No Freezer Cooking Day is complete without a beautiful apron from Marie-Madeline Studio!
The day got off to a rocky start since all of my children seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and my patience was really tested as I tried to smile and get everyone dressed and ready in between the crying and crankiness. I wondered a few times if this Freezer Cooking Day was such a great idea, but I reminded myself that it would be worth it in the long run. So I pressed on and we finally made it out the door 15 minutes late.
After dropping the girls off at Grandma's house and coming back home and putting Silas to bed for his morning nap, I got busy on the Pumpkin Pancakes.
I tripled the recipe here and followed it almost exactly as written, except I used sucanat in place of the sugar. Like usual, I used organic milk from the freezer. I always buy organic milk when I find it greatly reduced and then freeze what we can't use right away to use in waffles and pancakes.
The pancake batter was a little thicker than usual pancake batter and took quite awhile to bake. But the end result was delicious! My only regret? That I just took the recipe times three. I think I should have taken it times six!
Next up: Slab Apple Pies
I made these for breakfast this morning. I tripled the batch, too, but we eat more than you do. I don’t know if there will be any left to freeze. They were very good!!
I made mine with regular pumpkin. I cooked up a big one yesterday and froze most of the puree, but I left out one package to try this recipe.
I used sour milk instead of fresh (because I had it!) and I eliminated the salt because it already had so much sodium from the baking powder. I used white sugar and 1/2 WW flour and 1/2 white flour.
One thing – they are pretty sweet, so if you like to put syrup on your pancakes, you might want to eliminate the sugar from the batter. I had one pancake without syrup and it was perfect.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
DId I miss something? I’d like to see how you package them for freezing (apologies if you already said) and like Joan says, how you reheat them. I reheat pancakes in the toaster oven, but not sure if that’s the best way?
how do you heat up your pre-made pancakes? i don’t think I’ve ever read about that if you’ve already said!!
I just had to make the pumpkin pancakes after reading your post, and they are delicious! Whole wheat flour worked just fine for me — the extra nuttiness works particularly well with the pumpkin and savory spices. Thanks for the link!!
I’d like to try using sucanat. How is it different from rapadura (which I also want to try 🙂 )?
Michelle, I used boxed mix to make pumpkin pancakes on my last freezer baking day. You can check out my post here http://thriftyjenny.blogspot.com/2009/11/pumpkin-waffles-and-pumpkin-pancakes.html
Hope this helps!
I never thought about freezing milk, do you freeze it in it’s regular container? How does you freeze milk? Does it taste ok when it comes out of the freezer? How long can you freeze it for?
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Money Saving Mom here: I usually just freeze it in the original container and use it for baking. It works great! I’ve kept it in the freezer for up to a few months without any problems.
HI Crystal, I love your baking days/freezer cooking days and always get a lot of inspiration from them.
I saw that you also bought a lot of sweet potatoes last week (our grocery store had them for 19 cents/pound!) I roasted and pureed some and froze the puree. I am planning on doing sweet potato pancakes, I have found one recipe and am going to try it.
If you have a good recipe for it, let me know.
Hi Crystal!
Totally loving your baking day! Girl, my mouth is watering with all these yummy dishes!
I was wondering- you must freeze your milk, then thaw it, put it in a recipe, then freeze that dish afterward? Is it ok to refreeze like that? I just assumed it was fine, since you’re baking/cooking with the milk before refreezing.
I love the apron picture. It’s always more fun to cook in the kitchen with a beautiful apron on. 🙂 Hope your day was a whopping success! And I totally think you should have just gone ahead and whipped up a slab apple pie to enjoy later this evening to reward your efforts!
Crystal can I just say you made me laugh (out loud, which in an office can be a little akward) with your “bird’s eye view” of your apron. I love it! It is totally something I would have done.
Crystal,
This has nothing to do with your baking day, but I just have to say thank you for posting the information about the free Chrsitmas cards from SeeHere. My office hosts an event that causes me to travel and work overtime the week of Thanksgivng, plus I’m about 3 1/2 months into my first pregnancy, and I’m not quite over the first trimester fatigue. I can’t say enough how nice it was to come home and have finished Christmas cards waiting for me. I would have loved to hand-write personal messages to all my close friends, but knowing I can just address the envelopes and still get them something nice is such a wonderful feeling.
Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!
can you tell me how you find organic milk greatly reduced? Are you getting this at the regular grocery store or at another store? My store never reduces the price of organic milk- i guess they sell it all before the expiration date?
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Money Saving Mom here: Some stores will reduce the price if it’s nearing expiration. I’d ask at your local stores and see what their policy is. Our stores will usually reduce milk anytime it is within 3 days of expiring. But it’s not always marked, so you often have to ask.
Have you had any luck getting a good deal on organic sucanat. A bag like the one in your picture usually costs about $3.99 where I live. We’ve replaced pretty much all the sugar we use with sucanat and agave. I’ve found decent deals on agave, but not sucanat.
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Money Saving Mom here: Yes, I paid around $3.99 for that bag–which is why I’ve been using it sparingly! I did discover a bulk foods store which sells it for less, so I’m planning on stocking up the next time I make the drive there.
Crystal,
You inspired me..i have a batch of banana bread in the oven and made pancakes to freeze. It sure feels good. 🙂
Also, would like to know : How many days can you freeze the milk and how do you thaw it? Do you place it on the countertop for a day to thaw?
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Money Saving Mom here: You can freeze milk for up to a few months. I just thaw it on the countertop overnight.
Do you happen to know whether it would work to make these with pancake mix instead of using the flour, salt, baking powder, etc. ? I have TONS of Krusteaz pancake mix from when it was free + overage at Kroger a few weeks ago. I love pumpkin pancakes, so it would be awesome to be able to make them with some of the pancake mix I have.
Crystal, your baking plan inspired me to make homemade bread and banana oatmeal muffins. I have chronic pain every day and I couldn’t tackle a plan like yours but I’m doing what I can! My four-year-old is helping me by mashing the bananas and filling the muffin cups. We are having a great time. Thanks for the inspiration!
I am glad I did mine yesterday because my little man has been nothing but CRANKY today too…glad you got grandma to watch them!
Thanks for the link to this recipe. I tried a recipe for pumpkin pancakes and they were too thin for my liking. Can’t wait to try these!
I’m just curious how you do this kind of cooking on only $40 a week grocery bill. I’m contemplating doing onceamonthmom’s December menu (for January) and with additional meals added in, it’s going to cost me at least $200, not to mention what I’ll need weekly (mainly produce and milk). I was hoping to decrease my grocery budget for 2010, and I’m nervous if I attempt this, I’ll actually remain the same or spend more.
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Money Saving Mom here: We have $160 allotted for the month’s groceries so I use a portion of that to pull this off. I also buy ahead when items are on sale planning to use it for my cooking day. And I also plan my Freezer Cooking Day menu based primarily upon what we already have on hand. Doing these things helps me to pull it off on a budget.
At what point do you put your milk in the freezer? On the expiration date?
Did you use whole wheat flour or regular?
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Money Saving Mom here: Either one should work. But I used unbleached flour this time since I have a lot to use up.
Crystal – Do you bake or cook these on the griddle? I see the orig recipe is to cook them on the griddle, but I’ve seen you refer to baking them twice now. Does that work? I’m intrigued by that idea as it really could make use of the time (and I don’t have a griddle… ) Thanks!
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Money Saving Mom here: I use a frying pan on the stovetop because I don’t have a real griddle. You can bake them in the oven, too, but my family prefers pancakes made on the stovetop.