Family of 6... Crockpot Marinara Spaghetti Sauce

Being a family of 6 has been easier than I thought. Deacon has just folded right into our family.  He and Grace hang well together so he is doing well on what already was her schedule.  There has been some
shuffling and reorganizing but overall it has been good (sidebar: I understand that this could change at any minute. We have only been together for 5 months so I expect the floor to drop at some point).

One BIG thing that I wasn't expecting was how much our family eats.  I definitely have had to increase the quantity of food that I make.  I think part of it is the other kids are going through growth spurts but Deacon likes to eat.  All of my kids (except the older boy who will remain nameless) are pretty good eaters.  They like food and food generally likes them.

I have looked for ways to make our food more healthy and also for ways to save money on our grocery budget. I recently read "7" by Jen Hatmaker.  I totally want to do several things in the book (if not try the entire "7" concept but later...).  She helped me re-recognize the products that are in our food, the good stuff and the bad stuff.  I had gotten into a rut of "easy" with some of our foods but on some of the other foods, we were okay.

One thing that I have been doing is making my own spaghetti/marinara sauce.  It was a recipe that I found on Pinterest.  It worked really well the first time and I just finished a second batch yesterday.  I am able to freeze the sauce so each batch gives us quite a bit.  This time I got 5 "jars" out of the batch.  And it only cost $8!  The sweet part about this is that it is made in the crockpot!

Ashley's Crockpot Marinara/Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients:
4 cans - 28oz each tomatoes (can be diced, stewed, whole, crushed)
3 cans - 6 oz tomato paste
1 cup onion - diced (I use frozen diced)
3-4 cloves garlic (I used roasted garlic this time)
3-4 bay leaves (make sure to pull these out when done)
2 tbl dried basil
2 tbl dried oregano
2 tbl sugar
2 tbl balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Put all ingredients in crockpot. Stir.  Let cook for 8 hours.  Let sauce cool (I put mine in the fridge overnight).  Once sauce is cool, run it through the blender.  (We don't like chunky sauce in our house. If you like it chunky, you can omit this step.) Make sure to pull out your bay leaves before you blend.  Then ladle or pour 2.5 to 3 cups of sauce into a  quart freezer z*ploc bag.  Squeeze out the air then lay them flat in your freezer. When ready to use, set out your sauce for an hour or sauce to let it thaw. Then use like usual.  This recipe will get you 5 almost 3 cup bags.

You can make this your own by adjusting the herbs, sugar, or vinegar.  The prep and finish time is about 20 minutes max.  The crockpot does all the work for you!

Hope you enjoy it!

the blizzard that didn't show up

We have been hearing for days about a blizzard that was coming our way.  Sadly, we didn't get much of anything. It rained most of the day yesterday then around 5:30 it started to snow.  There wasn't much accumulation but the schools closed down anyway.  The snow was already melting away this morning and the roads are clear.  The kids were up early (because the never sleep in past 7:30) and we were in our snow gear and outside by 8:30.  Deacon wasn't sure what to think.  He was happy, sad, scared, then cold.  The bigs loved the little bit of snow we got and played as much as they could.  Hot chocolate warmed everyone up and the obligatory snow day playing is done.  

The crew before the playing began 

Deacon not liking the snow 

Snow sliding seemed to be the most fun 

Grace 

Cannon trying to make a snow angel 

Heading to the backyard 

A little bit of snow enjoyment

Happy Balentime's Day

Getting our Baletime's (as Grace says) ready this weekend for the big day coming up on Thursday!

Happy Valentine's Day from us!

the talking has started....

This week has been a big week for Deacon. He is really starting to talk and is putting entire sentences together.  After being home just 3 months, I am excited that his language is taking off. He is so different from Grace with language.  It's definitely brought some fun into our home...

1) Sang the chorus to "Call Me Maybe"
2) "Watch puppy movie, mama."
3) Counted to 4 unprompted. Then counted to 10 when I asked how many cars he had.  He had 10.
4) "Where is _______?"  (Insert any family member or favorite toy)
5)  "When will Dad be home?"
6) "I want to play _____."  (Insert cars, baby, trucks, trains)
7) Sang most of the Alphabet song
8) Sang Twinkle Twinkle and 5 little monkeys

These are just a few things from this week.  I love listening to my little sponge talk after he was quiet for sooo long.

No, Nope, No Pank You

Deacon's vocabulary is starting to expand. He talks all the time now and most of the time you can understand him.  He gives you the right answers to questions he commonly hears.  He is starting to learn his colors and gets the color green right all of the time. The rest we are working on.

Last week, the word "no" entered his vocabulary on a pretty consistent basis.  I really thought that was a little late to the game.  At 4 months together, I really thought it would become a common word before now.  However, he left no time for other word "nope" to enter in as well.  This is probably his favorite response to most questions.  Deacon, do you want to go to school today? Nope. Deacon, did you take a nap today? Nope. Deacon, do you want to play with Cannon? Nope. Deacon, what's your name? Nope.  Other answers to the name question are oatmeal, Africa, Atukwase (his middle name), and today, robot.  This kid may have a pretty good funny bone in him.  He knows the right answer but loves to spice it up to get a rise out of whoever is asking the name question.

Another one that is pretty funny is the "no pank you" response.  I have taught him that if he doesn't want to do something someone is asking him he says "no thank you." In this family we are polite even if we don't want to hang with you.  He can't pronounce his "th" yet so it comes out as a "p."  This is somewhat comical to me.

9

Today Cannon turns 9.  9!  It just seems so old.  I remember when I was 9.  Crazy.  He is definitely ALL BOY and keeps us laughing.  His imagination is out of this world and I pray that his passion for life stays strong.  These are some of my favorite pictures...

So sleepy...

"my lips are cold"

mischievous smile

"do I have something in my teeth?"

so strong

I am boy... here me roar!

loves to be wrapped up (from birth to today!)

self portrait

9th birthday party photo booth

"how you doin'?"

love the toothless smiles

handsome 

him and her

My oldest and my youngest.  How many prayers she said for him and her sister.  Wanting so badly for another sibling. Wanting so badly to adopt.  A surprise catalyst to the decision.  Such love she has for both.  Understanding of the need and the calling.  My oldest is full of compassion and love. She is going to make a big difference in this world.  My youngest is a sweet soul.  He is quiet and deliberate.  He is slow and loving.  Both of them make my heart happy. The one that made me a mother and the one that waited so patiently for us to find him.  Oh how He loves us....