3 Moms, 3 Kitchens, 31 Days: Day 6 & 7 Meals

Tuesday's evening meal went very well. In fact, it went much better than I had expected and this is only Day 6 our our 31 day challenge.

Last Saturday I prepared a pan of meatloaf and froze it uncooked. Then Tuesday morning I boiled potatoes and mixed up a batch of mashed potatoes. These also turned out better than last time.

This time I threw in three cloves of diced garlic while the potatoes boiled. Then, after draining them, I stirred in some sour cream, a little mayonnaise, garlic powder, salt, pepper, melted butter, and a little milk. I added a little bit, mixed it, and then did a taste test. When I was finally satisfied, I placed the potatoes in a casserole dish and put it in the fridge.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I had lessons until 5 o' clock, so I put the meatloaf in the oven at 3, I set the timer for an hour and a half, and then instructed Jaden in the use of a meat thermometer. When the timer went off at 4:30, Jaden checked the temperature of the meat and put the potatoes in the oven to warm. In addition to checking the meatloaf every fifteen minutes or so until the thermometer read at least 165 degrees, Jaden also prepared some green beans.

Then, when my lesson was over at 5:15 (it went a little longer than expected), Jeff and I and the kids worked on setting the table for dinner. And by the time my student and her family shut the door to leave, we were sitting at the table ready to eat!

Perfect timing!

I thoroughly enjoyed the meal, and the rest of the family seemed to enjoy it as well. The meatloaf, although Jaden let it go a little longer than needed, was delicious—even the burned blackened parts around the edges. And the texture of the reheated potatoes reminded me of twice-baked potatoes, which I love, so I am definitely going to be making mashed potatoes ahead of time from now on.

Today, Wednesday, was a complete Yo-Yo day, so everyone fended for themselves. We all ate a variety of foods today, such as leftover French toast, cinnamon toast, peaches, cheese cubes, leftover macaroni and cheese, PB & J, turkey and pepperjack sandwiches, and leftover beans. And then, of course, we had ice cream for dessert.

Tomorrow morning I'll be making chocolate chip muffins (and freezing an extra batch), but the rest of the day we'll be Yo-Yoing again because of our Thursday evening activities.

Friday I plan to make baked ziti for dinner, and I should be able to prepare it early in the day and simply warm it up at dinner time. Hopefully that will go as well as last night's meal went.

Make sure you visit Kate's and Toni's kitchens to see what they cooked up today for our "3 Moms, 3 Kitchens, 31 Days" adventure.