Baby Food - Sweet Potato Puree, Apple Puree, and Carrot Puree

I bought a Baby Bullet at Walmart when I was pregnant with A. I paid $25 for the sucker and it has been worth every penny! I am really liking it. It's basically a blender with special fancy gadgets to aid in making baby food. I was suckered in with the $25. And although I'm not sure I would pay the original $76 price, I am thankful I have it! It only came with a six-slot silicone tray for freezing. I have been using ice cube trays as well, and have this silicone sucker by Wilton coming in the mail. I made sweet potato puree, carrot puree, and apple puree (aka apple sauce).

Carrots steaming for baby food, dinner in the Crockpot and sweet potatoes cooling.

Sweet potatoes ready to go.

Ah, look at the cute little guys!

Apple Puree (aka Apple Sauce): I used eight organic Red Delicious apples. Organic because apples like to suck in the nasty pesticides and that's really not something my little one needs to be eating. After washing these red beauties I cored and chopped them up. They got thrown in a big pot with about a cup of water. I cooked them on low heat for 20 minutes. The skins stayed on since that's where most of the nutritional value is. However, I think I'll take them off in my next batch because they're a little hard for the little one to maneuver. I cooled them off quickly by putting the pot in ice water. The apples with their juice then made its way into the Baby Bullet. You can guess the rest of the story...

Carrot Puree: I washed, pealed, and chopped enough carrots to fit in my steamer (I need to invest in a bigger steamer). These little guys steamed their hearts out and once they got soft they eventually made their way into the Baby Bullet. I added pumped breast milk to thin them out a little. It's important to NOT use the left over water from steaming because of the nitrates. And it's also important to not use baby cut carrots since they have chlorine added to them. The chlorine makes them not turn white in the packaging, which is just no good for the babies! 

Sweet Potato Puree: I scrub my potatoes well, stab 'em a couple times with a fork, and popped them in the microwave. I use the handy "potato" feature on my microwave for the cooking time. Go ahead, be a hater about me using my microwave to cook my baby food. Whateve. I let the potatoes cool and then put their yummy orange goodness in the Baby Bullet. I like to use organic apple juice, peach juice, or pear juice to thin them out.

Crockpot Freezer Meals

With the temps starting to rise here in Texas I thought I would try out some Crockpot freezer meals. Since we've been eating from this list for a week now, I can tell you that Crockpot freezer meals are a success! I am a huge slacker when it comes to taking picture!
Here are some of the meals I made:


Crockpot Crazy Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 cups Pace Salsa
1 T honey
2 t cumin

2 t chili powder

1 T ketchup

1 T mustard

Put all ingredients in a large zip lock bag. Seal the bag mix it up. Lay flat to freeze. On cooking day dump contents into the Crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. We served it over basmati rice. I used this recipe but used chicken thighs instead of breasts because I found them for $.99/pound at Albertson's. I also added more of some ingredients. This was really yummy and I'm glad I was able to make four meals!


Crockpot Island Pork
2lbs pork roast cut into bite size pieces
2 oranges, peeled and cut into pieces 
14oz crushed pineapple
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 t ground cloves
½ t pepper
4T cornstarch
4T water


Put all ingredients in a large zip lock bag. Seal the bag mix it up. Lay flat to freeze. On cooking day dump contents into the Crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
I found my recipe for this bad boy here and like always I tweaked it some. We haven't tried this one yet!
UPDATE: This was not good. =(


Crockpot Teriyaki Pork
2lbs pork tenderloin, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, sliced thin1/2 cup soy sauce
1 T minced garlic
2 T fresh ginger, grated
1/2 cup brown sugar


Crockpot Beef Ragu
1 lb sirloin, cut into bite sized pieces
1 large onion
2 T garlic
2 carrots, pealed and diced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
5 cups of basic red sauce (or any type of spaghetti sauce)
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup red wine


Put all ingredients except the wine and bay leaf in a large zip lock bag. Seal the bag mix it up. Lay flat to freeze. On cooking day dump contents into the Crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over pappardelle noodles. 


This wasn't originally intended to be a Crockpot meal but it turned out really good! I made fresh rolled pasta to go with it.
The original recipes can be found here.  About an hour before serving I heated 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of flour on the stove. I took about 2 cups of the juices from the Crockpot and cooked it with the flour and butter roux. I then added that back to the Crockpot to help thicken things up a little. I think that it will be thick enough the next time I make it because I won't add the 1 1/2 cups of beef stock (I didn't list that in my recipe). This was absolutely divine.


Chili Verde Burritos
6 lbs pork tenderloin roast
2 jars of green salsa
Cheese
Spanish rice
Jalapenos
20 flour tortillas


Cook the pork in the Crockpot on low for 6 hours. Shred and add green salsa. You can then make your burritos any way you want! I made some with just pork and jalapenos, some with everything, and even a few with just rice and cheese for the little lady in the house. These are almost gone after 2 weeks. Sad story. 

April 22 Cooking Day

This past weekend was intense! I did a massive shopping trip on Saturday and made a game plan for Sunday: cooking day! Here was the line up:

• 3 chicken pot pies
• 3 jambalayas
• 3 chicken cordon bleus
• 12 mini meat loaf muffins
• 18 chicken & rice burritos
• 20 bean & cheese burritos

I started in after we got home from church and fed the littles. It was a very successful day! I was on such a roll that I forgot to take lots of pictures! Here are my recipes.

Chicken Pot Pie

I use a 10 quart soup pot to make this. I'm not sure on the exact amounts of ingredients. I usually just start filling the pot and when it's full, it's full. I used two of the split chicken breast for my chicken and rice burritos once they were cooked.
9 split chicken breast
cream of chicken soup (or make your own, recipe here)
cream of celery soup
5 bay leaves
1 T dried thyme
1 T Paula Dean's seasoning salt
1 T black pepper
2 T minced garlic
2 large onions
4 lbs carrots, pealed and chopped
1.5 celery stalks
4 russet potatoes
2 cups of frozen corn
All the ingredients get put into the pot. Simmer on medium-low heat for about an hour, until the chicken is cooked through. Pull the chicken out of the pot. Discard the bones and cut chicken into bit sized pieces (I set aside 2 breasts for my chicken and rice burritos). Put chicken back into the pot and continue to simmer the yumminess until all the vegetables are cooked to perfection. Check for seasoning and divide into foil pans. Let cool before wrapping and freezing. I don't freeze them with the pie crust or biscuits. On eating day thaw and throw in a 350* oven for 45-60 minutes. Top with pie crust before you bake, or top with biscuits in the last 20 minutes of baking. 




Chicken & Rice Burritos
It's only fitting to do the chicken & rice burritos next since it uses some of the chicken from the chicken pot pie. These suckers freeze and reheat beautifully! And they're approved by little mouths!

2 chicken breasts, shredded
1 package of Spanish rice
1.5 cups Pace salsa
3 cups of cheddar cheese
18 flour tortillas
Start by cooking the Spanish rice by following the package directions. Set aside and let cool.
Add the Pace salsa to the shredded chicken. 
Each tortilla gets rice, shredded chicken, and cheese. Roll, wrap, label, and they're ready for the freezer!


Bean Burritos
You can find my bean burrito recipe here. I also smashed up some Ranch Style Beans and bagged them for a ready-to-go side.


Jambalaya
Let's face it, I'm white and not an expert in the jambalaya business so I'm sure this is nowhere near authentic, but it freezes great and makes my taste-buds happy! And once again, I'm not a huge measuring person. I just eye ball, taste, adjust, and go with the flow. This makes about 10 quarts. The large gallon sized bags in the picture below contain the jambalaya! 
2 chicken breast, cut into small pieces
2 packs of smoked sausage, sliced
4 bay leaves
5 T creole seasoning
3 cups of frozen corn
3 bell peppers (red or green)
2 large onions
8 cups of tomato sauce
6 cups of diced tomatoes
I start off by browning the sliced smoked sausage in an iron skillet. Once they're browned I throw them in my pot. The chicken goes in the iron skillet next along with the onions and bell peppers. And add the creole seasoning about a minute before it all looks nice and cooked. All this gets thrown in the pot along with the rest of the ingredients. Let it simmer on the stove for about 30 minutes and then set aside to cool. Once it has cooled down a little bit put it into gallon sized bags. I put 6 cups in a bag and that's enough for two adults and one little mouth. We serve this over rice. 


Chicken Cordon Bleu
With split chicken breasts on sale this week at H.E.B. it made for a great opportunity to make some new chicken dishes. I followed this recipe and I tweaked it to make enough for three 8x8 pans.

6 chicken breasts
6 thinly sliced ham
6 slices swiss cheese
1/2 c. cream of chicken
1/4 c. sour cream
1 Tbsp dijon
1c. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp sea salt (or Kosher salt)
1/2 t pepper
2 scallions, chopped
 Place chicken in pan, cover each chicken with 1 piece of ham, and 1 piece of swiss cheese. Combine rest of ingredients in seperate bowl and mix well. Pour over the the chicken in pan. Sprinkle with scallions. Cover with foil and freeze. Cooking directions: Thaw completely in fridge. heat oven to 375. bake, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes.

Mini Meat Loaf Muffins

I love meat loaf. It's a secret obsession, that isn't a secret anymore. The Pioneer Woman has some amazing meat loaf! However, Ben doesn't like it. Rachel Ray, on the other hand, has meat loaf that Ben likes. You can find the recipe here. And yes, it's very yummy. I individually wrap them and freeze them. I sadly don't have any pictures of these.

1 2/3 to 1 3/4 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper
1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
1 cup smoky barbecue sauce
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Put ground beef into a big bowl. Put onion and celery into a food processor. Cut the bell pepper in half, rip out the seeds and throw them into your garbage bowl. Cut the pepper into a few pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse the processor blades to finely chop the vegetables into very small pieces then add them to the meat bowl. Add egg, beaten with milk, bread crumbs and grill seasoning to the bowl. Next, mix together the smoky barbecue sauce, the salsa and the Worcestershire sauce. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Wash up. Brush a 12-muffin tin (I use Texas sized muffin tins) with vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Use an ice cream scoop to help you fill meat into a each tin. Top each meat loaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes.

In the works to be made:

Schezwan Chicken

Beef Italian Noodle Bake

Beef Green Chili Enchiladas

Meatballs

I cook my meatballs in a mini muffin pan to ensure they keep their cute circular shape. I don't like frying them on the stove top because I usually forget to turn them, turn too soon, or do something wrong to mess them up! Alton Brown uses this method and has the perfect oven temp to time ratio. Smart man! You can find his recipe here. The general recipe I use is as follows:

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

1/2 onion, grated

2 T minced garlic

1/c c grated Parmesan

1 egg

1 1/2 t dried basil

1 1/2 t dried parsley

1 t kosher salt

1/2 t ground pepper

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Spray a mini muffin tin with baking spray and preheat your oven to 400*. Take off your rings and throw all of the above into a bowl and mix it up good with your hands. Form into small balls and plop them in the mini muffin tin slots! Bake for 20 minutes. I can usually get about 36 meatballs out of the above recipe.

I lay them out, no touching, on waxed paper and pop them in the freezer for about 3 hours. Once they are

individually frozen I put them in a gallon sized bag and label them.

Here is a basic red sauce recipe that I love to freeze. It's from Fix, Freeze, Feast by Lindsay Tkacisk.

Breakfast Burritos and Bean Burritos

Breakfast Burritos

The husband and I were watching The Pioneer Woman on Food Network a couple weeks ago when she was making breakfast burritos and the idea popped into our heads to freeze those suckers. Why not, right?! I've seen other people do this on Pinterest, too!

We used her recipe as a guide and came up with our own:

1 pound breakfast sausage $2.50

1 dozen eggs $1.75

7 oz of green chilies $.7420 flour tortillas $3

canned sliced jalapenos $.50

salt & pepper

cheese $2.

While the sausage is browning in an iron skillet, crack the eggs and put them in a bowl and add salt and pepper. Whisk them up with a fork. After the sausage is browned add the egg mixture to the skillet and cook on medium-low heat. Use a flat metal spatula to scrap the bottom of the pan and stir. The eggs will take about 10 minutes to cook through. Don't stop stirring! Add green chilies, remove the skillet from the stove, and set aside.

Once the egg mixture is cooled I start filling and rolling burritos. I lay out a piece of Suran wrap topped with a tortilla, plop on a large spoonful of egg mixture, add a couple tablespoons of cheese, and throw in some jalapenos in half of them for the husband. The tortillas then get rolled up, wrapped, and labeled.

They hang out in the bottom shelf of my freezer for 1-2 hours before I put them all in a Ziplock freezer bag. 20 breakfast burritos run under $10. What a deal!

Bean Burritos

Instead of buying canned refried beans I buy Ranch Style Beans and give them a rough smash. This makes a great side dish to go with any Mexican food dish. This amazing idea came from my friend Kelly. Trust me, you'll love 'em. These bean burritos are eaten by everyone in our house

and use Ranch Style Beans. They make a great snack, or two make a great meal.

You will need:

2 cans Ranch Style Beans

2 cups of cheese

12 tortillas

The above amounts will vary depending on how full you stuff your tortillas and how big your tortillas are. You get the idea! Stuff, roll, wrap, and label! You're good to go! These suckers are super cheap.

To reheat: Well, to be honest with you, I'm still trying to figure out the perfect time and method. What has worked the best, but I don't like because of the two cooking powers, is to unwrap from Suran wrap and wrap in a paper towel and microwave on defrost for 2 minutes and then microwave on high for 1 minute. I have had good results from microwave for 3 minutes and 50 seconds on 50% power, but I'm still trying to determine the best way.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love having cookie dough in the freezer. It makes for an easy last minute dessert or great "something" to take to a neighbor or friend's house. These are by far the best 100% whole wheat chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. The first time I made them I wasn't sure they'd turn out good without white flour so I did half and half. After trying them I figured I'd give 100% whole wheat a try next time, and you'd never know they didn't have any white flour in them. I got my original recipe here.

Whole Wheat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

2¼ cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup sugar

1¼ cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Mix together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough.

When ready to bake, heat oven to 350*. Spoon dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes or until they are cooked to your liking.

Here are the steps I take to freeze cookie dough:

Roll the dough into balls

Roll them in sugar (I find doing this makes it easier to get them into balls)

Lay them on wax paper

Freeze for 1-2 hours (until they get hard)

Plunk them into freezer bags.

To bake:

Take out desired amount of dough balls

Put them on a cookie sheet, they take about 20 minutes to thaw

Turn on oven to 375*

Bake for about 10 minutes once oven has preheated

(You'll have to watch them. I haven't really paid much attention to how long I bake them. Typical for me to wing it.)

Potato Soup in a Bread Bowl

About Me: I blogged through my first pregnancy and stopped shortly after E was born because I was one of those parents who was freaked out about random people seeing pictures and reading about my baby. Since the end of my blogging there has been another baby added to the mix. Six months before A was born I decided I needed to get my freezer stocked with food in preparation for my life going from crazy to uber crazy. Since I started bulk cooking and freezing it has changed my life.

I am so excited about the stuff going on in my kitchen and food budget that I want to share! All this amazingness has not only made dinner time easier, it has saved my family money. And if you know me at all, you know that I have a lot of frugal bones in my body and love to be cheap!

I've been pretty sick the past few days and needed something easy for dinner tonight so I went to my freezer. Here is what we ate:

Potato soup in a bread bowl.

I originally found my potato soup recipe here. It seems like the recipe has been tweaked a couple times, re-posted, and is a copy cat of Panera's. I tracked back the recipe all the way to one that is ironically sort of like the way I have ended up tweaking it, and you can find it here. I don't put mine in a slow cooker, because it honestly takes only 30 minutes to make. So here is the recipe that I use:

• 5 pounds russet potatoes, diced into cubes $2
• 3-4 cans chicken broth (or 6-8 cups of chicken stock from the freezer) $2.50
• 1 large yellow onion, diced $.25
• 3 tablespoons jarred garlic $.25
• 1 tablespoon Paula Dean's seasoned salt
• 1 & 1/2 packages of cream cheese $1.50
• to top: bacon, shredded cheese, green onions $3.00

Cover potatoes, onions, garlic, pepper and seasoned salt with chicken broth in a soup pot. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer until potatoes are cooked (about 20 minutes). Put 1/3 of potato mixture into a blender with the cream cheese. Blend it up and pour it back into the soup pot.

I usually double the recipe and have enough for dinner that night, lunch the next day, and enough to freeze for three meals (three gallon sized bags). The total cost for one recipe is about $9.50. I can buy a 10 pound bag of potatoes from Sam's club for under $3.98. It just makes sense to double the recipe when you're paying so little per pound and can freeze for later!

So about the bread. I always have this bread dough in my fridge. It's amazing and so versatile. I pulled out some dough, formed balls, let them rise for 40 minutes, baked them for 30 minutes and in that time dinner was thawed and ready.

Even E approves of potato soup!