Freezer Breakfast Burritos

I found a recipe on Pinterest for Breakfast Burritos that you make a ton of and freeze.  Such a great idea.  We are horrible breakfast eaters… so this is one great way to be able to grab a quick breakfast and go.  I tweaked the original recipe, my recipe is below. 

I took 19 eggs (how many I had on hand), 2 pounds of sausage, 1 package of turkey bacon, 2 packages of fajita size tortillas, and 1 package of cheese.  After cooking the sausage, bacon, and eggs, we laid out the tortillas and piled the ingredients on.  We separated the different kinds: 1/3 sausage, egg, and cheese; 1/3 bacon, egg, and cheese; 1/3 Hagen’s: both kinds minus the cheese. 

When ready to eat, from the freezer – unwrap the foil – wrap in a paper towel and microwave for 2 minutes. 

 

I couldn’t believe how many it ended up making!! 

Things I would change:

I wish I had wrapped in wax paper first, then foil.  This really doesn’t make a difference – but the next time I do this, I will probably add this step.

I wish I had mixed my cheese, egg and sausage together.  Again, not a big deal, but I think it would taste better mixed together.

Jeremy wants ‘real’ bacon instead of turkey bacon.  I do agree ‘real’ bacon is always better.

Since Jeremy is saying what he wants, I would love to add some sautéed onions and bell peppers to a few.

Another thing I would like – to add some hash browns or diced potatoes to them…

Homemade Pizza

I learned frozen (and fast food) pizza is very high in sodium – ummm, like a full day’s worth of sodium.  Both of the boys love pizza – I hate taking it out of their diet, so I found a recipe for low sodium pizza dough.

I used my bread maker to make the dough.

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe

2 t Active dry yeast
3 1/2 c Bread Flour
1 1/2 c Water
2 t Honey
2 T Olive Oil

Place ingredients in bread machine in order specified by manufacturer and process on dough cycle. Turn out the dough onto a floured board. At this point you may form the pizzas, or refrigerate the dough for several hours, well wrapped in plastic so it won't dry out. (Although a refrigerator rest is not necessary, it makes the dough easier to handle.) Makes enough dough for two 12-inch pizzas, or two 10-inch thick-crust pizzas. Bake at 400 degrees until lightly browned around the edges. Top as desired and return to oven until cheese is melted and crust browned, about 15 minutes total.

After the dough was ready… I needed some help   Thankfully I had some very eager helpers!

Daddy couldn’t resist getting his hands in there.

Our finished dough.

Hagen having fun with the left over dough

We used ‘no salt added’ tomato sauce.  (Yeah, it was definitely a ‘thick’ crust…)

I did use sausage – but because we had very low sodium crust and tomato sauce – we could balance it with the sausage and the cheese.

The finished pizza!  The boys loved it and again – another recipe that you could NOT tell it was low(er) sodium!!!

Low Sodium Diet–Taco Seasoning

Because of Hagen’s blood pressure issues, he is now on a low-sodium diet.  At first I was very shocked to see what the sodium content is in the food we were eating. 

I found a wonderful website that has some great recipes with zero to very low sodium.  Anyone that is on a reduced sodium diet needs to eat less than 1,500 mg of sodium a day.  If you are not on a reduced sodium diet you should not eat more than 2,000mg of sodium.  I read an article the other day that says most Americans, on average, consume up to 4,000mg of sodium a day!  After reading labels for about 2 weeks, I can see that number is not an exaggeration!

We were given the rule of thumb: no more than 130mg in one serving of each item.

My first experiment was taco seasoning.  Most taco seasoning packets have at least 350mg of sodium in them.  I found one on this website that has zero sodium!! 

Once I mixed it up, it smelled just like the seasoning packets.  

2 T Chili Powder
2 T Flour
2 t Cumin
2 t Oregano
1/2 t Onion Powder
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 t Cayenne Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a zip lock bag and shake until completely mixed. Add to browned ground beef along with 1/2-3/4 cup water and cook until reduced to desired consistency.

The boys LOVED it!  It tasted just like the sodium filled packets… but with ZERO sodium!  Someone like me that used the packets forever – I can tell it isn’t as ‘salty’ as the packets, but I did not miss it.

Here it is done, ready for Haystacks

Pineapple Chicken–Slow Cooker Recipe

If you use your crockpot at all – you have got to try these:

LOVE them!  Especially if you are going to make queso!  Absolutely NO clean up!!!  So nice!

I found this recipe tucked away in my recipe book, not sure the origin, but thought I would try it.  I love slow cooker recipes because the boys start getting a little CrAzY close to dinnertime.  This allows me to keep my eyes on them instead of having to run back and forth between the kitchen and them!!

Pineapple Chicken

The ingredients (minus the chicken)

Whisking the sauce.

Brown chicken on both sides before putting it in the crock pot (I know – I hate the idea of having to brown it first… but I’m sure that helps with the appeal after it is done).

Put sliced pineapple over chicken.

Pour sauce over chicken and pineapples.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Pineapple Chicken

4 bone-in chicken breasts halves (I used boneless), skin removed

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1 can (20 oz.) sliced pineapple

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cornstarch

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

hot cooked rice (I used brown)

In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil.  Transfer to a greased 4 qt. slow cooker.  Drain pineapple; reserving juice.  Place pineapple over chicken.  Whisk the brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, salt, ginger, and reserved juice until smooth; pour over top.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender.  Serve with rice.

UEPF Mission Continued–Taco Casserole

Tuesday night’s meal was Taco Casserole.  I admit, after watching the weather report and feeling like we will be snowed in *again* on Wednesday and Thursday, I realized I just might need some butter… so I did buy a small package of stick butter.

First, Mason stayed home from school today and got some much needed Daddy time.  Boy, did he ever soak it up!  He is such a ham!!!  Ms. C (the boys’ preschool teacher) said Hagen did awesome at school today – this was his first day to go without Mason. 

Mason and Daddy eating lunch in the living room (definitely a treat!).

Back to my UEPF Mission: Tuesday, Taco Casserole

3 cups uncooked bow tie pasta

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 jar (16 oz.) salsa

1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 envelope taco seasoning

2 cups tortilla chips, crushed

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook ground beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Add the cheese, salsa, tomatoes, pasta, and seasoning packet.  Transfer to a greased 11x9 dish.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes.  Uncover; sprinkle with tortilla chips and bake 10 minutes longer or until heated through.

Tips:

I (almost) always use frozen onions.  For me, it saves money because if I buy the onion, I never use the whole onion and I have probably thrown away more onions that have gone bad than used.  I love how you don’t even have to thaw them out and you can put in just the amount you need.  No tears either, they are already diced up.  Perfect for me!

I also discovered that I didn’t have any salsa (we used it all for our super bowl feast).  I did have one can of rotel, so I used that instead of the salsa.  I think it made the dish a little spicier, but the boys still liked it.

Shredded cheese can get expensive… so I try to buy the block and shred it myself.  I sliced a huge hole in my thumb about a month ago using the cheese grater – so I breakout the food processor and grate it in there.  Much faster and easier on my thumb.   

I shred the whole block and then store it in a ziplock baggie.  I need to figure out how much I actually save by doing this… wonder if it is worth it?

Here it is before I covered it and put it in the oven.

Hagen, always the starving one – taste-tested it – he gave it a thumbs up.

Mason also liked it, anything with cheese!  Seriously… this kid eats his weight in cheese every week!

I liked it, too.  I will add it to my recipes.  It really had a good taco taste, I liked the pasta with it.  I probably could have done without the chips – but, I think the boys enjoyed the crunch.

Apricot-Glazed Salmon

 

I am not a huge fan of salmon, but Jeremy loves it and I know it is really healthy for you… I found a recipe out of my Simple and Delicious magazine that I tried several months ago.  I made it again tonight and thought I would share – for someone that is not a fan of salmon, I really like this recipe.

The recipe calls for wine or chicken broth.  I use chicken broth.  I also used some other substitutions that I will tell you about on the way.  The complete recipe is found using the link above.  (I’m being lazy and didn’t feel like typing all of it out.)

One huge time saver – prechopped ginger and even though this recipe doesn’t call for it, I also buy the prechopped garlic.  I have heard you can save money by buying garlic, prechopping it and store it in your own jar filled with olive oil – I just haven’t done that yet.

Rice and salmon ready to go.  The butcher was nice and cut the boys slightly smaller pieces, it didn’t really affect the cooking time.

Here is the marinade that you pour over the meat.  It is just apricot spread, chicken broth, and ginger.

The rice in this recipe is so creamy…. you use chicken broth instead of water, I really think this is the key.  It is SO good. 

After I got the salmon in the oven and rice simmering, I had extra time… hmmm, what to do with my extra time.

Jeremy loves rice Krispy treats and I had all the ingredients… so – you know the drill, right?  Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a heavy bottom pan. 

Add 1 package (10 oz.) of mini marshmallows.  Stir until melted.

I decided to get a little creative – which Jeremy hates… he hates when I experiment.  But, sorry honey, I love experimenting – I hardly ever use measuring cups.

Once the marshmallows have melted, you add your 6 cups of rice Krispy cereal ~ and in this case, add some chocolate chips.

A tip I learned from my mother-in-law (according to my husband, she is the world’s best rice Krispy treat maker ) – take cooking spray and spray the back of your spoon, it keeps the rice Krispy from sticking to the spoon and allows you to spread the treats out evenly.

The timing was perfect – as I finished up dessert, my rice was ready to add my spices.  I didn’t have chives (oh well) and I didn’t have any dried apricots, so I added some apricot spread from the jar I used for the marinade.  8 more minutes and it would be done.  (Oh and I used dried herbs – I’m sure it would be better with fresh, but Martha Stewart does not live in the house.)

Here is the salmon and the rice, done… Mmmmm, less than 30 minutes.