We've Gone Bananas!

Ok, I haven't really gone bananas, rather they are falling out of my freezer from being stuffed in every nook and cranny.  A few weeks ago I started cleaning out my freezer and was amazed by how many bananas I found in there.  I immediately started an impromptu freezer cooking session related to bananas.  I was able to use about half of them but could use some ideas for the rest.  The following recipes are what I made that day.

Easy Banana Muffins
Black Bottom Banana Bars
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I highly recommend all of these recipes and I know my family and friends all enjoyed eating them too.  I also had planned to make banana bread but ran out of time. 

If you have any great banana recipes, please share them in the comments section.

School Lunch

This year my child is going to an all day pre-k program so for first the time, I'm having to pack a lunch for him each day. I'm only a few days in to it and I'm already bored with our choices.  Of course, it doesn't help that I have a picky child who desperately needs to eat calories.  Let's just say I'm glad we are not at a nut free school.

Today I came across this great resource called Smart School Time Recipes.  It is a free ebook full of healthy recipes. I'm anxious to try some of them out and see if I can expand our repertoire of food. If anyone else has good ideas, feel free to share them in the comments section.

Food Friday: Poppy Seed Bread

This is a quick and easy bread that makes two loaves.  I love it when a recipe makes more than one loaf because I can eat one now and freeze the other for later.  I would recommend waiting to ice the one you are freezing though.


Poppy Seed Bread
3 cups unsifted flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp oil
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp each almond flavoring, butter flavoring, vanilla & poppy seed

Mix together.  Pour into two greased and floured loaf pans.  Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Icing
1/4 cups orange juice
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp almond flavoring
1 tsp butter flavoring
1 tsp vanilla

Freezer Cooking Update

I'm not quite done with freezer cooking for this month but I have made a lot of progress.  If I had one long chunk of time it would make things easier but I take the moments as they come.

On Friday I made french toast sticks and hashbrowns.  I only did a small batch of the hashbrowns as I want to see how my husband likes them first.  If he approves, I will make more soon.


This weekend was busy as my husband was on call so I wasn't able to cook anything until today.  This morning I made porcupine meatballs and ground beef pasties.  Neither of these are things my husband would eat but I've been wanting to try them so I made them in order to have a quick dinner on the nights that he is gone.  Tonight, I made a meatloaf and I made the recipe that makes two.  One is in the freezer and we ate the other one for dinner.  I plan on sharing that recipe with you all soon.


I still hope to make banana bread, turkey enchiladas and roasted chicken.  Those will be made later this week as time allows.  It feels good to have a few things in the freezer though and my kids are already enjoying the french toast sticks.

Food Friday: Filling the Freezer

This weekend Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom are hosting another freezer cooking day.  I haven't participated the last few months because life has just been too crazy.  I could easily have benefited from having the food in my freezer but there simply was not time to cook.  This month I planned to participate and I had a list of items to fix ready to go but we received some news last night that have changed what I'm cooking this time. My husband found out last night that as soon as he graduates in two weeks he will be traveling for most of the next month and a half.  When he is home, he will be working nights and weekends at his second job.  We are extremely thankful for the income but wish we had a bit more time to recover from school before life happening.

In view of this news, I've changed up a bit what I am going to cook.  You have heard me lament for years now how picky of an eater my husband is.  I get discouraged trying new recipes because he rarely ever likes them, yet I would try a new recipe everyday if I could as I love to experiment in the kitchen.  This month, I'm going to make some of the stuff I want to eat and freeze it in two person portions.  This way I have quick meals for when I'm home alone with the kids and I get a new variety of food to try.  Here is what I hope to make, spread out over the next few days:

French Toast Sticks - made using Cola Bread
Hashbrowns
Rice
Banana Bread
Quiche in a Bag - using leftover turkey and all the veggies I like (my husband isn't a veggie fan)
Quick Cheese Biscuits
Ground Beef and Chicken (cooked for quick and easy meals later)
1-2 casseroles to be determined

Freezer Cooking: Life Happens

My freezer cooking plan has not happened as I would have liked.  Our little guy came down with an ear infection and has only wanted to be held for the past day.  I would much rather comfort him than be in the kitchen so I'm going to spread my cooking out throughout this week instead.

Tonight, we are having pizza for dinner. My crust recipe usually makes enough for two pizzas so I will freeze the rest.


I chopped and froze half a bag of onions in about 5 minutes thanks to my handy Quick Chef. 

Ground beef is thawing and I will cook it while the pizza is baking.


Later this week I will be making a lasagna for dinner and freezing half.  I usually make this in two loaf pans as one is the perfect size for our family.


I'm also hoping to make pancakes one morning this week and banana bread at some point in the week.

The chicken I planned will have to wait until another time.  I would have loved to have accomplished this and more all at once but my family comes first.  I figure anything I get done is better than nothing though.  Last month I really enjoyed having some of the prep work done so I know the little bit I accomplish this week will be helpful.

As a reminder, don't forget to enter my Hiland Dairy yogurt giveaway. Contest ends this Friday.