These Morning Glory Muffins are super easy to make and are a great healthy breakfast recipe! Whip up a batch ahead of time to have on hand for a quick on-the-go breakfast idea!
Why You’ll Love These Healthy Morning Glory Muffins
These muffins are delicious and nutritious. When my friend, Angie, brought us some one day, I took one bite and knew they were winners.
They are packed with fruits and veggies (yes veggies!) and have some good healthy fats too. Plus, they are delicious!
Morning Glory Muffin Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (can also use white flour or a mixture of whole-wheat and white flour)
- 3/4 to 1 cup raw sugar (or sugar)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1 apple, peeled, cored, and shredded (or chopped)
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup coconut oil, melted (or melted butter)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
How to Make Healthy Morning Glory Breakfast Muffins
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Stir in the carrots, raisins, coconut, and apples.
5. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla.
6. Stir egg mixture into the carrot/flour mixture, just until moistened.
7. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.
9. Eat and enjoy!
Morning Glory Muffins Healthy Tips
I’d recommend using muffin liners as they seem to help these be a bit more moist.
Also, make sure your oven is fully preheated before baking the muffins.
Morning Glory Muffins Recipe Variations/Substitutions
As always, try to use what you have in the house before going out to buy a specific ingredient just for one recipe.
For example, I used pureed carrots instead of shredded carrots this time around as that is what I already had in the freezer. Shredded carrots probably would have worked better as the batter wouldn’t have turned out so orange, but they tasted fine and I saved myself a trip to the store!
You could also likely sub applesauce for the shredded apples, but you wouldn’t get that nice burst of flavor when biting into a chunk of apple.
Feel free to mix up the spices (nutmeg might be nice!) and you could even try subbing out some of the sugar for a bit of honey.
How to Serve Healthy Morning Glory Breakfast Muffins
These muffins are a great mid-morning or afternoon snack and they pack really well in school lunches.
They are also a fantastic side dish (or even dessert) for almost any meal.
And of course, they would make a quick and easy breakfast, especially if you paired them with a fried egg or some fruit.
How to Store Whole Wheat Morning Glory Muffins
Let muffins cool completely before putting them in an airtight food storage container or ziptop bag.
Store at room temperature for 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw: Pull out the desired number of muffins and thaw at room temperature for an hour or so. You can also warm them in the microwave.
Morning Glory Muffin FAQs
Using enough oil and sugar is key to keeping muffins moist and tender. Also, make sure your oven is hot enough, and try not to over-mix the batter.
These muffins are very sticky, so don’t forget the liners! Also, try not to over-mix the batter as that can cause tough muffins. Make sure all your ingredients are fresh, and if you have time, let them all sit at room temperature before mixing them together.
While it’s not essential (especially if you’re short on time) letting muffin or quick bread batter rest for 15 minutes or so will allow the flour to absorb more moisture from the eggs and liquid in the batter, resulting in a thicker batter that produces “higher” fluffier muffins.
Healthy Morning Glory Breakfast Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour can also use white flour or a mixture of whole-wheat and white flour
- 3/4 cup raw sugar or sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups carrots shredded
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1 apple peeled, cored, and shredded (or chopped)
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup coconut oil melted (or melted butter)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Stir in the carrots, raisins, coconut, and apples.
- In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla.
- Stir egg mixture into the carrot/flour mixture, just until moistened.
- Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.
Nutrition
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We Paid Cash: A Living Room Set
A testimony from Amanda
My hubby and I recently paid off our mortgage — YAY!
We had planned to use our first month of post-mortgage “payment” to purchase a couch to replace the very loved, mostly broken, and odd-smelling couch currently in our living room. As we headed to the various furniture stores to scout out our potential new furniture (a first-time experience for us since we generally purchase used), we finally settled on a two-piece set that was a floor model.
Because it was a floor model, the store was offering a 50% “buy now” discount. We headed up to purchase our furniture only to be told that our set would be available for pick up or delivery for nearly two weeks. Confused about why we couldn’t take home our “buy now” discounted furniture when we had cash in hand for the total amount, we asked for another sales representative. And she gave us the same odd story.
This time, she added that we couldn’t remove the furniture until the new floor model was in, assembled, and ready to take its place. Out of desperation, we sought the help of a manager, who listened intently to our dilemma.
His reply? “These people have CASH…take their money and give them their furniture!”
We backed up our trailer, loaded our couch and loveseat, and chuckled the rest of the way home!
Amanda lives in rural central Nebraska with her hubby of 15 years, nine kids, and one spoiled schnauzer.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
How I Reduced Our Grocery Bill By $80 In One Month
Guest post from Rebecca of D & R Tabb
For the past year or two, I have regularly spent $80 per week on groceries (not counting household items) for our family of two (that recently became of family of three!)
The only preparation beforehand included menu planning. I did minimal coupon-clipping and only occasionally price matched on milk.
I decided to spend four weeks trying to reduce my grocery budget — just to see if I could save money without a huge investment of time.
Here’s what happened:
My totals before and after looked like this:
Before
$80 week x 4 = $320/month on groceries
After
4 weeks of shopping sales = $240/month on groceries
Savings: $80
Here’s how I did it:
I switched stores.
I was a loyal Walmart shopper, not because I liked shopping there, but because I was convinced it was the cheapest option. A friend of mine told me she saved money shopping at Kroger. After shopping there for four weeks I believe this made a big impact in my savings, but only if I shopped the sales.
I used the ads.
Every week I got out the circular and looked at it before planning my dinner menu. This forced me to plan recipes based on ingredients that were marked down that week.
I stopped being brand loyal.
I started buying a different brand of chicken that is regularly on sale for $0.99/lb for split, bone-in breasts, or $1.99 for boneless, skinless breasts. When it was on sale, I bought several packages to last me until it was on sale again.
I used the sales.
I only bought produce that was on sale, usually for $0.99/lb. I have occasionally even found organic produce on sale for less than regular produce. For example, this week organic oranges are on sale for $0.99/lb. I had to laugh when I saw regular oranges listed at $1.29/lb. just a few feet away!
I bought the side items for our dinners (i.e. corn and other vegetables) that were on sale.
I have been very pleased with the impact I have been able to make on our grocery budget with minimal changes. I am planning to put the money we save on groceries toward paying down our mortgage debt. Having this goal gives me an even greater incentive to spend a few hours each week mapping out our grocery trip and meal plans.
I know many people have been able to reduce their grocery budget by much more than this, but I am very pleased to see that little changes can produce big results!
Rebecca is a former educator turned stay-at-home mom. She enjoys exercising, reading, and blogging about her life as a wife and new mom at D&R Tabb.
Q&A: How do you stay motivated to get housework done?
You are always so motivating that I am hoping you can help me. It seems like I try and try to get my “chore list” done each day and it just doesn’t happen. I used to be motivated by my checklist method and I spread the tasks over several days, but that’s just not working anymore. Thoughts? -a reader
1. If It’s Not Working, Change It
At the end of last year, I switched over to a paperless planning system. I really, really wanted to make a paperless system work, as it works so well for my husband and it seems like it’s the “smart” thing to do when you’re running a business. But, after five months of really trying to make it work, it just wasn’t working.
My motto is “Do what works for you”, and while it seems like a paperless planning system works well for many people, it was pretty obvious it wasn’t working for me. So, earlier this month, I gave up on the paperless planning system (at least for now!), pulled out my homemaking binder, downloaded the Motivated Moms Printable Chore List, and started in afresh.
I’ve been amazed at how this changed has re-ignited my love of cleaning! Sometimes, a fresh change of scenery is just the boost you need to get inspired to clean again.
If your current cleaning system isn’t working, try implementing another cleaning system. If you don’t want to start from scratch, at least rotate things around a bit so that it feels new and different.
4 Different Cleaning Systems
1. A Cleaning Schedule for People Who Hate to Clean — A weekly task list you can pick and choose from depending upon your time and motivation each day.
2. 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home — 20 days of simple cleaning tasks to whip your house into shape. You can download a printable list or sign up for daily email reminders.
3. Motivated Moms — A year-long printable list of chores and home management tasks. I just started this two weeks ago and am loving it so far! They also recently released an app, if you’re more of the paperless type than me. 🙂
4. FlyLady — Daily email reminders and tasks to help you get rid of clutter and find more order and peace in your home.
2. Get An Accountability Partner
It’s amazing how effective regular accountability can be! Find a friend or neighbor who is struggling to stay on task with keeping their home in order and ask them to be your accountability partner. Check in daily or weekly via text, email, over the phone, or in person.
Don’t know anyone locally who will be your accountability partner? There are many different online groups you could join to help you stay on task. Or, you could blog, Facebook, or tweet on a daily basis about your successes and failures.
3. Reward Yourself
Set up a reward system to celebrate your success. I’m always much more motivated when there is something to look forward to at the finish line!
My reward for accomplishing my tasks is often relaxing with a good book for 30 minutes at the end of the day. For some of you, that might not sound too exciting, but it’s something I love to do. And I can enjoy it even more when I know that my tasks are caught up!
FREE DOWNLOAD:
2-Hour Cleaning Checklist!
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4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (Day 16)
4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (Day 16)
Frozen chocolate chip cookie dough can be a bit dangerous to have on hand as it’s really yummy to eat straight from the freezer… but if you can have a little self control and wait for the cookies to bake, you’ll see that they taste just as delicious as if you made the dough fresh that day!
My sister concocted this recipe many years ago and it’s long been our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It definitely wouldn’t win the prize for being a low-calorie cookie, but it’s a delicious and hearty cookie recipe.
You will LOVE frozen cookie dough!
If you’re not a fan of most freezer meals, can I encourage you to try making cookie dough and freezing it? I can almost guarantee you won’t be able to tell a difference between frozen cookie dough and fresh cookie dough.
Frozen cookie dough makes it so easy to make a batch of freshly-baked cookies when you have drop-in guests or need to bring a dessert or snack to some event at the last minute.
It’s also very handy for those times when you get a late-night craving for chocolate. Oh wait, I may be the only person who has that happen to them. Ahem. 😉
Ingredients for Freezer-Friendly Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter or shortening (softened)
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (or raw sugar)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (or raw sugar)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (you can also use half or all whole-wheat)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups oats (rolled or quick oats)
- 1 12-oz. package chocolate chips
How to Make Freezer-Friendly Cookie Dough
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
2. Add in eggs and vanilla and whip until very smooth.
3. Add in flour, baking soda, salt, and oats. Mix well.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Roll dough into 1-1 1/2-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet (either to freeze or to bake.)
To freeze:
1. Place cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet (they can be quite close together) and freeze for one to two hours.
2. Remove from cookie sheet and place in an airtight freezer bag.
3. Freeze for several months (if you have enough self control!)
To bake:
1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Put desired number of cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, approximately 3 inches apart.
3. Let sit while oven preheats.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until done.
5. Transfer warm cookies to cooling rack.
6. Eat and enjoy!
Freezer-Friendly Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter or shortening softened
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar or raw sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar or raw sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour you can also use half or all whole-wheat
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups oats rolled or quick oats
- 12 oz chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Add in eggs and vanilla and whip until very smooth.
- Add in flour, baking soda, salt, and oats. Mix well.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Roll dough into 1-1 1/2-inch balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet (either to freeze or to bake.)
To freeze:
- Place cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet (they can be quite close together) and freeze for one to two hours.
- Remove from cookie sheet and place in an airtight freezer bag.
- Freeze for several months (if you have enough self control!)
To bake:
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Put desired number of cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, approximately 3 inches apart.
- Let sit while oven preheats.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until done.
- Transfer warm cookies to cooling rack.
- Eat and enjoy!
Nutrition
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Did you do any freezer cooking this week? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.
Want to cut your grocery budget? Go here and sign up (it’s free!) I’ll send you my 10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill By $50.
Ask The Readers: Meatless or inexpensive meal suggestions that guys would love?
Ask The Readers: Meatless or inexpensive meal suggestions that guys would love?
Today’s question is from Alicia:
My family consists of three boys, my husband, and myself. With the cost of food rising, I have let my meat stockpile diminish. I was wondering if your readers have any budget-friendly recipes for meatless or inexpensive recipes that will satisfy and fill the bellies of a house full of meat-eating males!? -Alicia
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Italian Chicken (Day 15)
This is one of our go-to meals. It is so, so easy and delicious.
You could skip the freezing part altogether and just make it the day of, but some times it’s nice to pull a bag out of the freezer, dump it into a pan or crock pot and dinner is done.
It’s a great summer recipe because you can grill it or cook it in the crock pot and not heat up your kitchen at all. We love it served over rice or sliced and served on a big salad.
While I was making the Italian Chicken on one end of the table, the above picture is what was happening at the other end of the kitchen table. Seeing my husband so intently working with Silas on his preschool and Silas just soaking it up melts my heart.
{My husband has been doing one or two of each of the children’s homeschooling subjects with them each evening after he comes home from work. It was his idea — and the children love it!}
{I think one of the reasons they enjoy it is because Daddy’s homeschooling often involves snacks, too. ;)}
Freezer-Friendly Italian Chicken
- One bottle of your favorite Italian salad dressing*
- 6 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
To freeze: Put frozen chicken breasts in a freezer bag. Pour the Italian dressing over the chicken. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal it up. Freeze.
To thaw and bake:
- Quick Method: Pull frozen chicken out of the freezer and run the freezer bag under cold water to thaw slightly. Pour all the contents of the bag into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.
- Longer Marinating Method: Pull frozen chicken out of the freezer, stick the bag in a bowl and let it thaw in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Pour all the contents of the bag into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes or grill until done.
- Crock Pot Method: Pull frozen chicken out of the freezer and run the freezer bag under hot water to thaw slightly. Pour all the contents of the bag into the crock pot and cook on high for 4-6 hours, until thoroughly cooked through.
This is delicious served over rice with steamed vegetables on the side. Serves 4-6.
*Want to change things up a bit? You can also use barbecue sauce or any other favorite salad dressing. Let us know if your family has a favorite variation of this recipe!
Did you do any freezer cooking today? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.
Do-It-Yourself: Sunburst Flower Headband
SewCraftCreate.com shows you how to make this adorable sunburst flower headband.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Cash4Books: Make an additional 15% back for selling your used books
Cash4Books: Make an additional 15% back for selling your used books
Have extra books around your home that you no longer need or use? Definitely check Cash4Books.net, MyBookBuyer.com, and Amazon’s Trade-In Program to see how much they would pay you for selling your books to them.
Cash4Books is also offering a 15% bonus on your buyback total through June 8, 2012. All you have to do to get the bonus is use bonus code SecretStash at checkout and they’ll automatically give you the 15% bonus when they send your payment.
If you decide to sell your books to Cash4Books, you can print out a free shipping label so that there is no cost to you to ship the book. After your books are received, inspected and marked as ‘processed’, payment will be made within three business days. You can choose to be paid via Paypal or check.
If your books aren’t worth much, you might also consider listing them on PaperBackSwap so that you can swap them for books you are interested in reading.
Related posts:
Make Money Selling Books With MyBookBuyer.com
Earn Amazon Credit For Used Books Through Amazon’s Trade-In Program
(Note: Some of the links in this post are my referral links. Read our disclosure policy here.)
4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Week #4 Freezer-Friendly Snacks & Desserts + Shopping List
4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer: Week #4 Freezer-Friendly Snacks & Desserts + Shopping List
Can you believe we’ve made it to the last week of freezer cooking? My freezer is getting so stocked and it has been wonderful.
With Memorial Day weekend coming up, I’m spacing out the recipes a bit more this week to give everyone a little bit more time to play along (should you so choose) and to also give myself the flexibility to not blog much on Monday. 🙂
My apologies in advance that all but one of these recipes has chocolate in it. What can I say? “Dessert” and “snack” is pretty much synonymous with “chocolate” at our house. 🙂 And no day is complete without at at least a little bit of chocolate!
Here’s this week’s list of Snack and Dessert Recipes I’ll be making to stick in the freezer along with a grocery list (let me know if you see any mistakes on amounts needed):
Freezer-Friendly Snack and Dessert Recipes
Wednesday — One batch of Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Thursday — Double batch of Easy Morning Glory Muffins {I’ll share my “health-i-fied” version of this recipe on Thursday.}
Friday — Double batch of No Bake Energy Bites
Tuesday — One batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Wednesday – Double batch of Chocolate Banana Bread
Grocery List
(I rounded up on the amounts needed, just to be safe. You probably have many of these items already on hand. You’ll want to double-check that you have the correct amounts, though.)
16 eggs
8 cups sugar (or raw sugar)
3/4 cup brown sugar (or raw sugar)
6 cups rolled oats
1 1/3 cups peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 (16 oz.) can pureed pumpkin
3 1/2 cups oil
12 cups flour
3 packages chocolate chips
2/3 cup honey
3 cup coconut flakes (For No Bake Energy Bites or Easy Morning Glory Muffins — could substitute something else if your family doesn’t like coconut.)
1 cup flaxseed (For No Bake Energy Bites — could substitute wheat germ or something for this.)
4 cups shredded carrots
1 cup raisins
6 bananas
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 apples
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 sticks butter
Staple Ingredients:
Vanilla
Salt
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Cinnamon
Freezer Storage Items Needed
Foil
Plastic Wrap
8-12 large ziptop freezer bags
Something to label packages with (marker to write on bags, labels, and/or tape)
Click on the “Print This” tab at the top of the list to generate a printer-friendly list. (If you’re reading via email or a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to print the list.)
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Chicken Broccoli Rice
Need another weeknight staple to add to your meal planning rotation? This easy casserole is it. Plus, you can easily double or triple the recipe as it freezes wonderfully!
Why we love Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole is delicious, filling, frugal, and freezer-friendly!
It’s the perfect family-friendly meal for busy weeknights when you just want to defrost something and bake it ASAP.
And thanks to the delicious cheesy sauce, your kids probably won’t even complain about eating their broccoli!
Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole Ingredients
- 10 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
- 4 cups cooked chicken, chopped (I bake mine in the oven like this.)
- 4 cups chopped broccoli, lightly steamed (frozen or fresh)
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup (or 2 batches of homemade cream of mushroom soup)
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup (or 2 batches of homemade cream of chicken soup)
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
NOTE: This recipe makes 4 freezer bags worth of casserole — or roughly around 15-20 servings as each freezer bag serves 4-5 people.
Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole substitutions and variations
This casserole is not an exact science by any means — please feel free to mix up the ingredients to fit your family’s taste preferences or whatever you already have in the house.
Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
- substitute turkey for chicken (perfect for post-Thanksgiving leftovers!)
- swap HALF the chicken for cubed ham and substitute Swiss cheese for cheddar (a.k.a. chicken cordon bleu)
- use cooked quinoa or barley instead of rice
- use mixed vegetables, chopped spinach, or even green beans in place of (or in addition to) broccoli
- sprinkle the top of the casserole with breadcrumbs for a crunchy topping
How to Make Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
2. Divide mixture into 4 zip-top freezer bags. Label and seal them tightly.
3. Freeze the bags flat.
4. TO COOK: Thaw one bag overnight (or for 8 hours) in the refrigerator.
5. Dump the contents of the bag into a greased casserole dish (one bag fills an 8×8″ pan; two bags fills a 9×13″ pan).
6. Sprinkle with additional shredded cheese, if desired.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.
Chicken Broccoli Rice Recipe Tips
If you’re planning to make a big batch of this casserole for the freezer, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of large mixing bowls handy — as well as a variety of freezer containers or bags.
Also, make sure all the ingredients are fully cooked before adding them to the casserole — you don’t want to be surprised by raw chicken or crunchy rice when it’s time for dinner!
Remember to grease whatever baking pan you use to cook the casserole as this recipe can be a bit sticky.
And feel free to let your kids help — this is a great recipe to let them dump and mix!
What to serve with Chicken Broccoli Casserole
This meal technically contains all your food groups, so if you’re short on time, you don’t really need anything extra… however, here are a few serving suggestions our family enjoys.
- fresh fruit
- applesauce
- homemade bread or rolls
- more cooked veggies
- a lettuce or spinach salad
Chicken Rice and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 10 cups cooked rice
- 4 cups cooked chicken chopped or shredded
- 4 cups broccoli lightly steamed and chopped
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup 14 oz each
- 2 cans creams of chicken soup 14 oz each
- 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
- Divide mixture into 4 ziptop freezer bags. Label and seal them tightly.
- Freeze the bags flat.
TO COOK:
- Thaw one bag overnight (or for 8 hours) in the refrigerator.
- Dump the contents of the bag into a greased casserole dish (one bag fills an 8×8″ pan; two bags fills a 9×13″ pan)
- Sprinkle with additional shredded cheese, if desired.
- Bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.
Nutrition
Love this recipe?
Make sure to share and save it on your favorite platform below!
Did you do any freezer cooking over the past two days? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.
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Meal time just got so much easier!
10 Goals for This Week
So, I kinda bombed last week… I had this lingering sinus infection most of the week and I was highly unmotivated as a result. I’m trying to dose up on a lot of Vitamin C and other things to boost my immune system — and trying not to get too discouraged that it is hanging on for so long.
The good news is that I did chip away at almost all the goals on the list, but I only completely accomplished three of them. By the way, I really, really tried to get 7.5 hour of sleep every night, but all the congestion made sleeping difficult and uncomfortable. Which, of course, doesn’t exactly lend itself to helping me get better — it’s kind of a vicious cycle!
Here’s to hoping this week is a better week — and that maybe I can find some relief from the sinus infection. {I’m *this* close to breaking down and trying a neti-pot. But it just weirds me out so much that I’ve not worked up the nerve yet! Yes, you can tell me I’m crazy! :)}
Last week’s goals:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading Quest for Truth:Taken and Spy for the Night Riders aloud to the children.
2. Start our summer schedule.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.Personal Goals
4. Finish reading Escape from Saddam. Start The Referral Engine.
5. Run at least five times.
6. Listen to 2 hours of The Little Big Things.
7. Sleep for at least 7.5 hours every night.
Home Management
8. Follow my Freezer Cooking plan and blog about it.9. Make Homemade English Muffins.
Business Goals
10. Write one article for another site.
This week’s goals {pretty much a repeat!}:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading Quest for Truth:Taken and Spy for the Night Riders aloud to the children.
2. Go to a baseball game and musical production as a family.
3. Write a love note to Jesse.
Personal Goals
4. Finish reading Escape from Saddam. Start The Referral Engine.
5. Run at least five times.
6. Listen to 2 hours of The Little Big Things.
7. Sleep for at least 7.5 hours every night.
Home Management
8. Follow my Freezer Cooking plan and blog about it.
9. Make Homemade English Muffins.
Business Goals
10. Write one article for another site.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!
You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
This week’s menu
Easy Italian Breadsticks (made in the bread machine!)
Breakfasts
Granola bars
Cereal
Baked Oatmeal (from the freezer)
Scrambled eggs, Cinnamon Roll Biscuits, fruit salad
Banana Split Pancakes
Omelets in a Muffin Tin, Fruit
Homemade English Muffins, scrambled eggs, fruitLunches
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches from the freezer
Lunch with friends
Leftovers x 2
Cheese Quesadillas, carrots, fruit
Salad, Hard-boiled eggs, toast, fruit
Snack-y lunchSnacks
Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches
Better for You Banana BreadDinners
Dinner with extended family
Italian Chicken, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls, steamed veggies, fruit
Southwest Rollups from the freezer, steamed veggies, sliced oranges & apples
Homemade Pizza, tossed salad, fruit salad
Dinner out
Ham & Cheese Pockets from the freezer, fruit salad, steamed veggies
Lasagna Casserole, Easy Italian Breadsticks, steamed broccoli, fruit
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
How to Plan a Frugal Camping Trip
Guest post from Jackie of Mom on a Mission
Our family loves the great outdoors! Three years ago we bought a pop-up camper through Craigslist to make lasting family memories. My husband bought it off season and got it way below book value.
A year later we began to look for a camper with a bathroom, knowing we were having a little one on the way. Our friend found a used hybrid Jay Feather during the winter — we got a great price and begin to look for ways to save at the campground before the Spring.
Here are just a few of the ways we came up with:
Use membership discounts.
Good Sam RV Club and Passport America both offer discounts through a reasonable membership fee. Passport offers a whopping 50% off nationwide participating campgrounds. KOA offers discounts on special weekends. We camp at KOA when they run buy one get one free nights.
Some campgrounds offer free nights. For instance, Adventure Bound in Gatlinburg, TN offers all military, police, fire, nurses, EMT and teachers free camping for two nights on a designated weekend of the year. KOA offers buy one night, get one free on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day weekends.
Google “free camping”, “discount camping” and “complimentary camping” to see if there are any local campground deals in your area.
Dovetail your camping with local attractions.
We bought season passes at Dollywood in Tennessee this year so we will coincide our camping trips with our trips to Dollywood and Spash Country, use our Passport America discount, and save money on food by eating in our camper.
We live in a gorgeous area where there are plenty of hiking trails, natural water falls, slides, fishing, kayaking, and natural beauty. Different areas offer museums, parks, playgrounds, and more.
Research your camping area and look for discounts to those places as well. Groupon and Living Social sometimes offer half price tickets to different attractions.
Pack your freezer food and plan a menu.
You would think in the great outdoors, you could easily scrounge up something tasty. This is true when you only have one meal to plan, but most mommas would agree a healthy weekend requires some planning ahead to avoid last-minute purchases from the overpriced camp store.
This momma plans a camping menu just like our home menu — complete with breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. I like to write it down and make as much as possible ahead of time. Salads, snacks, and fresh veggies can easily be stored in ziptop bags to fit inside a compact camper fridge or cooler.
I use a plastic shoe box to store items such as marinated chicken and homemade flatbreads for grilled pizza and/or gyros.
I like to make a healthy homemade trail mix with nuts as a protein snack. I often make freezer breakfast burritos or breakfast bagel bites for easier clean up in the camper. A fresh fruit basket on the table is a perfect way to implement grab-and-go for the kids.
Just like Crystal, I’m an avid freezer cook and I pack a cooler of freezer goodies right before we head out.
Many times camping can be just as costly as a motel visit. However, when you take these money saving ideas into consideration, you may find camping a frugal, family fun adventure like we do!
Jackie Brown is a Mom on a Mission, freezer cooking for her family while serving the poor and needy in her community.
4 Ways to Save Money on Moving
Guest post by Meg from Saving On The Essentials
Moving can be a stressful time. Between packing your current house, coordinating schedules with those helping you move, and unpacking, things can quickly get stressful.
As if that isn’t enough to take care of, you also have to keep in mind the cost of moving: renting versus borrowing trucks, the cost of boxes, tape, and packaging material for fragile items, and much more.
Here are a few tips I have put into action during our last two moves to help keep our moving costs minimum:
1. Research Prices on Moving Trucks
My husband and I moved twice in a six month period. The first time was only a few blocks so we were able to use my brother in law’s truck and as well as our our vehicles to move our entire house.
However, during our second move, we moved out of state. We knew that we would need to rent a truck in order to move our house in one trip. As we began to research prices, we found a wide range and were shocked at how much it costs to rent a moving truck!
Make sure to compare prices in order to get the best bang for your buck. Read all the fine print to see who charges the most for miles traveled over the set limit, late fees, and any other hidden fees.
We were surprised to be charged a $5 Environmental Fee from our truck rental because the company uses an environmentally friendly soap when washing their vehicles.
2. Find a Great Deal on Moving Boxes
When we reserved our moving van, we had the option of purchasing moving supplies. These came to a whopping total of $100! Needless to say, we opted for a more affordable (free) option.
We were blessed to receive a lot of our moving boxes from my husbands workplace, but we also were able to get them from our local grocery stores, Craigslist, family, friends, and neighbors.
3. Use Items on Hand to Protect Breakables
Use your wash clothes, towels, newspapers, expired coupons, and other items you have on hand to protect your breakable items. Clothes and towels are going to take up space when you box them to move anyway so make sure to put them to good use during your move!
4. Plan Your Moving Day Meal in Advance
When our moving day arrived I was ill prepared to feed those who so generously offered to help us move. Due to the fact that we were moving and all of our pots, pans, plates, silverware, and glasses were loaded into the moving van, we opted to splurge for a pizza lunch as a way to thank our family and friends for their help during our move. Easy prep and clean up is a must!
Using these simple money-saving tips, we were able to keep our moving expenses to a minimum.
What are your best tips for saving money on moving?
Meg Kavanaugh is an Arkansas native married to her best friend, Andrew. When she isn’t bargain hunting she spends her spare time with family, reading, or photographing God’s beautiful creation! She shares her love for frugal living and money saving tips over at Saving On The Essentials.