfasts in quart sized freezer bags and laid them flat to freeze for easy storing space. 

Hope this helps you moms out there a little with some meal planning for yourself. I browse pinterest a lot for meals to cook and that freeze well. Stay tuned for the next meal planning trip! 

Until next time.....Janel

Lessons I Learned From Grieving

Zoe's home going anniversary was yesterday and so due to that event I have been thinking about all the different stages of grief that I experienced and things that no one ever told me about grief. Or maybe they did but I wasn't listening Here are a few things that happened to me and some things that I learned going through this loss.
1. Nothing in life prepares you for losing a child. Especially your first.
I had experienced deep grief when I lost my older brother Joseph in a gun accident...but it didn't even compare to the loss of losing your own child. I have such a deeper respect for my mom for going through that. The pain is so intense that it is literally a physical pain that hurts so bad!
2. I got angry...So angry...and on the outside you would have never guessed this. I was holding it together on the outside and I would smile but I was torn up. Every time I saw a newborn I would have a pity party inside and say it wasn't fair. Why did they get a child and not me? I often wanted to go up to people and tell them to cherish every moment with their miracle because I had to live without mine. I got so angry I even had the audacity to say that I hated God. I know it was horrible...but during this stage, I didn't care, I just wanted my baby back. I will forever love my sister for telling me that God understood that I hated Him and that He was still there for me and He still loved me. I am so thankful for her saying that and not telling me how wicked I was for thinking that.
3. I got sad....The anger stage passed and then the overwhelming sadness came. I would cry all day and night. People on social media would complain of sleepless nights with their children/babies and all I could think of was I wish I was going through that. I had many sleepless nights crying to hold my baby. My body was physically broken and healing post partum took me months...I just wished that my sleepless nights were from having a child, not from the lack of.
4. People mean well...this was a hard lesson for me to learn. People always mean well and I had to play this sentence on repeat in my head....the day I finally had the courage to go back to church and face everyone who when I had saw them last I was 9 months pregnant and excited about my first child, a lady in my church (she meant well) asked me when I was going to have another baby. I literally couldn't speak...I had no words. When someone goes through such a devastating loss...don't say anything. A touch....or a note saying you will be there for them are some of the things that I appreciated later...I didn't appreciate anything at the time. Everything just made me upset. But words once said cannot be unsaid. I cannot tell you how many times people would tell me they understood what I was going through because they had a miscarriage. A grieving mom does not want to hear that by the way. I have had miscarriages too and it is NOT the same. I just smiled and nodded my head because once again, I had no words.
5. You live life by the minute not by the day....When I first lost Zoe, I couldn't even physically think about the next day...I had to just get through the next minute...then the hour...then the day. The future was bleak and dark and I didn't want to think about it.
6. I seriously contemplated suicide.... I debated whether or not to write this one down because I feel like some people will think that I am less of a person for thinking this, but it is one of the 7 stages of grief and it was one I went through. I honestly was so depressed and didn't want to move on that this was a real thought. It's terrible but a very common stage of grief. If you know someone going through a loss...write them a note....send a gift...let them know you're there. Even if at the time it makes that person mad..in time it is the thing that means the most. I still have all the letters that people wrote to me during that difficult time. I pull them out and read the encouraging words when I am having a rough day.
7. Life goes on....Another really hard lesson for me. I didn't want life to go on, I didn't want to have fun and enjoy life. I didn't want to get better....but life happens and it does move on and I had two choices...1. Stay bitter...stay angry...or 2. Let go...and find enjoyment with life again.
     I chose the latter. It was tough letting go...but it had to happen. God knew what He was doing in taking my child and I had to accept it and move on. Moving on doesn't mean I don't miss her every day...or that I didn't cry every morning when I woke up without her and every night before I went to bed because I didn't have her to hold. Moving on for me meant accepting the fact that there was nothing I could do to bring her back and she was in a far better place than I was down here. Moving on meant that I knew that some day I could think about my Zoe and smile instead of cry. Moving on meant that I knew that I would see her again and that I need to LIVE my life not just survive....and that is what kept me going...knowing that I have hope that I WILL see my daughter again. I am a saved...child of God and one day when I leave this earth I will be reunited with my daughter and more importantly my Saviour...and that, my friends...is what it's all about.

Until next time.....Janel