Baking Day

Lunchbox Freezer Cooking: Homemade Chicken Salsa Pockets (Day 7)

by Crystal on September 25, 2012

I concocted these the other night and they ended up being a huge hit with everyone in our family. They were gone in a flash and I had to make more since Jesse was wondering what happened to them the next day!

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my similar Homemade Pizza Pockets recipe. Those are fantastic, too!

Freezer-Friendly Chicken Salsa Pockets

Dough:

  • 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (raw sugar or sucanat)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons oil (I used olive oil.)
  • 2 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached, but I think half white, half whole-wheat would also work well.)

Filling:

  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
  • 1 to 2 cups baked and chopped chicken

To make dough: Mix yeast into warm water until dissolved. Add sugar, salt, oil, and flour. Mix well and dump onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, until a soft dough forms.

To make pockets: Divide dough into 8-10 pieces. Roll pieces into balls. Flatten balls into circles with rolling pin. Dollop a spoonful of salsa onto dough circle, sprinkle with cheese and chicken. Fold over and seal tightly.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes until browned.

To freeze: Cool completely and store in an airtight ziptop freezer bag for up to 2-3 months.

To serve: Remove desired number of pockets from the freezer and warm them individually in the microwave for about two minutes or until heated throw. Or, warm on a cookie sheet in a 350-degrees oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through.

Makes 8 to 10 pockets.

Are you joining us for Lunchbox Freezer Cooking? If you’ve blogged about a lunchbox recipes you’ve made for your freezer, leave a link to your post and recipe below. I can’t wait to see your yummy recipes and ideas!

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Lunchbox Freezer Cooking: Chicken Broccoli Rice Cups (Day 5)

by Crystal on September 19, 2012

I re-created our well-loved Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole into a more portable version tonight. Honestly, after making it, I’m not entirely sold on the idea of putting it in muffin tins.

It would work well for an at-home lunch with little people who have small appetites. But for anyone over the age of three or four, I think it might be more convenient to make the casserole, bake it, and then divvy it up into portion-sized airtight containers to freeze.

This is a recipe that freezes really well — baked or unbaked. And it thaws well, and re-heats well. So no matter how you decide to divvy it up and freeze it, it’s hard to go wrong.

By the way, if you’ve not tried this recipe yet, it’s a big favorite of ours. In fact, my kids request to eat it for breakfast when we have leftovers in the fridge! (Truth be told, I usually let them. But hey, it has grains, dairy, protein, and veggies. So I don’t think it can be that detrimental to eat for breakfast. And it’s probably loads better than most boxed cereals on the market — especially if you make your own homemade soup mixes!)

Are you joining us for Lunchbox Freezer Cooking? If you’ve blogged about a lunchbox recipes you’ve made for your freezer, leave a link to your post and recipe below. I can’t wait to see your yummy recipes and ideas!

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Lunchbox Freezer Cooking: Mac N’ Cheese Cups (Day 3)

by Crystal on September 17, 2012

So, I was excited about this idea I had for making Mac N’ Cheese Cups, inspired by this recipe from Once a Month Mom. Only my idea pretty much flopped.

You see, I had some boxes of Annie’s Mac N’ Cheese on hand, so we used that instead of making the sauce from scratch. But then, since I never use muffin liners, I decided we’d skip using those and just put the mac and cheese directly into the muffin tins.

I was hoping that these would pop right out after baking. But they didn’t. In fact, it didn’t really stick together at all.

Oh well. I guess we saved you having to try it yourself — and it’s not like the Macaroni and cheese isn’t edible, it’s just not real lunchbox-friendly. :)

Live and learn, right?

Oh and I also wouldn’t recommend turning your back when your 3-year-old is in the kitchen helping you.

Because you might end up finding him painting the sliding glass door with mac and cheese! :)

Check out this recipe on Once A Month Mom for a more tried and true Mac N’ Cheese Cups recipe. You can also find a Dairy-Free/Wheat-Free Mac N’ Cheese Cups recipe over on Milk Allergy Mom.

Are you joining us for Lunchbox Freezer Cooking? If you’ve blogged about a lunchbox recipes you’ve made for your freezer, leave a link to your post and recipe below. I can’t wait to see your yummy recipes and ideas!

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

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My Lunchbox Freezer Cooking Plan

by Crystal on September 10, 2012

School is back in session and many of you are packing lunches to send with your children. Or, you might be packing a lunch for your spouse or yourself to take to work.

Packing your own lunch is a great way to save money, but trying to put together lunches at the last minute can be time-consuming. And that’s where freezer cooking comes in!

For the next two weeks, we’ll be doing a Lunchbox Freezer Cooking series here on MoneySavingMom.com. I’ll be making a different freezer-friendly Lunchbox item each day — and I’ll be blogging about it, with pictures, and encouraging you to join in and make what I make or another recipe that would work for brown-bagging it.

I’m not 100% sure of all of the recipes I’m making, but here’s what I think I’m going to make (most of these are new to me, so I can’t vouch for them!):

Individual Mac & Cheese
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sushi Rolls
Pizza Lunchables
Broccoli Chicken & Rice Cups
Corn Dog Muffins
Homemade Pizza Rolls
Bean & Cheese Burritos (here’s another option for Burritos, if you want something with a little more variety in it)
Mighty Tasty Mini Lasagnas
Chocolate Chips Granola Bites
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Other Freezer-Friendly Lunchbox Ideas:

Barbecued Meatballs
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
Brown Bag Burritos
Homemade Pizza Pockets
Ham & Cheese Pockets
Southwest Rollups

Will you be joining us for some or all of the cooking/ What are you plannign to make? Leave a comment with your list and links to your recipes!

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Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Brown Butter Banana Waffles, Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars, and Pancake/Waffle Mix

by Crystal on August 30, 2012

I did another freezer cooking in an hour session today. I had to split it up before and after swimming lessons (our kids have swimming on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after school this Fall).

So I mixed up the dry ingredients for the Brown Butter Banana Waffles and put together the Pancake/Waffle Mix before we left.

After we got home, I finished the waffles and baked them. They were more time-consuming than most waffle recipes I’ve made and I didn’t feel like they were worth the extra effort — but I really think it’s because I decided I didn’t love the flavor of bananas in waffles. But don’t worry, with plenty of butter and syrup, we’ll have no problem eating them. :)

Since I didn’t have any muffin tin liners, I just made the Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups into bars. I think it was easier to do so and the bars turned out beautifully. Now if I can just have the self-control not to eat half of the pan in the next few days.

I’m going to cut up the Crunchy Peanut Butter Cup Bars and freeze them. And I’m thinking having one of these will be a perfect little pick-me-up at the end of a long homeschooling day. Peanut butter and chocolate… it doesn’t get much better than that! :)

Have you done any cooking or baking for your freezer this week?

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Freezer Cooking in an Hour: Mini Deep Dish Pizzas & Knock Off Betty Crocker Brownie Mixes

by Crystal on August 23, 2012

Here’s a little peek into the freezer cooking I did tonight:

I baked some chicken earlier in the day and chopped it while I was talking with my mom (she’s been coming over to spend time with the kids every Thursday afternoon after school).

And then Silas helped me grind up some flour while I mixed up the homemade pizza dough.

The Deep Dish Barbecue Chicken Pizzas were a little time intensive to put together.

Gratefully, I had some extra help in putting the pizzas together. I think someone likes their cheese. ;)

I also made up a pizza with the extra ingredients.

Silas took this picture himself and I thought he did a pretty good job.

The Deep Dish Barbecue Chicken Pizzas turned out beautifully and the family declared them to be delicious. I’m happy to have some yummy grab-and-go foods in the freezer — perfect for a quick snack or lunch.

I also mixed up a double batch of these Knock Off Betty Crocker Brownie Mixes. I’m anxious to make them and see how they turn out.

Have you done any cooking or baking for your freezer this week?

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20-Minute Freezer Cooking: Barbecued Meatballs and Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets

by Crystal on August 16, 2012


I did a quick freezer cooking session last night while making food to take to our church’s covered dish supper. I was in a bit of a hurry and a little scatter-brained since I got a late start, but within 35 minutes I managed to pull together five different dishes to take to the church supper plus make some barbecued meatballs and homemade instant oatmeal packets for the freezer.

{And lest you think I’m some superwoman, I should clarify that one of the dishes I brought was macaroni and cheese — from a box!, and the other four things were mostly things I pulled out of the freezer and that required very little prep work. Yes, as I’ve said before, I lost my superwoman cape in the dirty laundry pile a number of years ago and it’s never re-appeared! ;) }

We’ve made homemade instant oatmeal packets before, but when I saw this recipe, it looked much easier so I knew I had to give it a shot! And it was extremely easy to do!

The kids had fun helping add the sugar to the packets. We added cinnamon to some of the packets and chocolate chips (of course!) to some of the others!

The kids already ate some of them as a snack today and agreed that they were delicious.

Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets

Add to each bag:

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar (or raw sugar)
  • cinnamon, chocolate chips, raisins, or other mix-ins

Store in an airtight container or freeze for up to three months.

To serve: Pour instant oatmeal packet into a bowl and add 3/4 cup water. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, until cooked. Stir and serve. You can also cook in a saucepan on the stove, if you prefer.

Recipe adapted from Amy Loves Her Life

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One afternoon of chopping = 14 Crockpot Freezer Meals

by Crystal on August 13, 2012

Kojo Designs shows you how she spent one afternoon of chopping and prepping to result in 14 Crockpot Freezer Meals. Love this!

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4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Freezer-Friendly Chocolate Banana Bread (Day 20)

by Crystal on June 01, 2012

We made it to Day 20 — woohoo! If you’ve followed along and joined me in any or all of the daily freezer cooking challenges, you deserve a huge congratulations for making it this far.

And even though I’m finishing a few days later than I’d hoped, I’m encouraging myself with the fact that I finished, not that I didn’t quite get it finished when I’d hoped to.

I have a new challenge planned for June and July. Since I’m going to be gone in Virginia for much of next week, I’ll be introducing that challenge sometime next week and we’ll be beginning it the second week of June (likely June 12, 2012). Stay tuned for more!

Chocolate Banana Bread is usually really simple to whip up. But it took me longer than usual this time around.

First off, I mixed the dry ingredients together and got ready to add the cocoa only to discover we had no cocoa. I was confused as to why on earth this chocolate-loving family would be out of cocoa — especially since I was sure we had just had a full container.

Then I remembered…

…A few weeks ago when I was baking something with Silas, I left the kitchen table where we were working to go get something from the refrigerator. I got sidetracked doing something else in the kitchen for a minute and forgot to pay attention to what was happening at the kitchen table. Big mistake.

Needless to say, when I came back, I found that he had managed to spill the entire contents of the cocoa container out on my kitchen table. And yes, I had to take a picture to document it as I’m sure we’ll be looking back at these things some day and laughing quite heartily about all of his epic messes . :)

At any rate, I had to make a quick trip to Walmart to get some more cocoa. I figured Walmart would have a good price on some generic brand of cocoa.Wrong. I discovered that Walmart only stocks Hershey’s or Tollhouse (what’s with that?!), so I paid a whopping $2.58 for a canister of cocoa and tried again to make the bread.

Then, I discovered that my camera card was missing and when you’re supposed to blog about a cooking adventure, a camera card is sort of important seeing as a recipe post without pictures is kind of dull. :)

Where oh where could the camera card be? I searched high and low — only to finally find it in the load of clean laundry in the dryer. I had stuck it in the pocket of my jeans the day before and it made it through the washer and dryer unscathed. Hey at least it wasn’t buried at the bottom of the freezer like my camera cap!

Finally, I was able to get the recipe finished!


Freezer-Friendly Chocolate Banana Bread

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 stick butter, melted and cooled
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed well
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Stir the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Carefully fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 65 minutes until the bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

To freeze: Cool completely. Slice and wrap in plastic wrap and foil or in a ziptop bag. Store in the freezer.

To serve: Pull out desired number of slices. Thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour. Or, warm in the microwave.

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Did you do any freezer cooking today? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.

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4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Easy Morning Glory Muffins (Day 17)

by Crystal on May 24, 2012

These muffins are delicious and nutritious. When my friend, Angie, brought us some one day, I took one bite and knew they were winners.

I adapted the original recipe to make it healthier, but if you’re not worrying about sugar or calories, the original recipe is really good. :)

I’d recommend using muffin liners, if you buy them, as they seem to help these be a bit more moist. However, they are still delicious with less sugar and without muffin liners.

I used pureed carrots instead of shredded carrots this time around as that is what I already had in the freezer. I think it works a little better with shredded carrots — and the batter doesn’t look so orange, either!

Easy Morning Glory Muffins

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour (can also use white flour or a mixture of whole-wheat and white flour)
  • 3/4 to 1 cup raw sugar (or sugar)
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
  • 1 apple, peeled, cored, and shredded (or chopped)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup coconut oil, melted (or oil)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the carrots, raisins, coconut, and apples.

In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into the carrot/flour mixture, just until moistened. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

To freeze: Cool completely and put in an airtight ziptop freezer bag.

To thaw: Pull out the desired number of muffins and thaw at room temperature for an hour or so. You can also warm them in the microwave.

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Did you do any freezer cooking today? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.

 

Looking for more? Click here to read other posts about

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