I did something different for this week’s Freezer Cooking session. Instead of doing a few Facebook Live videos and taking lots of pictures for a blog post, I decided to do the entire cooking session live on video!
You can watch the full video here — if you’re interested. This gives you a peek into how I work in the kitchen (I might appall you if you are someone who follows recipes precisely!) and how I adapt based upon what I have on hand or how I substitute when I don’t have one of the ingredients! 🙂
The entire session took me 30 minutes total — and then a little clean up time. I’d love to hear your feedback on whether you like me doing the full cooking sessions live like this. I love that people can interact live, share tips, ask questions, etc. It’s live-blogging at its finest!
Here were the final results:
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars — I love recipes from Chocolate Covered Katie! I especially love how she makes her recipes so flexible so can adapt them if you have food allergies or preferences.
These bars were pretty good. Quite soft and sweet. I’m not sure that I’d recommend subbing pumpkin for applesauce, but at least I used what I had and saved myself a trip to the store, right? 🙂
Blueberry Coconut Crisp — I had some leftover coconut in cupboard and some blueberries from ALDI, so they served as the inspiration to try this recipe.
I was really happy with how it turned out and think it would be amazing served over Greek Yogurt for breakfast or with ice cream for dessert.
It’s not as healthy as My Favorite Blueberry Crisp recipe, but the coconut gives it a different twist and it’s definitely a recipe I’d recommend.
Pumpkin French Toast — I know it’s just barely September, but I’m all about the pumpkin over here. Have I mentioned that I absolutely adore fall? Oh yes I do!
And I start pretending that it’s fall just as soon as it hits near the end of August. Gratefully, the weather has even been cooperating with my plan some of the days and it’s been cooler temperatures instead of crazy hot!
So when I saw this Pumpkin French Toast, I was all over it. It was SO easy to make and it’s a really inexpensive recipe that can be made with ingredients from ALDI!
Jesse said that this was his favorite recipe of the three I made. I was surprised and happy about that as he’s not as ridiculously into pumpkin as I am! 🙂
Did you do any freezer cooking this week? Tell us about it in the comments!
P.S. See Last Week’s Freezer Cooking Session Here.
I think freezer cooking can be a great way to save time and money and I enjoy the helpful posts about it, but I’ve been missing the other content I use to see on the blog, such as book reviews and inspirational/motivating posts. I am a long time reader and appreciate your hard work.
Maybe I missed it but what are the instructions for actually freezing/reheating these things? They look amazing! Thank you!
Oh my goodness…..those chocolate chip peanut butter bars are absolutely delish!!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I will be making them again soon!!!
YAY!!!
I made a double batch of macaroni and cheese this week, and we ate half and froze half. I was soooo pleased with myself for stocking the freezer with my daughter’s favorite meal. However, when it came time to serve it, I discovered that while it had been her favorite LAST week, THIS week it was completely unacceptable – she’s 18 months old, what can I say??? At least my husband and I enjoyed it, lol!!
I’m planning to make scones this weekend – some to eat fresh and some to freeze.
Crystal, I want to thank you for all you do. I’ve been reading you for years and was grateful for the various tips and things, but I never really NEEDED them since we were in a really nice financial place. Our circumstances have changed now because of having a baby and buying a house, and we’re finding that we need to tighten our belts a bit. Your advice is so fantastic! I’m finding myself combing your archives for tips and ideas. We’re making progress – this month our expenses were $100 less than last month! We’re debt free (except for that brand new mortgage!) and I want us to stay that way and keep up our emergency savings. I’m also a work-outside-the-home mom and so my time is limited – so finding ways to save time AND money? It’s the best 🙂 Thanks!!
YAY for spending $100 less this month than last month!!!
And thank you so much for your kind encouragement!
Hey Crystal! We love doing Live videos. Aren’t they great! I was wondering. I need a new phone. What kind do you have? Do you like it for streaming live?
Thanks!!
I have an iPhone 6 (just the plain 6). I’ve had it for quite awhile and it works well for doing FB Live videos!
I made a double batch of macaroni and cheese this week and froze half of it. Too bad I didn’t know that while it was my daughter’s favorite food LAST week, THIS week it’s completely unacceptable! Ah toddlers!! She did just start eating peas again after months of refusing them so there’s hope I guess, lol!!
I’m planning to make a double batch of our favorite scones this weekend, some to eat fresh (yum!) and some for the freezer.
I love pumpkin too! Does anyone have a yummy pumpkin soup recipe? I’ve been looking for one for years (after having pumpkin soup in a restaurant that I loved) & have yet to find a recipe I like.
I’ve been making this for awhile and it’s so easy and yummy! http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/09/harvest-pumpkin-soup/
Thanks!
I think any day is a good day for pumpkin-stuff. I make pumpkin waffles all the time.
I so agree!!
Yes!! I’m so ready for pumpkin season. I would make pumpkin desserts all year if the family would eat them but they are not as enthusiastic. I have to confess that I got out my homemade pumpkin spice coffee creamer a couple weeks ago. Fall is my favorite season and I’m so ready for it after this super hot summer we’ve had.
Wow! Does the 30 minute include prep and clean-up time?? My freezer-cooking sessions take at least a couple of hours from start to finish, and I don’t feel like I’m making that much more than you do!! 🙂
Oh, wait! I’m sorry, you did say 30 min + clean up time. Wow, that’s so impressive!! 🙂
I was actually surprised that’s all the time it took, too! It was fun to do the video in real-time to see how long it actually would take me!