Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership Review

October 12, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

*This post contains affiliate links.

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying out some great freezer cooking recipes using the MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership from MyFreezEasy. I have been freezer cooking on and off for several years. Freezer meal prep can be challenging. With the MyFreezEasy freezer cooking plan, everything is already planned for you!

I have been using the Premium Annual Membership of MyFreezEasy for this review. It is so easy to use. MyFreezEasy is perfect for beginners. There are many different options available. You can buy individual meal plans, a months worth of meal plans, or the Premium Annual Membership like I received and have access to everything on the website.

I love that the recipes have directions for eating that day, freezing directions, and how to thaw and cook when you pull it out of the freezer. For this review I put everything that I made into the freezer so I could test them. It was really hard to put some of them the freezer! They all look and smelled amazing. I tasted the ones that didn’t have raw meat in them, and they were all great!

Every month, 8 new meal plans are released. These meal plans contain all the information you need to make the meals in each plan. The recipes, shopping lists, prep lists, and more. Here are the 8 plans available each month. Each plan has 5 recipes. The plans have directions for making 2 of each recipe, or directions for just making one of each. There are also directions for serving the recipe when you are making it, and how to freeze, thaw, and cook for another day.

All 8 of these plans are available each month with new recipes in each plan. These plans are not archived on the website. If you want to save these plans, you need to save the PDFs to your computer. The recipes, however, are permanently added to the website database. If you forget to save a plan that you liked, you can make your own plan. Keep reading to see how!

The plans included the recipes, of course, lol, assembly instructions for making all the meals at the same time, and shopping lists. There are 4 shopping lists in each meal plan, a Complete Shopping List by Recipe, a Complete Shopping List by Store Section/Category, a Freezer Meal Prep Day Shopping List by Recipe, and a Freezer Meal Prep Day Shopping List by Store Section/Category. So you can choose which list works best for the way you shop. You can also print labels for the recipes in each plan that have the cooking directions on it. No need to look up the directions at the time of cooking if you use these labels.

MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership Review

Now not every plan is going to work for everyone. Families may not like all the recipes in a plan. You may have a larger, or small, family than the 4 serving recipes in each plan. Not a problem. You can use the Build Your Own Meal Plan feature on the website. The database is chocked full of recipes. You can just scroll through until you find some recipes you want to try, or you can choose one of the 19 categories first to make finding recipes easier. You can search by type of protein, cooking method, gluten free recipes, dairy free recipes, gluten free dairy free soy free recipes, and many more.

It’s very easy to build your own meal plan. You find the recipe you want to make, choose how many servings you want, 2,4,6, or 8. You then drag & drop the recipe into the box on the side of the page. The directions on the page are clear on how to do this. After you have added all the recipes you want to make at this time, you can print out your plan. It will be customized to the number of servings you selected. The website automatically updates each recipe and the shopping lists for the number of servings you selected. There is no limit on the number of plans you can you can build. You can print everything, or save the PDFs to your computer.

Here are some of the recipes I tried.

Chicken & Ranch Macaroni has a delicious ranch cheese sauce that is very easy to make. The recipe uses rotiserri chicken, but I used cooked, diced chicken breast.

This was amazing! The whole family loved it! I have one more in the freezer and we are all looking forward to eating it!

The Bolognese Sauce was very easy to make. You cook the meat and prep the veggies. I used the food processor to do the veggies.

Then I just had to add all the ingredients to the freezer bags. I stood the bags up in bowls as it makes it easier to fill the bags. They won’t tip over while you are filling them and spill the contents everywhere.

All ready for the freezer…..

And so good on top of spaghetti! The family all liked it even though it was different from our usual spaghetti sauce. Except for one son that was highly offended that I put carrots in his spaghetti sauce. lol (Ignore the large piece of carrot that made it through the food processor. lol)

As soon as I saw the recipe for Bacon Cheeseburger Nachos I knew that my family would love them. They were very easy to prepare. Cook the hamburger with some seasonings, cook the bacon, cool, and put into freezer bags.

Thaw when you are ready to serve. Then place tortilla chips on a baking sheet, top with the bacon hamburger mixture, then cheddar cheese. I will use more cheese next time as I don’t think I used enough. I didn’t measure the cheese (my bad) so I don’t think I used the right amount. Thankfully, I have another bag of this in the freezer still, because we all loved it. The meal plan uses it as a meal but I served it as an evening snack on a day that we didn’t have a big dinner.

I had never had Butter Chicken before, but it sounded good, so I tried it. It’s very easy to assemble. The raw chicken and other ingredients go in a freezer bag and into the freezer.

The day you want to have it, you dump it all in the slow cooker. So easy!

I served the Butter Chicken with rice, and peas & carrots. It’s very flavorful, and very good.

Hopefully, you aren’t tired of looking at food yet, as I have one more great dish to share with you. Chicken Fajita Bake. Again, assembly is very easy. It really couldn’t get any easier. Put the meat, seasonings, green peppers and onions in a foil pan. Cover, and freeze.

Thaw and bake according to the recipe directions. So good! I served this with rice, and a side veggie. This would taste great served on tortillas, also. I’m going to try that next time. We’ve eaten both pans of this that I put in the freezer. I will be making more, as it’s very good.

That’s just a taste of some of the great recipes available with the MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership from MyFreezEasy. And how easy it is to follow their recipes and plans. MyFreezEasy is a great tool to make your life in the kitchen so much easier. All the recipes that I tried were great. All the plan and recipe directions were well written and easy to follow. Whether you are new to freezer cooking, or have been doing it for a long time, MyFreezEasy will be a great help to you. Freezer cooking has never been easier!

You can connect with MyFreezEasy on social media:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/freezeasy
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/freezeasy
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/5dollardinners/freezeasy

To see what other homeschool moms have to say about MyFreezEasy, click the graphic below.

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

October 10, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I have been very busy in my kitchen this week. Here are a few highlights!

I pulled one of the Butter Chicken frozen meals out of the freezer and and cooked it in the slow cooker. It was our first time trying this recipe. It was good! I served it with rice, and peas & carrots.

I made a few more things for the freezer. Including Bolognese Sauce. This was a new recipe to me, and it looks like it’s going to be great! I’m serving it tomorrow on spaghetti and I’m looking forward to trying it.

Kitchen Tip: When filling freezer bags, put the bag into a bowl or large measuring cup before filling, like in the picture above.. You won’t have to struggle to hold the bad while dumping in the food. And the bag won’t fall over spilling your food everywhere.

I also prepped another new recipe for the freezer. Chicken & Ranch Macaroni. I made two pans. I tasted the sauce, and it was amazing! I let some of the family have a taste of the sauce, too. Everyone loved it!

I put both pans in the freezer, then I pulled one out Saturday to thaw and bake. It was so good! Everyone in the family agreed that we want to have this again. And again. And again. lol It’s that good!

Those three recipes are from FreezEasy, that I have been using for a review. Look for it very soon!

I also put 3 cooked chicken breasts in the freezer. I always mark the meat cooked or raw. Sometimes it’s hard to tell by looking at a frozen blob. lol

On Friday, we again had Venison Roast in the slow cooker. This time I used a mushroom soup to cook it in. My husband loves mushrooms so he really loves when I cook the roasts this way. I do not like mushrooms. They roast doesn’t have a stron mushroom taste, so I just pick off the mushroom pieces. The other mushroom haters in the family do the same.

On Saturday, I prepped food to take to church on Sunday. I made 10 pounds of mashed potatoes. That’s a lot of mashed potatoes!

I tried a new recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake. Since it was new, I made two so we could try one before I feed it to other people. lol

It was so good! Look how yummy it looks! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Last night, I made some Bacon Cheeseburger Nachos from the freezer. Well, the meat mixture was in the freezer, not the chips. I just had to put the chips on a baking sheet, top with the meat, and then some grated cheddar cheese. This recipe was another winner! And it was another recipe from FreezEasy! Thankfully, I have another bag of it in the freezer!

What have you been up to in your kitchen lately?

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Chicken & Ranch Macaroni from freezer

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Dinner at church, leftovers for supper, & Bacon Cheeseburger Nachos for a night time snack

Monday – chicken or turkey – Chicken Fajita Bake from the freezer, rice, broccoli, corn

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with bolognase sauce, salad

Wednesday – Taco Night- Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork or venison – Pork chops, oven roasted potatoes, green beans, homemade applesauce

Friday – venison – Venison roast, potatoes, & carrots in slow cooker,

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

PLAYMOBIL Children’s Hospital Playroom

October 10, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

*This post contains affiliate links

Having a child in the hospital is very difficult. My son spent a lot of time in the hospital. It’s not just hard and stressful for the parent, but for the child, also. Having a great playroom to visit during a hospital stay goes a long way towards the mental and emotional well being of a child.

Check out this great PLAYMOBIL Children’s Hospital Playroom!

(Hackensack, NJ) September 14, 2016 The Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center, a member of Hackensack Meridian Health, together with PLAYMOBIL, a leading toy manufacturer since 1974, held a special ribbon-cutting ceremony today to dedicate the new PLAYMOBIL Playroom. The playroom, dedicated to pediatric patients, is fully equipped with playsets, a life-sized PLAYMOBIL character and themed backdrops from PLAYMOBIL.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital as patients, families and team members joined with PLAYMOBIL USA members to dedicate the new play area in the outpatient area of the children’s hospital.

The Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at HackensackUMC along with PLAYMOBIL USA dedicated the PLAYMOBIL Playroom fully equipped with playsets, a life-sized PLAYMOBIL character and themed backdrops from PLAYMOBIL. Pictured from left to right: Theresa Valentino, director, Development, Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital; Robert B. Budelman, III, executive director, Individual Giving, HackensackUMC Foundation; Sarah Person, marketing manager, PLAYMOBIL USA; Colleen Kearney RN, MSN, APN, NE-BC administrative director, Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital; Mark Cohen, vice president of Sales and Marketing, PLAYMOBIL USA; Rosemarie “Ro” Sorce, vice chairwoman of the HackensackUMC Board of Governors and member of HackensackUMC Foundation Board of Trustees; Stephen Percy, M.D., acting chairman, Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital; and Jon M. Fitzgerald, president, chief development officer, HackensackUMC Foundation.

“The PLAYMOBIL Playroom will truly be a special place where our pediatric patients can play in a nice bright, vibrant atmosphere and not dwell on their medical procedures,” said Stephen Percy, M.D., acting chairman, Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at HackensackUMC.

“We are so thankful to PLAYMOBIL for the very generous donation of the play sets, life-size PLAYMOBIL figure and the colorful backdrops. It is a wonderful gift for our patients and their families to enjoy,” said Jon M. Fitzgerald, president, chief development officer, HackensackUMC Foundation.

“Our hope is that while the children are here at Hackensack University Medical Center, they have a chance to just be kids, have some fun here in this wonderful new playroom, and use their imaginations. After all, a little ‘PLAY’ goes a long way,” said Mark Cohen, vice president of Sales and Marketing for PLAYMOBIL USA.

PLAYMOBIL, Germany’s largest toy manufacturer, has been producing and distributing toys since 1974. Now PLAYMOBIL has a new Furnished Children’s Hospital (MSRP $79.99).

PLAYMOBIL now has a Children’s Hospital Playset for ages 4-10. After seeing this in person, I think that there is value in this playset for outside the stated age range. For those kids that have to be in the hospital a lot, for their siblings, and for special need kids that have to be in the hospital a lot. There are a lot of small pieces, so use great caution if using with or demonstrating for kids under 4. Removing the smaller pieces and only using the people and beds would work for 3 year olds, I think.

The playset includes nurses, doctors, exam rooms and tons of other accessories. The operating room is fully equipped with an adjustable table, tilting lights, and lots of medical instruments. The children’s ward and baby room can be reached by using the functioning elevator. There are 291 pieces included in this playset! There are so many pieces, and so many things to do within the playset, that it will keep kids occupied for hours.

My son would have loved this playset. My other kids would have loved it, too. It would have helped all of them deal with what has happening to my son. For kids, play is therapy. Kids use play to work through what is happening in their lives. I think this Children’s Hospital Playset would have helped ease my son’s nerves before procedures. We explained everything to him, but having this playset to show him what was going to happen would have helped immensely.

Visit the PLAYMOBIL website for more information about the Children’s Hospital Playset.

The PLAYMOBIL Children’s Hospital Playset is also available on Amazon.

There is also a Helipad available for the Children’s Hospital Playset.

Another great addition to this playset would be the Child in a Wheelchair set.

*Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” My opinions are my own.

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

October 3, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Our youngest daughter turned 18! Hard to believe that my baby girl is 18! I made pork chops, mashed potatoes, beets, and homemade applesauce for her birthday dinner.

And chocolate cake, of course! Complete with trick candles picked out by her younger brother. lol

Check out this chocolate cake! Want to know my secret recipe for the best chocolate cake ever? Go buy a can of Hershey’s Cocoa and follow the directions on the back for the cake and the frosting. Not much of a secret, I know. lol But it’s so good!

We are finishing up the venison my husband put in the freezer last fall. This time we had bacon wrapped venison tenderloin. The guys were practically drooling at the thought of bacon wrapped meat. lol

On Sunday, we had Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches after church. They go together quickly, and are a family favorite. We usually use provolone cheese, but any cheese will work.

I did some freezer cooking yesterday. I cooked 3 pounds of hamburger and a pound of bacon.

They became Bacon Cheeseburger Nachos. Well, the meat part that went in the freezer. The chips and cheese will be added when we are ready to eat them. The recipe is from FreezEasy. Look for my review next week!

I cooked about 5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts. About half will be turned into a recipe for the freezer tomorrow. The rest will go in the freezer just like it is for when I want cooked chicken.

I also put 5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast in the freezer raw. I like having options. lol

What have you been up to in your kitchen lately?

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- leftovers

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

Monday – chicken or turkey – Slow Cooker Butter Chicken, rice, peas and carrots

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad

Wednesday – Taco Night- Jag – a one pan rice dish

Thursday – pork or venison – Pork chops, artisan bread, broccoli, homemade applesauce

Friday – venison – Venison roast, potatoes, & carrots in slow cooker,

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

It’s Been One Crazy Summer

September 30, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Fall is now officially here and I am reflecting back over our summer.

It’s been one crazy summer!

My mother moved in with us! After being in 3 different hospitals for a total of 4 months, my mother was finally able to come home. She chose to move in with us until she was ready to go back to her home. We all get along, so that wasn’t a problem. The dynamic just changes when someone else moves into the house. She was here for almost 4 months. I’m happy to say that she has now moved back to her own house! I’m happy for her not happy she is gone! lol That was her goal. As soon as she was aware of what was going on in the hospital and starting to get better she said she wanted to go back to her own house. Here she is on her 80th birthday this summer eating her seafood feast I made for her birthday dinner.

I spent the majority of the summer driving 3 kids to work. At three different places. All working different hours. In 2 different towns! I felt like I was living in my car! lol

One daughter, Hannah, saved enough money and bought her own car this summer. So now she drives herself to work. Which is awesome because she is the one that worked in another town about 30 minutes away.

The 17 year old girl quit her waitressing job, so I didn’t have to drive her anymore. My son, unfortunately, fell and broke his leg. His work laid him off since you can’t work in a factory with a broken leg. 🙁 I’m happy to report he is leg has healed, and he is currently looking for a job. He did get his van running before he had to stop working. So I will only have to drive him to the new job for a couple of weeks until he can get insurance on it again. Even though he had a broken leg, he still helped us set up the huge clothes giveaway at church.

We had a litter of 3 kittens and a litter of 3 puppies born about 24 hours apart! May 17th and May 18th. My kids were so happy! They love when the animals have babies. It got a little crazy in the house though. (If crazier is possible!)

Our cats have always been outdoor cats, except when they have kittens. (Sorry for the blurry pic. One of the kids took it, and it’s the only pic I have) Then they get to stay in the house for about a month. They love it! lol And so do the kids. Mama kitty has to round up her kittens when she wants to feed them, as the kids are always holding the kittens.

Piper, the mama dog, was very unappreciative of the cat being near her puppies. This sometimes led to a little fighting. Mama kitty always won. lol Piper doesn’t like getting her nose scratched. lol

I worked in the kitchen for Vacation Bible School at our church. That’s a lot of food to prepare. We served Nachos one night. This is just some of the bowls of nachos.

We even made a 12 foot ice cream sundae on the last night!

My youngest son went to two different camps this summer. He went to Kung Fu camp put on by his Kung Fu instructor. He was gone from Monday to Thursday afternoon, and had a great time. The next week he was home, before leaving the following week for church camp. He was gone from Monday to Friday afternoon. He turned 16 while at church camp!

He always has a great time at both those camps. This was his 2nd year at Kung Fu camp and his 5th year at church camp. As soon as he gets home, he’s talking about going back next year.

We, meaning he, kept homeschooling all summer. Well, except for the 2 weeks he was gone to camp.

To end the summer with some additional craziness, he got his drivers license permit! We survived teaching his 5 older siblings how to drive. I hope we can survive him! lol He and I have laughed so much over this picture. I happened to take this picture at just the right moment, after the flash from the official camera went off. His picture on his permit came out good, but this one is just hilarious. lol

So after a very busy, very crazy summer, with 90 degree temps the whole summer, I’m ready for fall!

How about you, did you have a good or crazy summer? Are you ready for fall, too?

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

September 26, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I’ve been using FreezEasy the last couple of weeks for a review. I’ve made a few things for the freezer so far. I pulled out one of the dishes last week to cook. Chicken Fajita Bake. It was so good! I served it with rice and green beans. The family loved it! This one will definitely be in our meal rotation. Look for my review of FreezEasy coming soon.

There was a little bit left, so I made up to meals for my adult son to take home.

My 17 (18 in a few days!!) year old daughter saw a recipe on FB that she wanted to try. Nacho Cheese Chip Chicken Strips. She made them, and I made the sides. They came out pretty good. The house was divided. Some liked it, some didn’t. I liked them. They were not good as leftovers, though. The chips got all soggy and didn’t crisp up again during reheating in the oven.

She crushed the chips with her bare hands because that’s what she saw in the video. lol She asked me to crush some more chips while she was in the middle of coating the chicken. So I just jumped in with my bare hands, too. That’s a great way to end up with orange hands for a while! lol

I bought some chicken, legs & thighs, and some pork chops on sale. I packaged them for the freezer. I got three meals of chicken, 2 BBQ and 1 Italian chicken. I got 2 pork chop meals, 1 plain and 1 Italian pork chops.

Want to know my “secret” to the Italian chicken & pork chops? Italian salad dressing! I know, not much of a secret. But it works really well as a marinade for meat.

I got up one morning last week and decided to make french toast. Which is very unlike me. I don’t like to cook breakfast, and do it rarely. I made extra and put it in the freezer for quick breakfasts in the future. That’s my kind of breakfast. lol Pull it out of the freezer and warm it up. lol I always put waxed paper between the layers of french toast inside a freezer bag. That way we can pull out just the number of pieces that we need.

We had a cookout last weekend and my daughter made a fruit and veggie platter. It looks pretty and tastes pretty good!

We love having cookouts, but they can be a lot of work. Especially at the last minute. Grabbing everything from the fridge. Then it always seems we forget something have have to come back inside for it.

This time, I tried making up baskets ahead of time. This is the fridge basket. I put all the things that we would need at the cookout but have to stay in the fridge until right before eating. The mayonnaise, the cheese, the ranch dip, etc. I included the hot dogs, since they don’t take long to cook. The hamburgers were put on the fire first, before this basket was brought out.

I like to leave the s’mores ingredients in the house until we are ready for it. If I don’t, the chocolate always melts in the Kentucky heat and humidity. So I made a s’mores basket.

This basket idea worked great! If you are having a cookout, check out my post How to Prepare for a Large Cookout. You’ll find ideas, tips, and recipes to help you get ready for your next cookout. Whether your having 2 guests or 20!

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Saturday – quick & easy- Cookout!

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Cookout leftovers!

Monday – chicken or turkey – Smoked sausage, macaroni salad, salad – Still finishing up those cook out leftovers! lol

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad

Wednesday – Taco Night- Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork or venison – Italian Pork chops, mashed potatoes, beets, homemade applesauce

Friday – venison – Venison roast, potatoes, & carrots in slow cooker,

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

Taco Roll Ups

September 23, 2016 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Taco Roll Ups are easy to make and make ordinary tacos something special. These Taco Roll Ups are perfect for lunch or supper. Or even for a filling snack. They would make a great family movie dinner or snack. So much easier to eat these in front of the tv than a taco.

Taco Roll Ups Recipe

1 to 2 cups of seasoned taco meat

1 can of pinto beans OR a can of refried beans

1 tomato, finely diced

1/2 purple onion, finely diced OR 2 or 3 green onions, thinly sliced

lettuce, whole leaves or finely shredded, your choice

Grated Mexican style cheese OR grated cheddar cheese

5 or 6 flour tortillas

sour cream, optional

Prep the tomato, onions, and lettuce.

Drain pinto beans well. Pour into bowl & mash with potato masher or fork. Season to taste with salt, pepper, possibly onion powder & garlic powder if you like.

Or skip all that if you use the refried beans. In which case, just open the can.

Lay tortillas out. Spread each with a thin layer of beans. Top with the meat, veggies, and cheese. You don’t need a complete layer of these items. Just sprinkle them around the tortilla. Except the cheese. You always need lots of cheese.