The Caitlin Moss Blog

For the 12th (and final) meal of Christmas: Italian Sausage Subs 1 package Italian sausage links 1 green bell pepper (chopped or sliced) 1 red bell pepper (chopped or sliced) 1 cup red wine (I use pinot noir) Season with garlic powder & dried basil 8 hrs on low. Cut up sausage and stuff into Italian loaves or a hoagie and top with parmesan cheese. My family loves these - hopefully yours will too! So, that's it. My 12 meals of Christmas. How about that blogging follow through? I made at least 2 of each meal to make a total of 26 meals and I spent less than $200.

For the eleventh meal of Christmas: Mushroom Chicken & Rice I have a thing for mushrooms and I've been told that it's just gross and wrong because they are a fungus, but whatever, man (husband), I like them. And since I do the cooking I force the rest of my family to eat this fungus as well. And I'll be honest, the picture is not pretty but it tastes very good, even to the mushroom haters. 1 can cream of mushroom 1 packet onion dip mix 3-4 chicken breasts 8 oz. Sliced mushrooms 1 cup water 8 hrs on low. Serve over rice. You can add an extra cup of water and cook 1 cup of rice on the crock pot for the last hour of cooking but I prefer my rice cooker. It cooks the rice to perfection.

For the 10th meal of Christmas: Caribbean Jerk Chicken   This is one that is obnoxiously easy but one of our favorite marinades so it almost always makes the cut. 1 bottle Lawry's Caribbean Jerk marinade 4-5 chicken breasts Thaw and grill. Serve with rice or on a bunch with BBQ sauce. It is spicey and sweet and just yummy.

For the ninth meal of Christmas: Pulled Pork We have a slight obsession with this meal. One, because it's easy. Two, because it's delicious. Three, because of the leftovers. And it's easy. Did I mention that? 3 lb. Pork loin 1 packet Memphis BBQ Pit seasoning 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 cup water 8 hours on low. Shred and serve on rolls, buns, or stuff in a baked sweet potato. Add some Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce and you're set.

For the eighth meal of Christmas... Brown Sugar Salmon This is my kids' most favorite way to eat salmon. They gobble this up so fast. 1/4 cup soy sauce 2 Tbsp. Brown sugar 1/2 tsp garlic powder A little pepper Mix together and marinate a bag of salmon filets or a whole cut of salmon, whichever you prefer or is on sale. Bake at 400 for 12 minutes. Leftovers are great warm or cold...if there are any.

For the seventh meal of Christmas... Spanish Dirty Rice 1 box Spanish rice, cooked 1.5 lbs of ground beef, cooked with garlic, Chile powder, cumin, salt & pepper Mix together. Thaw, warm & serve topped with cheese, salsa, cilantro and chips. It is obnoxiously easy.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Simple Spaghetti & Meatballs   I do have a fancy spaghetti sauce I like to make but when I'm making 26 meals, certain ones get simplified. Like this one. 2 jars of your favorite prepared marinara sauce 1 bag meatballs 1 Bay leaf 6 hrs on low. Serve with spaghetti noodles. Because spaghetti always sounds good and because the kids will always eat it, Simple Spaghetti & Meatballs almost always makes the freezer meal list.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Orange Meatballs & Rice 1 bag meatballs (26 count) 1 bottle orange chicken  sauce 4 hrs on low. Serve over rice. We love meatballs in the slow cooker because they can be dinner or a party food. And our kids will always eat them. So, bonus. Sweet & sour (BBQ sauce and grape jelly), Sweet & spicey (grape jelly & chili sauce), teriyaki sauce, BBQ sauce, orange sauce...we eat them all the ways and love them.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Savory Pork Loin 3 lb. pork loin 1 packet "pot roast" seasoning 1 can French onion 1 cup water 8 hrs on low I served this with roasted broccoli & sweet potatoes and stuffing. We loved it - rich and hearty and perfect for these cold December nights.

As moms, we can see our kids in that sweet-pea-apple-of-my-eye sort if way. So much so that we can tend to see them through rose-colored lenses, exaggerating their strengths and talents so much that we may be doing them a disservice. (Or just flat out lying on Facebook.) Lately, I have been so proud of my boy. He was placed in the highest reading group in kindergarten and since getting his glasses has jumped 5 units immediately and then a unit a day thereafter.  I am so proud - he is a fantastic reader. I have been so proud that I took to social media to brag about him. Now, what I said was true and I am very proud, but here's the thing - he's still 5, he's still a kindergartener, and he's still learning. He is smart but he's not a genius.  After my post a friend suggested getting him tested for a gifted/honors program at school. I asked his teacher about it and she said: "Well, the deadline for testing has passed already..." And the...

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Winger's and Waffles If you've never had Winger's chicken, you're missing out. Our love affair with this restaurant started when Darren and I were in college and I found the best recipe for the sauce on the interwebs a few years ago. Pair it with waffles and game. over. For this meal buy and store your favorite waffle mix in the pantry. Buy 1 bag of frozen popcorn chicken and in a bag freeze the Winger's sauce: 1  1/2 c brown sugar 6 Tbsp. Frank's hot sauce 2 Tbsp. water Defrost and heat up sauce until the sugar is dissolved and everything is combined. Make waffles and chicken according to package instructions. Add some butter and syrup to your waffle, top with chicken, add Winger's sauce and LIVE YOUR LIFE.  SO GOOD.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Pad Thai This is one of those meals my family is obsessed with. Having it prepped as one of my freezer meals helps me out tremendously. Here's what I do: In one bag, freeze 3 thinly sliced chicken  breasts (or shrimp or tofu), 1-2 thinly sliced zucchinis, 1 thinly sliced carrot, and half a bunch of chopped green onion. Add a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper. In bag 2, mix the contents for the sauce -   1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1/4 cup fish sauce, 1/2 brown sugar. Store rice noodles in the pantry. To prepare, defrost everything. Pour hot water over rice noodles in a bowl. In a small sauce pan, heat up sauce until sugar is dissolved and everything is combined. In a wok, heat up a few Tbsp of EVOO and add chicken and veggies. Toss around until cooked. Add strained rice noodles. Toss. Add sauce. Toss. Add a scrambled egg. Toss. Serve with a squeeze of lime and top with chopped peanuts. I always freez...

This week I completed 26 meals for under $200. Instead of doing a long list of meals and grocery items, I thought I'd share the different meals I made individually. And I'm calling it the 12 meals of Christmas...because I'm so clever. So. [Ahem...] On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me:  Roasted Red Peppers & Sausage  on Texas Toast 1 lb. cooked ground Italian sausage 1 jar roasted red peppers 8 oz. of tomato sauce 6 hrs. on low in the crock pot Prepare Texas Toast according to package (5 minutes at 425). Top toast with sausage and peppers and top with cheese. It's yummy. The end.

One question I've been getting often is: how are you losing the baby weight? I think I'm actually getting it more this time around than I did with my other two (and with those babies I was actually trying) and it's funny because this time around, every time I get an urge to get back in shape/get healthy/take my body back/etc. I end up with mastitis or thrush. For realz. I must just dress well or I'm simply strung out on coffee and no sleep.   Regardless. I'm going there. I decided to show my post-partum belly pics.   Top: 4 months post-partum Bottom: 3 months post-partum   Left: 1 month post-partum Right: 2 months post-partum   I'll be honest, I'm not unhappy with how far my body has come even if I'm not at my goal weight or as fit as I want to be. It's taken me three babies but this time I've learned to really go easy on myself. I just had a baby, it takes time to get back into shape. After having babies I have followe...