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Browsing tag archives: food on a budget

Perfect Whole Grain Freezer Pancakes

Every morning I ask my kids what they would like for breakfast, and their answer 95% of the time is PANCAKES. Now getting up every morning making pancakes gets tiring and on some sleepless nights it sounds terrible! On special occasions I do make my own pancakes, but in the last year I have gotten lazy and started buying pre-made pancakes. You know the one you find in the freezer section? 
There are a few problems with this:
1. They are expensive. 
Homemade anything is usually cheaper then the pre-packaged version.


2. All are made with white flour. 
I am not anti-white flour but research after research shows everyone needs more whole grains in their diet. I think it’s better to start your kids out younger eating the whole wheat flours, so as adults they have adjusted to the taste difference (because there is one) and will hopefully enjoy (and choose) the healthier version. 


3. Packed with preservatives.
Again, I am not anti-preservatives, they are necessary in some foods to help them keep longer. However, if I can’t pronounce you preservative ingredient in a simple pancake recipe (which for hundreds of years people have been making at home without preservatives) then I probably shouldn’t be feeding it to my kids. 


4. Environment Impact
Ok, yes I know my hippie self is coming out, but all of the pre-made pancakes come in a cardboard box and about every 3 pancakes are wrapped in a plastic bag. Just imagine how much garbage goes into landfills each year? I am just adding to that with each plastic bag I unwrap because I have been too lazy to make my own pancakes?
With all those reasons listed, I have been on a hunt for the PERFECT whole grain pancake recipe. I have tried many other recipes on the internet and have been highly disappointing with most of them. Either the whole wheat flour alters the flavor too much, the texture is off, they are flat, or too fluffy. Finally, I can say I have found the PERFECT recipe! The kicker to this recipe is the dry mix can sit pre-made in your cupboard for weeks if you feel like stirring up a batch of fresh pancakes OR you can make a bunch of pancakes and freeze them! Here’s my recipe and I hope you enjoy!
{now only if I could learn to pour the perfect pancake}
Perfect Whole Grain Pancakes


Dry Mix:
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
3 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1. Pulse old fashioned oats in food processor so they are broken up a little. Do not puree into a flour. 
2. In a large bowl, mix oats, flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
3. Store in airtight container.
To Make The Pancakes:
1 Cup of Dry Mix above
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk or unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon of orange juice
1 large egg
1. Place 1 cup of dry mix into a bowl.
2. Whisk in vegetable oil, buttermilk/almond milk, orange juice, and 1 large egg.
3. Cook on a oiled skillet or griddle.
TO FREEZE YOUR PANCAKES:
1. Lay pancakes out on a cookie sheet. Do not overlap them.
2. Place in freezer for 1 hour or until completely frozen. 
3. Remove from freezer and place 3-4 in plastic freezer bag. 
4. When ready to eat, place in microwave for 60 seconds or until hot.
Tip: Save your plastic bags to reuse when you make them. 

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22 Healthy Freezer Meals for Maternity Leave

Many of you might not know this, but my little sister Christi (who also writes for this blog) is 9 months pregnant. Here is her beautiful pregnancy photo here:

{Adara Photography~She is AMAZING!}
With her expecting her first child, one of the main pieces of advice I could give her is to make some freezer meals. I didn’t make them with my first child but I stock piled them with my second and honestly it was a HUGE lifesaver! **PS- This is going to be the longest blog EVER!!**
Over the last few months we both have pinned quite a few freezer meal ideas but there were a few problems with some of them:
1. They Are Unhealthy
 Many of them use bricks of cream cheese, loads of shredded cheese, and lots of white pasta. We really wanted meals we felt like we could eat and not feel super guilty for just eating enough calories to support a normal sized human for a week. 
2. The Prep Time Is Ridiculous
There are a lot of recipes out there that the prep time is crazy. I don’t want to sit there and wrap each individual thing, saute this for 2 hours, etc. We wanted some that we could throw together and be done! 
3. Cheap Protein & More White Pasta
Many of the bulk freezer meal recipes out there claim to make ’20 Meals for $50′ or some other cheap amount of food. I looked into some of them and when you tell me to use 1 frozen chicken breast to make 4 meals, that just seems crazy. Protein is a good thing, it keeps you fuller longer and makes you eat less. And last time I checked, adding more white pasta to a meal to make it “stretch” is honestly not good for you. With our meals here, we used protein and we used GOOD protein. We used lean beef, boneless skinless chicken, and cut our own pork loin. 
4. Sweet Meat
Christi does not like sweet sauces on meat. I don’t mind them. However, in keeping with the somewhat healthy theme, adding less sugar is always a good thing in my book. 
5. Many Freezer Meal Are Gross
Some things DO NOT freeze well. It’s true. I would say about 50% of the meals I have tried to make into freezer meals just didn’t thaw and bake up as good as they were the first time. We wanted to try to find recipes that actually taste good after they were frozen and I am confident we did. 
With all that said, we had a little bit of a challenge picking out the meals, but because I have made frozen meals in the past I had an idea of what froze well and what didn’t. So here is our list of 
 Healthy Maternity Freezer Meals*
{Prego Christi preparing for 2 hours of freezer meal prep!}

*Disclaimer- I am saying healthy because the calorie content of these meals is very reasonable for the portion size. You will notice in many of the meals we did use *Cream of Whatever* soup which many people do not find healthy. We used the 98% Fat Free soup, as a means of simplicity in preparing these meals. If you are not a fan these canned soup, feel free to look up a recipe to make a homemade version. I was unsure how the homemade version would freeze up so I stuck with the canned because it has worked in the past for me. 

Chicken and Wild Rice  x 4
Chicken Taco Soup  x 4
Goulash  x 4
Tater Tot Casserole  x 4
Creamy Ranch Pork Chops  x 4
Parmesan Pork Roast  x 2
That’s a grand total of 22 meals!
{We did not use all that cheese (only a half of one bag) but we did use the rest of the ingredients!}
Now before you begin, here are a few tips for you:
Tips For Freezer Meals:
If you haven’t ever prepared a bunch of freezer meals, I can give you a few tips:
1. Buy Half Size Aluminum Steam table pans and lids.
They are about $5 for 15 of them and $5 for the lids. They are great to keep on hand and less dishes are always a good thing with new babies.
2. Buy Crock Pot Liners & Gallon Bags
Again, less crock pot cleaning is always a good thing. You will need the gallon bags for some of the meals. 
3. Buy In Bulk
We purchased a large pork loin and cut our own pork roast and pork chops. You get so much more meat for a lot less cost. Also, we bought boneless, skinless chicken, and 88% lean ground beef to keep things healthy. Large bags of frozen veggies are the best and cheaper then the canned. 
4. Prepare throughout the week
–Dice up onions (or other veggies) 
– Brown ground beef
– Use a crock pot to cook your chicken (just throw it in for 8 hours with no water) and then use a Kitchen Aid Mixer to shred it (or two forks)
– Cook up rice another day
– Do not cook up pasta in advance. It will stick together. 
5. Make a Recipe List
Know how much you need of each item and organize your ingredients at home by recipe. 
6. Make a Shopping List
Go to the store with a list of what you need organized by department.
7. Print Labels For Your Containers
Label your containers earlier in the week and set them with the ingredients. Each label should give you the recipe name, calories, how to prepare, and if any other ingredients are needed. 
After you have all that done, you are ready to begin. It took us about 2 hours to assemble all of these. Now the recipes below are in one meal quantities. I left them this way so you can decide how many meals you want to make and just double, triple, quadruple…whatever the recipe. 
So without further adieu here are the recipes:
Chicken and Wild Rice 
1.5 cups wild rice 
10.75 oz  cream of 98% fat free mushroom soup
10.75 oz  cream of 98% fat free chicken soup 
1 small can mushrooms, drained
16oz chicken breast
1 cup slivered almonds, optional
1. Cook rice according to package. Mix in both cans of soup and mushrooms. 
2. Pour in to freezer dish and top with 1 pound of chicken pieces and sprinkle with slivered almonds. 
3. Double wrap in heavy duty foil, label and freeze. 
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour until chicken juices run clear.
Serves 4 @ 456 calories
Chicken Taco Soup
1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 fluid ounce) can of chicken broth
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
12 oz chicken breast
Combine all ingredients into a Ziploc bag. Freeze. 
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, or tortilla chips, if desired
Serves 6 @ 391 calories
 
Goulash
1lb ground 88% lean beef
10 oz  tomato soup
6 oz Tomato Paste 
2 cups uncooked whole wheat elbow macaroni
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 can (15oz) corn, drained
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1. Brown Ground beef (earlier in week)
2. Cook noodles according to package, drain (on day of)
3. In a large bowl, combine soup, garlic powder, onion powder, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, noodles and ground beef.  Stir in corn.
4. Transfer to freezer baking dish and top with cheese. 
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until heated through and melted cheese.
Serves 4 @ 390 calories
Tater Tot Casserole
1 lb. ground beef 
1 small onion, finely chopped 
10.75 oz  cream of 98% fat free mushroom soup 
1/4 cup skim milk 
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
4 ounces Shredded Cheddar Cheese 
1 lb. tater tots 
1. Brown Beef (earlier in week)
2. To the ground beef stir in frozen veggies, soup and milk. Mix well. 
3. Pour soup mixture into bottom of pan. Top with potato nuggets and then shredded cheese.
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw the meal in the fridge overnight and then bake at 350 covered for the first 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until hot. 
Serves 6 @ 369

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops
4 Pork chops
1 Can Cream of chicken soup
1 Package Ranch dressing (dry)
*Cut the bottom 6”off both ends of loin for roast and then cut the center 1″ thick to make pork chops
1. Mix cream of chicken soup and ranch powder together.
2, Place Pork Chops in crock pot bag. 
3. Pour soup mixture on top. 
4. Twist crock pot bag and tie. Place in labeled gallon freezer bag. 
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw over night. Place in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. 
Serves 4 @ 473 calories
Parmesan Pork Roast
1 boneless whole pork loin roast 
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried basil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
*Cut the bottom 6” off both ends of loin for roast
1. Place pork roast in crock pot bag. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, oil and salt;
pour over pork. 
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS:  Remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours.  Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours. Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast; serve with gravy. 
Serves 6 servings @ 518 calories

So that’s the meals! I know many of you are wondering how much the meals cost us, so I will tell you. We made 22 meals for $214.04. That’s $9.73 for a meal that feeds 4-6! I know that is a little higher priced then some other websites claim to be, but our meals have a lot of protein in them and we bought the healthier version of ingredients which always cost more

{I feel like Yeti should give me some sponsorship money for this pic!}

Also, for your convenience I have uploaded a few documents for you.
1. Freezer Meal Labels ~Just print them on sticker paper
2. The Recipes
3. Excel Shopping List ~Just plug in servings for each meal and it will calculate how much to purchase

Well, I hope I have inspired some of you out there to make some meals ahead of time! I know that when it comes to a new baby, the last thing you want to be doing is slaving over the stove in the kitchen! If you have any question on making these meals, feel free to email us!

Happy Cooking!! 


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Bow Tie Pasta and Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Bow Tie Pasta and Creamy Mushroom Sauce
My husband and I are counting our calories again and I made this recipe tonight for dinner. We were both excited at how much this dish filled us up and was so tasty!! My son kept calling it “butterfly pasta” and enjoyed it too. It will definitely be a repeat recipe of ours! 



12 ounces uncooked bow tie pasta
1 tablespoon light butter
8 ounces portobello mushrooms, sliced*
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced*
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup white wine
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Cook bow tie pasta in pan according to directions on package.
2. At the same time while cooking pasta, heat olive oil in pan.
3. Add onions and shallots to olive oil and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes.
4. Add garlic to onions and cook for 1 minute.
5. Add sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, and white wine to onion/garlic mixture. Cook until mushrooms are tender.
6. Add cooked bow tie pasta, whipping cream, cheese, and 2 tablespoons parsley to mushrooms. Toss pasta to coat. Salt and pepper to taste if needed.
7. Serve with crusty bread on the side and enjoy!

* You can substitute any type of mushroom for this dish, just make it a full 12 ounces. 

The Skinny: Serves 6 @ 352 calories

source

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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

Yesterday was Halloween and I am sure many of you had little (or huge in our case) pumpkins out front that looked something like this:

Hopefully, you were a little more creative cutting yours then we were! I am not a fan of wasting food, so this morning I got up and began to cook down our pumpkins. (See Pumpkin Pie From Real Pumpkins blog for more details on how to do this.)

After an hour of baking I ended up with a pumpkin mess like this. Poor little girl. (Yes, my pumpkin was a girl, those are eyelashes above not eyebrows.)

 I scraped out all the soft pumpkin meat.

Processed it in the food processor. 
I have enough pumpkin to last a lifetime right now, so I came up with this little idea for breakfast and made it this morning for the men in my life (my husband and Aiden).
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

To make this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 loaf of french bread

1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese (softened)
1 cup (almost) of pumpkin puree (divided really into 1/2 cup and 1/3 cup)
1/4 and 2 tablespoons of sugar
1 egg
1 cup of milk
To start, you need some pumpkin pie spice. This can be made by mixing cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, and nutmeg together. 
In a mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice, and 1/4 cup of sugar.  

Mix until smooth.

Take your french loaf and cut it into 3 inch pieces. In each piece, cut the center out to create a “pocket” for the cream cheese mixture.

Using a small spoon stuff each piece with the mixture. (I imagine this could be done the night before and left in the refrigerator overnight.)

Next you will need to make your french toast batter. Combine 1 egg, 1 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/3 cups of pumpkin puree and 1 tablespoon of pumpkin mix into a shallow dish.

Whisk together. Also at this time, put your skillet on the stove with some butter or oil in it and heat over medium heat until it is hot.

Let the dipping begin!! Dip each piece of french toast in the batter. I like to let mine soak it up a little.

Place each piece in your skillet and cook until golden on the side that is down.

Flip the toast over and cook on the other side until done. The center filling should be warm.

You are done! Serve it dusted with some powered sugar or covered in maple syrup and ENJOY!!

Nothing says fall like this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast!

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Make Ahead Meals: Meatball Meals

I am starting a series of blogs for Make Ahead Meals that I am preparing before Baby 2.0 arrives. Every night when I make dinner, I am doubling the recipe and putting the second in the freezer. I am hoping that the prepared meals will help on those totally exhausted days when cooking sounds like no fun. I am hoping many of the meals I will be preparing will be somewhat healthy and low calorie, but I know there will be some meals mixed in that aren’t. To prepare for the freezer meals, I purchased some slow cooker liners (for the crockpot meals), gallon freezer bags (for the freezer skillet meals), and Aluminum Foil Steam Table Pans with matching lids (for the freezer casseroles).

We had another great sale at the local store, 93% lean ground beef, and I promptly went out and purchased 4 pounds of beef.  I knew exactly what to make with all ground beef— MEATBALLS! Growing up, I can’t remember ever having meatballs, but when I met my husband he showed me his Mom’s recipe and I have been making them ever since. I know they freeze well, so I thought they would make a great freezer meal!
I started off with:
4-pounds of 93% lean ground beef
4 onions, chopped small
8 slices low-calorie bread, crumbled
4 eggs, beaten
4 teaspoon Italian Seasoning 
Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with hands. 
3. Form into balls and place on two cookie sheets. 
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

The Meals I Made:
I divided the meatballs into 4 freezer bags. Two of the bags I just stored in the freezer. It’s always easy to keep spaghetti sauce on hand, heat it up, and throw the meatballs in for a quick meal.

The other two bags I used to make Sweet & Tangy Meatballs from OnceAMonthMom.com.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
2 pounds of meatballs (see above for recipe)
5 cups canned pineapple chunks, juice reserved
6 cups sliced carrots
3 large chopped onion
2 teaspoon minced garlic
3 cups reserved pineapple juice, plus water
12 Tablespoons vinegar
12 Tablespoons brown sugar
8 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
And you can see the complete recipe here at her website: Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
I doubled her recipe and made one for dinner that night and one for the freezer.
I mixed up all the sauce ingredients as she directed in her recipe:
I then removed half of the sauce mixture and put half of the meatballs in the skillet to warm them up and served it over rice for dinner. 

The sauce I removed from the pan, I poured over the meatballs in the freezer bag and labeled them.

I can tell you, this recipe is a keeper! It was really good and my toddler loved it! Next time though I would make the meatballs out of ground turkey just to cut the calories a little! 
Meals to date:
1 x White Baked Penne Pasta
1 x Curried Pork Loin
1 x Honey Orange Pork Loin
1 x BBQ Pulling Pork Loin

2 x Spaghetti and Meatballs (really just frozen meatball)

1 x Sweet & Tangy Meatballs

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Food On A Budget Part 2: Casseroles

A couple of years ago my husband lost his job…just like a lot of other people out there when the stock market went crazy and our economy tanked. I still had my two businesses (in-home salon and daycare) but I knew we had to make changes to our budget. So the first thing I did was slash what we were buying for meals. I am very healthy when it comes to food…but I had to find a cheaper way! I have started a post periodically, sharing my ideas to cut the food budget, save some money, and still feed my family with some healthy and tasty meals. I would love to hear any food budget saving ideas that readers might have so please feel free to share!

This week’s money-saving tip is how to make a basic casserole!
As you know casseroles are an inexpensive way to feed a family. So, what makes up a casserole or “hot dish” as we say in Minnesota?
The basic casserole or hot dish consists of a starch, meat, veggie and a soup mix.

• The starch includes things like rice, potatoes, or noodles.
• The meats are anything on sale because meat is a big portion of your food cost. Don’t forget about canned tuna, salmon or chicken they are still cheaper on the budget than swinging by a fast food joint!
• I find that I use a lot of frozen veggies that are on sale or root vegetables like onions and carrots. Or really anything I have stocked in the fridge that needs to be used up before the next shopping trip or are about to go bad.
• Now for the soup mix…I usually use something in a can that I can stock up when it’s on sale. Thick or cream based soups like cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, and tomato are great starters.

One of the easiest, cheapest, and tastiest casseroles I make is Shepherd’s Pie. This casserole originally called “cottage pie” and became quite the hit in Ireland around 1791, (thanks wikipedia) when the potato was being introduced as an edible and afforadable crop for the poor. The term “cottage” was coined because most rural/low income workers lived in cottages during the time. In early cook books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, veggies, and always a mashed potato crust on top.

Shepherds Pie
Source
This easy shepherd’s pie variation is made with green beans and tomato soup.

1 pound ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 can tomato soup
1 can green beans, drained (can substitued frozen) and/or any other leftover veggies
2-3 cups of left over mashed potatoes (or you could simply make the box kind)
9 slices of American cheese (or shredded cheddar cheese)

1. Brown ground beef and onion in frying pan.
2. Mix in tomoto soup and green beans.
3. Place all in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
4. Spread mashed potatoes on top.
5. Top with slices of American cheese (or shredded cheddar)
6. Bake at 350 degrees until center is warmed and cheese is melted.

~Luci