Once I finished making the Chocolate Chip Pancakes, I made the Brown Bag Burritos. Since I already had chicken cooked, I went ahead and substituted chicken for the ground beef. Because you know how I just can’t bear to stick with a recipe exactly! 🙂
I realized that I didn’t have enough tortillas for all the filling, so I just filled the tortillas I had and put the rest of the filling in bags to freeze. While not quite as nice as having the burritos completely made, it’s really simple to just thaw the filling and make up a quick pan of burritos. Plus, it takes up less space in the freezer.
And then the freezing oranges experiment commenced.
I just cut, peeled, pulled them into pieces and stuck them in a freezer bag. I’m anxious to try them in some smoothies and see how they turn out. I have visions of variations on Orange Cream Smoothies.
Then it was time to roll out the bread dough for Cinnamon Swirl Bread. I’m happy to report that it actually turned out this week and we ate almost the entire loaf for dinner.
I spent the rest of the evening making granola, finishing our homeschool lessons for the day, playing with the children in the snow, cleaning up messes and more messes (!), getting dinner on the table, helping Jesse shovel the mountain of snow on the driveway (talk about a workout!) and then we all settled in and read four chapters of On The Banks of Plum Creek before bedtime.
All in all, it was a good day — even if my kitchen isn’t very clean right now and I’m pretty tired!
Coming up tomorrow: Granola photos and Cinnamon Swirl Bread recipe
How did the freezer oranges go? We have a bumper crop this year so I’m planning to freeze ours.
Really looking forward to the cinnamon swirl bread recipe tomorrow. I can’t wait to make it!
I’ve been searching your site for your recipe for the cinnamon swirl bread and can’t seem to find it. I can’t wait to attempt it!
It may just be me but I cannot find the receipe for the cinnamon swirl bread. I even looked in the receipe section but didn’t see it. Can you please tell me where to find it. Thanks!
It’s not posted yet. 🙂 I’m working on it right now and should have it up shortly.
Do you have recipe for the cinnamon swirl bread posted?
It should be up by tonight.
I’m not sure how it would work with oranges, but whenever I freeze fruit I spread it out on wax paper lined jelly roll pans then put it in the freezer until frozen. Then I bag it up and put it back in the freezer. That way if you don’t use the entire batch you won’t have to thaw it to get them apart. Also when you o to use the bag full of oranges it probably won’t fit in you blender with it all frozen in a lump, so this prevents that also. I do this also when I make cookies. I freeze them as dough balls instead of the whole portion then I can just put a sheet in the oven and not have to unthaw the whole thing.
http://www.littlehouseontheprairieliving.com had a post on canning oranges yesterday that looked interesting.
How funny! My husband and I were just wondering if you can freeze oranges. They are 18c a lbs at Winco this week, and if they taste good after freezing, I want alot! haha Has anyone ever eaten them after they have been frozen? How do they taste?
I hope that you will let us know how the frozen oranges turn out. I have been making “orange julius” in my Ninja with delicious mandarin oranges. But I think they’d be better if the oranges were frozen, then I wouldn’t have to add so much ice or other frozen fruit. I usually just put in some oranges, ice, sometimes a little milk, and some vanilla protein powder. DELICIOUS!!!
I have a question about freezer cooking. When you prep everything, do you keep all of the separate ingredients in the same containers or separate them into recipes? For example, I made several recipes that all called for an onion. Some also called for garlic, green peppers, etc. Most of the time these things just say “1 onion” and not a certain cup amount. So, I chopped the onions for each recipe at the same time but kept them in different containers, labeling them. So one said “chili” and had the onion, green pepper, and other chopped veggies to be sauteed at the same time. Just wondering how you or other readers handle that. Thanks!
Today’s lunch is a Brown Bag Burrito! 🙂 We’re on a no-meat week (experimental) so I made this last batch with just beans, enchilada sauce, cheese and a bit of salsa. It’s just as yummy as the kind with ground beef or chicken!
And we freeze our extra Brown Bag Burrito filling, too. Our favorite way to use it when we don’t have tortillas is heated up (and maybe thinned out a bit with a little salsa) and poured over a plate of tortilla chips and topped with lettuce, avocado (if I have it on hand), sour cream, etc. for a nacho plate. I’ve also used it just as a chip dip at parties and it’s awesome that way, too. It’s such a versatile base, you can really use it anywhere and not just in tortillas!
If you want to use oranges in smoothies without the seeds or membranes, you might want to try supreming them before freezing. http://freshcatering.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-supreme-segment-orange.html
Are we going to get the next installment this week of How We Paid Cash for Our House?
🙂
Yes, it’s written and in queue to go up in an hour or so. It got bumped with all the freezer cooking yesterday!
Four chapters! They have long attention spans. But if you keep that pace up, you’ll be done too soon. 😉
Actually, I feel like being done with the Little House books anytime is too soon. We’re on “These Happy Golden Years” now and I keep eying the shrinking remainder of the book with sadness.
On the upside, maybe we will go through these books every year or every other year, because as my girls get older they will understand and appreciate them so much more. I know I experience them on a whole new level as an adult.
We’re trying to finish the book we’re on this week, so we’ve been reading four chapters every day — and they keep begging for more. It’s so fun to see them really starting to love chapter books! Now Silas, on the other hand, he could care less!
Too many burritos? Need a quick dinner? Place several, thawed burritos in a baking dish, cover with enchilada sauce and shredded cheese, bake at 350 for 30 mins. Dinner is served. 😀
Great idea Nancy!!!
We are also reading “On the Banks of Plum Creek” right now! 🙂
How fun! We’re almost finished with it and loving it!
I am thinking about the buying a bread machine. What kind do you have? The prices vary quite a bit and I can’t decide on one…. Thanks! I read you site everyday and really enjoy it!
Zojirushi is the best! Expensive but you can find one on Ebay pretty reasonable. It’s worth the investment for the durability and quality of bread it makes.
I love the idea of freezer cooking, but I don’t know how I would find room in my freezer for it! I am currently working on “cleaning out” the freezer and pantry this month, but even once I do use up much of what is in there, it’s so small I don’t think I could do a whole lot of freezer cooking. Would you mind sharing a picture of your freezer so we could see what kind of space you are working with? Thanks!!
I have two refrigerators, so I’m using the freezer space in both.
I’ve got a medium sized chest freezer and I don’t like to cook just to put it in the freezer, BUT I do like to put meal ready stuff in the freezer. Some of things I freeze for future meals are: chicken broth, cooked and cut-up chicken and other meats, mashed sweet potatoes and winter squash, cookie dough and burritos. I have made mac-n-cheese, from milk that was on verge of expiring, put it gallon freezer bags and froze it. Even a small freezer can be put togood use, freezer bags are easy to squeeze into small spaces, so use them instead of containers. I worked with one for years before I was able to convince my hubby that we would be better served by a larger freezer. Best wishes. 😀
I froze clementines I had left over after Christmas. Certain websites I found online said to make a simple syrup of water or juice and sugar and cover the oranges with that before freezing. I tried in a smoothie this morning. Using my magic bullet, it was kind of stringy with the pulp.
If you don’t care for the oranges in smoothies (or even if you do!), another way to use them is ground up in a quick bread. Ground up in a food processor – even with peels – they’re as easy to use as pumpkin, zucchini or whatnot.
I love this idea. I chop whole oranges for cranberry-orange relish, but is never occurred to me to use it as I would zucchini or pumpkin. My mom sent us 40# of oranges and everyone around here is getting a bit tired of them… now I know what to do with them. What spices do you use in your orange quick bread?
Cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg work very well. I’ve also been thinking about using cardamom and black pepper but haven’t tried it yet. Now that I think about it, keeping the batter kind of plain (using just vanilla maybe) but adding chocolate chips might be yummy – kind of like those chocolate oranges that are sold at Christmas?
Thank you, Marsha! The chocolate orange bread idea sounds so good I may have to try it this afternoon!
sounds like you had a great day of freezer cooking! and you got everything done on your list!
Please be sure to update us on how the oranges froze! 🙂
Could you use thawed frozen bread dough for the Cinnamon Bread rather than making it in a bread machine? I would love to try this, but do not have a bread machine.
I notice that you use your breadmaker quite often. I am looking into purchasing one, but the prices vary so much. Any suggestions on an inexpensive, but good bread maker? It’s just me and my 3 year old son, so we won’t be using it a ton. Thanks
If it doesn’t creep you out, I would consider buying one used. I see them on craigslist, at garage sales, and at consignment/thrift shops all the time! I bought mine for $4 at salvation army in like new condition, I just washed the usable parts very well before use and sanitized the outside. It’s an Oster, works great, and I found the manual online. I think a lot of people get them for weddings and never use them.
I’ve had two used bread machines off Craigslist and one brand new Zorushi. Honestly, good bread depends on a good breadmaker (you) more than a good machine.
When my Zorushi eventually dies I’ll be replacing it with a used cheapie.
I got my breadmaker at walmart for 29.99. I don’t use it a ton, so that might be why it’s lasted me so long. It’s a sunbeam brand.
I’m so glad your Cinnamon Swirl Bread turned out better this time 🙂 How do you reheat your frozen pancakes? I tried that once, and put them betweent two moist paper towels in the microwave, and they turned out kind of mushy. My boys still ate them, but they lost that outside “crust” like when you make them fresh. Any ideas?
I always reheat pancakes in the toaster oven. Microwaves make them rubbery, in my opinion. I just put the toaster oven on about 250 for a few minutes, and they are pretty good. Not as good as freshly made, but good enough.
We always reheat our pancakes in the toaster- just like you would head up frozen waffles or pancakes from the store. You can throw them in frozen, and that way they don’t end up mushy. It works great to do chocolate chip pancakes- I don’t cut them up and just let my boys eat them with their hands- plus you don’t have to worry about a syrup mess. Keep in mind that if the pancakes are too small, you’ll have to fish them out, and if they are too big, they won’t fit very well…
I second the toaster for reheating pancakes, works for french toast, too. Homemade frozen pancakes, waffles and french toaster are WAY cheaper than store bought and usually healthier.
Those burritoes are a staple at my house-my husbands likes to take them in his lunch. The last time I made them, I used refried beans, black beans, salsa and cheese. Oh, and I put some rice in. It was a good change (something different) and it was meatless (cheaper to make). It’s a good recipe.
We make smoothies a lot in my house http://livingandlearningathome.blogspot.com/2011/02/green-chocolate-banana-smoothies.html but I’ve never used oranges. I would think that the skin wouldn’t blend up. Has anyone actually done this with success?
And I’m wondering about seeds, since I tried a few oranges myself, then realized I’d forgotten that part, but I’m saving for a blender that’s more powerful before I try to use them in recipes.
I have tried and didn’t like the stringy stuff in it, so I juiced them before using them in smoothies. I would freeze the juice.
Same here. The smoothies came out too pulpy for me. Maybe if you drink them while still really slushy from the frozen fruit, it would be different?
Did you use a Vita-Mix? I’m really curious whether this is going to be a flop or not and will keep you all updated.
I do the oranges every week , but everyone eats them before I get a chance to try them in the smoothies. I peel 12 oranges every week and they eat them as snack and dessert. I guess I am going to have to peel some and hide them if I am ever going to try making them into smoothies. Then again my family eatting orange slices for breakfast not such a bad thing.
I hate about 99.9% of veggies (wish I didn’t!), so I have taken up juicing. Along with the veggies, I throw in either pineapple or orange. Both are strong tasting and mask the taste of the veggies. I have a knock-off Magic Bullet ($10 with a sale plus a coupon from Kohl’s, so I figure I couldn’t go wrong! 🙂 ), and peeled oranges have always come out fine. The secret for me is to throw a couple of ice cubes in so it has more of a frozen smoothie consistency. I buy seedless oranges, but a neighbor gave me some oranges from his tree a couple weeks ago that I’ve been using and I haven’t noticed any seeds left in my smoothies.
Can you share what’s a good price per lb for Turbinado and whole wheat berries?
Thanks
The cheapest I’ve seen organic wheat berries is 50cents/lb. That’s when you buy 50lbs. That price is from a local co-op. I haven’t seen anything cheaper in the stores, but would also love to know if there is a cheaper way!
I’m ordering from azure standard organic wheat berries 19.15/50 lbs. What about raw sugar?
I have azure to be the cheapest so far
Thanks for the recommendation! Does anyone know about what shipping costs with Azure? I’m wondering if that would make it more expensive than my co-op.
What kind of enchillada sauce do you use in the Brown bag Burritos?
Is it in a can? Red? Brand?
Have you made them with chicken before?
I was wondering about doing that myself.
thanks!
Kim in Cali
How do your burritos not taste yuck? I can never get dishes with flour tortillas to not taste gluey and gross after defrosting.
Same here!!
I frequently microwave mine to thaw and then spray them with cooking spray and crisp them on a griddle or dry frying pan. Works even better with pre-made quesidillas as well.
I cannot wait to try those brown bag burritos!!!!! YUM!!! 🙂
I used to work with a girl named Phallin and I thought it was such a unique name that no one else would have it!
Stephanie, Really?!?! Was it spelled the same? 🙂
I’m starting a new job working 3-11 M-F so I think I need to start freezer cooking so the family doesn’t live on hotdogs and mac&cheese! 🙂 I freeze some of our meals (Pulled Pork, Taco meat etc) already but I’m going to go through your recipes to see what else I can add to our freezer stock!
BTW, my 5 y/o daughter and I just started reading “Farmer Boy”. I loved all the Little House books growing up and we just started reading them together…love sharing them with her! (And getting to read them again myself!)
I used to work 3-11 part time and I would make dinner at noon so my husband could just reheat it at dinner time and I could take some to work with me for lunch.