Get Your Finances In Line In 2009: March Recap

March was a really great month for us financially! We got our federal tax refund check and my husband worked a ton of overtime (not by choice), so we REALLY made some headway on our emergency fund savings account. We also raised the level of our vacation savings and are now just a few hundred dollars short of having it all saved up! I also went ahead and pulled out our trip money for when we got to visit my parents in a few weeks, so that won't have to come out of next month's budget.

We could have done even better this month, but with my husband working overtime for a few weeks (which means I'm also working overtime at home), we did a bit more eating out and ordering in than we typically do. Nevertheless, I am so happy with the results! If only we could get a refund check and an OT check every month! Of course, I don't wish all that work on my husband. I'm just saying that the money is nice. :)

Ok, so here are the updates. And again, these are not necessarily in order:

Goal #1: Save up and pay CASH for our 5-day vacation to *SURPRISE* in June! :) ---- 75% completed ----

Goal #2: Fully fund our 6 month emergency fund and put into a money market account to be left UNTOUCHED unless there is an actual emergency. ---- 30.4% completed ----

Goal #3: Save for my husband to get a new (that means "used") car.

Goal #4: Raise retirement contributions to 12% (with a 4% match).

Goal #5: Open a money market account for each of our children.

Goal #6: Begin paying extra principal on our mortgage.

Goal #7: Establish a will and testament. (I know - shame on us for not having one yet!)

Goal #8: Get disability insurance for both my husband and me.

I don't know if anyone really enjoys following our financial journey, but I enjoy posting it, so I guess you're stuck with monthly updates for now. :) It keeps me motivated and somewhat accountable - if to nobody else, at least to the computer screen - to get it all down in writing. Errr, typing. :)

Foto Friday!

Well, I didn't get much time to take pictures this week, but I did snag a few flower (or were those weeds?) pictures from my women's retreat last weekend. I have been trying to decide which is my favorite, but so far have not been able to come to a conclusion. So here is one of my favorites:

Feel free to head on over to my photography blog to see what else I've been up to this week. :)

Thankful Thursday

This week has been rough on our family. My husband has been working about 15 hours a day - not by choice. He's exhausted. I'm exhausted. We've both been short with the kids. They haven't been sleeping. (I'm talking like, being up 3-4 hours after they've been put to bed at night). It's been a pretty long week.

BUT....I have to say that, in this economy, I am very thankful that my husband has a job - TWO jobs, at that - and that's he's being offered (eh hem, forced to work) overtime. Since my husband is not salaried, the extra money is always nice....especially when we just had 2 ER visits in the past month and are planning a trip to visit my parents in a few weeks.

That being said, I will also be very thankful when this week is over........

Please pray...

There is a sweet, darling little baby boy who is experiencing some very major heart problems right now. To read his story, you can click on the "Praying for Stellan" picture on the right side of this page or click here to visit his mommy's blog.

Tasty Tuesday . . . Creamy Chicken Casserole

There are several versions of this, but this one is my version. I may have *mentioned* before that I try to use regular ingredients so instead of cream of chicken soup that some recipes call for I make my own. Also, again I am not very good about measuring so . . . By the way my husband loves this.

2 cups of cooked chicken
1 cream of chicken soup substitute (recipe follows)
1 cup of sour cream
Salt and Pepper to taste (and of course I add garlic salt or powder to everything too)
Bread crumbs
2 T of butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray casserole dish with non-stick spray and then put chicken in the bottom. Stir soup substitute and sour cream and seasonings together and pour over the chicken. Melt 2 T. of butter and stir with the bread crumbs and top the casserole with the breadcrumbs. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cream of chicken soup substitute

*There are many of these recipes floating around too.

2 T. of butter
3 T. of flour
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in saucepan and then add flour (like you are making a roux). Lower heat to medium-low and slowly add the broth whisking the whole time. Then remove from heat and add the milk and whisk that mixture until there are no lumps. I put mine back on to heat if it isn't thick enough once everything is together. That is it or at least that is what I do.

For more kitchen tips and recipes please check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy’s recipes and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.

Money Monday

Instead of me speaking on this issue, please listen to this radio broadcast regarding "Trusting God for your Security".

Go here and click on Window's Media icon to listen to this show. It is well worth your while!

Don't forget to go back tomorrow and Wednesday to hear the other parts of this discussion!

Here is a summary from their website:

Americans are facing tough financial times. Where can you turn? Christians can respond in faith - not fear - despite the current economic crisis. Certified financial planner Jerry Foster talks today about trusting God in the midst of uncertainty.

Have A Great Weekend!

Foto Friday is non-existent this week since I did a bunch of things other than take pictures in the past 7 days. (See yesterday's post.) In a short while, I'll be heading out to a beautiful state park for the weekend with several ladies from church where I plan to swim, hike, eat, and sit around doing absolutely nothing.

I hope you all have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

Thankful Thursday

Well, today marks 14 weeks of this pregnancy and I'm still sick. However, I've been feeling far less sick this week than I was for the past 7, so I'm VERY thankful for that.

To be totally honest, I did absolutely nothing around the house for most of those 7 weeks. I basically just sat on the couch, pushed movies into the VCR for my kids, and got up to feed them (and me!) when it became absolutely necessary. I think I did a total of maybe 4 loads of laundry in that time period and cooked one dinner. So I was excited to feel a little bit better this week. Here is a list of things I have managed to do in the past few days:

• rearrange my son's bedroom
• go grocery shopping (with my hubby)
• take my kids to the St. Patrick's Day parade
• MAKE DINNER!
• drive to pick up dinner :)
• completely clean out and vacuum the van
• go to my doctor's appointment
• take my kids on a picnic at the park
• go to Bible study (although we left early for the parade!)
• help my husband clean the kitchen
• sort through papers (mainly junk mail)
• take a shower IN THE MORNING
• go on a date w/ my hubby
  
• play outside with my kids
  

I realize this list looks extremely short for someone who is functioning at full capacity, but for me this list is a sign of hope! I know I'm at that point where most people start to feel better, but I fully believe that the spring weather has really helped me! On days when I'm able to be outside or at least have the windows open, I feel MUCH better than days when I'm stuck indoors. I think this is probably due to the fact that I'm extremely sensitive to smells right now and even the slightest scent will sometimes induce vomiting.

The second thing I'm SUPER thankful for is that tomorrow at noon I am leaving for a WOMEN'S RETREAT!!!!!! I am so in need of this right now, especially since my husband has been working a lot of overtime lately, so it's been some really long days with the kids for the past few weeks. I've been counting down the days for what seems like forever and I am SO excited that tomorrow is the day! (If you don't have children, that won't make a lick of sense to you.) Yes, I love my kids! But I also love a BREAK from my kids! :) I'm looking forward to swimming, hiking, and relaxing this weekend.

It's been a pretty great week for me. What are you thankful for this week?

Works For Me Wednesday - Less Is More

On Monday, I decided enough was enough. Keaton moved into his new room a few months ago but we never really made a full transition from guest room/extra room to little boy room. We still had lots of our own (me and my husband) books as well as some loose movies and a game system lying around in there. I kept getting frustrated with the kids when they would play with those things.

But then I realized this morning that that's really not fair. If I don't want them to touch those things, I should move them out of his room. After all, it's no longer a guest room. It's his room. So we pulled the toys out of the closet and put them in his room and moved all the non-kid books into the closet.

I'm pretty pleased with the transition, so I thought I'd share some pictures with you:

You can see that my son does not have an entire room devoted to his toys. In fact, this is the pile of toys for my son and my two daughters. I'm a firm believer that children NEED less in order to appreciate what they have. Plus, it's also a lot easier to get them to pick up their toys when there aren't so many to pick up. We have a tub of toys downstairs in the living room, but other than that, this is the extent of our toys.

What is your opinion about "less is more"? Do your kids have a lot of toys or just a few? How about you? Do you have a lot of "toys"? And do you find that what you have or don't have plays into how you care for and appreciate your things?

Tasty Tuesday - Recipes From My Freezer Cooking Spree

First of all.....HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! I admit I have no idea who the man was, but it feels odd not to wish you a happy St. Patrick's Day, so there ya go. (Are you wearing green today?)

I apologize for the delay in posting these recipes, but you see....at the time I did the freezer cooking, we knew I was pregnant and would soon be too sick to cook, but we weren't quite ready to share that news with all of you. Two days after I finished my freezer cooking spree, I began my bout with morning sickness....and I'm still sick.

Several of you asked for the recipes of the items that I made and froze. A few more of you expressed that you had interest in freezer cooking but weren't sure which foods could be frozen and how. While I'm certainly no pro at freezer cooking, I do have a bit of experience so I'll share what I know.

I'm relatively confident when I say this: Most foods can be frozen. Some foods, like vegetables, require blanching before being frozen while other foods, like meats, can be directly put into the freezer. There is a list of freezer cooking resources at the bottom of this post that you will find very helpful in your quest to begin learning about freezer cooking. I'd also encourage you to check out Gretchen's other blog. She regularly posts about Once-A-Month-Cooking and usually posts all of her recipes for those meals as well.

Now, onto my recipes....

alfredo sauce

English muffin pizzas - Slice each English muffin in half, add a tablespoon of tomato sauce (or pizza sauce), sprinkle on some pizza seasoning and add mozzerella cheese (and other toppings, if desired). When ready to bake, just pop in the oven til cheese is melted!

turkey soup - Boil down a turkey carcass (or make chicken or turkey broth w/ bouillon), slice up carrots, celery, and onions; add turkey and any kind of noodle; boil for 10 minutes; serve w/ homemade bread - YUM!

waffles

2 lg eggs
2 c. flour
1 3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 T. sugar
4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Beat eggs until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat just until smooth. Pour into waffle maker and cook to desired doneness.

pancakes

1 1/4 c. flour
1 egg
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. sugar
1 heaping t. of baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 c. oil
pinch of salt

Mix with mixer until smooth. Let sit 10 minutes before cooking on griddle at 325 degrees.

pumpkin muffins

chicken pot pie, biscuits, and a loaf of french toast (all three recipes are in the same post)

calzones

Crust:

5-6 c. flour
2 T. sugar
2 t. salt
4 1/2 t. yeast (2 pkgs)
6 T. oil
2 c. very warm water (120-130 degrees)

Mix 2 c. flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Add oil and water. Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl. Stir in enough flour until dough leaves sides of bowl. Knead 5-8 minutes on floured surface until smooth and springy. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes. Then prepare crusts into 10-inch circles).

Insides:

Place any combination of veggies, meats, and cheeses (I prefer mozzerella and ricotta) inside, fold over, and seal. Brush with egg and bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

oatmeal chocolate chip breakfast cookies - Okay, I honestly have no idea what I put in these. I have a basic recipe that I completely altered to make my cookies. I know there was oatmeal, flour, sugar, banana, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and probably all other normal baking ingredients (i.e. baking soda or powder, salt, etc.). If I ever come up with an ACTUAL recipe, I'll be sure to post it. :)

________________________________________________________________


For further information on freezer cooking, I highly recommend checking out the following books:

Once a Month Cooking


The Best Freezer Cookbook


Freezer Cooking Manual


.....and the website 30daygourmet.

Money Monday . . . Crazy Frugality and Self Reliance

We hear more about cutting back now than we ever have. Being frugal can really be fun and very challenging. I personally am not a frugal zealot although I have things that I am VERY frugal about and not so very frugal about others. For instance I am not the best at clipping coupons or getting a lot of stuff for free, but Heidi is very good at this. There are so many things you can do to be frugal.

I think we all know that it is a "risky scheme" to depend on the government to help you out or save you. So have you thought about what you can do to not only be frugal, but also to make your family more self reliant?

There are so many ideas on frugality. One website I like to frequent is Dollar Stretcher. The Simple Dollar is another interesting read.

Here is the true take on frugality and being self-reliant, you have to change your mindset.

1. You have to know that you will NEVER be able to keep up with the Jones'. There will always be people who make more money than you, who spend more money than you and who have more things than you.

2. You cannot get too attached to stuff. Stuff breaks, gets lost or must be replaced. It is just stuff even if it is a 100 year old vase that your Great Aunt Millie gave you.

3. Vegetables from your garden taste SO much better than vegetables from a store. Canned green beans that you canned yourself taste so much better than the ones you buy at Wal-mart (Heidi may dispute me on this). Don't have a yard - grow a container garden. Check out Square Foot Gardening. At the very least grow your own herbs and salad greens.

4. Use cash or at least don't buy things on credit if you can. Be purposeful about your spending and have a plan - I think we have went over this before. Two words - Dave Ramsey - enough said.

5. Stay home - there I said it. If you are single, well you do have to work to eat so you probably can't exactly stay home. If you are married with children please pick at least one spouse to stay at home and care for the home - make it a haven for your family to want to come to and live in. Make caring for it a priority. Make your spouse and your children a priority. Argue with me if you want, but I can guarantee you will have a more pleasant calm life and your whole family will be happier.

6. Bake something for goodness sakes. Learn to cook and make things from scratch. The satisfaction is great, the taste is even better! I could go on and on and on and on about this for days, but I will stop there.

7. Go to a thrift store, shop on E-bay or Craig's list. Shopping at thrift stores are second nature to me, but I know some people get VERY nervous about wearing clothes that other people have worn. Wash it in hot water, dry it and then get over it. I'm just saying . . .

There are a million ways we can be frugal and that we can rely more on ourselves. I posted this on my other blog, but it is such a wonderful verse that I wanted to share it here:

Proverbs 30:8-9 . . . give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

Now, share with me your stories of frugality and self-reliance. What do you do in the name of being frugal?

-Gretchen

Get Your Finances In Line In 2009: February Recap

In January, I mentioned that I am planning to do a monthly post on our financial goals and progress. I shared our excitement with you that we became debt-free in December and that we can't wait to meet our next goal of fully funding our 6-month emergency fund (in addition to a few other goals).

Since I just started my business last year, we are uncertain as to the income that might bring in this year, but we set out goals high and if we don't quite make it, that's okay. Our 2009 goals have changed just a tad. I added two more goals at the bottom, even though they are not in order:

Goal #1: Pay CASH for our 5-day vacation to *SURPRISE*! :) ---- 50% completed ----

Goal #2: Fully fund our 6 month emergency fund and put into a money market account to be left UNTOUCHED unless there is an actual emergency. ---- 10.4% completed ----

Goal #3: Save for my husband to get a "new" (that means used) car.

Goal #4: Raise retirement contributions to 12% (with a 4% match).

Goal #5: Open a money market account for each of our children.

Goal #6: Begin paying extra principal on our mortgage.

Goal #7: Establish a will and testament. (I know - shame on us for not having one yet!)

Goal #8: Get disability insurance for both my husband and me.

We had a few projects that needed to be addressed since my last post, so we didn't made HUGE headway on our goals in February, but we didn't move backwords and we paid cash so we are content with that. We filed our taxes last weekend. Our state refund was deposited today and we are now just waiting for our federal income tax check to be deposited into our bank account. We don't like to give the government a free loan, but we don't want to owe anything either, so we try to carefully plan out my husband's deductions. Once our federal check arrives, we'll be a bit further along in our goals. For now, we are happy to be out of debt and happy to know that we are on the right track.

If you don't currently have any financial goals, I really encourage you to consider making some. Especially considering the dismal economy we're living in right now, it's very important to have a plan in case the worst should happen.

For more "Get Your Finances In Line In 2009" posts, check out the Mr. Linky at the bottom of Crystal's post over at MoneySavingMom.

Foto Friday!

I had a super super super fun engagement session last Sunday! Check out the full post here.

Who Loves Freebies??

I mention the website MoneySavingMom.com ALL THE TIME, but I again want to just say how great it is! Thanks to this website, over the past few months I have signed up for free magazine offer after free magazine offer and have recently started receiving these magazines. I have a serious weakness for magazines, but I could never actually pay for a subscription to one. You will, however, find me in the grocery checkout line scanning the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living or Good Housekeeping. Well now, I don't have to! In the past few weeks, I have received probably a dozen magazines and have enjoyed reading them all! Magazines are also great resources for kids' projects! So I'm excited to have a free stockpile. :) This is just a few of the magazines I've received absolutely free:

Have you received any great freebies lately? Do you break into a sprint every time you see the mailman coming? Please tell me I'm not alone!!! :)

Diapers, Diapers, and More Diapers!

For those of you who are regular readers of MoneySavingMom.com, you are probably familiar with the EXCEPTIONAL printable coupons that have been available for Huggies lately. And then, on top of that, you might be familiar with the sweet deal Walgreens is running this week on Huggies diapers. Let me just tell you, I stopped by Walgreens on the way home from church on Sunday fully expecting their Huggies Gentle Care diapers to be completely wiped off the shelf. But lo and behold, they were well-stocked! I filled my cart with 9 packages of diapers (leaving a few packages on the shelf) and happily wheeled myself up to the register, where I spent $65 and got $30 back!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen! I got 9 packages of diapers for less than $4 a pack! WHOOP! Now, granted...these diapers are all size newborn-2, but remember that we have a little one on the way? We like to purchase diapers in advance so we don't have to feel such a crunch when the baby arrives, but this has gotten us well on our way to a nice stockpile! I am so excited!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about but want to get in on the action, check out this post and then this post to get details.

Foto Friday!

I had a fun engagement session last weekend! You can check out the full post here.

I've Been Featured!

I'm a pretty active participant (read: addict) on CafeMom. I was asked to do an interview for the Food and Party Buzz section. The questions refer to my blog, cooking, family, etc. If you want to check it out, you can do so here.

I'd also just like to add that it is currently 66 degrees outside and beautiful! I am airing out my house from the stale winter stagnancy! :)

Blue Wristbands and ER Doctors: Our Life Never Ceases To Amaze Me

I woke up this morning with extremely sore arms. Perhaps I spent the afternoon playing tennis yesterday, you wonder. Or maybe I just started a new workout routine at the gym. If only I could blame one of those things for my aching muscles.

Yesterday started with me actually getting a shower (yes!) and I was feeling relatively okay, so I decided to trek across town to playgroup. We were all having a good time, talking, laughing, and watching the kids. It was about noon and there were 6 children standing around a child-size picnic table eating some fruit and muffins. It was really very cute.

But then she started choking.

My younger daughter, 17 months old now, has a habit of choking on apples. Regardless of how teeny tiny of a piece I give her, she chokes. So I've resorted to simply NOT giving her apples. Seems simple enough, right? Well, I had forgotten that there were apples in the mixed fruit. Yes, a bad mom moment. I figured it was just a normal food choke, so we were patting her on the back, trying to get the chunk out. After a minute or two, we decided to try digging whatever was in her mouth out. However, there was nothing in her mouth. And she continued to cough up phlegm...but not much of anything else. She immediately became very lethargic. She would sit for a few minutes and then the phlegm-coughing would start again.

I called the nurse who directed me to take her to the ER. But really, when do they NOT tell you to do that? Regardless, she was continuing to choke on SOMETHING and all she was spitting up was phlegm. Her labored breathing and lethargy though was my main concern, so I quickly decided that this was probably a good time to actually follow their directions.

My friend Amy and I left our other children with Rachel (this week's playgroup hostess) and drove to the nearest ER. Reagan hadn't spit up anymore in the car, but she was looking extremely tired by the time we arrived. I was kind of glad that it started again as we walked in the door because they got us in immediately.

By the time we got through triage and back to our ER room, she had spat up several more times. Within minutes there were 6 or 7 doctors and nurses present in our room, observing her and attempting to help her dislodge whatever was stuck in her throat. Amy and I told them we had tried for about 20 minutes before we came in, but we could not get it out.

They ordered an x-ray, although I'm not really sure why. X-rays only show metal objects and we were pretty sure this was food. When the x-ray came back clear, they asked me to have her drink some water. She drank a few sips and nothing came up, but she was still spitting up every so often. The doctor said that if she could drink, she was probably okay, but I insisted that I was not comfortable taking her home if she was continuing to spit up phlegm. Just before the doctor was about to leave the room, it started again. And again I was thankful.

She ordered a swallowing test (some sort of barium fluid had to be drank and then another x-ray). This time the x-ray showed something the size of a grape (eh hem - APPLE) stuck at the base of her esophagus. They informed me that she would need to be transferred to Riley Children's Hospital for a pediatric ICU doctor to remove the object.

The word "Riley" does not resonate very well in my ears. When I think of Riley, I think of cancer patients, severely ill children, and those who cannot receive treatment anywhere else. I admit it was a bit terrifying, but the doctor reassured me that the location of the blockage was teetering on entering her stomach, not her airway. That calmed my nerves a bit. It was not emergent enough that an ambulance had to be called, so we drove her there. She spat up once in the van.

When we arrived, the place was CRAZY. I was frustrated that they seemed to have no interest in getting her in any more quickly than anyone else - even though she had been called in and transferred over from another hospital. Maybe I'm just selfish, but this seemed more important that the 8 year old with a fever across the room.

Reagan had spat up a few more times after we arrived before I went back up to the counter and clarified with the nurse behind the desk that we had been expecting to get right in as that was what they had told us at Community. She apologized, said they were short-staffed, and promised that they would get to her as soon as possible. So we sat and waited in the germ-infested ER with a bunch of kids who certainly could have gone to Urgent Care or even their doctor's office.

Reagan developed the hiccups as we waited and my husband, who had met us at Riley, asked if she had had them before. "No," I responded. Reagan finally fell asleep and we waited some more.

It took us two more hours to be seen by the GI doctors and in those two hours, Reagan had stopped spitting up and seemed much more alert and playful. We were guessing (and hoping) that she had finally swallowed the apple. It was after 8pm when Reagan was sent in for another barium x-ray. The results came up completely clear! Reagan ate some Cheerios and drank a TON of water and everything was fine.

Completely exhausted and very relieved, we loaded Reagan into the van and took off across town to pick up my other two children, still at Rachel's house. We got home around 10pm. Thankfully everyone slept in a little bit this morning.

Overall, I have to say that I'm so proud of my little girl. Despite the fact that she absolutely hates being confined, she sat patiently (for the most part) on my lap for the better part of 9 hours yesterday. She's a real trooper.

Here she is showing you her blue bracelet:

She is as happy as could be today and back to her normal old self....albeit a bit skinnier than she was yesterday morning!

Thankful Thursday

So Heidi is still sick and pretty tired so would it be cheating if I sent you to read my post that wrote on my other blog as to why I am thankful today? Whether or not it is cheating, I am extremely thankful for my children and you can go here to see why.

Tasty Tuesday . . . Burrito Pie (freezer meal)

This is another freezer meal recipe by my friend Lindsey. This is one of my husband's favorites especially if you use homemade tortillas.

Ingredients:
2 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 t. minced garlic
1 (2 oz.) can black olives, sliced
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chile peppers (I omit these)
1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers (I omit these)
1 (16 oz.) jar taco sauce
2 (16 oz.) cans refried beans
12 (8 inch) flour tortillas
9 oz. shredded cheese
1 packet of taco seasoning

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Saute ground beef for 5 minutes then add the onion and garlic and saute 5 minutes more. Drain excess fat. Mix in the olives, green chile peppers, tomatoes with green chile peppers, taco seasoning and taco sauce. Stir mixture thoroughly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
-Here is where I differ from the recipe. This is what I do:

3. Spray non-stick spray on casserole dish. Layer tortilla layer, add meat and then cheese. Spread next tortilla layer with refried beans and top the meat and cheese (bean side down). Then add another layer of meat and cheese and once again top with a tortilla spread with refried beans (bean side down). Repeat layers and finally top with more cheese. At this point you can freezer your burrito pie and save it for later.

4. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly. If frozen, thaw first and then bake as directed. Serve with sour cream, lettuce, additional salsa, etc. if desired.

This will make a 9 x 13 inch pan. I usually do it in two smaller pans and freeze one.

Thanks again Lindsey!

For more kitchen tips and recipes please check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy’s recipes and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.