Freezer Meal Makin Mamma's

So this is the newest of my adventures. Four of us gals decided to meet up with two recipe's each and make our 8 meals together. We made quadruple the amounts and we each got one of each of the eight recipes to take home and freeze. I must admit I have eaten 2 of mine in just a few days. And one didn't even make it to the freezer. At this rate we will have to get together every other week. :)

There are more than a few reasons for encouraging you all to find other women to do this with. If you happen to be a male reading this, encourage your wife to do this. This is a great way to save money, enjoy some girl time, prepare healthy meals for your family and make life just a bit easier with a busy schedule. Taking a wholesome meal out of the freezer to thaw and throwing in it the oven, microwave or crock pot is extremely easy and awesome. Nothing like a day long to prepare meal made in just minutes.

So I encourage you to all get a group together and give it a try. Some tips:
1. Get together the week before and double, triple etc... your recipes to how many women are coming. Compile the grocery list.
2. One or more that can do the shopping. After, you split the cost. There you have it. (for 8/9 meals our cost was just less tahn $50 each. We got 2 meals out of the Taco soup recipe)
3.Bring plenty of crock pots, large pots, fry pans, cutting boards and be ready to be washing dishes hroughout the meal making process.
4.Start early on cooking day. Cook all the meats in bulk then measure to separate to each recipe.
5. Most importantly, if you are making soups or stews, start those first. Make them first. For a few reasons. The chopping and cutting take a long time. The cooking process for the ingredients to soften take quite a while AND you will want to pull off burner/turn off crock pot etc... and let cool some before measuring the soup our equally into freezer bags.
*Side Note... The freezer bags (Glad brand) DID NOT melt when we put the steaming hot stew into them. We gave it a try. So far it was a success.
6. Most importantly HAVE A BLAST!!!

Not only has this helped me with dinners it gave me new and fun foods for myself the the family to try. I also loved more than anything the fellowship I had with the women I did this with. That really was my favorite part. We have amazing conversations, laughed and left with only a few minor injuries. Okay, okay, so I was the only one who walked away with a small burn and a sliced open thumb. But all in all this was the most fun thing I have ever done.

I'll post some of the recipes soon. ;) Keep on living like noone else. Plan your meals so you are not tempted to waste money eating out. Continue to say NO to credit cards. Live on that zero balance budget. Happy meal making everyone.

Award Winning Bread??

You Bet! Honey Wheat Baby!!

ABOVE: After baked. All thats left of the round loaf.

BELOW: This was the bread after rising


So if you have been following my blog at all you know that I have been passionate about finding an "award winning" bread recipe to completely replace the store bought bread we use for sandwiches for lunches and toast.

I began baking daily about 2 months ago and recently started making my own breads, bagels, and Sin-a-mon Rolls. Breads I am making are Honey Wheat, Wheat, and French breads. Haven't found a good light white bread yet. I am really enjoying making the breads. They are SO VERY cost effective. Although I need more time in the day, I survive knowing that I am serving my family and home by providing healthy wholesome foods while saving money on the foods we love. Well, the carbs that is. ;) I love to cook. I am feeling it on my waistline. The cooking that is. Ugh! Time to do an evaluation on what I am eating and how much. Okay, so really it is all about how much I am eating. :( I like food. I love food. I love to eat. Especially now that I am cooking.

I just have to share my recipe. I doctored up one, sort of combined two and then added to it. So here is my recipe. I really, REALLY hope that you try it, especially if you are a bread making person.

Honey Wheat Bread

*2 pkts Active Dry Yeast

*1/4 C. Warm Water (105 to 115 degrees)

1.) Mix these two together and set aside

*1/2 C Honey

*1/4 C. Butter Softened or Room Temp.

*4 tsp. Brown Sugar

*3 tsp. Salt

*2 1/2 C VERY Warm Water (120-130 degrees)

2.) In large bowl, mix these ingredients together and let sit for 5 minutes.

*2 T. Wheat Gluten (found in flour isle, optional)

*4 1/2 C. Wheat Flour

*3-3 1/2 C. Bread Flour (or all-purpose works fine too)

3.) Mix 3 C. of the Wheat Flour and Wheat Gluten together and then add to the honey mixture Beat for 30 seconds using hand mixer. Scrape bowl and beat medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Beat in remaining 1 1/2 Wheat Flour until moist.

4.) Mix in 2 1/2 C. Bread or All-purpose flour with a wooden spoon. When it pulls away from bowl turn out onto lightly floured surface and begin kneading the dough.

Add the remaining 1/2 C.-1 C . Bread/All-purpose flour as you knead (for 5-10 minutes). I knead about 8 minutes until it feels smooth and springy.

5.)Place dough in a greased (I use Pam spray) bowl and cover with a clean towel. Place on top rack in oven with a bowl of hot water on the rack below and close door. Turn oven light on as well. This is a draft free place and warms oven just enough to help aide in the rising process. Let rise for 45-60 minutes, until about doubled in size.

Grease 2 loaf pans or a baking sheet/s if making round loaf.

6.) Gently punch dough to deflate and turn out onto the lightly floured surface.

Divide the dough in half.

7.) Pat dough into round loaf if making round and place on greased sheet.

If making loaf in loaf pan roll out the dough into about a 16x8 and roll up starting with the short side (it needs to fit into your pan) ;)

Pinch edge into loaf and pinch and tuck ends under and put into greased loaf pans.

Cover and let rise again in warm place about 45 minutes.

8.) Take out of oven, uncover, and turn oven on to 350. Once pre-heated bake for 20 minutes. Remove and check, will need to cover top with foil and place back into oven. Bake for another 15-20 minutes. I check at about 15 minutes for top to sound hollow when you knock on it.

~REMOVE from oven and remove bread from pan immediately and cool completely on wire racks. ~

Or cut while warm, and add some butter. Before you know it you will have eaten too much. And thanks goodness for that second loaf!!

Don't do what I did and offer one to someone else. :)

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Over at The Grocery Cart Challenge they are having a recipe swap. This is my first time posting but am an avid follower. She is also a fellow Oregonian. ;) Head over there to check out many other recipes. You will NOT be sorry you did.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
10-12 Four Tortillas
2 C. Cooked diced or shredded Chicken
2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 C. Sour Cream
1- 4 oz can Diced Green Chili's
1 Can Olives sliced
1 Small Onion chopped
2 C. grated Cheddar cheese
1 C. Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4 C. Milk to thin sauce

1). Mix soup, chicken, green chili, olives, onions sour cream and 1 1/2 C of the cheese. Thin with about 1/4 C milk. (More or less to your liking)

2). Spread small amount on bottom of pan

3). Spread tortilla with mixture 1/3 C or so, spread it out as much as possible, then roll as tightly as you can. Placing seam down in pan. reserving about 1-2 C sauce for when pan is full.
Repeat with rest of tortillas till pan is full.

4). Pour rest of mixture onto top of enchiladas ans sprinkle with remainder or cheese.

BAKE 375 for about 45 minutes

Serve with salsa and chips (optional).

*This is a recipe from my SIL Michelle and is literally one of my favorites. I can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I even love to take a bite before reheating them.

If you try these, again leave me a comment and tell me what you thought, variations you tried etc....

Monday Madness and Meal Planning

SO, this week is a tough one. I have plenty of food but money is very scarce until the 24th when hubbies next paycheck rolls in. Not much left, well nothing at all. Not even for gas. RJ is going to donate plasma twice this week just to get us gas money. I guess there is the "E-Fund" but hate to touch that. We still need to pay that back on the 24th. Sad I know but we do what we gotta do. We will survive......

Monday- Shredded Chicken, Rice and Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes.

Tuesday- Quesedillas with Cheese and leftover Chicken, with salsa/sour cream, and green beans

Wednesday- Leftovers

Thursday- Salmon (DH will be gone) He grew up on fish in AK so he will be happy to miss out. Green beans and possibly rice again.

Friday-Sweet and Sour Chicken (will link this recipe after I try it out.) Wouldn't want to post something gross. ;) And going to attempt Chinese Rice.

Saturday/Sunday- Homemade pizza. Crust and sauce from scratch.

Sack Lunch tidbit:
I have finally found a Wheat Bread recipe that I love. The kids and RJ and I ALL love it! I am hoping to replace store bought bread with a bread we love that is soft enough for sandwiches for the kids and DH lunches. This will save me close to or about $1.25 a LOAF (takes a loaf and half to equal store bought loaf. Although home made is much more dense which means using less). We go through about 2 loaves of bread for lunches alone. Not to mention if we have toast, or use bread for dinners (grilled cheese, french toast, sandwiches, etc..)

**ATTENTION**
I have tried a few recipe's and am still wanting to try new ones. Any ideas? I figure since we are all following one another for specific reasons, we can continue to share the wealth with one another. Please send me your recipe so I can find an award winning one. I have no prize for you; just the credit that it is yours and sending more veiwers your way. I will list it on my other blog as well.( http://bestoftheworsts.blogspot.com/ ) Can't wait to hear from you with your ideas and recipes. And thanks for your help in finding the best recipe to suit my family!!

My new #1 bread recipe:

Wheat Bread

1 cup warm water (I microwave 1 C water for 1 minute.)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1.Mix the all-purpose flour, wheat flour and yeast in bowl.
2. Add the warm water, milk, oil, brown sugar, honey and salt.
3. Mix together with a wooden spoon as much as you can. When it gets into a ball form put onto a flat surface to knead.
4. Knead for a good 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Adding dusting's of flour as needed to keep it from sticking to your hands or mat. Knead until smooth and elastic. (If you knead for at least ten minutes it should be fine.
5. Place in bowl that is lightly greased (sprayed) and turn over. Both sides should have a light greasing on them. Cover with a clean towel.
6. Let rise in a warm place 45-60 minutes. Should be about doubled in size. What works for me is placing the dough bowl on top rack of stove with warm bowl of water under on lower rack. The warm water makes oven just warm enough without the draft of the air. Lightly grease (sprayed) loaf pan.
7. Punch dough and turn out onto kneading surface. Knead a few times and form into a loaf shape. place in greased loaf pan. Place back into oven to rise in warm place for about 45 minutes or until about doubled in size again.
8. Bake bread for 30 minutes on 350, covering with foil if getting too brown half way through. I personally like my loaf very light in color. I covered at 15 minutes. Ovens vary so keep eye on it for your top color liking. (My oven cooked this loaf in about 20-25 minutes total.
9. Cool in pan for few minutes then remove and cool on wire rack covered with a towel.
Last but not least..... Enjoy!!!!

My personal review: "Incredibly soft, dense and moist. I was very surprised. It tastes good toasted although I personally felt it made it more dry, but add a little butter and jam and it was good. MY FAVORITE is the PB and J sandwich I am shoving in my mouth as I type this out. Unbelievable and for sure the best PB&J I have ever, EVER had!!!!" (And I am not even using our homeamade jam).

** If you like homemade bread give this a try. I am determined to save money on things I can bake at home for a fraction of the cost. This loaf, roughly 69 cents. Maybe even less.It hasn't lasted long. I have to make another loaf today. May have to make 2 at a time. ;) **