Breakfasts

Portion-Sized Freezer-Friendly Baked Oatmeal

by Crystal on January 7, 2012

The following is a guest post from Brenda of Sugar-Free Mom:

January is always that time of year when everyone looks forward to that fresh start and a clean slate. We have hopes, aspirations, and dreams for a better year than the last. The year always begins with some enthusiastic ideas and hopefully some good planning.

Well, how many of you have ever made a goal to eat healthier or lose weight? Have you hit your goal?

This past year I wanted my children to eat less pre-packaged food items, I wanted to finally lose those last few pounds from my pregnancy, I wanted to stick to a food budget, and I wanted to have more freezer meals to make my life easier as a homeschooling momma. The 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget series helped tremendously, as well as the post on How I plan my freezer Cooking Day?

Whether you are trying to lose weight, eat healthier, or lower your grocery bill, I’ve got a recipe for you to try! It’s economical, versatile, freezable, portion controlled, and downright delicious.

Portion-Sized Freezer-Friendly Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 Tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
6 1/2 droppers full stevia (I use Sweetleaf Stevia.)
1/2 cup Sucanat or brown sugar (Note: if not using any Stevia increase your choice of sugar to 1 cup.)
1 banana, sliced
1 cup fruit of your choice — frozen or fresh blueberries, fresh or dried cranberries, frozen or fresh mango, or chocolate chips (see nutrition info below)
5 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup flax seed, ground
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cup 1% milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, and Stevia until combined.
Add Sucanat, banana, and other fruit of your choice. (If using chocolate chips add them last)
In another bowl, mix oats, salt, baking powder, flax seed, and cinnamon.
Dump dry ingredients into wet ingredients; mix well.
Pour in milk and stir until combined.
Spray one 12 and one 6 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or use cupcake liners.
Scoop mixture evenly into muffin cups.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until the center of each muffin is set.
Cool and enjoy — or freeze them in gallon freezer bags.

Nutrition Info with Fruit: Servings: 18* Serving size: 1* Calories: 155.7* Fat: 3g* Fiber: 3.7g* Carbs: 25.2g* Protein: 5.7g* Points+: 4* Old Points: 3*

Nutrition Info for Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal: Serving size: 1* Calories: 196* Fat: 6.7g* Fiber: 4g* Carbs: 30.3g* Protein: 6.1g* Points+: 5 Old Points: 6*

Source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/01/sugar-free-baked-oatmeal.html
© Copyright 2012 Money Saving Mom®. All Rights Reserved.

The best part about this recipe is that it is not made in a big casserole dish! It makes 18 individualized baked oatmeal portion so that I won’t eat more than my one portion. Its also very inexpensive.

A Few More Tips:

I buy the basic ingredients at Aldi and the rest at Target or Whole Foods.
You can find many varieties of chocolate chips without refined sugar at Whole Foods and online.
I use grain-sweetened chocolate chips, but carob chips are also delicious as well.
Using different fruits does not change the nutrition info all that much.
Using chocolate chips does change the nutrition info and you will see that difference noted above.
This recipe freezes wonderfully in Ziploc freezer bags.

If you only start with one goal this year, make it freezer cooking and start with this easy dish!

Brenda Bennett, is a homeschooling mom of three and author of Sugar-Free Mom.com. She lost 50 pounds and has kept it off for the last 8 years! At Sugar-Free Mom, you will find great recipes for yourself and your family, as well as health-related issues about exercise and refined sugar-free alternatives.

{ 76 comments }

Carrot Cake Waffles with Vanilla Whipped Cream

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by Crystal on November 11, 2011

So, I have to tell you something: these waffles were totally concocted as a fluke. You see, I was in the middle of a crazy and chaotic freezer cooking in an hour session with Silas and Kaitlynn “helping”.

While I was trying to make Pumpkin Ginger Waffles, Silas dumped flour all over the waffle maker.

And then I turned my back to get something out of the fridge and came back to see that Silas had poured yeast into all the dry ingredients. I couldn’t get the yeast all out, so I had to start the batter over again.

At this point, needless to say, I was a little flustered. When I went to pull out the pureed pumpkin from the freezer, I accidentally pulled out pureed carrots instead.

I didn’t even realize it until I saw carrot pieces in the batter. By that time, there was really nothing I could do to fix my mistake, so I just decided to go ahead and finish making the waffles and see how they turned out with carrots.

The result? A winning recipe that our whole family loves! In fact, I’ve already made it again and we all decided we may like it better with carrots than with the pumpkin it was supposed to have.

Carrot Cake Waffles with Vanilla Whipped Cream

1 1/4 cup flour (I used all whole-wheat.)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk (I just used regular milk and added some lemon juice to it.)
1/2 cup pureed carrots
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon. Beat together eggs, butter milk, pureed carrots, sugar, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix wet and dry ingredients together until well blended. Cook on waffle iron.

Serve hot with vanilla whipped cream (beat 1/2 cup whipping cream, 1-2 teaspoons vanilla, and powdered sugar or honey to taste until peaks form.) and/or maple syrup.

Source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/11/carrot-cake-waffles-with-vanilla-whipped-cream.html
© Copyright 2012 Money Saving Mom®. All Rights Reserved.

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Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie Recipe

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by Crystal on September 15, 2011

We made Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothies for breakfast a few days ago and they were a hit.

I didn’t think they were as yummy as the Pick-Me-Up Smoothies, but the children gobbled them down. (By the way, I’ve found that if I let the children actively participate in helping cut and prepare fruits and vegetables, they are so much more excited about eating them!)

The oatmeal gave it a bit more of a heavy consistency, but I was surprised how little you actually noticed it.

Kaitlynn wanted to pour her own.

Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie Recipe

1 cup ice
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tablespoon sweetener (we used agave nectar, but you could use honey or sugar)
1 cup milk (we used rice milk, but I think regular milk would make it creamier)

Measure ice and strawberries and pour into the bottom of the blender. Add the remaining ingredients on top. Blend until completely smooth. Serve immediately or freeze in small containers for later use. Serves 2-4.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/09/strawberry-oatmeal-smoothie-recipe.html
© Copyright 2012 Money Saving Mom®. All Rights Reserved.

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Cinnamon Roll Biscuits Recipe

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by Crystal on June 23, 2011

I made this recipe last week using the Homemade Baking Mix and it was a total winner. Everyone in our family liked these and we had guests over and they raved about them, too.

Best of all? These are so simple to make. I timed myself and can have these in the oven in less than 15 minutes. Now that’s my kind of recipe — delicious, quick and even made with all whole-wheat flour!

Cinnamon Roll Biscuits

4 1/2 cups Homemade Baking Mix
1 1/3 cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar or raw sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Glaze (I made a little extra since we like lots of glaze around here!)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tablespoons milk

Combine Baking Mix and milk. Turn onto a well-floured surface and knead at least ten times (the dough will be sticky). Roll dough out into a rectangle.

Melt butter and brush over rolled out dough. Mix together cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over melted butter. Roll up and cut into 12 rolls.

Place in a greased baking pan and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Mix glaze ingredients together and drizzle over Cinnamon Roll Biscuits as soon as they come out of the oven. Serve warm.

Source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/06/cinnamon-roll-biscuits-recipe.html
© Copyright 2012 Money Saving Mom®. All Rights Reserved.

{ 55 comments }

Freezer-Friendly Baked Oatmeal Recipe

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by Crystal on June 14, 2011

So many of you requested more specific directions on how I froze the Baked Oatmeal recipe that I made for my Freezer-Cooking-In-An-Hour session last week that I figured it might be good to share the adapted recipe. But I wanted to make sure it turned out okay after being frozen, thawed and then baked.

We tested it this week and, as I suspected, it worked beautifully to freeze. It was so, so easy to pull out, thaw overnight and bake. And my husband and children raved about it all during breakfast. I almost felt guilty that it was so simple to pull off.

It was definitely a hit — and something I’ll be including more often in our regular breakfast line up now that I’ve found a way to make it ahead and freeze it!

Freezer-Friendly Baked Oatmeal

1/3 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
3/4 cup raw sugar (or brown sugar)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk
3 cups oats (regular or quick oats)

Beat eggs, sugar and butter together. Mix in baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.

Stir in milk and oats. Pour into a greased 9×13 foil pan or baking dish and cover well. (Can use a Ziploc freezer bag, if freezing). Freeze.

To serve: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning, bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until set in the middle. Serve warm with milk. (We like to sprinkle sugar on top before pouring the milk on.)

If you want to serve it without freezing it first, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight and then bake it at 350 degrees for 35-45minutes in the morning.

Serves 6-8.

Adapted from Food.com

Source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/06/freezer-friendly-baked-oatmeal-recipe.html
© Copyright 2012 Money Saving Mom®. All Rights Reserved.

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Whole-Wheat Chocolate Pancakes Recipe

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by Crystal on June 2, 2011

I made this recipe for the first time yesterday. Considering that there are only a few pancakes left and I doubled the recipe intending to freeze most of them, I’d say these were a hit!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Pancakes Recipe

Makes 12-16 full-sized pancakes

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/4 cups buttermilk (or make your own)
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
4 Tablespoons brewed coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, combine beaten eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, coffee and vanilla.

Add wet mixture to the dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula until just combined. Allow the mixture to set for a few minutes to thicken.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt a teaspoon of butter in the pan. Ladle 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and cook pancakes until small bubbles begin to form on the surface. Flip and cook one to two minutes more. Transfer to a serving plate and repeat for the remaining batter.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

To Freeze:

Lay cooled pancakes on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze for one to two hours. Remove from pan and stack in a ziptop bag. Seal tightly and freeze for up to a month.

To serve: Remove from freezer and warm in the microwave on high for one to two minutes, warm on a cookie sheet in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or heat in a toaster oven. Serve.

Recipe adapted from February/March 2011 issue of Kiwi magazine.

Source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/06/whole-wheat-chocolate-pancakes-recipe.html
© Copyright 2012 Money Saving Mom®. All Rights Reserved.

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Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos

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by Crystal on May 19, 2011

My husband loves McDonald’s Breakfast Burritos and I’ve been hoping I could create a homemade version he’d like, as well. These Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos were my first attempt and Jesse absolutely loved them.

I’m not a huge breakfast burrito fan, but I have to say, I think this recipe is a winner. In fact, I can see myself sneaking these from the freezer for mid-morning snack.

They are perfect for breakfast-on-the-go, and they are probably loads healthier than the McDonald’s Breakfast Burritos. One thing is for sure, they are significantly less expensive. From my calculations, they would cost around $0.45 per burrito using regularly-priced ingredients from Aldi. If you were able to get some of the ingredients on sale, they could be quite a bit less than that.

Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
18 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped ham
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
20 flour tortillas

Saute onions and green pepper in butter. Beat eggs and milk together and pour into the skillet with the onions and peppers.

Add the ham, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set. Mix in cheese and let melt.

Scoop 1/2 cup egg mixture onto tortillas. Fold ends under and roll up. Freeze (see instructions below) or put all burritos in a baking dish, top with extra cheese (if you’d like) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve with salsa.

Freezer Instructions:

Wrap burrito in a paper towel and then in a sheet of foil. Seal tightly and place in freezer bags. When bag is full, remove all air and seal. Freeze.

To serve: Remove foil and put paper-towel-wrapped burrito in microwave. Reheat for around one minute. Serve with salsa.

Recipe adapted from Amy’s Finer Things

Source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/05/freezer-friendly-breakfast-burritos.html
© Copyright 2012 Money Saving Mom®. All Rights Reserved.

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Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

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by Crystal on May 19, 2011

If you’ve not noticed, I sort of have a thing for chocolate chips. Throwing in whole wheat flour makes me feel a little less guilty for consuming them at the rate I like to. So, I knew I wanted to try Amy’s Lighter Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes as soon as I saw them.

Of course, in typical Crystal style, I re-did the recipe and also tripled it so there’d be some left over for the freezer. The end result was one our whole family loved!

These Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes are delicious straight from the griddle or served cold as a snack (well, our family might be the only people who thinks they are yummy cold, because we’re weird like that!).

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

5 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
3 Tablespoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon salt
5 1/4 cups milk (I use clearanced milk from the freezer.)
3/4 cup butter, melted
6 eggs, beaten
9 Tablespoons raw sugar
1 bag chocolate chips

Combine flour, oatmeal, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Beat milk, butter, eggs and sugar together.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix together. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray or add a sliver of butter.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto hot skillet. Cook pancake bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Makes 20-24 medium to large pancakes.

Freezer Instructions:

Cool pancakes. Lay on a cookie sheet and flash freeze for 1-2 hours. Put in a freezer bag, remove all air and seal. Freeze.

To serve: Reheat in microwave or toaster oven for a few minutes. Or, lay pancakes on a cookie sheet and heat in oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Serve.

Recipe adapted from MomAdvice.com

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Blueberry Ginger Smoothie Recipe

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by Crystal on May 12, 2011

When I first saw this recipe in the May/June 2011 issue of the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine, I thought it sounded like a very strange combination. But the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me.

So I tried it this week — and thought it was really quite good. The ginger added a fun zing and a refreshing twist. If you try this, I’d love to hear what you think about it!

Blueberry Ginger Smoothie

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup vanilla yogurt
2 Tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serve immediately. Makes 2-3 servings.

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Pick-Me-Up Smoothie Recipe

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by Crystal on March 17, 2011

A friend of mine told me last year that she loved frozen grapes in smoothies. Frozen grapes in smoothies? That just seemed weird to me.

But I tucked that piece of information in the back of my brain and pulled it back out again recently when I bought two bags of grapes marked down to $0.99 at the health food store.

The result? This delicious Pick-Me-Up Smoothie recipe.

The ingredient combination might sound odd, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. If you love smoothies like we do, I think you’ll think it’s delicious. At least we all have agreed it’s one of the best smoothie recipes I’ve come up with to date.

It’s perfect when you need an extra shot of energy and oomph on “one of those days”. And it’s quite healthful, too.

Pick-Me-Up Smoothie Recipe

1 1/2 to 2 frozen bananas (I like to freeze mine chopped, though you can freeze them whole.)
1 cup frozen red grapes
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt (We’ve been using plain yogurt, though vanilla or another flavor should work, as well.)
1 Tablespoon honey

Blend together in a blender on high until thoroughly blended and smooth. We use the Vita-Mix. I’m not sure how the grapes would blend in a regular blender. If you try it, let us know!

Makes approximately two to three servings.