Pizza Twists

So, we like to make pizza in our house.  Yes... we make a lot of pizza.  This last Friday I decided to do something a little bit different.  We had a regular pizza, but I doubled the dough recipe and took half of that for the pizza, and the other half for these!

 

MMMMMM

These will be perfect for my little Grade 1 girl for school!  Popped them all in the freezer for something different for lunches.  I'm sure she will enjoy them!

They are super easy! 

Take your favorite pizza dough recipe.  Make it.  Take your favorite pizza sauce recipe.  Make that.  Roll your dough out as thin as you think you can possibly make it.  Spread on the sauce, and sprinkle the cheese on half of it.  Fold the 'no cheese' half over the 'cheesy' half.  Then cut into strips.  Twirl each strip twice before placing it on a parchment paper lined baking pan, then bake as you would your regular pizza!  Ta-da!

Spaghetti Squares

Ok, I found this recipe on Kraft and since I had some leftover green pepper and cottage cheese in my fridge I needed to use up before it went bad, I figured... why not? Of course, as usual, I modified it a bit. I divided the recipe into two containers and froze one for later...

Spaghetti Squares

serves 8

Ingredients
300g (1/3 pkg 900g) spaghetti, uncooked.
1 lb ground beef
red or green pepper
1 jar pasta sauce (700ml or 3 cup) OR, since I don't have that I used 2 cups worth of tomato sauce, some tomato paste and ketchup to make the remaining 200ml
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp butter
2 eggs beaten
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350F. Cook spaghetti. Brown meat in the pan, drain, add peppers and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Add pasta sauce.
Drain spaghetti. Toss with Parmesan, butter, eggs, and place in a greased 13x9 pan (or two smaller pans). Top with cottage cheese, then meat mixture. Add mozza to the top.
Bake 20 minutes until heated through. Serve with salad
From frozen: Bake at 400F for 40 minutes until heated through.

Pomegranate Banana Bread

Apparently, November is national Pomegranate Month in the USA. I didn't know that before, but thought it interesting. I love pomegranates, a friend I met in university introduced the fruit to me... I had never actually seen one before. Anyway, we bought one for Christmas and with the hustle and bustle of the month, completely forgot about it. Not one to let a fruit that good go bad, I thought it best to try to bake it (otherwise we wouldn't eat it fast enough). Lo and behold, my hubby finds this recipe on POM Wonderful, and since we also had 2 over-ripe bananas, I thought it would be the perfect thing to try!


POM, Banana & Pistachio Bread
20min prep
1 1/2 hours baking and cooling
makes 1 loaf



Ingredients
1 cup arils from 1 large Pomegranate
2 cups flour (I did 1 white and 1 whole wheat)
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2-3 bananas, mashed (1 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shelled pistachios or slivered almonds, chopped (I didn't have these so I omitted them)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Grease one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

3. Score pomegranate, place in a bowl of water. Break open the pom under the water to free the arils or seed sacs. They will sink while the membranes will float (I didn't know this until reading this recipe... would have saved me lots of time pulling those seeds out like I usually do!). Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1 cup to put aside (snack on the rest... yummers).

4. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl, stir together bananas, oil, milk, and egg. Add liquids to flour (and arils and pistachios if used) until just moistened. Don't over mix.

5. Spoon batter into prepared pan. You can sprinkle leftover nuts/arils over top if you like. I didn't bother (didn't have any left over... oops...).

6. Bake 50-60minutes until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove onto a rack and cool completely. To store, wrap it tightly or you can freeze for up to 1 month by wrapping tightly in foil.



Nutrients per serving (1 slice... don't ask how big the slice is because it doesn't say)

162 calories
3g protein
24g carbs
6g total fat (1g saturated)
12mg cholesterol
139g sodium (if you do 1/2 tsp salt... I always do less)

Week 4 of Meal Plan

Now it’s time for the fourth and final week of my meal plan. It’s been interesting, and I’ve already started on next month (however, I just wrote out the meals we will have, numbered them, and as we eat them we’ll cross them off as I don’t know what we’ll want when and when baby arrives we receive a few meals from the church and family as well… so planning won’t work as easily). Anyway, here’s the last week.

Monday: This was the day I made meatballs to have with spegghetti and pasta sauce. We got canned pasta sauce on sale for $1 at dollar days last weekend, which was perfect. I froze a little more than ½ the meatballs for a later meal… I’ll probably do the speggetti squash with the meatballs next time.

Tuesday: Time for chicken. We had some packaged teriyaki chicken from Costco that we cooked up, and I made enough rice for 2 or 3 meals which is perfect for later. We made salad with this.

Wednesday: Now we’re having fish. Again, bought from the store as breaded… yeah, I didn’t feel I’d be ambitious this week. The rice was great, as we took a can of mushroom soup, added ½ a can of milk to it and a cup or two of frozen peas (cooked the peas first) on the stove to mix with our rice. Mmm. I also made bran muffins and froze them for later.

Thursday: Today was a more ambitious meal… homemade mac n cheese. Quite tasty! I split the whole thing in half and froze one portion. We made it with pork chops which hubby bbq’d and some veggies. I’ll have to make this one again sometime.

Friday: The weekly tradition continues… this time we brought steak for ourselves, and a cucumber salad for the group (cucumbers mixed with sour cream and lemon juice, with salt and pepper and some tomato).

Saturday: It’s a date! Hubby took me out for supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory…

Sunday: Another day I don’t plan the meals for. We ended up having leftovers…

Monday: This day I made hamburger biscuit bake. I made a double batch of biscuit dough and used half to bake and freeze some cinnamon biscuit rolls. We loved those last time I made them!

Yes, I added in an extra day, as I had a plan for up till Monday the 15th as that is my due date. The rest of this month is “planned out” as well.

I have 3 new chicken recipes I’d like to try, along with the following that are in my freezer:
2 lasagnas
2 meatless lasagnas
1 alfredo sauce for shrimp alfredo
1 potato hamburger casserole
1 shepherds pie casserole
2 meals of tuna patties
1 meal of meatballs (will make spaghetti squash with it)
1 mac n cheese
Lots of pigs in blankets
Lots of buns (will make pizza buns)
Lots of muffins (fruit, bran, chocolate for gatherings)
Biscuit cinnamon rolls
Pumpkin waffles
2 pizzas
3 meals of teriyaki chicken
2 meals of fish sticks

Other easy meals include a roast in the crock-pot with roast beef sandwiches later for lunch, perogies and farmer sausage with farmer sausage burgers as a later meal, and there’s always burritos which hubby is great at making…

Homemade Mac N Cheese

Can you believe I've never made homemade mac n cheese before? My mom used to make it, and I thought... hmm... why not? So, I found this recipe online through Mom's Budget and adjusted it a bit for my liking.

Homemade Freezer Macaroni And Cheese

Serves 6-8
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups dried macaroni noodles
5 tbsp butter
6 tbsp white flour
3 cups milk (since I'm on a farm, whole milk is what I used)
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 red pepper (or green), chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (about 2 slices. I used whole wheat)
salt (optional)
pepper (optional)

1. Cook macaroni noodles. Drain. Melt a small amount of butter and mix with noodles, to prevent them from sticking together (instead, I rinse with cold water). Cover and set aside.

2. Melt 5 tbsp butter in a large saucepan (really large), add flour and stir over medium heat for about thirty seconds, being careful not to brown. Add milk and whisk until thick (boiling). Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer.

3. Heat red pepper on stove in a separate pan, or in the microwave for about a minute. Add to milk mixture, then add cheese. Stir until melted.

4. Add macaroni noodles and mix well. Place in a casserole dish (a disposable foil casserole dish may work nicely for freezing). Top with breadcrumbs.

5. To bake immediately, place in preheated 350F oven for 30-40 minutes. Top with cheese if you like for the last few minutes.

I split this recipe into two, baked one, and for the other I cooled, covered and froze.

Instructions from Freezer: Allow to thaw at room temperature for one hour, or all day in the fridge. Preheat oven to 350F, and bake for 45 minutes. (If you split it into two, baking time may be reduced... I figure to about 30 minutes).

Serve with meat of your choice (ham of sorts is great, we did pork chops from the local farmer... and hotdogs are great for the kids) and salad or cooked veggies. To make it into a complete meal, add chopped ham or weiners with the macaroni.

Lasagna

I've made this recipe a number of times now from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, and I really enjoy it. Of course, mine is a bit different from theirs, but that's OK. It tastes real good and is great for freezing. I like to divide the recipe in thirds and freeze 2/3 of it while cooking one portion. I forgot a photo yet again... this has been a bad week for that. However, I figure it's lasagna, and lasagna looks the same no matter how you cook it. ;)

Lasagna

Ingredients
Meat sauce
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 pressed garlic clove, or enough garlic powder to your liking (not too much!)
1 16oz can whole tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil leaves
dash salt

Cheese Mixture
2 cups creamed cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

9 uncooked lasagna noodles (or however many you need for layers... I use 12)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Cook and stir meat, onion, and garlic clove until light brown, drain. Add tomatoes with liquid, sauce, parsley, sugar, basil and salt (if using garlic powder, add here instead of with onion). Heat till boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered until consistency of thick spaghetti sauce, about 1 hour. Reserve 1/2 cup.

2. Cook noodles unless using those that don't need it (I love those noodles). Mix cottage cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan, parsley, salt, and oregano. Layer in pan(s) 1/3 of noodles, 1/3 of sauce, and 1/3 mozza cheese and 1/3 of cottage cheese mixture. Repeat 2 times. Spoon reserved sauce mixture on top and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Cook uncovered at 350F for 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. 8-10 servings.

Freezing: After cooking, lasagna can be covered and frozen up to 3 weeks. Cook uncovered in 375F oven for 1 hour or until bubbly.

Third Week of Meal Plan

I'm feeling pretty good about having accomplished this meal plan now for 3 weeks! I've figured out that when I make a plan I have a tendancy to stick with it, and since I've been posting it on my blog that makes me even more accountable to my plan.

So, this week was about making easy meals again, with some freezing as well.

Monday: For supper I made lasagnas, freezing 2/3 of them like I did the first week with the meatless ones. I love lasagna and it's been almost 2 years since I last made them... because I don't like making them, haha. Chuck was thrilled however.

Tuesday: I decided to make chicken and roasted potatoes. We grilled extra chicken for a meal later on. As always, I made this with salad.

Wednesday: Time for a quick easy leftover meal using the rice and chicken... leftover burritoes. These were nice and quick. So, I baked some coffee cupcakes to freeze. My dad made coffee at the party on saturday and there was 8 cups left over, so I made "Cake 1", a double batch, 1 dozen with coconut and 1 dozen without, and froze them (there was still about 6 cups of coffee left, and so I added water and poured on my outdoor plants... they apparently do well with coffee for some reason). I specifically wanted to make these cupcakes for an upcoming gathering I need to bring a dessert for.

Thursday: Now it was time for grilled salmon. Hubby made this meal. We had baked fries and salad with the salmon he grilled (he made a marinade to brush over of balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and some spices). I love my fish.

Friday: This was burgers at a friends house... a weekly meal. Lots of fun.

Saturday: I didn't plan supper for today, instead I planned a breakfast... Pumpkin waffles! These are very tasty and high in fiber. I made 1.5 batches and am freezing a bunch of them for later. They make good meals and desserts... serve with ice cream for dessert, or with a white sauce for supper (very mennonite meal). I'm thinking supper today will probably be pasta... or fish... ;)

So there you have it... third week posted.

The Second Week

So, this week I did something different. I didn't make a lot to freeze, but I did do some.

Monday: I made mashed potatoes and chicken with veggies. Made triple the potatoes and put 2/3 in the fridge for later meals.

Tuesday: Burritoes for today. We make the meat with 1 lb hamburger, a can of red kidney beans, onions, and tomato paste, ketchup, spices, etc. We put 2/3 of it into the fridge yet again.

Wednesday: This is the supper with friends day yet again. Loads of fun!

Thursday: This is where I used the leftovers. I made 2 leftover casseroles and froze one of them. I also baked a lot of cake... 5 batches to make a birthday cake for my hubby's 30th birthday party I planned for Saturday. Ended up freezing about half of it.

Friday: We made pizza. I planned on making stirfry, but decorating hubby's cake took so much time I forgot to make the rice which takes an hour (I do NOT make minute rice). Instead, I made the stirfry Sunday (today)... with extra rice for one of next week's meals.

Saturday: This was hubby's birthday party... even though it is 3 weeks early. I brought out the tie fighter pigs in a blanket I made using the bun dough from last week's baking. There were veggies, cake, chips, and a meat and cheese tray a friend brought. Not to mention punch (made using 2 cans orange juice, 4 of water, 1L of ginger ale, and some scoops of raspberry sherbet). Here's a pic of the cake.



And today was the stir fry... from friday's plan. Again, not a lot went into the freezer, but this week was focussing on hubby's birthday party and trying to get the meals later in the week to be easier so I could focus on that cake... which took 6 hours work to finish. Crazy.

One Week Cooking Schedule: Freezer Foods

As I've been getting closer to my due date, I've been trying to come up with a few meals I can make that can go into the freezer for the first few weeks after the baby is born... to make things easier on us. I decided to do a one month meal plan, starting a month before my due date, and in the process hope to make meals that I can do "double" of, and freeze the second portion. It means a lot less cooking in the long run. Plus, since it's just the two of us, it makes things easier since most recipes are for 4-8 people.

This was the schedule for this last week, including links to the recipes which are already posted on the site.

Monday: Using the versatile biscuit dough, I made pigs in a blanket and cinnamon rolls. I froze only a few to see how it would take to the freezer. It worked out just fine, as we had the remaining bits for lunch a few days later. Much better than keeping biscuits on the counter anyway.

Tuesday: I made a quick supper here, just mac n cheese. What I did freeze for later was the banana blueberry muffins.

Wednesday: I made whole wheat buns, and we had a few of them for a faspa-like supper. For those who don't know, faspa is a mennonite name for a meal that consists of buns, preserves, pickles, cheese, and now we usually include peanutbutter, cookies and such. I made 1 1/2 batch of buns and turned some of them into pigs in a blanket as well for freezing. I know already that those will work just fine.

Thursday: Here I made the hamburger potato casserole from the mix n match potato casserole recipe. As always, I cooked the one and froze the other, making sure to mark the temperature and time for cooking right on the container to make things easier when we pull it out of the deep freeze.

Friday: Here I made a batch of tangy tuna patties, freezing 2/3 of it and making only two of the patties, which I made a larger size to work well on buns as a burger of sorts. These are easy to cook, and without needing a recipe, it'll make a quick easy fish meal later.

Saturday: Today I made meatless lasagna, seperating it into thirds and freezing 2 of them while baking the one. I bought reusable aluminum pans with lids for the job, and they work really well. I will use the remaining 3 for the lasagnas I plan on making in another week or two. Again, on the lids I marked the date made plus the cooking time and temperature.

Sunday I leave free, and lunches as well.

Another freezing tip: It's always nice to seperate meals into each of their own bags or containers. I like making sauces, make double, and freeze half in it's own bag (it freezes better this way as you can make it flat, and thaw it in a bowl in the bag in lukewarm water). I always mark the date made, what is in the bag/container, and if needed, the cooking time and temperature.