Getting Ready

Since we're about to move into a new house with five kids, I've decided I don't really want to cook during that first week. When I was getting ready to give birth to my middle son, I got my act together, cleaned up my kitchen, and filled up my freezer with casseroles and other meals that we could cook later. It was so nice to not have to worry about cooking with a new baby.
Ten years and two more kids later, you'd think I'd have made freezer cooking a regular practice. Well, I haven't.
I've read plenty of blog posts about this, like this one -- all great ideas. So, I've finally got a really good reason to put common sense into practice, and I got a food processor, so here we go!
We haven't gotten a big freezer yet, so I can only make enough to fit into a regular freezer, but so far, I've got nine meals on the list.
I'm making my own chicken & dumplings along with several recipes from other sources:
Some of my favorite recipes from here: Changeling Chicken, Pork Chops and Potatoes in Mustard Sauce, Pork Tenderloin in Mushroom Sauce, and Spicy Mexican Beef and Chicken
I have a few of my own tweaks, but they're great however you fix them.
A few recipes from this book: The Sugar Smart Diet, I have the Deluxe Edition.
And a few recipes from AllRecipes.com: Sloppy Joes, Homemade Ketchup, Cream of Mushroom Soup I, and French Onion Soup.
I want to cook healthier, so I'm going to be making ketchup, chicken stock, mushroom soup, and onion soup for use in other recipes. I really like to be able to control the ingredients in my food, like sugar, salt, and artificial flavors.
So far, I've picked out my recipes and made my list. This weekend, we'll go to the stores and price the groceries on the list. Be on the lookout for updates!