Jeni Is Busy in the Kitchen

Those who know me know that I always store up frozen meals at the approach of a new baby. This time I went beyond that, thanks to my mother's prodding and my own sometimes obsessive nature.

First, I made (at my mother's insistence) a four-week meal plan. Each week is printed on a different color paper, and a corresponding grocery list is made up and printed on the same color paper (because of my obsessiveness).

On three of the days in the week, the plan says either "A" or frozen meal, which is great in theory, but I had to have frozen meals to use. You'll remember that my extra freezer died this summer, so I'm starting from nothing.

Thus far I've made cheesy chicken tenders, chicken enchiladas, and manicotti. I also made up brownie mix, quick mix, and hearty soup mix, plus I've got the ingredients for hot chocolate mix. I've also made my sister buy me enough pork loin for 12 meals because it was on sale and I couldn't get to the store. Next week, the plan is to make 2 more meals and another mix. I am making six of every meal, and we are eating one the night that I make it.

I also still need to make a bunch of pizza dough to freeze, and if tomorrow unfolds as I wish it to, some of it will be done then.