Freezer Breakfast Burritos

 

   I have an interest in freezer cooking but not those cook all day making weeks worth of meals type freezer cooking.  I like the smaller, more manageable freezer cooking recipes.  I have mentioned that I like to brown and freeze hamburger, cook and shred chicken, I even chop onions and green peppers and freeze for later.  Doing these type of things really helps food prep here. 

   I decided to try my hand at Freezer Breakfast Burritos.  I have seen quite a few blogs that are making them lately but I was inspired by Lynn's Kitchen Adventures to make them.  She kept the ingredients and recipe simple.  I took her suggestion of adding green pepper and onion (from the freezer) to the sausage.  I also added a bit of pepper and hot sauce to the eggs.  Madilynne and Ryder like the little bit of extra flavor hot sauce gives to eggs. I also used Horizon American cheese slices because Ryder decided that cheese would be better than shredded cheddar.
 

   I made a smaller batch (it made 5) because I was concerned that they wouldn't be tasty but they turned out delicious. Our next issue is to figure out is how long to bake them in the toaster oven as we are a microwave free home. I also try to avoid aluminum foil as much as possible.

 



    Do you freezer cook? What is a favorite at your house?  I would like to add to my recipes but its hard to find ones that are freezer friendly and taste good!  :-)

  

Large Cucumber and Recipe Request

 

 

 

  I went to the garden tonight to see what was ready to pick.  I had three spaghetti squash, one zucchini and three cucumbers.  The cucumber on the far right in the picture is almost as large as the zucchini.  Apparently, I missed it when I harvested the last time.  It will go to some of the chickens to munch on!

   I was very happy with the size of the watermelons that are growing.  I hope they continue thriving.  I will have red beets to harvest, hopefully by the end of the week or early next week.  Our tomatoes are coming along beautifully also.  I am excited about the rest of the veggies!  They are looking so healthy. 

   I had to remove of the cucumber plants I had on the front porch.  They had reached maximum potential and were quickly dying.  The cucumbers were no longer growing.  It was a very cool idea and I think that I will try that idea next year but with a different kind of cucumber plant.  Hopefully they will taste a bit better.   

   With all the zucchini we have grown, I have been giving it to family and I tried some new recipes.  We made zucchini fries tonight and I don't think we will repeat that recipe again.  I will stick with our regular favorites of fried zucchini and zucchini bread. I will also freeze some of it.  I wanted to try a zucchini pizza recipe but both kids vetoed it!  They asked me if I remembered the spaghetti squash pizza disaster!  Don't mess with their pizza!  Plain ol' regular pizza makes them happy. 

   How do you like zucchini?  Any suggestions for how to use up some of my extra zucchini?  What about spaghetti squash? Any delicious and easy recipes you could share? 

Chocolate Syrup

   Ryder is our sweet tooth kid.  He is all about any kind of sweet.  One of his current favorites is chocolate milk. As a child, my mom made chocolate syrup.  She found it in a Hershey's recipe book.  I am not a fan of buying chocolate syrup from the store, especially since I can make a better version. I have been making this chocolate syrup for years and have shared it with many friends and they give it great reviews.  Several of them stated that their family members wouldn't use the store bought stuff ever again. 

   Try this recipe only if you don't want to buy the store stuff again- it's that good! 

Chocolate Syrup

3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
Dash salt
1 cup hot water
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine cocoa, sugar and salt in a medium sauce pan; gradually stir in water until mixture is smooth.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir constantly for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla. Allow to cool then pour into a container. Cover and refrigerate. Makes 2 cups.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of syrup to milk; stir until blended.

Questions

   I thought that I would answer my own questions from the Liebster Award post.  I was going to do this earlier but life interrupted. :-)  Here is another small glimpse into my world.

1.  Do you prefer to ride in a vehicle with the windows open or the air conditioning on?  Definitely use the air conditioning!  I do not enjoy the wind whipping in the windows and messing up my hair....shallow, I know!

2.  Do you prefer to swim in a lake or a pool?  I enjoy the pool.  I am not a fan of swimming in lakes. My in-laws purchased a pool when Madilynne was 2 and Ryder several months old. 
 
3.  Favorite food to eat when you are hot?  I don't have a favorite food to eat when I am hot.  I prefer sandwiches and chips over making a meal though.  I will not pass up some good sweet tea either! 

4.  Your favorite candy bar?  I am a plain chocolate eater.  I prefer a Hershey bar.  When I was younger I loved to eat Zero bars. 

5.  Cats or dogs? Cats all the way!  I am not crazy about dogs.  If I would have to choose a dog it would be a poodle but even that is pushing it.

6.  Do you prefer board games (like Monopoly/Scrabble) or card games(like Phase 10/Uno)?  I am not a board game fan but I enjoy playing Battleship with Ryder and Madilynne.  I enjoy card games like Skip-Bo and Uno.  Jeremiah loves to play games. 

7.  At home are you barefoot or wearing shoes?  Barefoot!  I don't care much for wearing shoes.  I kick my shoes off as soon as possible.

8.  You're going to make supper. Do you chose chicken or beef?  I would choose chicken. Here is a quick recipe:  I like to take a 13 X 9 pan and arrange chicken breasts on it, place uncooked bacon strips on the chicken and bake them for 30 minutes.  Add BBQ sauce and cheddar cheese and bake and additional 15 minutes. Easy dish to make.  I will pair it with mashed cauliflower or mashed potatoes.

9.  Relaxing outside, do you prefer to sit in the sun or the shade?  Shade!

10. If you were to go camping do you want a tent or a camper?  Camper.  I have done both styles of camping and hands down would go with a camper! 

11. Country or city living?  Country living!  I am NOT a fan of the city.  I don't enjoy it even to visit a city.  I would not want to even live in a small town.  At one time we lived in a small village where the neighbors were close.  I prefer my country life so much more!  

Blueberry Crisp

We have several blueberry bushes on our property. I freeze the berries from our bushes each year so I have plenty to use all year long. I am not a person who always eats seasonally.  I know that it is the cheapest way to purchase produce but I eat by what I am hungry for and today it was Blueberry Crisp!

 

 

I wash my blueberries before using them. I learned a tip years ago from my mom that has helped me get the berries in the freezer faster.  She told me to just clean the berries and then wash them when I am ready to use them.  It will keep the moisture off the berries so we get less freezer burn.

 

I decided to make a Blueberry Crisp this morning and as I made it I took photos of each step. The top is the washed berries in a colander.  This photo is the berries mixed with the lemon juice in a stoneware bake pan.  This is one of my favorite baking pans. 

 

 

I use my hands to mix the dry ingredients with the butter. It may be a bit messy but it mixes better. 

 

 

I think the dark blue berries and tan oatmeal mixture look so lovely together. When something looks beautiful it seems to taste better, right?  

 

 

 

The oatmeal mixture is spread evenly over the blueberries and it is ready to go into the oven.

 

 

The timer has beeped and it is time to take out the crisp.

 

 

I couldn't wait for it to cool a bit! 

 

 

Ready to eat!  I didn't have any whipping cream to make whipped topping so I opted for vanilla ice cream.  It was so tasty!

 

 

A friend shared this recipe that has been in her family for many years.  It is a simple, easy recipe.  I took this to our family 4th of July picnic and brought home an almost empty pan- a few crumbles remained!  This is probably the only recipe that I follow exactly as written.  I usually make some sort of change to every recipe I use! 

 

Blueberry Crisp:

3- 12 oz. boxes of frozen blueberries (you can use fresh)
6 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup butter- softened
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt

Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to top.

Preheat oven to 375*.  Arrange blueberries in an ungreased 9X13 baking dish.  Sprinkle berries with lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Sprinkle on top of berries.
Bake 25-30 minutes until the topping is light brown.
Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turned out.
Enjoy!

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

 

 

   We are going to be going to Jeremiah's parents home on Sunday for a Memorial Day picnic.  I always have trouble deciding what dish to take.  Jeremiah always wants to take some meat to grill so I got some chicken for that but I needed another dish.  While I was shopping, I decided to make Broccoli Cauliflower Salad.  Madilynne and I worked together to put this dish together today because it always seems to taste better if it can be refrigerated for awhile before serving.  I made a large amount of salad but you can easily half this recipe.

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

2 bunches of broccoli
2 heads of cauliflower
1 large red onion
1 lb. bacon
2 8 oz. packages of mild cheddar cheese, shredded

Dressing:
2 cups Miracle Whip- no substitutions
2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Clean and cut broccoli and cauliflower into small bite sized pieces.  Cut onion in to large diced pieces.  Cut bacon into small bits and cook until crispy.  Drain on a paper towel.  Mix the broccoli, cauliflower, onion and bacon bits in a large bowl.  Add shredded cheese.  Mix all the ingredients of the dressing in a mixing bowl.  Mix well.  Add to veggie mixture and mix well.  Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

 

I thought that I would share a recipe today.  I enjoy cooking and baking and trying new recipes when I have a chance.  I have a bread machine that makes life much easier for me.  I am not gifted in making bread with my hands only.  I can, however, make tasty bread with some "mechanical" assistance. 

 

   I made Sweet Dinner Rolls for Mother's Day and they turned out delicious and soft.  I found a recipe years ago that I have tweaked a bit to make it better- in my opinion. If you are gifted with being able to make bread by hand, I am sure you could easily adjust the recipe, just don't ask me how to do that!  ~smile~

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Place these ingredients in your bread machine as listed:

1 cup water
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. melted butter
3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp. yeast

Run the dough only cycle. When complete, take the dough out and form into 12 rolls.  Place rolls in greased 13 X 9 baking pan; cover and allow to rise 30-45 minutes.  Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes or until top is golden brown.