Freeze Ahead Breakfast

With the impending arrival of our little man fast approaching, I have been wanting to make a few different Make Ahead Meals to put in the freezer for after his arrival.

I must admit these last 8+ months I have gotten pretty lazy with cooking AND blogging about all my baking adventures...as my blog has reflected. I still have several baking posts to finish....eventually, maybe while I'm on maternity leave?! I'm assuming I will be even more lazy, or at least just won't have the time nor energy to make dinner once Baby Dexter is here, especially since I (fingers crossed) hope to exclusively breastfeed his first few months at least. 

Last weekend was a HUGE cooking weekend for me!! Aside from baking my last cake until the Fall, I did all my grocery shopping to prepare for my cooking event one day, poached my chickens and made homemade chicken broth another day, and prepared about 7 different meals on two other days.

Over the next week I will post several posts about the meals I made along with a few tips.      

Let's start with the most important meal of the day, breakfast!

I'm usually pretty boring when it comes to making myself breakfast, I usually stick to boring cereal, toast, or a bagel with cream cheese. Breakfast for dinner is a totally different story though and for an entirely different post, it's our favorite! When thinking about having a newborn around soon and not having a lot of time for breakfast in the mornings, I wanted to make sure I have the option of having something I can grab pretty quickly and make with little effort. I love me a McDonald's Egg McMuffin but am pretty sure I want to be leaving the house every morning with a little in tow to get one, plus all that added sodium and fat...we don't need. I decided to make my own breakfast burritos and sandwiches! These are quick, easy, filling, fairly inexpensive (compared to going to McD's every day), and I can control how much sodium is added to them.  

Ingredients:

·         1 lb. Pork Sausage

·         1 Pkg. Hash browns

·         8 to 12 Large eggs

·         1/4 cup milk

·         1 pkg. shredded cheese

·         salt and pepper to taste

·         1 to 2 pkg. flour tortillas

1. Brown sausage - drain on a paper towel.

2. Cook hash browns in the same pan.

3. While the hash browns are cooking - In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper.

4. Add browned sausage back to the pan with the cooked hash browns.

5. Add the eggs to the sausage mixture and cook until the eggs are done, stirring gently.

6. After eggs are done - lay a tortilla on counter. Place egg mixture on tortilla. Top with cheese. Roll into a burrito.

7. Depending on how many eggs you use and how large you make each burrito, will determine how many burritos you will end up with. I used ten eggs which made me twenty-five burritos.

8. Wrap each burritos in Saran wrap.  Then place the wrapped burritos in freezer zip-lock bags.

From Freezer: Take the number of burritos you want out of the freezer, unwrap Saran wrap and place burritos in a paper towel. Warm for 45 seconds, rotate, warm for an additional 30 seconds. Serve with salsa, sour cream, or plain.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Ingredients 

• 12  English muffins 
• 12 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 12 slices of cheese
• 1/2 pound of bacon

1. Start by cooking the bacon. I used turkey bacon because I love it more than regular bacon but either will work. I cooked my bacon in the oven on 350 degrees for 15 minutes until lightly browned, this is the best way to cook regular bacon so it won't curl up like it will in the microwave or in a skillet.

2. While the bacon cook, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl until combined. Cook in large skillet over medium heat until scrabled.   
3. Once everything had finished cooking and slightly cooled, assemble the sandwiches. Break English muffins apart and put a spoonful of eggs, one slice of bacon (I split mine in halves to fit), and one slice of cheese on each muffin.

4. Wrap each sandwich in Saran wrap and place them in a gallon Ziploc bag. Then they are ready for the freezer.

From Freezer: Unwrap sandwich from saran wrap, place in paper towel and heat in microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes.  

 Sausage Breakfast Burritos

Fastest Dinner Ever!

I was getting ready for work the other morning thinking what the heck am I going to make for dinner tonight! I have no idea what's in the pantry, haven't been to the grocery store yet and all the meat we have is frozen! 

I admit, even though I love to cook and bake.....I am in NO WAY organized. I rarely am prepared ahead of time for dinners, I kind of just wing it! I buy a lot of the staples and then make short runs to the store on the way home, or just find something else to make :) I'm horrible.

That's when I thought about throwing something into the crock pot so it would be ready by time I got home. Chicken tacos! This literally took me all of 5 minutes to throw together beforehand and 2 minutes to shred the chicken once I walked in the door and then it was ready to serve! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

1.5 lbs frozen chicken breasts

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 contained Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Santa Fe

1 pkg soft tortilla or hard shell tacos

Add ins - mushrooms, lettuce, salsa, avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc.

Add frozen chicken (yes FROZEN) to bottom of crock pot. Mix together crushed tomatoes, black beans and cook cream, then pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken shreds easily with a fork. Stir together to combine well and serve in soft or hard shell tacos and top with your favorites.

Now that's what I call a no fuss meal!

Succulent Smoothie

One word: Deliciousness! I get tired of eating yogurt all by itself and can sometimes find it hard to east just fruit alone as a snack. This is a light yet filling low-fat smoothie that is so tasty I want to make this everyday! It is under 300 calories, less than 1 gram of fat and full of nothing but good healthy stuff. It's perfect for breakfast and it actually makes enough for two if you want to share for more of a snack.

Orange-Blueberry Lassi

1 cup blueberries
1 cup calcium fortified orange juice
6 oz low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3 ice cubes

In a blender combine all ingredients until well blended. Pour into a tall glass and serve. How easy is that!

YUMMY!!!!!! I can't wait to make another one tomorrow morning :)

BBQ beef and a shepherd's pie

I often find myself many times picking recipes because of the pictures. Sometimes that can be a good thing and sometimes not so much. That's one reason I picked this, and also because I figured it has everything Dave loves: BBQ Beef, check; mashed potatoes, check; corn, check; Frito's, check check!! It's a little bit of barbecue beef + a little bit of shepherd's pie + Frito's. I was nervous about it, but Dave ended up loving it. A happy tummy = success!

Barbecue Beef and Corn Shepherd's Pie Source: Betty Crocker website

• 1 pound lean ground beef


• 8 medium green onions, sliced (1/2 cup)


• 1 cup barbecue sauce


• 1 can (11 oz) Mexicorn whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained


• 1 can (4 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained


• 1/2 package Betty Crocker Four Cheese mashed potatoes (1 pouch)


• 1 1/2 cups hot water


• 1/3 cup milk


• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine


• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese


• 1 cup corn chips

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef and 1/4 cup of the onions in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce, 3/4 cup of the corn and the chilies. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low to keep warm.




2. 
   
   Meanwhile, cook potatoes as directed on package for 4 servings, using 1 pouch Potatoes and Seasoning, hot water, milk and butter. Stir in remaining onions and corn; let stand 5 minutes.
   

3. Spoon potatoes onto center of beef mixture, leaving 2 1/2- to 3-inch rim around edge of skillet; sprinkle cheese over potatoes and beef mixture. Cover and let stand about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle corn chips around edge of skillet.

Quesa - Dillas

Okay so what's what my husband calls them and it's obviously beginning to rub off! This was one of the fastest meals to throw together, it seriously took a total of 15 minutes to get all of them make and sit down to eat. Who doesn't love a quick dinner?! And on top of that, their good too :)

Chicken-Chile Qusesadillas
Source: Betty Crocker

• 1 pkg flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas)
• 2 cups finely shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 2 cups shredded or finely chopped deli rotisserie chicken (from 2- to 2 1/2-lb chicken)
• 1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions (4 medium)
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup salsa

Directions:

1. Top one half of each tortilla with cheese, chicken, green chiles and onions. Fold other half of each tortilla over filling; press down with back of pancake turner. Lightly brush melted butter on both sides of each filled tortilla.


2. Heat 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook 2 filled tortillas at a time 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until golden brown and thoroughly heated. Cut into wedges. Serve with salsa.

Tip: Once you cook a filled quesadilla in the skillet, transfer it to a cookie sheet in a 300F degree oven while you cook the remaining quesadillas to keep warm.

Stuffed Peppers

This was my first attempt at ever making stuffed peppers. I've actually only have had them once before, my mother-in-law introduced me to them when we were living with them while building our house. I liked this recipe because it is quick & easy and I didn't even have to turn my oven on! It only calls for 2 peppers but you could actually use 3-4 depending how full you fill them. There was definitely filling left over

No-Bake Stuffed Peppers

• 2 medium bell peppers (any color – I used green and red)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1-15 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped2 cups rice, cooked
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
  

Cut peppers in half lengthwise. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, drop the peppers in and boil for 5-6 minutes. In a small bowl, mix tomato sauce, basil and sugar and set aside. Brown meat and onion in a large skillet; drain. Stir in 1/2 the tomato sauce, 1/2 cup of the rice and the salt. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes; stir in cheese. Spoon meat mixture into peppers and place into skillet. Pour remaining tomato sauce around peppers; cover and simmer. Top with additional cheese, if desired. Serve on top of remaining rice.