Silas helped me do some freezer cooking last night.
Can you tell he LOVES cooking with me?! His enthusiasm is contagious! 🙂
I was really excited to try the Crockpot Granola… especially because I always love trying new ideas.
While the Crockpot Granola was baking, I mixed up the Banana Bars with Brown Butter Frosting.
These bars totally lived up what other people had told me about them — they are fabulous! And the icing is especially amazing!
I wasn’t as thrilled with how the granola turned out. I think I’ll stick with my favorite Lazy Granola recipe. It’s so simple and always turns out well.
I also made a bunch of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches for the freezer. These are so handy to have in the freezer!
Recipes Links:
Banana Bars with Brown Butter Frosting
Crockpot Granola
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
Where did you get your big glass jars in the first picture? I have been looking for something exactly like those!
Did the banana bars freeze well? I made them tonight and would love to freeze half the batch because it makes so much!
Yes, they did freeze well. And if you just heat them a little bit in the microwave, they are a delicious treat — almost straight from the freezer!
Thank you! Freezer cooking is making my life so much easier.
Tried the banana bars today.. the bar itself is yummy… the icing is horrible. It has a weird taste to it and it overpowers the bars.. I might try to make again without the icing maybe just use some powered sugar.
Is there anything that can be substituted for the sour cream? I do not have any and want to make the banana bars.
We have a crockpot granola recipe my kids & husband can’t get enough of. It’s peanut butter granola & I’ve had great luck with it! http://legacy.inforum.com/pdfs/0306%20sue%20recipe%20card.pdf
I’m intrigued to try the lazy way though too. I haven’t had trouble burning granola, but have had trouble stirring without flinging 1/4 of it off the pan!
Crystal, I tried to find the post you made a couple of week or so ago with the recipe for No Knead Yeast Bread. I have made it twice and think it has potential but it needs a few tweaks. The outside gets too chewy for one thing and it also doesn’t rise much. That part may work better in warmer weather when the temperature in the house is warmer. I was just wondering if you made it and how yours turned out. Thanks.
I tried a different slow cooker granola recipe — and cracked my stoneware crock! Apparently there wasn’t enough liquid in the recipe. Thankfully Crock-Pot has a great two-year warranty and replaced my crock for free, but I am going to stick with granola in the oven from now on.
Crockin’ Girls have a wonderful slow cooker granola recipe. I replace the chocolate chips with dried cranberries. I also replace the waluts with slivered almonds. I also cut the sugar in half.
My boys prefer peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches. Do you think they could be frozen as well?
Curious, as to what brand and model of crockpot you use. We are needing to replace ours (not big enough). What would you reccomend?
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the freezer? Ummm… Brilliant!!! I love the simple things in life! I couldn’t help but notice your slow cooker in your photo of Silas. It looks just like my Hamilton Beach programmable slow cooker with the probe. I’ve been SO frustrated with mine since I got it a year ago. I received it as a gift and loved the idea of programming it and then it switches to warm versus just cooking and cooking until you get home 10 hours later. But EVERY meat dish I cook in it is dry!!! This week I made beef stew and the stew beef was so chewy. I think it’s because of the permanent hole in the lid for the probe. I think all of the moisture is escaping if you’re not using the probe. Do you have this problem? Or am I using it wrong?
How old is your Silas? I have one of my own who loves to help when I freezer cook! My Silas is 4 and looks close in age to yr Silas. You used to live in Wisconsin, didn’t you? Thanks for the freezer meal ideas. I belong to a freezer meal swap group and we are always looking for new ideas!
My Silas is 4, too!
We’ve lived in Kansas all our lives, but are moving to Tennessee in a few months.
I also have a question about your silas :). My oldest boy is 3 1/2 and I’ve seen you mention the kindergarden my fathers world curriculum. I was wondering how old he was when you started it with him? My son turns 4 in may and I was thinking on starting him in september. I would also loved to know how it worked out for you. Thank you 🙂
I’ve actually never thought to add pb+j to my freezer meal repertoire but it’s actually kind of brilliant! I’m planning to do another once a month (once every 3 months because I make enough for 3 months) cook day this Wednesday and Thursday (because the first Tuesday of the month is 15% off groceries where I live) and if there is any room in my freezer at the end, I will throw in some sandwiches for lunches and snacks for the kids. Thanks for the idea!
I’m going to have to give the Lazy Granola recipe a try. My family loves granola and an easy recipe would be great.
My son loves to help in the kitchen too. He always grabs a chair so he can see to help me.
Last week we made over 100 meatballs for the freezer along with a meatloaf and cooked ground beef packages.
This month I will be getting Zaycon chicken to make into meal packages. We should be stocked up on freezer meals for a bit.
Way to go on making all those meatballs!
I’ve made your Lazy Granola recipe in the crockpot with great results! I used the method described in the link you gave. This works great in the summer when we want granola but I don’t want to heat up the kitchen. 🙂
Great idea of using the crockpot for the summer!
Need to add to this after looking at the granola link. My amounts are half those in the link. When I originally printed the recipe from Amy’s site, it had different amounts. I use 7 cups of oats and cook it in my larger crockpot.
The banana bars look yummy. I may have to make a half batch with the two very ripe bananas hanging around in my kitchen.
Do the girls like helping you cook, too, or is it mainly Silas? I always see pictures of him in the kitchen with you. 🙂
The girls help cook some, but Silas is the one who enjoys it the most right now. 🙂
my daughter always wants the end result..and not very patient .but my son was always my kitchen and garden helper…..she was the beater licker…lol
and when did Silas get so big….