As promised, here's the final installment of this week's Baking Day posts. Only, unlike yesterday when I was baking up a storm, I didn't bake or cook anything today.
Instead, my sister came over to help me today and she made all of this for me–plus, she took the pictures! Yes, I'm very spoiled to live close to family again.
Here's what she stocked our freezer with:
Whole-Wheat Banana Crumb Muffins–These are delicious! The recipe is here and was passed onto me by Donielle. She used some applesauce in place of the butter/oil and I don't think you can tell at all.
Spinach, Brown Rice, and Cheese Casserole–I love this stuff! I'd recommend putting in a little less spinach (unless you really like the taste of cooked spinach, more cheese, and maybe some extra seasonings in place of the Worchestershire sauce). It makes such a nutritious and delicious lunch; I always crave it when I'm pregnant, too!
Cranberry Orange Bread–Another great recipe! My friend found cranberries marked down to $0.50/bag at our nearby Dillons store and she tipped me off to the deal. Plus, she gave me this great recipe!
Cranberry Orange Bread
2 cups flour
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
3/4 cup orange juice
1 egg
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Cut in shortening (like for a pie crust). Beat the egg. Stir in orange peel and orange juice. Add these to the
dry ingredients and mix. Then fold in cranberries and nuts. Bake in a
greased large loaf pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
And, not only did she make all of that, but my sister also made a double batch of pancakes, too. Whew! See why I'm so blessed to have family nearby?
Thanks for such good recipes! I LOVE sharing in your baking days, I try to imagine you working in your kitchen as I work in mine. I made the cranberry orange bread, we thought it was in the make again category. the spinach rice casserole was a huge hit with my crew, mine was a bit different than you posted. We used 2 cups brown rice cooked in 6 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of chicken broth powder. To this we added 4 eggs, the wilted spinach, dried onion flakes, 2/3 cup milk and about 2 cups cheese. We also added 2 cups of diced cooked chicken, although it certainly would not be missed if omitted. Oh how yummy this was! Thanks again for this blog.
I just made the banana muffins today and they were delicious! Thank you for a wonderful blog, I read it every day!
The spinach casserole looks great! Have you ever made it with frozen spinach or would you have to use fresh?
I just started a baking day myself….made some yummy pumpkin muffins. My question is, how do you freeze them? I’ve used freezer bags before, but would it be better toindividually wrap them (like in saran wrap)and then put in a freezer bag? Thanks!
I baked up a batch of these lovely muffins…but i went with 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white…i just never baked with whole wheat before…so i was skeptical. but it was wonderful! thanks for the inspiration to bake 🙂 hope you and baby are doing great and staying healthy
just a quick question about the rapadura sweetener in the banana muffins…do you use that or is there something that you use in place of it?
thank you for inspiring me to get into another baking day!!
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Money Saving Mom here: I just used sugar. The original recipe called for that and I have never used or bought rapadura before, so that’s what I went with.
My daughter and I wanted to try these delicious muffins but I couldn’t find rapadura at Kroger or Walmart. Where can I find this product? Or can I just use sugar and if so, would it still call for 3/4 cups. I look forward to hearing from you about this and thank you for ALL the wonderful info you provide. It really helps my family and I.
God Bless
My daughter and I wanted to try these delicious muffins but I couldn’t find rapadura at Kroger or Walmart. Where can I find this product? Or can I just use sugar and if so, would it still call for 3/4 cups. I look forward to hearing from you about this and thank you for ALL the wonderful info you provide. It really helps my family and I.
God Bless
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Money Saving Mom here: I just used sugar. Hope that helps!
Thanks for sharing your baking days. One quick question. What spices do you use in place of the Worchestershire sauce in your Spinich Bake?
To Jackie–you can can bananas to use in banana bread! It’s wonderful because you can just dump them, already mashed, right in the batter. I can make banana bread anytime now that I have canned bananas.
We are out of bread and I am having a baking day, too! French bread, English muffins, cranberry-orange muffins, bagels, chapatis, and banana bread! It will all be eaten by Monday morning, though!
Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on doing the spinach and rice casserole withOUT cheese… crazy I know… I LOVE cheese! But it doesn’t fly with Baby Girl’s tummy right now. If I left the cheese out would it hold together?
Do you have the recipe for the breakfast burritos? That sounds perfect for hubby! Thanks!
OH, man! I was waiting on the WW pancake recipe. :0( Any chance you might go ahead and post it??? Please? Or have a link to it? Thank you ever so much for ALL you do! Wow! A fan from Italy? You go girl!!! :0)
Random question that I thought you might now the answer to. Can you freeze banana bread? Should I freeze the batter? Can I bake it and freeze it? Thanks!
Hi. Have you posted the spinach recipe and I have missed it? I would love to have it.
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Money Saving Mom here:
The recipe is linked in the post but if you have any trouble accessing it, here’s the URL:
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/spinach_rice_casserole
Wow- you really do have a great sister! She seems to have also inherited your superwoman powers! You’ve motivated me to get some baking done, but my kitchen sure is suffering! Where are those little elves that come clean up the kitchen at night? They skipped my house!
Question about the casserole-I apologize if you’ve already covered it…I’m new to your blog and love love love it!! I have a 15 month old and due in april with #2 and love freezer cooking!!
You obviously cook the spinach casserole first. Do you freeze it in individual servings and the whole casserole dish? It looks delicious!! I also curious as to how you reheat it!
Thanks so much!! What a blessing to have your sister do all this!! I’m gonna try the muffins too…I love that idea!!
Kristi
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Money Saving Mom here: Um, actually, I didn’t end up freezing the casserole. I was going to have my sister freeze the unbaked casserole in a bag, but I just was too hungry for it yesterday so I had her bake it up and we ate some of it yesterday and will eat the rest for lunch today.
Love your site!!
for the casserole- do you bake it and than freeze it in portions to later on pull out or do you prepare it, freeze it and than thaw and bake?? thanks!
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Money Saving Mom here: You can do either. I was going to freeze it unbaked, but I ended up baking it yesterday to eat because I was so hungry for it! 🙂 Hope that helps!
I was wondering if you juice in your juicer everyday and also do you store your juicer or leave it out on the counter? Thanks. Love your site! :o)
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Money Saving Mom here: Not every day, usually just a few times per week–depending upon how much time and fruit I have!
We are out of cupboard space right now (we don’t have much cupboard space in our current rental), but I’m looking for a little extra free-standing cupboard to buy and stick in our kitchen so I can have a place to store the juicer and a few other items. I dislike having things out on the countertops if I can help it. I guess it’s my minimalistic nature!
Just a note–real butter, especially butter made from raw milk, is exceptionally good for you and your children. We desperately need good fats in our bodies. If you go to this website… http://www.westonaprice.org/ and do some reading, I think you will be glad you did. I’m a nutrition fanatic, and we went so far as to get our own cow so that we would have plenty of fresh, whole milk, butter, and cream for us and our children.
Just wanted to give you some info to study. 🙂
I love your site. Thanks for all you do!
Blessings,
Tracy
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Money Saving Mom here: Absolutely! We are big into only using real butter here. The only problem is that it is *expensive*. So I don’t always have enough on hand to use in baking–which is why we did some applesauce this time. 🙂
I’d love to have a cow… maybe someday.
You are blessed! My only sibling is severely physically and mentally disabled and cannot care for herself. I have to sisters in law but we are not close in proximity or in personal relationships. And I work outside the home fulltime, so having a baking day would be a luxury for me!
wow! I’m intrigued by the Cranberry Orange Bread but in Italy we don’t have cranberries. Do you think they could be substituted with something else (like blueberries, cherries..)?
thanks
Antonella
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Money Saving Mom here: Yes, I think you could probably substitute either cherries or blueberries. I’m thinking blueberries might be best, but that’s just because I like them more than cherries. 🙂
i’m curious as to how the muffins do in the freezer. do you let them thaw or just nuke them in the microwave>?
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Money Saving Mom here: With muffins, I usually just let them thaw and then use them. You could nuke them, but what often happens here is that we use them for on-the-go breakfasts and snacks. For instance, if we’re going to be out shopping, etc., I’ll stick a few in a baggie and stick them in my purse/diaper bag. A few hours later, when we’re ready for a snack, they are good to go. It saves a lot of money and hassle for us to have on-the-ready snacks to bring with us like this. And the girls love it, too!
How lucky for you to have such a sweet sister. The food looks yummy!
Wow! What a blessing! I had a bit of a “baking day” today too! Mine involved making what seemed like vats of chicken broth to freeze, then deboning the chicken and freezing that as well. Then I made breakfast burritos–35 of them! They’re a quick and healthy breakfast to send with my hard-working husband on his way to work.
I totally agree that stocking the freezer is the way to go with lots of littles around. It gives me a sense of satisfaction to go out to the garage freezer and see frozen casseroles, broth, bags of beans, breakfast burritos, and chili. Saves time, money, and energy.
can you share the muffin recipe?
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Money Saving Mom here: The muffin recipe is linked in the post. If you can’t get that to work for some reason, it’s here:
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/06/banana-crumb-muffins.html