Remember my Cooking and Baking Marathon last month? Encouraged by Jessica and Crystal, I’m at it again (although this time my list is quite a bit shorter).
Based on many emails and comments I receive regarding your desire to eat healthier foods…I’m convinced that more of you would take the plunge if preparing healthy food was more convenient for you. So, I’m working hard to figure out more healthy meals and treats that can be prepared ahead of time, frozen, and pulled out to eat in a hurry. Scroll through these posts to read through the ideas and recipes I currently have on my site.
Hey, as nice as it may sound that I’m doing this for you…really and truly my family and I are the ones benefiting. ALL the food I made and froze a few weeks ago has been SO nice to have on hand on days we have places to go and people to see. I actually STILL have Pizza Pockets, Cheesy Beef and Rice, Beef and Cheese Burritos and Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread in the freezer from the last Cooking/Baking Marathon. I also have three bags of Chicken Fried Steak Strips made up and ready to cook up quickly!
My favorite benefit of having convenience foods in the freezer is how it helps with the challenge of trying to get school work done and feed hungry boys at the same time. Ready-to-heat-up healthy lunches have been WONDERFUL to have on hand!!
So…Here’s my new list of freezer foods to try:
- Mini Apple Pies (These are now done and in the freezer already. The boys LOVED these!)
- Pre-made Turkey Sausage Patties (Now that I know that it’s okay to thaw and refreeze raw meat one time…I’m going to make up several batches of this sausage to make for some easy breakfasts/lunches.)
- Breakfast Burritos (I make lunch type burritos…why not make some sausage-egg-cheese burritos while I’m working up the sausage?)
- Whole Wheat Tortillas (Okay, these aren’t new for me to try, but if I’m going to make burritos…I’ll need to make a batch or two of tortillas. Also, it’s ALWAYS nice to have extra tortillas on hand for quesadillas – especially these Melting Snowflakes this time of year! Therefore, I’ll probably go a little Tortilla Crazy and make four or five batches of these awesome tasting tortillas this weekend.)
Beyond these foods…I’m planning on making Peanut Butter to have in the fridge for next week. (If you haven’t ever made homemade peanut butter, you HAVE to try it and see how EASY and DELICIOUS it is!!).
I’m also going to keep working on making homemade ketchup. I’m still not entirely pleased with the recipe I’ve come up with…which, if you have been wondering, is why I haven’t shared it yet! I’m still tweaking. And tasting. And tweaking some more.
I’ll share with you early next week how the weekend of cooking and preparing went!
Are you doing any cooking/baking this weekend?
You really inspire me and I want to be more like you someday. Right now I have a little one year old and I can’t get much done during the day let alone a full day of cooking. I try to fit it in when I can. I have made many of your recipes and I love them all.
This is so great! Thank you for sharing the recipes. I have been wanting to make more things ahead of time, but just haven’t done it. This has greatly inspired me (:
Just curious if you have ever used a tortilla press. I am thinking of getting one but would sure like to get some real live unbiased opinions on if they are worth it.
Sharon
SimplyCanning.com
Afer my baking flop last week… I’m going to take it easy this weekend. That and I have to work. So it’ll be an easy weekend all around here for all!
These are great!! Like the mini apple pies I brought over for Small Group that one time but A LOT healthier. Need to try it out! Thanks!
Ooooh! Oooooh! I am teaching a very good friend the art of homemade bread baking! I am so excited. I might even try a homemade dog biscuit recipe for my precious pooch……
Okay, I have decided to try your tortillas. I hate that the ones available comerically are so full of junk. But we love tortillas and I am married to a man who is have Spanish/Mexican. We have to have them in the house!
I won’t be doing much baking or cooking this weekend, because I will be driving to a town 40 minutes away to check out a health food coop and another store that carries 90 different organic produce items. I might even hit a Costco, too. I have to drive a bit to get to these types of places and I don’t get out much, so I am really looking forward to it!
My husband brought me a “real” tortilla press from Mexico one year. It’s so cool, but it doesn’t really work well for me. I prefer just to roll them with a rolling pin. I can get them the right thickness with much less “muscle” compared to when I use the press.
All the cooking I do right now is make ahead. I work in the evenings, and my husband (bless him) does NOT COOK. He does, however, reheat things without burning them, so make ahead meals work well for us. I cook with a friend of mine, and we do 6 weeks of meals at a time. Which makes for a VERY LONG WEEKEND, but it’s so nice to only have to reheat things at dinner time. I would really appreciate seeing more healthy make ahead meals!!
Looks like some tasty treats!!
It’s been such a hot summer here – too hot to even put the oven on for the past few weeks (one of the things I love about winter is that I can have the oven on all day and we don’t suffer from it’s heat!) but I decided to get up early this morning and bake some wholemeal apple/honey bread (some for breakfast and some for the freezer) before it got too hot. Smells so good right now and my hungry children are asking “Is it ready yet?!”
Love your ideas! I will be doing my OAMC in a week when I’m on spring break and I plan on making your pizza pockets again. They were a big hit and gone in a week. I have just started making my own homemade tortillas and we love them! I think I’ll put those mini apple pies on the list too. Thanks, Laura!
I made some whole-wheat graham crackers, but I will be away from home most of the weekend. I look forward to having a little cooking/baking marathon really soon!
I real your site all the time and am always blown away by your amazing feats of healthful culinary skill!! SO many things from your site have been adopted and are regulars in our kitchen now. All I have to say is, “The recipe came from Heavenly Homemakers” and they know something yummy is about to be put on the table!
THANK YOU for providing this wonderful resource! And.. by the way.. do you have a button for us to put on our pages? If not.. you need one!! :-)
Just wondering how you bring the frozen tortillas back to room temp and soft enough to roll up for burritos? We made your recipe for tortillas and LOVED them, stored the leftovers in the fridge and the next day fried them up and put cinnamon sugar on them for a breakfast treat, but would not have been able to roll them to make breakfast burritos even just warming them in cast iron skillet. BTW we don’t have a microwave.
Thanks,
mommymarnie
please come check out my brand new first ever blog…
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/simplehealthykids/155397/
Thanks so much for sharing your healthy and nutritious OAMC plan and recipes! I too am doing a BIG OAMC plan for March. My husband has been following Weight Watchers so it is important to us to be able to plan healthy, low-fat and nutritious meals each month to not only help him in his weight-loss journey but also to teach our children healthy eating habits! Thanks again for your inspiration! You can check out my meal plan here:
http://frugaliciouslivingia.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-oamc-master-plan-for-march.html
My goal is to have a button on my site this weekend. I have others request it and don’t know why I haven’t done it yet. (Well, I actually do know why, but you don’t have time to hear all my excuses!!) I’ll put it up on my side bar just as soon as I can!
A couple of things to try…
1. When you make your tortillas with plans to use them for burritos in the future, cook only one side, leaving the other side undone and softer for rolling.
2. If the tortills is stiff from being in the fridge, lay it on top of the warm eggs (or other ingredients for burritos) and it will soften right up!
Laura — I featured you on my blog this morning, published it, and then thought “What if that’s not okay??” I’m totally new to blogging and blog etiquette so if you are not happy with the post I will remove it or change it if you wish! Here is the link to the post where I featured you — http://tailoredtrash.blogspot.com/2010/03/manic-mondays-quick-meal-and-great-tip.html.
Thanks for all the detailed tips and recipes!
Les (aka the Tailored Trash Queen)