Finally, everything off the Baking Day list is done! And I have decided our After-the-Baby Freezer Stash is officially complete since our basement freezer is stuffed with the makings of 25 meals plus rolls, muffins, and banana bread! (You can see the full list of everything we made complete with recipe links here.)
It will be so nice to not have to worry about cooking or baking or shopping for at least a month or so after the baby is born. I’m definitely hoping this will not only save us time and money, but will make the transition from two little ones to three little ones go more smoothly. Now if only I could find a way to do a month’s worth of laundry ahead of time, we’d be all set! 🙂
Here were the results of the baking we did yesterday and this morning:
3 dozen Banana Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 1/2 dozen Whole Wheat French Bread Rolls
3 dinner’s worth of Calzone dough
1 dozen Super Power Muffins
3 bags cooked and chopped chicken
2 loaves Banana Bread
Did you have a chance to do any baking this week? If so, post about it
on your blog and leave your link below to your direct blog post. I’d
love it especially if you could share pictures and recipes so I can get
more ideas for my next Baking Day projects! And I’m guessing many
others would be inspired as well.
Stephanie says
Wow! Good work, Mama! Everything looks tasty. I could definitely go for one of those Banana Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins this morning. 😉
Do you just stick the muffins in a Ziploc bag after you make them and put them in the freezer? How long will they last…and what do you do when you want to eat them (stick them in the oven/microwave…?)? These may be silly questions, but I’m new to the “freeze-ahead” thing and I’d LOVE to learn more!
Tara says
Crystal, do you reuse your freezer bags?
April says
Hi Crystal, can you please tell me how the power muffins taste? I really want to know they are delicious before I make them and you are usually very honest about if things turned out ok, not so ok, or fabulous. 🙂 Thanks.
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Money Saving Mom here: My hubby and girls really liked them. I personally thought they were pretty good, not the best muffins ever, but definitely something I’d consider making again.
Hope that helps!
Jennifer says
boy you sure are nesting!
Honey says
I finally got to cook up a storm. I’ve cooked up some ground beef, made some chicken salad, whole wheat sourdough bread, sweet potato muffins, and I’m waiting for my dough to double for the whole wheat french bread rolls. Thanks for the great recipes!
Wendy Felder says
What do you do with your kids while you are busy being a baking tornado? I broke my cooking/baking up into 2 days, but I still feel like I completely ignore my daughter. She did help me make some things, but she is still so little. (she’ll be 3 next Monday)
PS I made chicken noodle soup (with homemade stock), meatballs and sauce, whole wheat bread, pizza dough, super power muffins, and banana bread. 🙂
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Money Saving Mom here: I touched on this subject more here:
https://moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2008/10/baking-day—part-4.html
Also, I talk some about organization, working with your children, and “getting it all done” over on my other blog regularly. Check it out here, if you are interested: http://www.MomofLittles.com
Hope that helps!
Em. says
I jumped the gun and put my link in your Part 3 post thinking maybe you weren’t posting the Linky. My apologies.
Thanks so much, though, for posting your Baking Day adventures. I played along entirely unintentionally at first. You got into my subconscious via my Reader and by the end of the day … baked goods galore! <3
Hopefulone says
It all looks so wonderful and yummy:) Way to go!!!!
Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam says
I only put the actual recipe up for my strawberry trifle, but I have the pound cake and a few other baked goods shown that I did for Tasty Tuesday. I will have to put the exact recipes up next week. :)I was baking up a storm for Easter…so much fun. My new quiche recipe is so yummy and reheats really well.
Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam says
This is to comment about the frozen flour question. If the flour is ground fresh and then frozen immediately, it retains about 90% of it’s value. 🙂
Megan says
You are such an inspiration!
BeautifulWreck says
I feel inspired to having a baking day with my kids. Yummy recipes you got there too!
Tutti @ Tribal Talk says
Do you use a wheat grinder? Do you know if whole wheat will keep its nutritional value if frozen? I have read that it loses 90% of it’s nutritional value within 3 days after the wheat is ground, but I have not been able to find anything that addresses if it is frozen.
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Money Saving Mom here: I have a wheat grinder but haven’t been able to find an economical source of wheat kernels since we moved. Still working on that! However, from what I’ve read, while fresh is best, there’s still plenty of nutritional value when frozen.
Sarah says
Laundry a month ahead? Consider investing in a front load washer/dryer set when you move. I have 4 kids ages 3-9 and I spent most of my time doing laundry. On average, 5-6 loads a DAY! We got a really wonderful deal on a front load set and I can fit 18 pairs of adult jeans, 22 towels, and tons of kid clothes! Best of all, I am now down to 2 loads a day, and an extra every other day. I especially love the sanitary cycle after illness and for body fluid covered laundry!
Amy says
You are an inspiration! I just tried this italian bread recipe this week and it is super delicious! I used one of the loaves to make garlic bread tonight-yum!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Bread-Using-a-Bread-Machine/Detail.aspx
Make Life Delicious says
I love that you do this! I always look forward to your baking days. Thanks for letting all of us join in with you!
Kristy says
Have you had a chance to try any of these things you’ve frozen? Are they as good when they come out of the freezer as they are now? I LOVE this idea and am totally inspired. I am due to have a baby looks like in December, but I run a daycare and will only be able to take a few weeks off. I love this idea. I think we might have to buy another freezer though. Ours is really small! Anyway, THANK YOU!
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Money Saving Mom here: I freeze stuff very regularly and we have never had a problem with things not tasting quite fresh and good. The only thing I don’t freeze as much is bread and rolls. If I do freeze homemade bread, then we toast it before serving and generously slather it with butter.
You might take a peek at some of my previous baking day posts to see things I regularly freeze. Some of our favorites are waffles, pancakes, and banana bread. You can do a search on the sidebar for “Baking Day” and it will pull up lots of posts and pictures from previous Baking Days.
Oh and we only had an over-the-refrigerator freezer for a number of years and I still was able to bake ahead and freeze quite a bit. You just have to be creative in stacking and storing stuff in there and you can really get quite a bit of mileage out of the space.
kasey says
I tried your comfort muffins today! One word…. Amazing!! I’m giving you a shout out on my blog tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe. We gave some away to our neighbors and they loved it!
Birgitte says
I hope your delivery will be as short and sweet as mine was! I ate a lot of pineapple, papaya and mango to make it quick. I don’t know if it worked, but the birth lasted only 4 hours from the labor started until it was over (and I was a first timer!)
I am planning to bake tomorrow. Bread and maybe some homemade hot pockets. I need to organize my freezer a bit better first, it is a total mess right now.
Phoebe @ Cents to Get Debt Free says
You are amazing, Crystal! 🙂
I’m planning on doing my baking day tomorrow–I will link up then. Lots of different recipes to try out in the links…can’t wait! 🙂
Cate says
I second Katie on wanting to see a picture of your freezer.
I always want to join in on your Baking Days, but never seem to have baking supplies on hand! Soon I may have to do a Baking Day of my own, as I’m expecting a baby in June and would like to stock the freezer with some goodies.
Lindsey says
I don’t know much about freezing baked goods or other meal items. Would you consider posting on this topic or pointing me to another blog with this information? I would greatly appreciate it.
Denise says
Great job Crystal! I am salivating over here! I noticed you freeze your rolls, & muffins in gallon sized bags. Does it keep freezer burn out? Have a great evening!
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Money Saving Mom here: I’ve never had a problem with freezer burn when freezing in big plastic bags. However, we also usually eat up all of our frozen bread products within 4-6 weeks of freezing them!
The Prudent Homemaker says
Cyrstal,
How many freezers do you have? I’ve been wanting to ask for a long time.
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Money Saving Mom here: We have two refrigerators. One we own and one that came with our current rental. So I use the freezer space above the refrigerators.
Someday I hope to have a nice big deep freeze, but I’m able to freeze a lot with the space we currently have.
Julie says
I think you will be very surprised how easy it is to go from 2 children to 3. For me it was hard with the first because it was all new. The 2nd was challenging because I had to learn how to deal with a newborn and a 2 yr old. When baby 3 came (then 4) I was a pro and life went on wonderfully and normal 🙂
Great job on all you have accomplished!
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Money Saving Mom here: Thanks for the encouragement, Julie! I’m curious to see how it goes!
Bethany says
Well, I didn’t blog about my baking day, but I just had one a few days ago. Some of this was for us and some was for a friend on bedrest.
* Cornbread – double batch
http://fortheloveofgrub.blogspot.com/2008/08/cornbread.html
* Poppyseed & banana muffins http://fortheloveofgrub.blogspot.com/2009/03/poppyseed-banana-muffins.html
* Pumpkin bread – double batch
http://fortheloveofgrub.blogspot.com/2008/09/pumpkin-bread.html
* Chewy granola bars
http://fortheloveofgrub.blogspot.com/2008/08/chewy-granola-bars.html
* Apple buttermilk bran muffins – batter was premade & I baked 3 cups worth
http://fortheloveofgrub.blogspot.com/2008/08/apple-buttermilk-bran-muffins.html
Katie says
Now I want to see a picture of your freezer. It sounds like a beautiful sight.
Krista says
Out of curiosity, how do you keep your cooked and chopped chicken in the freezer without it having a freezer “not fresh” kind of taste? I would love to have chicken prepped in the freezer like that, but my chicken always tastes funny when I go to use it. The only way I can keep chicken tasting normal is if it is cooked and put in some sort of casserole or sauce that, in my opinion, preserves it better. Any tips?!?!?
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Money Saving Mom here: Well, maybe we’re just not terribly particular, but I’ve never had a problem with cooking and then freezing it in baggies. I do recommend, however, that you make sure to just cook it until it is barely done. That seems to make it more tender and fresh in casseroles, etc. And I also only buy chicken breasts. We don’t particularly care for dark meat and it doesn’t seem to freeze as well to me.
hh says
God bless your delievery and your new baby! Take care!
andrea says
I am wondering if you would be willing to email me your reciepes for the items you baked. I have never thought to freeze bake goods but I think you may have swayed me alittle.
Andrea
Thanks
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Money Saving Mom here: Andrea, all the recipes to the items I made are linked in the post (the green font means it’s a link). In addition, you might check out this link here for recipes from my previous Baking Days:
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=007411191005105397513%3Aztux3xc6n_u&q=Baking+Day&sa=Search
Hope that helps!
mandy says
It all looks fabulous! You are in inspiration!
Alaina says
Great job Crystal!
Jessica says
Can I ask a really “beginner” question? How do you freeze everything and then thaw it later so that it doesn’t get freezer burn and isn’t soggy when you eat it-without using a lot of expensive wrap, bags, or foil. What are the best tricks/techniques? It is just something I have never mastered. . .any advice? Your baked goods look DELICIOUS!!!
Laura@HeavenlyHomemakers says
I always have so much fun “watching” your baking days! Thanks for sharing them with us!
karyn says
I have a question …
Whenever I heat up cooked chicken it tastes terrible! am i doing something wrong? I see you are thawing it, cooking it and refreezing it and it seems to work for you.
what’s your secret and believe me I know this is a CRAZY question!!!
Karyn in Houston