So, I somehow had this idea that my Freezer Cooking in an Hour Plan was very realistic today. I figured I could whip up the Homemade Uncrustables and Homemade Croutons in no time at all and then make the Pumpkin Scones and get the kitchen cleaned up before an hour had gone by.
I don’t know why I always forget that things usually take twice as long to do than I plan for them to (you think I would have figured that out by now?!). Here’s the play-by-play of today’s Freezer Cooking in an Hour:
I don’t have a circle cookie cutter, so I just used a glass for the Homemade Uncrustables.
12:30 p.m. — Our homeschool lessons are done for the morning and the children are ready for lunch. I get this “brilliant” idea to go ahead and start my Freezer Cooking for the day now and serve Homemade Uncrustables for lunch.
Note: If I would have been thinking, I could have made the complete sandwiches first (like this) and then cut them with the glass. But for some reason, that thought didn’t occur to me until some of you commented and suggested this!
12:33 p.m. — As I’m pulling out the ingredients, I realize we have a lot less bread and peanut butter on hand than I thought. So much for my visions of mountains of Homemade Uncrustables to stick in the freezer; instead I have ingredients enough to make a whopping 12. Oh well, 12 is better than none, so I forge ahead.
12:38 p.m. — The children are beginning to get really hungry. I set them to work “helping” me while I try to finish up the uncrustables.
12:45 p.m. — I glance at the clock and realize 15 minutes have already gone by and I’m still only halfway through making the uncrustables. Maybe this wasn’t as simple as I was envisioning?
And then I look around the kitchen table and just have to smile. The children are having so much fun “helping” that it’s worth the mess they are making.
12:55 p.m. — I’m finally just about finished with the uncrustables. Man, this has taken longer than I expected–especially since I don’t have much to show for my efforts! I feed the children lunch and set about making the Homemade Croutons with the leftover crusts.
The uncrustables ended up taking so much time and didn’t look pretty at all. I think if I make them whole and then cut them, it will go a lot better next time around. Lesson learned!
1:03 p.m. — I realize we’re out of oil, almost out of butter, and so I head to the computer to see if anyone has a recipe online for croutons made with coconut oil. I’m not finding much, but as I’m contemplating what to do, I glance into the cupboard and see a bottle of dipping oil my mom had given us awhile back. Perfect!
1:10 p.m. — I stick the croutons in the oven and realize that it’s time to get back to our afternoon homeschooling studies–well, after I finish cleaning the kitchen, that is. I really was looking forward to trying the Pumpkin Scones, but I decide I’ll save those for another week. And maybe next week I’ll remember not to try to do my freezer cooking session during our lunch break!
Finished croutons and a clean kitchen–it’s a beautiful thing, even if it never lasts for very long! 🙂
Note: The ideas for the Homemade Uncrustables and using the crusts to make Homemade Croutons were from Infarrantly Creative. Go check out her post as hers turned out much more nicely than mine and it’s very apparent she knows more about what she’s doing than I do!
Maybe because I don’t have kids, I don’t get the desire/want/need to make uncrustables. I’m thinking this must be a thing moms get, because I don’t. We never had crustless PBJ when I was growing up. I never thought of freezing PBJ, and don’t think I would unless I had alot of kids; even then only maybe? I can see batchcooking freezer burritos and many other things, and I do that; I don’t get the PBJ, tho. And the crustless thing. Regular unfrozen PBJ with crust is fine with me. I enjoyed the post, though, and I freeze heels to make homemade croutons with.
Did you use the crusts though (like in your croutons)? I doubt you could use the crusts for anything if they had peanut butter & jelly on them. If you cut the plain bread out first then you can still use the crust for croutons or bread crumbs.
Thanks for being so honest about things going wrong. I am ALWAYS screwing up about judging the time on things and end up being late and people are upset w/ me or don’t get things done by deadline, etc. I always feel like a failure. 🙁 I feel a little better knowing it happens to other women too…b/c I never can understand how all you homemakers do so much more than me, w/ more responsibilities than me/less time than me and still end up having your lives /acts more together than me. I don’t understand how you gals have time to coupon and make everything from scratch and do all these crafts and have a clean house, etc. I feel like such a failure. I never seem to measure up.
We all have different strengths. Crystal has talked about things that she isn’t as good at–being crafty herself is one of them if I’m remembering right. But obviously she doesn’t blog about what she’s not doing. 😉 We all do the best we can and remember that the thing our kids want most is just to spend time with us.
I have 2 or 3 different sizes of the Pampered Chef cut n seal we’ve sold over the last eek 17 years. Here are my tips. Use very fresh bread, smush it a bit in the center of each slice, add a little filling, then press with the cut n seal outer edge, then push plunger. It does seal very nicely for standard sandwich breads.
I don’t think I’d like peanut butter and jelly croutons though so I’m thinking that would only work if you purposefully put your filling only in the center of each slice of bread. I don’t like ‘wasting’ the outsides but you can drop an egg in them for eggs in a frame, let them dry out and grind up for bread crumbs, or like Infarrantly Creative said, make croutons. PS if anyone would like to purchase a Cut n Seal, I’d love to help you with that.
Hi Rhonda! I got the recipe off of MSM when she made Granola Bars. It was really easy and yummy. It is for low-fat applesauce granola and the author recommends it for making granola bars. Here’s the link:
http://backtothecuttingboard.com/dessert/no-bake-chewy-granola-bars/
going to try doing these as squares and just cut the crust off. crusts will go to croutons or breadcrumbs. less waste and I love the time saving in the morning. my 6yr old can down 2 peanut butter sandwiches at lunch if I gave them to him. i have a ton of bread in the freezer from my dollar store trips and grabbed $.03 planters peanut butter at Harris Teeter last week! Thanks for the links!
I just made a ton of heart shaped sandwiches for a bridal shower. I threw the leftover crusts in the food processor and made bread crumbs to use later. I love the uncrustables idea though.
I’ve never purchased uncrustables before. So this may be a dumb question. Do you toast these frozen sandwich pockets or just thaw and eat?
You could toast them, but we didn’t.
Wait now I see that someone two posts above me said it….How did I miss that???
Ok, I can’t belive no one else has said this yet, but my mom always mixed the peanut butter and jelly together before she put it on the sandwich. It looks a little gross, but I’m telling you it tastes awesome. The reason she started doing it was so the jelly wouldn’t seep through the bread by lunchtime. It makes it so much easier and faster to spread on the bread. It spreads smoothly and you don’t have to worry about the inconsistency of the jelly layer. I would think this would make the homemade uncrustables much faster as well.
Is it really a time-saver to make the uncrustables? I timed myself doing pbjs today for lunch. It took me 30 seconds. Wouldn’t it take a lot longer to make the uncrustables, wrap in seran wrap, put in baggies and freeze?
I agree! Making a peanut butter sandwich takes me no time at all. I’ve always thought uncrustables were silly when I would see them at the store- how much time does it really save to have a pre-made sandwich that only takes minimal time to make in the first place?
I don’t think it’s a timesaver to make the uncrustables–as is evidenced by the post. 🙂
However, making PB&J up ahead of time has been a big blessing for me in the pas when I’ve done it. Making a bunch of sandwiches at a time and having them in the freezer ready to pop into a lunch sack can cut down just a few extra minutes of morning prep on a busy morning. Finding ways to shave off 2 minutes here and 3 minutes there can really start to add up–and make mornings a lot more calm!
I would love to take credit for this idea to shorten your Pb&J sandwich making time, but I have to give credit to my great sister-in-law Julie.
In order to save time in the making of the sandwich, she mixes the peanut butter and jelly in a bowl together and then only has to spread one time instead of two. How about that for saving time!!! LOVE IT!
Somebody may have already said this, but if you made the sandwiches first, then cut them out, you would have pb&j on the crust and then you might not want to use them for homemade croutons? But, another thing you could do with the leftover crusts would be to make bread pudding. I have made a recipe in the crockpot that is really yummy. I found it on allrecipes.com
I use a Wonder Sanwich Seal’r N’ Decruster I bought from Kroger for $2.99. It works great on many different types of sandwiches.
So funny to see that you just made croutons. We’ve been eating a salad quite a bit lately and each week I tell my husband that I should really make up some croutons. However, I still haven’t done so. I think your post may have just inspired me to get busy and make some!
By the way, love the heart shaped uncrustables! Very cute!
If you cut the shapes after you pb&j them, won’t you have pb&j croutons? Yuck! Or, is there another use for them? Maybe bread pudding?
I used a pizza roller to cut them and that worked really good! I did squares, but I don’t think the shape really matters too much 🙂
I would recommend this:
http://www.amazon.com/Krustbuster-Multi-Crust-Remover-Sealer/dp/B001W6Q53W/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_2
less waste, and a really good seal. Then, if the crust is too small for croutons for ya, we dry them up to make bread crumbs.
If you want more fun shapes you can go on ebay, and look up “japanese sandwich cutters” – there’s some fun, cheap, great designs!!
Very fun idea!!! Great job for just enjoying and being fully present in the moment with your children. My daughter was “helping” me clean the house yesterday and I had to laugh to myself b/c she was making my life a much messier “clean”, but she was having so much fun and I couldn’t stop her joy in cleaning b/c she was creating more work for me. 🙂 These moments with our children go too quickly and I’m so thankful for them.
I sell all the goodies for Pampered Chef! Check them out ww.pamperedchef.biz/juliegreen
This is why I joined to sell their stuff, I cannot live without them 🙂
you are so cute 🙂 i love your simple/brilliant ideas!
Next time you go to Walmart, look for a Wonder Bread Sealer and Decruster. It is two parts and if you use both together you can decrust and seal. If you don’t want to seal but want to decrust just use the bigger part. It was only a couple of dollars and well worth it for PB&J.
I always use 100% whole grain bread for our sandwiches, but I do use the Pampered Chef sandwich cutter rather than a jar. I’ve tried a jar, and it does work, but the resulting sandwiches are awfully small and don’t stay sealed as well.
You can make the sandwiches first if you just spread the PB and jelly in only the center of the bread. I do it all the time for my son’s lunches and then make bread crumbs with the trimmings. It might take a few tries to figure out exactly how much filling to use to avoid spill-over, but once you figure it out you’re set.
William sonoma has on clearance the uncrustable cutter , it’s the same design as the store bought uncrustables for only 2.50. Best money expend.
Just a heads up for anyone who wants to do this a lot. We’ve been doing it for sometime now and we use the Pampered Chef biscut cutter ($12.00). Def worth it! Just make the sandwich like usual…then press with the biscut cutter. Instant uncrustable with indents and all!!!
What a great idea! I’m going to have to try this one!
That’s how my cooking sessions usually go–everything takes me at least twice as long as I expect it to. 🙂
Good to hear I’m not the only one!
So, when you freeze those sandwiches, what do you do? Do you just stick them in a baggy? Or do you wrap them first?
I just stuck them all in a freezer bag. But you could wrap them individually and then stick in a freezer bag.
Wrap them individually, then in a baggie. It keeps them fresher, especially if you do a big batch.
I love the idea. I bought several jars of peanut butter at Publix months ago when it was next to free with coupons and the sale. I had planned to do a lot of pb&j sandwiches over the summer, but found out my oldest is allergic to peanuts. Now I have a lot of peanut butter and only my husband and I can eat it. I know I can donate it, but any other suggestions (beyond peanut butter cookies) as to what I could use it for? It would have to be something that I could put in a lunch bag for work. My son doesn’t understand why he can’t have pb. 🙁 Thanks for any suggestions!
I have a piece of toast every morning with peanut butter on it. Peanut butter is also good with apples, bananas, crackers. You could take a jar to work and have a spoonful (or fingerful as I sometimes do 😉 ), or use it with the fruit or crackers for a snack.
I agree with Brittney on the apples! Granny smith apples dipped in PB is amazing!
I make frozen pb&j on those sandwich rounds things. Don’t know if they make any gluten-free ones, though. They are delicious and easy! My husband and I actually eat them for breakfast (my kids are grown). I don’t even thaw them. I love the texture of peanut butter when it’s frozen!
Crystal, I have 6 children and I make my own Uncrustables ALL the time!!! I use wheat bread and they turn out great… I recommend the Krustbuster … I purchased it off Amazon for $5.99 and that was the best $6 I have ever spent. It seals the sides for you. My husband and I spend a good 30 min. every Sunday night and make about 30 Uncrustables for the week. I wrap each one in Saran Wrap and then put those in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Put them in the kids lunches frozen and they are perfect by lunch time. My 6 picky eaters LOVE them. It does save alot of time for making lunches!!!
Love this! Thanks for sharing!
My freezer cooking was a little here and little there this week. Here is what I accomplished:
pancakes,
baked oatmeal
muffins
liquid hand soap.
It looks to me like you were using the cut off crusts to make the croutons. Very frugal! If you made the sandwiches first, wouldn’t the croutons then be PB&J flavored? hmm. Good for a snack I suppose 😉
Hmm, good point. Okay, maybe I should scratch that idea. 🙂
When I make homemade Uncrustables I use my empanada maker from Tupperware (it makes a half sandwich).
I was inspired to do a mini-cooking day this week as well. We made roasted garlic, homemade salsa in the crock pot, Crystal’s Breakfast Burritos, homemade nacho chips & a double batch of meatballs.
My kids also eat their sandwiches with the crust, but sometimes it is fun to have something different. I have the PC cut and seal as well. I actually assumed that Crystal did it the way she did (cut then make the sandwiches) so she could use the crusts/remaining bread pieces for the croutons. Obviously you couldn’t do that if you had PB&J croutons, or maybe you could, Ha! Maybe I misunderstood, but I though she was just being brilliant at eliminating the wasted parts!!
I don’t think I was being brilliant. I was just doing it a “harder” way that ended up working out to make croutons, too. I actually didn’t think about the end results of either way, I just dove in and did it–and I guess it ended up turning out okay! 🙂
That cracked me up! Love how the kids were having a blast helping you. (:
Invest in the Pampered Chef cut and seal and your time will be cut in half and you only use a fraction of the pb/jelly for each. I am sure a PC consultant who would give you one to review and giveaway! Either way, they don’t cost much and you will wonder what you ever did without one.
Uncrustables are best when using white bread because it’s so airy that it sticks together easily when you press down the edges with a fork. I tried making them for myself a while back (I still hate the crust, unless it’s sourdough or peasant!) with whole wheat bread and they wouldn’t stick together at all.
You know what those are great for, though? Take the uncrustable, and instead of using peanut butter and jelly, use a small amount of reduced fat cream cheese and some breakfast sausage or one slice of bacon, then dip them in egg and make stuffed French toast. I did that one morning, and my fiance and I were so happy with how they turned out! The cream cheese was all melted and it was perfect with the salty taste of bacon. Just make sure the bacon or sausage is cooked or thawed before you stuff the french toast. It won’t be on the griddle long enough to cook the bacon or thaw the sausage.
wow that sounds delicious!
Oh my goodness – that sounds so yummy! I must try that over the weekend.
Did it work OK w/the glass and fork compared to the “tool” the original recipe was showing??
thx
I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s day/projects take routes I didn’t plan.
It was okay–but I also think the fact that I was using more wholegrain bread made it harder. If you used white bread or almost all white bread, it would have been easier.
Don’t Give up. Here is the secret. Warm the peanut butter and the jelly a little. I like to cut the circles of bread first (with a glass and clean crust). I then use the warmed PB and it spreads super easy. Pop the unfinished PB bread in the fridge/freezer so they harden. take that fridge time to prep the croutons or even use left overs for bread crumbs. Warm the jelly slightly and spread it on the sandwiches. I just use my fingers to crimp and stick in the freezer for later. This works great with whole grain. even if i made a whole sandwich, my kids don’t eat the crust.
Love the idea, but I could never let the crust go to waste. I assume that is what you made the croutons with? If so, you really couldn’t make up the whole sandwich first…yes, my kids have to eat most of the crust, so uncrustables would be such a treat, not to say, fast and easy for mom!
Yes, that’s what I did. Another commentor pointed out that the PB&J crusts wouldn’t work for that. Yep, I didn’t even think of that!
The pampered chef sells an item that cuts the sandwich for you (and pinches it closed).
Am I the only one that doesn’t make these for my kids? My kids just eat their sandwiches, crusts and all…
Mine, too! Not eating/wasting the crusts has never been an option in our house!
Same here. I’d hate to waste all the extra bread left from making uncrustables….the most frugal thing is to eat the whole piece of bread! 🙂 Fortunately, my children have never given me a very hard time about eating the crusts, though if I served them store-bought whole wheat bread they might. They don’t mind the crust on homemade whole wheat bread but they don’t like store-bought whole wheat bread crust.
Yeah, store-bought whole wheat crust is awful! I make my own bread, so I make them eat most of the crust.
I make my own bread, too. I hate the crust on store-bought bread. I also keep a bag of leftover bread crumbs (from pieces that aren’t going to be eaten before they go stale) in the freezer to use for casseroles, croutons, etc.
I make my own bread, too. I hate the crust on store-bought bread. I also keep a bag of leftover bread crumbs (from pieces that aren’t going to be eaten before they go stale) in the freezer for casseroles, croutons, etc. That way nothing is wasted.
I like how you worded that 🙂 The crust is not optional in my house either.
For freezer cooking, though, the crust on the sandwich doesn’t do well. I usually make my kids a fresh PB&J, but having some in the freezer would work great for those days when we have to be away from home during our normal lunch time – or could be packed in a lunchbox for school! Also, on days that my husband is in charge, it’s easier for him to grab a sandwich out of the freezer than to find where I hide the bread haha!
Mine do, too. It’s a lot easier just to make regular PB&J sandwiches. 🙂
Same here. Now that we have a one year old who will eat the ‘scraps’, I will sometimes cut them into shapes, but otherwise they eat the normal sandwich, crust and all. My oldest won’t eat PB&J from the freezer (he can always tell!). When we were first married, my hubby expected me to cut all the crusts off any sandwiches I made him, but I refused because I couldn’t stand to waste! Growing up his mom ALWAYS cut the crust off and told him he wouldn’t like it anyway. After a few times of him making his own and seeing the actual waste, he stopped and realized the crust wasn’t as disgusting as he’d been taught. 😉
You are definitely not the only one, as you can see from several others’ comments! Crust is part of the bread and you learn to eat it at our house. Even if the crusts could be used for croutons or bread crumbs, or the bread for egg casserole or whatever, I don’t want them thinking crustless is an option! I must have made an impact on them, because my kids think uncrustables are silly!
Crusts aren’t optional here, either. My college roommate was still cutting her crusts off and it made me roll my eyes inwardly.
My littles just gobble up the whole sandwhich as well and have no clue what an “uncrustable” is, so you definitely aren’t alone. They also gulp down their water without question as well, so I guess we’re weird all the way around. 😉
I do think the uncrustables are cute though! 🙂
My kids happily drink their water too – even when we go to restaurants!
okay… what a relief! I was beginning to feel like an ogre! (Not only do my kids eat the crusts on our store-bought whole wheat bread – they even eat the “heals” of the loaf – without complaint! – They just don’t know any better…:) ).
Some of my family prefers the heels. Crazy, I know. 🙂
*Opps, I meant I keep the crust ends from loaves of bread, freeze them and make stuffing with them.
Thanks for sharing this great idea! I like the idea of making home made uncrustables. I plan to make some soon.
Someone said the crusts wouldn’t make good croutons,I would freeze the crusts and use to make stuffing later. I freeze the ends of loaves of bread freeze them then make stuffing out of them.
You must get the pampered chef tool! You will use it enough to make it worth it! But- I can’t make croutons out of it because there’s pbj on the scraps so I usually make as we eat and I eat the scraps. But- I want to try to male them and gauge where to put the spread and try to make croutons. Question though- anyone try freezing soy butter? My son has a peanut allergy so we use soy butter…
I HIGHLY recommend getting Pampered Chefs Cut and Seal. This gadget is worth every penny in my opinion. It will save you so much time and your crustables will look delish next time. http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=33&words=cut and seal
Like Shannon and Ashley said, The Pampered Chef tool is great! And, I recently bought a heart shaped one from Williams-Sonoma that cuts and seals, too. I make full size freezer PBJs for my hubby and, for me, it’s best to start with a new loaf, fresh jars of PB and jam. It goes much faster and I don’t have much PB or jelly leftover for the fridge. I wrap the individual sammies in foil sheets, so I can grab one out of the freezer back and go. They defrost great on the dashboard while we’re at the park.
we make sandwiches with cookie cutters all the time (we like crusts but it i for fun to cut them out) make sandwich and than cut out. My girls really like the bite sized heart sandwiches, I get like 6 out of one sandwich.
I was holding out on buying one of the pamered chef uncrustable makers and found one at Walmart made by Wonder the bread company for just under $2. I love it.
I use a heart shaped cutter (a big one) and make them that way. It it easier to just spread the pb and j on the whole piece of bread than just the smaller center part, but then you can’t really use the crusts as croutons. I have frozen them whole like you are thinking about doing but the crust is very hard when it thaws. I just thought I would let you know that.
I make uncrustables all the time with my PC cut and seal-love it! I had a great freezer cooking week and made a ton of pancakes for my girls (soy, buttermilk, and raspberry). I also made homemade granola and cinnamon swirl muffins. I can’t wait to have another freezer cooking day next week-making soup and main course items. Thanks for posting! You inspire me!
Please post your homemade granola recipe.
Do you have pampered chef’s cut n seal? It will make sandwiches just like uncrustables. Some breads work better than others from what i have heard. I have never had a problem with any bread I’ve done it with though. The kids love them and they are really easy to do. Love your attitude about the kids “helping”. I am a bit of a control freak in the kitchen and need to work on letting them help more. Even if they do make a mess. 🙂
God bless,
Amanda
Crystal I am so impressed I think you are the best Thing next to sliced bread!! (Yes crustable joke) ok imma make these with whole wheat bread. I luv the idea of a mess making them with my babies!! ( um 15,12, & 11 lol)
I love making uncrustables…the only difference is that I make it first (with the peanut butter and jelly) Then use a glass to shape it and it pretty much seals it too, always works like a charm for me….that is if not don’t have the pamered chef tool! 🙂
Thank you for this great idea; I think I was making it a lot harder than it had to be!
Would making the PBJ then cutting with the glass work better? I think it would seal the outside edge better. I have a tart maker and it works great, but even if I don’t squish the fluted edge thing hard enough, the outside edge seals just by being squished so hard.
(And what’s so wrong with crusts anyway? They may get hurt feelings if you always exclude them!!)
Um, yes, that would have been so much easier. Don’t ask me what I was thinking (or wasn’t thinking!) 🙂
If you make them first, would the crusts still be usuable for croutons? Wouldn’t they be covered in pb & j? I do however, think they’d seal better.
At first I thought they wouldn’t, but they I realized that if I did them like this: http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2010/06/uncrustables-homemade-croutons.html it should work. I’ll have to try it next time and see how it goes!
Crystal, an easy crouton recipe I make is to buy the bread that is discounted at Walmart because it has almost seen its better days. I like to get the small loaves that are about 2-3 feet long. I cut them up into small sizes, butter them, and then sprinkle a little parsley and garlic powder on them. Put in the oven for about 10 minutes.
It is so good. We love it more so than store bought croutons, and I can usually make about 3 batches worth for about a $1.
How do you store them, and how long do they keep? My kids like croutons for SNACK, isn’t that odd!!
Whenever I get croûtons we use them on salad one time, and eat the rest as snacks 🙂
I like them for a snack, too. 🙂
My kids would eat a bag of homemade croutons over a bag of chips any day.
I made gluten free dinner rolls today (http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/09/fluffy-gluten-free-dinner-rolls.html) and also made your Butterhorns!
The GF rolls are delicious and are for me. I made the Butterhorns for my husband and his parents (who will be at our house this weekend). They are always a hit!
I have several family members with celiac, so I really like your GF recipes!
I love all that you do- you are amazing!!! So you couldn’t do it all, for once, but you at least did something! I love all of your post- keep it up! BTW- how good is a pb & j frozen whole and then thawed? Is it just as good as an uncrustable?
We can’t tell any difference between frozen PB&J. However, we also buy bread in bulk and freeze it, so if you’re used to really fresh bread, it could make a difference.
We can’t tell the difference either! Growing up my Mom, who was a single parent for many years, would make a whole bunch of sandwiches at the beginning of each month and freeze them. So when we packed our lunches for school we could just grab a PB&J or Lunchmeat and cheese sandwich from the freezer. By lunch time they were perfect. 🙂
This was a huge time saver for her.
That is a great idea too. I would have never thought of freezing a meat and cheese sandwich. Did the cheese turn crumbly after it was frozen?
Well I haven’t had one in a lot of years but we thought they tasted just as good as they did fresh.
I freeze cheese often when I can find it for a great deal and never have had a problem with consistency after it has thawed. 🙂
^^totally hit the wrong button. Haha.
Anyhow, a fb page was created called “Crock Pot Girls” and they’re already at over 1 million likes! 1 million likes, are you kidding me!?! So if you’re still in that rut and you haven’t already “liked” them, you should check them out.
I just checked them out today and found the page really confusing, but apparently it’s just me because one million likes is crazy!!! 🙂 I’m looking forward to the site I heard they were putting together.
Do they have a website or blog? I’m not on facebook, but would love to read more.
BTW, thank you for these posts about your real life triumphs as well as the mishaps. While I still think you are amazing, it’s so nice to see that you’re real! 🙂
It’s not just you! The fb page is confusing to me too =)
Lyss, they have a website also. Crockpotgirls.com
With a million “likes” in less than two weeks, the page is definitely confusing. It’s not just you. I don’t think they’ve had time to get everything sorted and figured out. Their website is http://www.crockpotgirls.com, but good luck getting it to work. 🙂
I found the site very confusing too Crystal, so it’s not just you!!
I have this tool I bought from Pampered Chef that would make your Uncrustables so much easier. You make the sandwich like normal. And cut out the bread with this circular tool that also crimps it. My husband hates this device, btw, because he hates to waste the outsides. To appease him, I eat the scraps. Therefore I could not make a big batch to freeze for I don’t think I could eat that many scraps in one sitting (imagine Ethel and Lucy eating chocolate).
Try making croutons with the scraps like she did. My hubby is on a salad thing right now, so this would be perfect for him. 🙂
Or you could freeze the scraps. I bake my own bread and keep a bag of leftover crumbs (from scraps and pieces that aren’t going to be eaten before they get stale) in the freezer for casseroles, croutons, etc.
Or you could freeze the scraps. I bake my own bread and keep a bag of leftover scraps (from pieces that aren’t going to be eaten before they get stale) in the freezer for casseroles, croutons, etc.
Oops, sorry about the double post. For some reason, my posts aren’t appearing right away today, and I didn’t think it had gone through.
I don’t understand–how do you keep the pb & j off of the crusts, & so you don’t have it on your croutons or tuna casserole?
You could put PB&J only in the center of the bread, leaving the edges plain, and then cut out the sandwiches. I don’t actually make uncrustables because my kids don’t mind the crust on homemade bread. If we have extra pieces of bread, though, that no one is going to eat before it goes stale, I cut it up into small pieces and stick it in a freezer bag.
Cheryl that is so funny!! (about imagining Lucy and Ethel eating chocolate!)
A few weeks you said you were in a cooking rut… well, 2 weeks ago a fb page was
I love the heart shape your daughter made her sandwich into. Looks like they were having fun, at least!
My freezer cooking didn’t pan out like I was hoping, either. I cooked and froze a bunch of corn on Tuesday, and was hoping to make a big batch of meatballs today, but didn’t get that far. We were doing a homeschooling lesson and art project that ran late. I did post about the corn, though, with lots of ideas for using leftover corn on the cob. (I like to stock up when it’s cheap…only $0.19/ear this week!)
http://www.savemoneylivejoyfully.com/2011/08/leftover-ideascorn-on-cob.html
Thanks for the corn on the cob link, I was just given a whole bunch and hopped online this morning to figure out what to do with it before it goes bad!
oh sad U didn’t have one of pampered chefs handy tools! I made them today they took no time at all! thanks for the ideas!
I LOVE homemade uncrustables. I have a pampered chef cut n seal… it is great for making uncrustables. I make a loaf at a time and put them back in the bread bag to store them.
I was just gonna recommend these to Crystal… I even found the link for it! 🙂
http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=33&catId=90&parentCatId=90&outletSubCat=
I second the motion. I have one and made these for my little people’s lunch the other day. Can’t imagine doing it any other way.
I just looked that up to mention too!
I use this all the time. Love it!!
Thank you so much for the link. I’m getting ready to order mine now!! I’m so excited!
I was coming to say the same thing. I got one a few months back and LOVE making my own uncrustables. 🙂 http://pinterest.com/pin/120028626/
lol can i “third” that?? i was going to post the exact same thing… we use it to make all kinds of sandwiches!
I too have one, and think it is one of the neatest things ever! I do find that I have a hard time with my bread wanting to split on top when I use it though, does anyone else experience this?
I find if I smush the bread just a bit first, then it doesn’t split too much. And it needs to be really fresh, soft bread.
You might be using too much filling.
I just ordered one of those this week after trying to make uncrustables about 15 different times over the last TWO years with other weird contraptions that never really turned out right. I finally gave up and spent the whole $10. My mother could have been right; If there ever was a wrong way to do anything, guaranteed I was going to try that first. Haha.
That pampered chef tool looks awesome! I’m putting it on my wish list.
Am I the only frugal mama who wishes it came in a square shape for less bread wastage?
I agree. The only downside is that it wastes bread. I guess that’s okay if you’re making croutons (unless there’s peanut butter on the bread).
very nice tool, I love ours, I haven’t used it since I started making all our bread from scratch so not sure how well it will work with my whole wheat bread, hoping it will work nice since its a lifesaver for school lunches.
I never comment but I just had to say jeepers your baby boy has grown up! Seems like you were just having him and now he’s spreading peanut butter! So cute, and thanks for all the great tips. Love this blog!
I know; he’s growing up so much! I can’t believe that he’s 2 now and can dress himself!
GREAT idea!! I gotta get that done for lunches! Thanks so much.