I Stink At Post Titles...

...Well at least for this one, being the first post and all.
To tell you the truth I'm not even sure why I decided to start a blog...it’s not like I have a ton of time on my hands.  As I was in the middle of typing just this first part I had to go chasing after my son to save him from the dangers of electronics and the tile floor. :-)

I could use Facebook to share what I want...or document it in pictures on Instagram (I'll leave that to the hubby...he just got an account and is so into it.) But no one wants to read a super long post on Facebook, a picture can't always say everything I want it to...and I haven't touched Twitter in a long time.  Seriously...limit me to 140 characters...LOL yeah ok.

So as I sit here drinking my Cinnabon flavored coffee (yum) and listen to the rain and my son play, I'm contemplating what to post.  The blog is titled The Wyatts: Doing Life Big.  So what grand event should I talk about, what activity should I share? Should it be humorous? Should it be serious?  Should it just be about life in general? 

Yes...in time all of that will be touched.  Sometimes this might be about something funny my kids do (all three of them are absolute hilarious) sometimes it might be something I learn in the wee hours of the morning during my alone time with God.  Sometimes it might be something BIG, and other times it might be something simple.  Doing life BIG doesn't mean we are constantly trying to one up what we did before, or doing something better than someone else.  We're not trying to keep up with the Jones...we're just trying to be us...who God created us to be, and enjoy the gifts, talents, and life He has given us.

So today's big thing is pretty huge...Cheeseburger Soup.

Yep Cheeseburger Soup.  One of the many meals I have some what prepped in preparation for school to start.  

Being a mom of three now is a new adventure.  Having school age kids and a baby is a crazy circus sometimes. Trying to get dinner going some nights is tough.  I'm tired, I'm just done.  So decided to get into the whole meal prepping deal...you know 40 meals in 4 hours.  I was determined to do this!  Then I read a blog that said their potatoes turned black, the veggies tasted rubbery, and all around just wasn't good.  So between that, and Gordon Ramsey gagging over food that had been frozen (if you have watched any of his shows you have seen him be absolutely disgusted by thawed out frozen food) I decided to do a minimalist approach to it.

I separated all the meats that I had into individual freezer bags and wrote on the bag what meal it was for.  That's it, and it has honestly saved me time.  

So for the Cheeseburger Soup, all I did was pull out two 1 lb. bags of precooked ground turkey to defrost.  The meat doesn't go in until the last hour of cooking so it’s no big rush on it.

What does go into the crockpot first is a bag of shredded carrots, about five small russet potatoes, peeled and chopped, 32 oz. of chicken stock, a tsp of basil, and a tsp of parsley.  You can let this cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  In the last hour of cooking you add in the meat and 16 oz. of Velveeta cheese.  

Then, serve it up!  We like to have toasted Hawaiian bread with ours.

Now for you money crunchers out there (like me) I added up the cost of everything and how much per serving it was. By adding two pounds of meat instead of one, like the original recipe calls for, we got 10 servings out of the meal, which made the meal $1.30 per serving, just coming in a little over 10 dollars for the whole meal!  I am loving this!  That is not a bad deal at all.  

This will make a great back to school dinner; its hearty, its yummy, and kid approved.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

So that's how the Wyatts are living it big this week: dinner meal prep.  

For the original Cheeseburger recipe, you can go to this link and check it out: http://life-in-the-lofthouse.com/crock-pot-cheeseburger-soup/
She actually has pictures...unlike me who completely forgot!