December Freezer Meal Menu

Freezer meals are a quick and easy way to get dinner on the table with very little effort and is much healthier than fast food. All meals will feed 4-6 people.

Please place your order via email kris.murphy@yahoo.com or facebook message by November 29. Meals will be ready by December 9 and can be picked up at my home in Cedar Springs anytime that week or delivered to you for a small delivery fee (unless I am meeting you someplace I will already be at). 

If you have any questions about any of the meals or have special requests (ie: package in smaller portions, omission of ingredients, etc...) or if there are dishes you would like to see in the future, please let me know.

Shepherd's Pie -- $18

Fluffy mashed potatoes top savory beef and vegetables smothered in a Guinness gravy. This hearty meal that is perfect for cold winter nights. 

Cheesy Ham & Potato Casserole -- $16

Baby it's cold outside... warm up with some cheesy goodness. This ham & potato casserole features cubes of potatoes and ham mixed with a cream sauce made from cheese, sour cream, mushroom soup, onion and a secret ingredient. This is one of my family's favorite casseroles. 

Chicken Pot Pie -- $14

Comfort food at its best. This chicken pot pie is made with all white meat chicken, peas, carrots and pearl onions mixed with chicken gravy and placed in a flaky pie crust.

Oatmeal Breakfast Pie -- $10
Wake up Christmas morning to breakfast already made. Oatmeal Breakfast Pie is made with oatmeal, eggs, milk, apples and raisins and is topped with brown sugar and baked. All you need to do is spoon it into a bowl, microwave it and add a splash of milk. 

December is a busy month, be party and potluck ready with pre-made dips.

Cannoli Cheese Ball -- $15

Leave the gun, take the cannoli... Be the wiseguy at the party with this cannoli cheese ball that tastes just like cannoli filling and is coated in chocolate chips. 

Red Velvet Cheese Ball -- $15

This festive and sweet red velvet cheese ball tastes like red velvet cake and is coated in chocolate chips. 

Spinach & Artichoke Dip -- $15

This warm dip is a great appetizer at any party. All you need to do is thaw and heat in a mini crock pot.

Pizza Dip -- $15

Who doesn't love pizza? This dip is made with three different cheeses and tastes just like pepperoni pizza. 

November Freezer Meal Menu

Freezer meals are a quick and easy way to get dinner on the table with very little effort and is much healthier than fast food. All meals will feed 4-6 people.

Please place your order via email kris.murphy@yahoo.com or facebook message by November 1. Meals will be ready by November 11 and can be picked up at my home in Cedar Springs anytime that week or delivered to you for a small delivery fee (unless I am meeting you someplace I will already be at). 

If you have any questions about any of the meals or have special requests (ie: package in smaller portions, omission of ingredients, etc...) or if there are dishes you would like to see in the future, please let me know.

Baked Ziti -- $14
This Italian favorite is made with pasta in a marinara sauce and can be ordered with or without ground beef and is topped in creamy mozzarella cheese. All you need to do is thaw and pop it in the oven. I like to serve it with a salad and garlic bread.

Baked Chicken with Cranberry Stuffing -- $18
Sample Thanksgiving early with boneless skinless chicken breast smothered in a cream sauce and baked with homemade cranberry stuffing made with herb seasoned and corn bread stuffing, dried cranberries, celery, onion, garlic and chicken broth.

Chicken Pot Pie -- $14
Comfort food at its best. This chicken pot pie is made with all white meat chicken, peas, carrots and pearl onions mixed with chicken gravy and placed in a flaky pie crust.

Butternut Squash Soup -- $8/qt. or $15/2 qts.
Warm savory fall flavors are what you will find in this soup. Butternut squash, potatoes, apples, onions, chicken or vegetable broth, pumpkin pie spices, salt and pepper all pureed together in this creamy and healthy soup that is perfect for a crisp fall day.

Oatmeal Breakfast Pie -- $10
Wake up to breakfast already made. Oatmeal Breakfast Pie is made with oatmeal, eggs, milk, apples and raisins and is topped with brown sugar and baked. All you need to do is spoon it into a bowl, microwave it and add a splash of milk. An energizing combination of carbohydrates and proteins with a punch of fruity sweetness will get your day started off on the right foot.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins -- $6/half dozen or $10/dozen
These rich dense muffins are great for breakfast, a snack, or for dessert and are made with real pumpkin, spices and semi sweet chocolate chips. 

Edible Bird House

Every Christmas my little lords and ladies and I make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, but  why only do this fun edible activity at Christmas time? By eliminating one wall and adding a peep, which can be found all over the place this time of year, you can turn a gingerbread house into a bird house to welcome spring.

Most of the items needed to create these fun little habitats are common household items and don't take a lot of advanced prep. All you need are:
- Graham Crackers
- White Frosting
- Cookie Icing (optional -- you could easily use frosting and a piping bag)
- Sprinkles and/or colored sugar
- Jelly Beans or other candies
- Peeps

Each house uses 3 graham crackers broken in half to make 6 squares.  Using a butter knife, add a good amount of frosting to the sides of the graham crackers to stick the house together. Let the frosting dry for a few minutes. And don't forget, bird houses come in all shapes and sizes, so if your house ends up looking more like a cube than a house shape, that's ok. 

Once the frosting has had a few minutes to dry, pipe frosting onto the roof of the house and decorate with sprinkles and candy. The jelly beans reminded us of colorful Easter eggs. 

Place the Peep inside to add an occupant to your humble, but colorful abode. 

Sharpe Mugs

Coffee, tea and hot chocolate go over well in our house. And making custom mugs to drink from is a lot of fun. 

For this craft all you need is a plain white mug, some sharpie markers and an oven. 

My princesses get extra excited to make these mugs because they get to use the forbidden markers. 

Once my princesses are finished coloring on the mug, place the mugs on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then let them cool. The baking process will bake the marker onto the mug, making it permanent.

This project is great for a snow day or to give as a special gift.  

"Find It" Ornament

One of my Lords and Ladies favorite quiet games is called "Find It". It's basically a clear tube filled with tiny plastic beads that hide objects. The goal is to find all of the objects. We decided it would be fun to make our own version of this game using a large clear plastic Christmas ornament. 

To start gather as many small objects as you can find to hide in the ornament. Since this is a Christmas themed game, we decided to use rice to hide the objects to give the illusion of snow. Also, make sure you use a plastic ornament. Since this game is hands on, there is a chance it could shatter if you use glass. 

Pour a small amount of rice into the ornament and then add a couple of the objects. Keep layering the rice and objects until the ornament is mostly full. You don't want to fill it up too much, you want to be able to move the rice around. 

Once the ornament is full, use a little hot glue to glue the top of the ornament on and then start playing.

Caution: this ornament may be too heavy to hang on a tree. But since it's so much fun to play with it won't spend much time there anyway. 

Hand & Foot Print Christmas Crafts

What can I say, I am a sucker for hand print crafts. I love nothing more than to go back through the years and see how tiny my princesses hands used to be. 

This year my Lords and Ladies are making several hand print crafts to give to their parents for Christmas. Below are a couple of the crafts we have been working on. 

Hand Print Christmas Tree

To make this craft, we used a 16x20 canvas and some acrylic paint. 

I brushed green paint onto their hands, starting with the oldest Lord or Lady. 

Then we placed their hands in a pyramid shape creating the look of a Christmas tree.

Once the hand prints dried, we painted a star at the top and painted red circles for ornaments.

Hand Print Ornaments

For this craft we used a clear glass ball ornament and some acrylic paint. 

First I painted my princess's hand and then placed her hand on the glass ball to leave the hand print. 

Once the paint was dry I then placed a piece of tulle inside the ball to give it some color. 

Mistletoes Foot Prints 

This craft is great for younger Lords and Ladies who sometimes have a hard time with the hand print crafts. 

I used a piece of card stock, and printed "Mistletoes" on the bottom. You can hand write this, but my handwriting isn't as fabulous. 

We painted this little Lady's feet with green acrylic paint, and then left her foot prints on the paper in a V shape with the heels touching. 

Once the paint dried, I hot glued some embellishments I picked up at the craft store onto the picture. Then I placed it in an 8x10 picture frame. 

All three of these crafts make great personal Christmas gifts that can be enjoyed for years to come. 

Cinnamon Ornaments

The two smells I associate with Christmas are cinnamon and pine. It seems only natural to combine the two with these incredibly easy to make cinnamon ornaments. You probably even already have the supplies to make them in you house. 

Items needed:

- 1 Cup Applesauce

- 1 1/4 Cup Cinnamon

- 1 Tbsp Ground Cloves

- Ribbon

Mix the applesauce, cinnamon and cloves in a large mixing bowl with a spoon until it becomes a nice dough.

Sprinkle some cinnamon on the counter and on the rolling pin to prevent the dough from sticking. Place the ball of dough on the counter and roll it out. 

Use cookie cutters to cut shapes in the dough. 

Using a straw to cut a hole in the ornament so it can be hung on the Christmas tree.

Bake at 200 degrees for 2 hours. Your house will smell amazing even hours after the ornaments have finished baking. 

Once the ornaments are cool, string 4-5 inches of ribbon through the hole and place on the Christmas tree.