Blueberry Muffins

Nothing gets you going in the morning like a fresh out of the oven batch of blueberry muffins.

You can use either fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe.

Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Combine dry ingredients- flour, sugar, baking powder, salt- and mix.  Beat eggs with milk, butter, and vanilla.  Pour over dry ingredients and mix with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened.  Fold blueberries into batter.  Fill greased or lined muffin tins 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until a light golden brown.

Notes:  I like to bake my muffins in liners - this way I know they won't stick.  It's also makes them easier to freeze.  I place any leftover muffins onto a baking sheet and then place them in the freezer.  Once they are frozen (an hour or two later), place them into a freezer baggie, pushing out any air before closing.

Perfect for a snack or breakfast next week.

STEP-BY-STEP

 Into a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  

 In a smaller bowl, I just use my glass measuring cup, measure 1 cup milk, then add melted butter, vanilla, and two eggs.  Beat well.

 Now pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients.  Mix with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened.  

Too much mixing will create a tough muffin.

 Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

 Fill greased or lined muffin tins 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until a light golden brown.

How to Freeze Cookies

The freezer is my secret weapon to always having a treat ready when the need arises. 

 I learned this trick from my mother-in-law.

Step 1:  Make a double or quadruple batch of cookies (any kind).
You can find my cookie recipes HERE.

Let them cool and set completely.

Step 2:  Then stack them inside a freezer baggie, in neat little rows (This is the trick. If you don't stack them like this, they will crumble.  You also won't be able to fit as many cookies into a bag).  Push out as much air out of the bag as you can before sealing it, and then placing it in your freezer.

Then when someone has a baby, your neighbor gets sick, or your sweet tooth starts acting up, you have a bag of cookies ready to go.

Step 3:  Pull out as many cookies as you need and place them on a plate.  It only takes about 30 minutes or so for the cookies to thaw completely.

They will taste just as good or better than when you first made them.

They should last up to 6 months frozen.

Cheesy Chicken Penne - Freezer Meals

I love this dish!  It is easy and fast to throw together for a quick meal.  It is also easy to double the recipe, have one for dinner tonight, and freeze the other.

Cheesy Chicken Penne

1/2 (16 oz) package penne noodles, cooked al dente

1 large can chicken breasts

1 jar Alfredo sauce

1 jar spaghetti sauce or 2 cups of homemade

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

In a 9x13" pan layer the noodles, chicken, alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce and cheese. Bake in 350 degree oven 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

STEP-BY-STEP

 To boil noodles, follow the directions on the package, allowing them to boil the shortest recommended time (this will cook them to the  al dente stage which means, they are still firm to the bite), drain and set aside.

 Break up the chicken and add it to the bottom of your pan.  I'm using disposable foil pans for easy cleanup and freezing. 

 Pour noodles on top of chicken

 Now evenly drizzle the spaghetti sauce

 and then the Alfredo sauce.

 Sprinkle generously with cheese.

 Bake it uncovered at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

 or cover with heavy duty aluminum foil, press the foil down on top of the casserole to eliminate as much air as possible.

Allow it to cool completely (hot = ice crystals = freezer burn), and then freeze.

Don't forget to label with a permanent marker.  

When you're ready to have this for dinner, allow it to completely thaw, and then follow the regular cooking directions (350 degree oven 10-15 minutes etc).

Or you can cook it frozen in a 300 degree oven for 1-1/2 - 2 hours or until hot throughout.  

Teriyaki Chicken-Freezer Meal

This is another super easy, throw together, freezer meal. The best part is that your chicken is marinating in this yummy sauce while it's freezing.

Teriyaki Chicken

1/2 C. soy sauce

1/2 C. sugar

1 1/2 T. red wine vinegar

2 t. veg. or sesame oil

1 sm. minced garlic clove

3/4 t. ground ginger.
Stir ingredients together and pour into a gallon sized ziploc bag with 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts. On serving day, thaw and pour into a baking dish. Bake in preheated at 350 for 35 min. Serve over rice.

NOTES:To stretch this out, I add a bag of frozen, stir fry style veggies in before baking. Also, don't forget to lay it flat in your freezer to save you space. :)

FREEZER MEAL TIPS

THIS IS HOW I DO MY FREEZER MEALS:
With 6 kids, 2 of them still babies, I don't have a whole day to spend in the kitchen making freezer meals. Instead I choose 5 or 6 meals that are really quick and easy to assemble. I spend one afternoon a month, during nap time, assembling these, putting them in baggies, and then into my freezer. The rest of the month I double whatever I'm making for dinner, serve half of it and freeze the other half. If you're just starting, it will take about a month to create your "stock-pile". As long as you keep freezing meals every month, you'll always be able to have a freezer full of meals.

There are just a few things that do NOT freeze well:
COOKED RICE, unless instant- it turns mushy
CREAMS, such as sour cream- it thaws runny like water
POTATOES, unless instant or the kind you buy already frozen- they turn out mushy as well.

Every few months I also get together with a group of my girlfriends for a Freezer Meal Exchange. Each of us makes 1 or 2 freezer meals for each member in the group (so if they were 5 in the group, I'd make 5 batches of crock-pot chili. One for each person). These are totally ready to go into the freezer. Then we get together for a girls night out, and exchange our meals. I like doing this because I get something different from the same hum-drum meals I make. :)

Tips:
*Use Freezer baggies whenever possible, they can be layed flat in your freezer, taking up a lot less room.
*If you're going to use a dish or a foil pan make sure you cover your food with Heavy-Duty Freezer Foil.
*Air and Food are enemies. Try to get out as much air as possible, before freezing. Lay your foil flat on top of your food if you're using this method.

FREEZER MEAL- Crockpot Chili

This chili tastes just like the chili you get from Wendy's Fast Food Restaurant. It's probably one of, if not, the easiest freezer meal to put together.

Crockpot Chili

2 lbs. ground beef, browned and drained

3 16-oz. cans kidney beans, drained

2 16-oz. cans Northern beans

4 14 ½ oz. cans diced tomatoes

2 medium onions, chopped

1 c. chopped green peppers

1 tsp. garlic powder

3 Tbsp. chili powder

2 tsp. cumin

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients, and separate into 2 1-gallon freezer bags. Seal, making sure you push out as much air as possible, and lay flat to freeze.
When ready to serve, thaw overnight in refrigerator. Pour chili into crockpot, and cook on low 8 – 10 hours. (I cheat on this. I defrost it slightly in the microwave, then put everything in the crockpot on high for an hour. After that, I switch it back to low for the remaining cooking time.)

FREEZER MEALS

Stayed tuned:
This week I'll be posting my favorite make-ahead and freeze meals. These are great for those days that you just don't have time to make dinner, or, let's be honest, just don't feel like it. I'll also be sharing my tips and secrets of how I do this.