Freezer Cooking #7- Toddler Finger Foods

Our little one is growing up FAST and that means he is eating more and more!   He is still allergic to cow’s milk so I have to pre-plan all of his meals regardless of if we will be eating home, eating out, traveling ect… because I have learned I cannot count on a restaurant knowing what ingredients are in their food!   Doing “freezer prep” for toddler food makes it super easy to thaw & serve!


My little one seems to get “tired” of the same old stuff (and lately we have become all to familiar of him throwing his food on the floor!!) so each time I freezer cook for him, I try to mix it up a bit with a different flavor or concept, but still giving him important nutrients.


As I mentioned above-- my LO has an allergy to cow's milk- so I use vegan cheese, coconut milk, non-stick cooking spray etc... in my recipes-- you can use regular cow's milk products in the same quantities I have listed.  I also try to buy as much organic for him as possible—but I don’t always—so even if it says organic or doesn’t say at all—you can use your own discretion.


Something I will also mention is that you will definitely need a mini muffin pan (or TWO) to make this freezer cooking easier-- I still only have one and probably could have saved myself a lot of time if I borrowed my neighbors! If you don’t have a mini muffin pan you can improvise with most of the recipes and just roll everything into a ball or patty.  For the muffin recipes you can utilize a regular sized muffin tin and cut them in half.
What's on the menu for your Little One?

• Southwest Style Mini Meatloaf (24-32)  Recipe inspiration from SavvyMom
• Mini Barbeque Apple Chicken Muffins (24)  Recipe inspiration from SavvyMom
• Spinach Cakes (14)
• Zucchini Cups (24)  Recipe Adapted from SkinnyTaste
• Chicken Apple Sausage & Sweet Potato Egg Muffins (24 regular sized)

Here is my grocery list: (don’t be alarmed! The list looks a bit long but most of the ingredients were already in my cabinet and are probably in yours! Everything in italics was already in my cabinet. Compare this list to your cabinets and cross out the items you won’t need to buy at the store. =) )

 Fresh Produce:

·         Large Sweet Onion (1)  

·         (1) Large Sweet Potato

·         Cloves of Garlic (4)

·          Large Apple (1)

·          (2) Zucchini Squash

Meat:

·         1 Ib. Ground Organic Chicken (I bought breasts and ground myself)

·         1 Ib. Ground Organic Beef

·         12 oz package Chicken Apple Sausage (I used Al Fresco Brand)

Grocery:

·         Breadcrumbs (I use Panko b/c they don’t have milk- use whatever kind you wish)

·         Wheat Bran

·         Mild Salsa

·         Barbeque Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)

·         Ketchup (Organic)

·         Dijon Mustard

·         Garlic Powder, Pepper, Onion Powder, Dried Sage

·         Olive Oil

·         Brown Sugar

·         Baby food Puree (1 container) – I use these since I have them leftover, you can use any other sort of vegetable grated or applesauce for this.

·         Gallon Sized Freezer Bags

·         Quart Sized Freezer Bags

Refrigerated:

·         Coconut Milk

·         Eggs (2 dozen)

·         Daiya Mozzarella Style Cheese Shreds

·         Daiya Cheddar Style Cheese Shreds

·         Vegan Mayonnaise (or you can use sour cream)

Frozen:

·         Frozen Chopped Spinach (16 oz bag) -- you can opt to use fresh also if you would like!

I label everything with name and date BEFORE I start:

• Southwest Style Mini Meatloaf  (quart)
• Mini Barbeque Apple Chicken Muffins (quart)
• Spinach Cakes  (quart)
• Zucchini Cups  (quart)
• Chicken Apple Sausage & Sweet Potato Egg Muffins (gallon)

Now it’s time to get started! 
I did this freezer cooking a little different than my others—and did 1 item at a time instead of multi-tasking.   Recipes listed below in the order I did them:

Zucchini Muffins

(makes 24 mini muffins)

Ingredients:

·         (2) Zucchini Squash

·         (2) Eggs

·         ¼  cup finely diced onion (you can go ahead and finely dice an entire onion and reserve for the rest of the recipes in this series)

·         ½ cup Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds

·         ½ cup Panko Breadcrumbs

·         Black Pepper (a couple shakes)

Method:

1.      Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees.  Spray mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.

2.      Grate Zucchini into clean dish towel or layered paper towels.   Ring out as much water as you can.

3.      In a medium sized mixing bowl beat (2) eggs.  Add zucchini, onion, cheddar, panko and black pepper.  Mix well.

4.      Distribute mixture evenly between the 24 muffin tin cups.

5.      Bake 18-22 minutes or until browned/done.

6.      Remove from oven and cool slightly.  Transfer muffins to wire cooling rack. *you will need to lightly wash the muffin pan for recipes coming up.

While the Zucchini Muffins were cooking I started on the Sweet Potato Apple Chicken Egg Muffins:

Sweet Potato Apple Chicken Egg Muffins

(makes 24 regular sized muffins)

Ingredients:

·         (1) Large Sweet Potato

·         Chicken Apple Sausage (12oz)

·         ½ cup Coconut Milk

·         20 eggs

·         Black Pepper

*I had some leftover diced red pepper in the fridge I threw in also!

Method:

1.      Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray. (24)

2.      Remove casings from Chicken Sausage (I used a knife and cut a seam the length of the sausage and then removed casing.)  In a skillet, brown & chop sausage well over medium heat until done.

3.      While sausage is browning peel & grate sweet potato.    Add grated sweet potato to pan with sausage and cook approx 5 additional minutes or until somewhat tender. (this is when I also threw in the diced red pepper from the fridge so if you have something you want to use up throw it in!)

4.      While sweet potato is cooking – start cracking the 20 eggs into a large mixing bowl.  Add ½ cup coconut milk (I only had vanilla flavored so that’s what I used!) and ground pepper (to taste).   Beat eggs well.

5.      Once sausage/sweet potato mixture is done- evenly distribute amongst the 24 muffin cups.   Now evenly distribute egg mixture into the muffin cups.

6.      Bake approximately 18-22 minutes, or until done (when you touch top of egg it should feel bouncy).

7.      Slightly cool and then transfer to wire-cooling rack.

While The Sweet Potato Apple Chicken Sausage Muffins were cooking I started working on the Southwest Mini Meatloafs:

Southwest Mini Meatloaf Muffins

(makes 24-32 mini muffins/meatballs)

Ingredients:

·         1 Ib Organic Ground Beef

·         (2) Garlic Cloves Minced

·         1 Container Baby Food Puree (I used carrot) *If you don’t have any purees you are trying to get rid of grate up a carrot or some other sort of veg and add!)

·         ¾ Cup Wheat Bran

·         ¼ Cup Panko Breadcrumbs

·         ¼ cup finely diced onion

·         ½ Cup Daiya Mozzarella or Cheddar Style Shreds

·         Black Pepper

·         ¾ Cup Mild Salsa

·         ¼ Cup Organic Ketchup

·         2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

·         3 Tbsp Brown Sugar

·         1 tsp Onion Powder

Method:

1.      Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees (should already be heated since you are already cooking!).  Spray mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray OR if you don’t have one- spray a baking sheet (with sides).

2.      Combine all of the above ingredients in medium sized mixing bowl.  Using a cookie scoop- distribute mixture amongst the 24 muffin cups or roll into small meatballs.  (I had some extra meat mixture left so I did 24 mini muffins + 6 small meatballs)

3.      Bake approximately 18-22 Minutes.

4.      Remove from oven and let cool slightly.  Transfer to wire cooling rack.

While Southwest Mini Meatloaf Muffins were baking I started the Spinach Cakes:

Spinach Cakes

(makes 14 spinach patties)

Ingredients:

·         16 oz bag Frozen Chopped Spinach

·         ½ cup Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds

·         (2) Eggs

·         1 tsp Garlic Powder

·         ½ Cup Panko Breadcrumbs

·         Black Pepper (a couple shakes!)

Method:

1.      Oven should be at 350 degrees.  Lightly spray baking sheet with non stick cooking spray.

2.      Place frozen spinach in a microwave-safe dish with lid and ¼ cup water.  Microwave on high 4 minutes.  Ring out spinach in clean dish towel or paper towels to drain excess water.

3.      In a medium sized mixing bowl beat 2 eggs.  Add spinach, cheddar, garlic powder, panko and pepper.   Mix well.

4.      Using a cookie scoop, scoop mixture onto baking sheet- flatten and form into the shape of a patty.

5.      Bake 350 for 10 minutes.  Flip Spinach Cakes over with a spatula.  Bake an additional 10 minutes.

6.      Remove from oven.  Cool slightly and transfer to a wire cooling rack.

While the Spinach Cakes were cooking I started the last recipe for Mini Barbeque Apple Chicken Muffins:

Mini Barbeque Apple Chicken Muffins:

(makes 24 mini muffins)

Ingredients:

·         1 Ib Ground Chicken (I used 2 breasts and ground myself in food processor- you could also use Ground Turkey)

·         ½ cup Panko Breadcrumbs

·         ½ cup Wheat Bran

·         1 Apple Finely diced

·         ½ cup Finely diced Onion

·         2 Cloves Garlic Minced

·         1 Tbsp Vegan Mayonnaise

·         ½ Tbsp Dried Sage

·         Black Pepper (a couple of shakes)

·         ¾ Cup BBQ Sauce

·         Olive Oil

Method:

1.      Oven should be at 350 degrees.  Spray mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2.      In a small skillet heat a drizzle of olive oil.  Saute the onion, garlic and apple approximately 5 minutes or until apple is soft.

3.      In a medium mixing bowl combine the ground chicken, panko, wheat bran, mayo, sage, bbq sauce and onion/apple mixture.  Mix well.

4.      Distribute mixture evenly amongst the 24 muffin tin cups.

5.      Bake 18-22 minutes or until done.

6.      Remove from oven and cool slightly.  Transfer muffins to wire cooling rack.

*As your items are cooling on the wire rack, you can transfer them onto a baking sheet or cutting board that fits in your freezer to “flash freeze” them.  Make sure they are not touching each other.  Once items are frozen- you can transfer them to your labeled Ziploc bags.

*To defrost- I usually put in microwave on defrost for 1 ½ minutes. 

Hope your little ones enjoy these recipes as much as mine does!  (and hopefully they help make mommies life simpler!)

~Melissa

Freezer Cooking #6: Toddler Breakfast Ideas

Loves Baked Oatmeal & Blueberries!  (traveling in this pic)

Breakfast around our house on weekday mornings means quick & simple!  It's hard enough to get out of the house with a toddler and make it to daycare and work on-time and in one piece let alone make extravagant breakfasts!!  Since I have a love for "freezer cooking" -- I replenish his stash about once a month with breakfast foods that easily thaw & heat in the morning.  Here is what he is eating for breakfast this month:

-Mini Veggie Omelets
-Baked Banana Apple Oatmeal
-Mini Pumpkin Pie Muffins

It usually takes me 1-2 hours from start to clean up to make 3/4 different items.



Here are the recipes!  Hope your little one enjoys as much as mine!

**My little one is allergic to cows milk so I use So Delicious Coconut Milk and Daiya dairy-free "cheese" in my recipes.  I also avoid cooking sprays that contain any sort of butter.  If your little one does not have a cow's milk allergy-- you can sub regular cheese & milk in these recipes.

Mini Veggie Omelets
(makes 24 mini muffin sized omelets)

Ingredients:

• 8-10 eggs
• 1 cup Daiya cheddar-style shreds (or 1 cup regular cheese)
• 1/2 cup Unsweetened So Delicious Coconut Milk (or regular milk)
• Your Choice Diced Veggies!  (I used broccoli, spinach, red pepper, onion for this time)
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder or Ground Mustard if you wish!

Method:

Mini Omelets cooling before flash-freezing.

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray mini muffin pan with non-stick spray.
2. Chop all your veggies-- I usually use whatever I have left in the fridge that I want to get rid of!  Be creative to your hearts content! ( I will estimate approximately 1 cup of sauteed veggies is what I end up with to mix into the eggs- so you may want to start out with 2 cups raw veggies if they are veggies that shrink when cooked!.)
3. Warm a small amount of olive oil in a saute pan over Medium Heat (approx 1tsp) and then throw all your veggies in.  Cook until tender (approx 10 min).  Set aside to cool a few minutes.
4. In the meantime- start cracking your eggs!   I usually do between 8-10 eggs in a medium sized mixing bowl.  
5. Next, add the shredded cheese, milk and optional garlic powder/ground mustard.  Mix well.  
6. Once veggies have slightly cooled evenly distribute in mini muffin pan.  Now evenly distribute egg mixture.  (will expand slightly while cooking so don't overfill any of the cups- but most of the time mine are filled almost to the top.)
7. Place in oven and bake approximately 15-18 minutes or until cooked through.
8. Once mini omelets have had a chance to cool a bit, transfer to cooling rack.  Once cool enough- transfer to cutting board/baking sheet that will fit in your freezer and flash-freeze.  Once frozen - transfer mini omelets to ziploc bag.

** To defrost-  I usually defrost these in microwave for 1 1/2 minutes before serving.


Baked Banana Apple Oatmeal
(makes 24 oatmeal muffins)

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsps baking powder
• sprinkle of salt
• 1 1/4 cup Unsweetened So Delicious Coconut Milk
• 3/4 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
• 1 banana mashed



Baked Oatmeal Cooling before flash-freezing.

• 1 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray (2) regular sized muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Mix all of the above ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
3. Distribute evenly between the 24 muffin tins.  (I usually use my cookie scoop and put a heaping scoop of the mix in each tin) I would estimate you are filling them about 1/2 full.  I'll admit-- one time I made these I only got 18 muffins out of it so just use your judgement with how big you want your muffins to be!
4. Bake 18-20 minutes or until done.
5. Let cool and then transfer to cooling rack.   Once cool enough- transfer to cutting board/baking sheet that will fit in your freezer and flash-freeze.  Once frozen - transfer baked oatmeal to ziploc bag.

*I usually defrost these in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.


Pumpkin Pie Muffins
(makes 24 mini muffins)

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Wheat Flour
• 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 tsp  Salt
• 1 1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 Can Pure Pumpkin 
• 3 Tbsp Applesauce
• 1/2 Cup Vanilla Coconut Milk
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

Method:

1. Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees.  Spray Mini Muffin Pan with Non-Stick Cooking Spray
2. Mix together wheat flour, all purpose flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and baking powder in a medium sized bowl.
3. In a separate bowl beat together pumpkin, applesauce, milk and vegetable oil.
4. Slowly add dry ingredient mixture to wet ingredients- beating slowly.
   Mix well.
5. Distribute batter evenly between muffin tin cups- do not overfill. (I used a heaping cookie scoop in each).  I had some extra batter so I used a regular sized muffin tin (6) to finish it off.
6. Bake approximately 12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cool and then transfer to cooling rack.   Once cool enough- transfer to cutting board/baking sheet that will fit in your freezer and flash-freeze.  Once frozen - transfer muffins to ziploc bag.

Slow Cooker Steak Tacos

I had a London Broil in the fridge that I needed to use up--- and I was in the mood for some sort of shredded beef tacos/carne asada.  I don't think I had ever put a London Broil in the crock pot before but I figured it couldn't turn out TOO BAD... right?   

It ended up being really good! 

Here is what I did:


Slow Cooker Steak Tacos

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Ibs of Beef (You could use london broil, roast, steak, stew meat)
• 3 Tbsp Chili Powder
• 1.5 Tbsp Cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 12 oz bottle of dark beer
• 1 sweet onion
• 3 jalepeno peppers
• 2 tsp oregano

Method:

1. First I combined the Chili Powder, Cumin, Cayenne Pepper, Lime Juice, Salt and Garlic in a ziploc bag-- I mashed it around well to combine it, and it had a paste like consistency.  
2. Next I added the beef to the bag and coated it really well on all sides with the paste.
3. Throw the beef/bag in the fridge overnight to marinate.
4. The next morning -- put the beef in the crockpot, chop up the (3) jalepenos (discard the seeds), cut the onion into 8-10 pieces, sprinkle the 2 tsp oregano on top and dump in the 12 oz bottle of beer. 
5. Cook on LOW for 6-8 Hours.
6. Once beef is tender/cooked, shred with two forks and add back to the sauce in the crockpot-- mix well.
7. Serve on your choice of tortilla (we used corn tortillas) and top with cheese, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, black beans ect!    (We also ate these as leftovers on top of chips to make nachos!  YUM)

*Leftovers freeze well to eat at a later date also!

ENJOY~
Melissa

Freezer Cooking #5 : Toddler/Baby Finger Foods

My "love" of freezer cooking comes from the simplicity of having an abundance of already-prepared food in the freezer that I can pull out at anytime and have dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes.   Freezer cooking really helps take the "stress" out of my everyday "whats for dinner"... because there is always something in the freezer we can eat!

Once our baby started eating finger foods, I knew I needed to use the same concept for his food- mass finger food cooking = 30+ meals in the freezer for him.

Of course I wanted to share what I made for him so you can do the same for your little ones!
I will go ahead and mention-- my LO has an allergy to cow's milk- so I use vegan cheese, rice or almond milk, vegan sour cream etc... in my recipes-- you can use regular cow's milk products in the same quantities I have listed.  I also try to buy as much organic for him as possible—but I don’t always—so even if it says organic or doesn’t say at all—you can use your own discretion.

Something I will also mention is that you will definitely need a mini muffin pan (or TWO) to make this freezer cooking easier-- I only had one, and probably could have saved myself a lot of time if I borrowed a neighbors! If you don’t have a mini muffin pan you can improvise with most of the recipes and just roll everything into a ball or patty.  For the muffin recipes you can utilize a regular sized muffin tin and cut them in half.

What's on the menu for your Little One?

• Healthy Meatballs (24-32)
• Mini Chicken Parmesan Cups (24)
• Broccoli Cheese Patties (20)
• Spinach Cups (20)
• Mashed Potato Cups (24)
• Blueberry Donut Muffins (30)
• Apple Banana Muffins (24)
• Sweet Potato Fries

Here is my grocery list: (don’t be alarmed! The list looks a bit long but most of the ingredients were already in my cabinet and are probably in yours! Everything in italics was already in my cabinet. Compare this list to your cabinets and cross out the items you won’t need to buy at the store. =) )
 Fresh Produce:

·         Small Sweet Onion (1)  

·         (2) Medium Sweet Potatoes

·         Cloves of Garlic (2)

·         4 Medium Potatoes

·         Large Apple (1)

·         Bananas (2)

·         Blueberries (1 cup)

·         Bag of Spinach

Meat:

·         1 Ib. Ground Organic Chicken (I bought breasts and ground myself)

·         1 Ib. Ground Organic Beef

Grocery:

·         Breadcrumbs (Italian & Regular)

·         Wheat Bran

·         Whole Wheat Organic Flour

·         Old Fashioned Oats

·         Small Jar Marinara Sauce

·         Basil, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Parsley

·         Cinnamon

·         Vegetable Oil

·         Baking Powder

·         Baking Soda

·         White Sugar

·         Brown Sugar

·         Salt

·         Pepper

·         Vanilla Extract

·         Baby food Purees (2 containers) – I use these since I have them leftover, you can use any other sort of vegetable puree or applesauce for this.

·         Gallon Sized Freezer Bags

·         Quart Sized Freezer Bags

Refrigerated:

·         Unsalted Butter (2 Tbsp)  (I use vegan soft spread)

·         Egg (9)

·         Milk (1 1/2 c) ( I use almond milk & rice milk)

·         Sour Cream (1 c) (I use vegan)

·         Mozzarella OR Parmesan Cheese (1/2 Cup) (I use Daiya brand vegan)

·         Cheddar Cheese (1 3/4 cup) (I use Daiya brand vegan)

Frozen:

·         Frozen Broccoli Florets (2 cups) thawed

Of course, once you get everything home and you are ready to cook put it on the counter and admire what you are about to do!! =)

I label everything with name and date BEFORE I start:

• Healthy Meatballs (1 Quart Sized Bag)
• Mini Chicken Parmesan Cups (1 Quart Sized Bag)
• Broccoli Cheese Patties (1 Quart Sized Bag)
• Spinach Cups (1 Quart Sized Bag)
• Sweet Potato Fries (1 Quart Sized Bag)
• Mashed Potato Cups (1 Gallon Sized Bag)
• Blueberry Donut Muffins (1 Gallon Sized Bag)
• Apple Banana Muffins (1 Gallon Sized Bag)

Now it’s time to get started! 

1) I decided to start with the “meat”:  Preheat Oven to 375

• Finely Dice Small Onion and set aside (will need about ¼ c).   Mince (2) cloves garlic and set aside.
• Get (2) Medium Sized Mixing Bowls out- put ground beef in one and ground chicken in the other.
• Add the following to the ground beef bowl:  ½ cup wheat bran, ¼ cup breadcrumbs, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp oregano, (2) containers baby food purees.
• Add the following to the ground chicken bowl:  ½ of the minced garlic (already prepped), ¼ cup diced onion, 1 egg, ½ cup Italian breadcrumbs, ½ cup shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese, ¾ cup marinara sauce, 1 tsp oregano.
• Mix both mixtures (separately) well.   If needed, add more breadcrumbs so mixture sticks together well.
  
• Spray mini-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Using a medium scoop- distribute chicken mixture evenly among 24 muffin cups.  (mixture will shrink during cooking so fill to top)
• Spray baking sheet (with sides!) with non stick cooking spray.  Using your hands, roll beef mixture into meatballs (approx 1.5 inch) – should make approx 24-30.  You can keep these fairly close together on the baking sheet, they do not expand.
• Place chicken bites & meatballs in oven- bake for 15-20 min, or until cooked through and golden brown.

2) Next I did the “vegetables”:

• Wash & Peel the sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.  Cut the sweet potatoes into skinny “fries”.  Place on greased Large Cookie Sheet and toss in a small amount of olive oil- make sure they are not overlapping much.  Set aside.
• Cut the regular potatoes into “chunks” and place in microwave in covered microwave safe dish for 8 minutes.
• By now your meat should be out of the oven cooling- I typically pop everything off the pans and onto cooling racks.
• Increase oven temp to 450 and place prepared Sweet Potatoes in oven.  Bake 15 minutes, then “flip” fries and bake 10-15 more minutes.
• Check potatoes in microwave- if soft, remove.  You may need to add 2-3 more minutes cooking time if not soft.  Transfer soft potatoes to mixing bowl- mash a bit with a hand masher or with a wooden spoon.  Add the following to the potato mixture:  ½ cup cheddar cheese, 2 eggs, ½ cup milk (I used rice milk), ½ cup sour cream.  Using hand mixer- blend well.  Grease mini muffin pan, transfer heaping scoops into each muffin cup.  Set Aside
• Wash Spinach and place in food processor.  (I had to process in 4 batches)  Put finely chopped spinach in mixing bowl and add:  ½ c sour cream, ½ c cheddar cheese, sprinkle of pepper, 2 eggs and the rest of the minced garlic.  Mix well.  Place mixture in greased mini muffin pan.
  
• By now the sweet potato fries should be done.  Reduce oven temp to 350 and place mashed potato bites and spinach cups in oven.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden.
• Now to start the last vegetable item:  Place thawed broccoli in food processor- finely chop and transfer to mixing bowl.  Add: ¾ cup grated cheddar, 1 cup breadcrumbs, 2 large eggs (I beat these separately and then added), ¼ tsp basil, ¼ tsp oregano, ¼ tsp parsley.  Mix well.  Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray.  I used a small measuring cup and formed the broccoli mixture into “round patties” and placed on cookie sheet.   Bake 10 minutes, then flip patties over and bake 10 more minutes or until “formed” and slightly golden.
  
• Spinach Bites & Mashed Potato Bites should be cooling on a cooling rack.

*At this point your meatballs, chicken parmesan bites and sweet potato fries should be fairly cool.  You will want to “flash freeze” the pieces individually so when you transfer them to the Ziploc bags they won’t freeze together in one big block.  Transfer the pieces to a cutting board or something else that will fit in your freezer.  Make sure they are not touching—put in freezer for approx 1 hour.  If items feel semi- frozen transfer them into respective bags and place immediately in freezer.

3) Lastly, it’s time to bake the breakfast goods

• I started with (2) mixing bowls.  In the one bowl add the following:  1 ¼ cup whole wheat flour, 1tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt- whisk together, this is your “blueberry bowl”.  In the second bowl whisk together the following:  1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, ½ cup old fashioned oats, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon- this will be your “apple banana bowl”.
• In a separate bowl mash (2) bananas and grate the apple (peel the apple first).  Add 3 Tbsp vegetable oil, ½ c brown sugar, 1 egg, ½ cup milk (I used almond milk) and mix together well.   Add this mixture to the “apple banana” dry ingredients bowl and mix well.
  
• In another separate bowl cream together using a mixer (2) tbsp softened butter and ½ cup white sugar.  Add (1) egg, ½ cup milk and 1tsp vanilla.  Mix well.  Add the blueberry flour mixture to the wet mixture and combine.  Fold in (1) cup blueberries.
• Grease both mini muffin pans – using a medium scoop, fill each muffin cup with respective blueberry OR apple banana mix.  *I had some extra so I actually also filled a regular sized (6) cup muffin tin with the remainder so I didn’t’ waste.
• Place in oven and bake approx 15 min or until toothpick comes out clean.  Transfer to cooling rack. 
  

*By this time your spinach cups, mashed potato cups & broccoli bites should be cool- transfer to cutting board and place in freezer to “flash freeze”.

Once muffins are cool- also transfer to cutting boards to “flash freeze”.  Once everything is semi-frozen, transfer to respective Ziploc bags and place in freezer!

When I am ready to “use” the freezer items—I either set them on the counter for about 30 min prior to use and let them thaw OR put them in the microwave on defrost setting for 1min30sec.    Depending on your little ones age- you may want to cut up the items into little finger bites. 

I hope your little one enjoys the food as much as mine does!!

Where have I been??

To say that I have been a complete SLACKER keeping up with my blog posts is an understatement- and I apologize for that!  I will say that slacking on the blog is partially because The Test Kitchen has ALSO been slacking!!  

It's funny how your priorities change so quickly after having a baby--- when I get home from work now, instead of coming up with some extravagant meal to eat for dinner I just want to hang with my boy and soak up every second of quality time instead of slaving away in the kitchen!   I am perfectly happy eating a bowl of Cheerios or Chips & Salsa for dinner these days... and my poor Hubs has had tostitos scoops with melted cheese and salsa or a PB&J more nights than I can count on all my fingers and toes in the past couple of months I hate to admit...

But wouldn't you much rather hang out with THIS BOY than cook in the kitchen??

In an attempt to "meal plan" better the Hubs built me a chalkboard in the kitchen-- and I have to say that the weeks we actually write our schedule and menu on it, we eat-- and we eat well!  The weeks we don't write on it-- we don't eat!  WOOPS!  

Lately- our 10 month old has been really enjoying finger foods-- so my time in the kitchen has been dedicated to dicing up every fruit and vegetable imaginable for him, making mini muffins, meatballs ect ect... for the little man-- and by the time he is done with his dinner, I am DONE standing in the kitchen-- thank you Dominos and Pizzettas for delivering to our house and thank you Rucker Johns for the dinner "pick up" lane!!!

I will say that all of the Freezer Cooking I did pre-baby has really helped out because we are down to about 4-5 meals now which is AMAZING they lasted that long!!
Here are the links to my past Freezer Cooking Posts:
Freezer Cooking 1
Freezer Cooking 2
Freezer Cooking 3
Freezer Cooking 4

So my question to YOU my readers-- now that you have hopefully accepted my "slacker" apology-- what recipes do you want to see on the blog?   Quick & Easy, Crockpot, Freezer Cooking, Baby Finger Foods???

Let me know-- and I will try to get back on the cooking bandwagon!

In the meantime-- I think I am going to do a post on the "Freezer Cooking/Prepping" I did for baby this past weekend-- stay tuned!!

xoxo
Melissa

White Chicken Parmesan

My family ate A LOT of Italian food growing up... maybe because my daddio is Italian we all really enjoyed pasta and carbs carbs carbs.   I can't exactly remember when my mom started making White Chicken Parmesan but it is definitely a favorite of mine and we have it at least twice a month!  

This is a "go to" recipe because I always have the ingredients on hand!!
 

White Chicken Parmesan:

Ingredients:

• 4 Thin Chicken Breasts (I usually butterfly two breasts) pound slightly if needed
• 3/4 Cup Sour Cream
• 1 Stick Butter
• 4-5 Garlic Cloves Pressed
• Shredded Parmesan Cheese (about 1/2 cup)
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Preheat Oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil or spray with cooking spray(for easy cleanup after!)
3. Wash, Trim & Slightly Pound Chicken Breasts.  Place chicken breasts in prepared pan.
4. Place stick of butter, pressed garlic and a couple shakes of salt & pepper into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave approx 30-40 seconds or until butter is melted completely.
5. Add sour cream to butter mixture and mix well.
   
   
6. Coat BOTH SIDES of chicken with the sour cream/butter mixture evenly using all mixture.
7. Top chicken with shredded Parmesan cheese (you can use more or less than 1/2 cup - personal preference!)
8. Place chicken in oven uncovered for 30 minutes (or until done).
9. Serve Chicken with a side of pasta and add homemade marinara from freezer cooking 3 if you really want a YUMMY dish!

** Pampered Chef DEEP COVERED BAKER METHOD:

• Instead of placing chicken in a foil-lined pan, place it in your deep covered baker and microwave on HIGH 8-9 minutes or until chicken is done.