Pumpkin Pancakes

The sweet potato pancakes were such a hit with Drew, that I decided to try pumpkin pancakes.  I'm starting to really enjoy making pancakes on the weekend, and it's really nice to have a stash in the freezer for weekday breakfasts.  These are freezer-friendly too.  Just flash freeze on a foiled lined pan (spray first), then toss them in a Ziploc baggie.

These were just as easy (easier) as the sweet potato pancakes, but I still think Drew likes the sweet potato ones better.  He ate 1.5 pancakes the day I made them.  I also tried one (without syrup or any toppings).  I thought it was good, but I too think the sweet potato pancakes are better.  If I make these again, I may add chocolate chips :) the last thing anyone needs in their breakfast!

Pumpkin Pancakes*
Makes ~30 pancakes

Ingredients
1 - 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1.5 c flour
3.5 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 eggs
1 c milk
4 T butter, melted

Method
In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.  In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, milk and butter together.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and combine.  Pour ~1/3 cup of batter onto a heated (medium) griddle.  Cook ~3 to 4 minutes each side or until browned.

*This is the same recipe as the sweet potato pancakes.  Substitute the pumpkin puree for ~2 large sweet potatoes that have been peeled, baked and mashed.

Oatmeal Cookies

I wanted to try oatmeal cookies since my toddler didn't eat the oatmeal breakfast bars.  Recently, we ate dinner at a buffet, and he ate an oatmeal cookie.  I thought for sure he'd like these cookies, but again he took one bite and that was enough.  Go figure.  I even added chocolate chips to them, but that didn't fool him.  If I make this recipe again, I'll probably leave the chocolate chips out because they seemed too much for the batter (too many add-ins, not enough batter).

Anyway, I think the cookies are good.  They aren't very sweet though so I've found that I've eaten quite a few of them thinking they are "healthy."  And if you asked me if I have been eating them for breakfast this week, I'd have to reply, "I can neither deny nor confirm that," which is my typical response to Brian when he asks me something that I don't want to answer :) (and he already knows the answer anyway usually).

Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Chocolate Chips
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes ~24 small cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c flour
1 egg
1/3 vegetable oil
1 t baking powder
1 t vanilla
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/4 c chocolate chips

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Combine flours and baking powder and set aside.  Beat egg with sugar, oil and vanilla.  Add flour mixture to wet mixture.  Add oats, cranberries, and chocolate chips.  Mix to combine.  Dough will be very sticky.  Roll into balls and place on un-greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Rotate cooking sheet half way through cooking time.

I rolled about 6 cookies into balls.  The dough was so sticky that I could barely move my fingers after that so I cleaned up and just used spoons to place the dough.  As you can see in the picture, the cookies in front started out as balls - they are nice and round.  The ones in the back were just spooned onto the sheet hence their jagged edges.  But they taste the same.

French Toast Sticks

This was my second attempt at French Toast Sticks.  I like to have different breakfast options ready to go because I send breakfast to daycare.  The first attempt at french toast sticks didn't turn out so well, but these were much better!

The first time I tried baking them.  I wasn't able to flip the sticks half way through the cooking time as the recipe indicated so one side ended up burning some.  This time I decided to cook the sticks how I normally would - on the griddle.  I also added some jarred peaches in hopes of making them a little sweet since I don't serve them with syrup for my boy.

Verdict: Attempt two was a success.  My toddler only ate about 1 stick (or less), but that's more than he ate from the first batch.  His favorite breakfast is still the sweet potato pancakes (and maybe a bagel with cream cheese).  I also thought they tasted better than the first time around.

French Toast Sticks
Makes 30 sticks

Ingredients:
10 pieces of bread, cut into thirds
5 eggs
~1/2 c milk
4 oz peaches (baby food)
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon sugar

Method:
Beat eggs with fork, add milk, vanilla, cinnamon sugar and peaches.  Stir to combine.  Soak bread in batter and place on heated griddle (about medium heat).  Cook on each side ~3 minutes or until golden brown.

To freeze:
Allow sticks to cool.  Line baking sheet with foil, spray with Pam.  Layer sticks on foil.  Flash freeze for 1-2 hours.  Remove from pan and place in Ziploc baggie.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

This recipe is the first one that I've made post foot surgery.  It's an easy recipe, but it took a toll on me, and I know I need a little bit more time before trying much more baking or cooking!

I've made this recipe once before.  The first time I made half the batch plain thinking that my toddler would eat it (nope) and the other half was for me but I didn't include the chocolate chips.  This time I made the entire batch the same way with all the add-ins.

I really like this recipe.  It's fairly easy to make and it's delicious! It's also adaptable (plain or any add-ins you want!).  This makes a really good breakfast to go.  However, my toddler took one bite and spit it out.  A texture thing maybe?  I'm convinced there wasn't a chocolate chip in that bite.

Adapted from Big Girls Small Kitchen

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Makes 32 squares

Ingredients:
2 c oats
1 c whole wheat flour
1/4 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 c milk (I used skim)
1/4 c peanut butter
1/4 c canola oil
1 egg
3 T brown sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c walnuts, chopped
1/2 c dried cranberries (I diced these since I thought my son would be eating it).

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 375F.  Mix the oats, flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl.  Beat oil, peanut butter, vanilla, and sugar together in medium bowl.  Beat in egg.  Add milk and stir.  Add nuts, dried cranberries.  Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients.  Stir to incorporate.  Add chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into 2 greased loaf pans (9x3 or similar).  Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

When done, use knife to separate bar from pan.  Let cool on rack.  Store in refrigerator.

Blueberry Wheat Pancakes

Recently I have been making breakfast on the weekend.  Usually when I make pancakes, I opt for sweet potato pancakes.  My 1-yr old loves them!  And I feel they are somewhat healthy and a good way to sneak a vegetable into his diet.  (Something I try to do wherever I can!)

In an attempt to change it up, I decided to make blueberry pancakes.  When I make pancakes, I make a big batch and freeze a bunch.  Pancakes are easy to freeze and they still taste good out of the freezer!

I decided to try Money Saving Mom's recipe for Chocolate Chip Whole Wheat pancakes, but I decided to substitute the chocolate chips for blueberries.

This recipe was good, and we all liked the pancakes!  I think the whole wheat made them a little chewier than a white pancake (and the sweet potato pancake), but they were still edible.  My son definitely prefers the sweet potato pancake, but he eat these also!

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Another meal that we made for the freezer during our freezer cooking marathon session was Broccoli Rice Chicken Casserole.  I got the recipe from MoneySavingMom:

http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-chicken-broccoli-rice-casserole-day-14.html

The only change we made was adding some onions.  We had some extras from the other recipes.

This recipe was super easy to throw to together and freeze.  We used a rice cooker to cook the rice and just threw the ingredients in the bag and mixed it (kinda) in the bag.  Then in the freezer!

Verdict:  Super easy to make and freeze.  So far this is my favorite from the freezer dish as well.  It reheated nicely and was delicious.  I think this will make the rotation in the future for freezer meals.  I also want to possibly freeze this recipe in muffin tins to use for potato toppings!

Guest Post!

Check out my guest post over on Money Saving Mom:

http://moneysavingmom.com/2013/03/9-tips-to-simplify-freezer-cooking.html

I'm not sure if you've seen this blog before, but it's definitely one of my favorites!  There are good deal, and coupon alerts plus recipes, freezer cooking, meal planning!  There's a little bit of everything and it's updated often!

Check it out!

Beef Enchiladas

Beef Enchiladas - Freezer Friendly Recipe
6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 pkg Taco Seasoning (or make your own)
1 small can green chile, chopped
1 8 oz can green chile salsa
12 corn tortillas
1 lb shredded cheese, Monterey Jack
water, for taco seasoning

Sauce:
1 15 oz can red enchilada sauce
1 15 oz can green enchilada sauce
1/3 c sour cream
3 T milk

Method:
Brown meat with onion.  Mix in taco seasoning per directions.  (I always use less than recommended water because I think it takes entirely too long for all the water to evaporate).  Add green chiles and green chile salsa.  Mix well, cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.

Sauce: combine both enchilada sauces, sour cream and milk in a medium bowl.  Mix well until blended.

Assembly: In a 9x13 pan (lined with foil and plastic wrap if freezing), pour 3/4 c of sauce on bottom of pan.  Layer with tortillas. Top with half of meat mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Place another layer of tortillas.  Top with rest of meat mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Pour remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Cool completely before freezing.

Thaw completely before serving.  Bake at 350F for 18 - 20 minutes or until heated through.  Serve with desired toppings (tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole).

Verdict:
This was a labor intensive meal for our freezer cooking session.  Trying to drain the fat off the beef was very difficult (we browned 7 lbs!).  Then we had trouble with the liner method (see below).  Then lastly we actually had to assemble the enchilada.

We haven't thawed this meal out yet so I can't so how it tastes.  The other families have eaten theirs and they both said it's a yummy dish.

Liner Method for Freezer:
Take your casserole dish (I recommend an 8x8).  Place a layer of foil in the dish, making sure there is extra on the ends to cover the top of the dish.  Next place a layer of plastic wrap, the same length of the foil.  (If using a larger dish, consider laying a second piece of plastic wrap perpendicular to the first one and foil).  Assemble your enchilada.  Wrap the plastic wrap and foil around the enchilada.

Freeze enchilada (after allowing to cool), in the baking dish (and plastic wrap and foil).  After the dish is frozen, remove the casserole dish.  Return foil encased enchilada to freezer.

This method is useful so you don't lose a casserole dish in your freezer for a few months. 

When you are ready to eat, thaw out the enchiladas somewhat and remove the foil and plastic wrap (the goal is that the enchiladas are frozen enough to keep it's shape/not make a mess, but thawed enough that you can get the plastic away/off the meal - it's tricky).  Place the enchilada in your baking dish and allow to finish thawing.

Chicken in Raspberry Sauce

Chicken in Raspberry Sauce - Freezer Friendly
6 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1/2 cup frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t curry powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 c fresh raspberries, mashed (substitute with frozen raspberries, thawed, when out of season)
6 chicken breasts

Method:
Combine preserves, juice concentrate, soy sauce, vinegar, seasonings, and mashed raspberries.  Place raspberry sauce with chicken breasts in freezer bag/container and seal securely.  Freeze.

Thaw completely before serving.  Place chicken and sauce in large baking dish (9x13).  Baked covered at 350F for 30-40 minutes.  Top chicken with pan juices to serve.  Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Verdict:
To make and freeze, this recipe is a breeze.  It was very easy to make the sauce and combine with the chicken before freezing.

As for taste, Brian did not especially like this recipe (it was "ok").  I only had it as a leftover.  I thought the chicken was juicy so that was good, but I was disappointed the sauce wasn't more raspberry-ish.

I would make this again for the freezer considering it's ease, but I'll probably modify the seasonings (omit the curry and maybe the soy sauce which I think dominated the flavor).

Did you make this recipe?  What did you think?

Freezer Cooking

I have been somewhat obsessed with freezer cooking lately.

I did one freezer cooking session about 4 years ago and didn't think much of it.  I was getting ready to work a turn around so I knew that for a month all I'd be doing was working and sleeping.  I wanted to make things easier on Brian (this was before kids too!) so I made a few things one weekend when he was out of town and started freezing.  It was successful so I'm not entirely sure why I never tried it again or thought much about freezer cooking until a few months ago.

Two of my friends and I spent a Friday afternoon cooking.  We made a lot of food and I was completely exhausted from the rest of the weekend.  But my freezer is full!

We made 4 dishes (and multiplied each by 6 so that we each took home ~12 servings of each meal). 
1.  Beef Enchiladas
2. Chicken in Raspberry Sauce
3. Sweet Potato and Chicken Stew
4. Broccoli and Rice Chicken Casserole

I am really glad that I got to spend an afternoon with some friends and fill the freezer as a result, but it was a long, tough afternoon!  Since then I've still be stocking the freezer, but my method has been to make a larger batch of whatever I happen to be making and freezer half.  I think I like this method better because it seems like minimal effort to make extra.  I've mainly been making toddler friendly recipes but we need those too!

Minestrone Casserole

Minestrone Casserole
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups malfada pasta*
1 (10 oz) can cream of celery soup
1 cup beef broth*
1/4 cup water*
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup julienned carrots
1 (14 oz) can tomatoes with basil and oregano, undrained*
1 (16 oz) can corn, undrained
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
In large skillet, brown ground beef with onion and garlic, stirring to break up meat. Drain well. Stir in remaining ingredients except for Parmesan cheese. Pour into 3 quart casserole (9x13), cover tightly, and refrigerate.

When ready to eat, preheat oven to 400°F. Bake casserole, covered, for about 55-60 minutes until hot. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 10-15 minutes longer until bubbly.

*My modifications:
I used penne pasta.  I don't know what malfada is and wasn't about to search the store for it.  I used chicken broth instead of beef broth.  I also omitted the can of tomatoes because Brian is avoiding tomatoes right now and I used 1/2 cup of water since I wasn't using the tomatoes.

I made this Sunday morning.  I was a little worried that since left the tomatoes out, there wouldn't be enough liquid for the pasta. There was plenty of liquid after it baked - too much really and next time I'll probably use less than 1/2 cup water.  We both thought this dish was very delicious.  It definitely needed salt, but other than that it was super yummy and this will become one of our regular dinners!

Twice Baked Taco Potatoes

I am still here.  I am still meal planning and I am still cooking.  I just have a hard time finding time/motivation to write about it!  (I also don't even think about taking a picture anymore, sorry!)

I made myself some goals at the beginning of this year.  These goals were targeted around dinner/meal planning.  I feel like I have a fairly good system, but there are a few meals in the rotation that I'd either like to have less often or I just don't like them as much (either because of work required or taste).

My goals:
3 more great crockpot recipes  (Tuesday Nights)

2 more great premade meals  (Monday Nights)
1-2 more great quick meals  (Wednesday Nights)
New grilling ideas  (Friday Nights)

Well I found a treasure of a recipe in this Twice Baked Taco Potatoes!

I could see this recipe becoming a little overwhelming because there is a lot to do.  Bake the potatoes, cook the beef, hollow out the potatoes, make filling, stuff potatoes, bake.   The day that I tried this recipe (a Sunday) I had small spurts of time to work.  I cleaned and pricked the potatoes and put them in the crockpot.  I was also making Monday's night dinner (Minestrone Casserole) that day which happened to call for cooked beef (nicely planned out Past Krista!).  So I cooked the entire pound of beef and split it for the two recipes (different seasonings).  The potatoes took awhile to bake through in the crockpot, but it was better than heating up the oven and making the kitchen hot.  Meanwhile I made the casserole.  Then I did other things (played with my son, went to lunch with a friend).  Later that evening all I had to do was hollow out the potatoes (after they finished cooking, I just let them chill in the CP for a few hours) which was easier than I anticipated.  Made the filling and stuffed the potatoes.  They went into the frige until we were almost ready to heat.   These were really good and made a nice option for lunch during the week!  Brian reall liked them!   These will become a normal part of my "Premade Meal" group.  I think the key for me will be to cook the meat ahead of time (so if we are having tacos for dinner on Friday, I will just make extra beef for this dish on Monday!).