Freezer Cooking A Success! (Part 1)

In this post, I talked about how I wanted to try to save some time in the kitchen by doing some freezer cooking and preparing things ahead of time for us to use at a later date.  I had a plan to make the following:

10 Breakfast Burritos
Apple Chips
20 Mini Cinnamon Swirls
40 Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
12 Blueberry Muffins
1 French Toast Casserole (divided into 2 pans)
32 meatballs

Over the last two days, I have VERY busy in the kitchen, but I would have to say that this freezer cooking experiment was a success!  Here's what I accomplished...

On Tuesday, I made 10 Breakfast Burritos that turned out to be very yummy!  They are all wrapped up in the freezer and ready to be popped into the microwave for a quick breakfast!

Yesterday, after my morning shopping trips, while the girls were napping I worked on the Mini Cinnamon Swirls, Blueberry Muffins, and also made some Corndog Muffins (forgot to put those in the list!)  It took me about an hour and 45 minutes to make all three things.  Not too bad!

The Mini Cinnamon Swirls turned out nicely!  I basically made them to have something quick for the girls to eat for breakfast.  There were really easy to make!  Here's the recipe:

Mini Cinnamon Swirls

Ingredients:

1 8oz can refrigerated reduced-fat crescent dinner roll dough

4 teaspoons bottled cinnamon sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons 1% low fat milk

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375.

2.  Unroll crescent dough, and cut dough cross-wise with a knife, forming 2 squre portions.  Press perferations together with fingers.  Sprinkle each portion with 2 teaspoons cinnamon sugar. 

3.  Roll up 1 portion of dough, and press firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam to seal.  Cut roll into 10 slices. 

4.Place slices, cut sides down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Repeat with remaining dough portions.

5.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes or until rolls are golden.

6.  Allow to cool and place in a freezer bag to freeze until ready to use.

To Serve:

1.  Defrost cinnamon swirls in the microwave.

2.  Combine powdered sugar and milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth.  Drizzle over warm rolls with a small wisk.

(recipe taken from Weight Watchers 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook, Feb. 2007 edition)

I was really excited to try the Mini Corndog Muffins because I thought my girls would like them!  I thought they were delicious and ended up eating at least 4 of them myself!  :)  I gave some to the girls for dinner, so only 12 of them actually made it into the freezer.  Unfortunately, my girls were less excited about them than I was and ended up picking the hotdog out of the muffin and leaving the cornbread behind.  **SIGH**  (Does anyone stress over meal time like I do because of picky eaters?!?!)  Anyway - I think most NORMAL children would LOVE these!!!

Mini Corndog Muffins

Ingredients:

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix

(you will also need 1 egg and however much milk it calls for on the Jiffy box - I threw the box aways and now I can't remember!!!)

5 hotdogs

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven according to directions on box.  Spray 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.

2.  Follow directions on box to create cornbread mix.  Fill each muffin cup halfway with mix.

3.  Cut each hotdog into 5 pieces.  Place one piece of hotdog into each mix-filled muffin cup.

4.  Bake muffins according to directions on package.

5.  Place uneaten :) muffins in a freezer bag & freeze.

To Serve:

Heat desired number of muffins in microwave or toaster overn before serving.

(recipe adapted from one found on www.moneysavingmom.com)

Then, my least successful recipe of the day - the blueberry muffins.  I had a recipe for Blueberry Struessel muffins.  They turned out okay I guess, but it called for a topping of butter & brown sugar which made the muffins sticky.  Plus, I used fresh blueberries which made a mess once they were cooked.  I think I will look for a new muffin recipe, but this is how they turned out (along with the cinnamon rolls and corndog muffins)...

Last, but not least, after the girls went to bed Wednesday night, I worked on the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.  These turned out to be DELICIOUS and actually had decently healthy ingredients compared to some other cookie recipes I've made in the past.  My daughter tested one out tonight (the one who didn't like the corndog muffin!) and LOVED it!  :)

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening or butter (softened) (I used butter)

1/3 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour (recipe suggest whole wheat)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups oats (rolled or quick oats)

1 12-oz package of chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Cream together first 6 ingredients.

3.  Add flour, baking soda and oats.  Mix well.

4.  Stir in chocolate chips.

5.  Roll into 1 - 1 1/2 inch balls & place on greased cookie sheets.

6.  Bake for 10 minutes or until done.

(Makes approximately 40 cookies)

To Freeze:

Roll dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet.  Freezer for 1 - 2 hours. 

Place frozen cookie dough balls into a plastic freezer bag and seal tightly.  When ready to bake, pull out the desired amount of balls and place on a greased cookie sheet for 30 - 45 minutes to thaw.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until done.

(recipe taken from www.moneysavingmom.com)





So, all in all, I think Wednesday was a successful day in the kitchen!!!

Today, I made the meatballs and 1/2 of a french toast casserole.  I will give you the details on those recipes tomorrow!  The only thing I haven't made yet are the apple chips, and I'm hoping to make those in the morning.  We'll see how they turn out!