Works for Me: Freezing the cookie dough

I have a sweets problem, so an entire batch of cookies at my house is a bad idea. I can't make myself stop eating them. It's sad, I know.

So, instead of baking an entire batch of cookies, I just bake what we'll eat that night or day and freeze the rest.

I use one of these guys to portion out the dough easily. I then freeze the little balls on a cookie sheet or cutting board. Once they are frozen, I transfer them to a freezer bag with the bake temperature and cooking time.

This means we have fresh cookies. I only have to prep once. And I can control myself.

For more Works for Me posts, visit We are THAT family here.

Freezer Meals

I'm planning to stock up our freezer with easy meals and snacks for the days when things just don't go right or I'm too pressed for time to make a proper meal. I also need to be prepared for my trip this summer when my husband and youngest son will be one their own for 3 weeks with the cooking. And, I'm trying to come up with some ideas for a close friend who is expecting.

Hear me Lou? Clean out your freezer and think of some yummies! And you may want to warn your friends/relatives that I may be enlisting their help . . . =)

Some things I'll be making as full meals. Others I'll be freezing in individual portions using my jumbo muffin pan. This works great for soups, etc.

Here's my plan for my freezer:

Pumpkin muffins (I'll be adding a little oatmeal to make them more filling)
Pumkin oatmeal waffles
French Puffs
Biscuits

Baked Oatmeal (single serve)
Black Bean Burritos
Pizza Dough (We use Crystal's recipe)
Black Bean & Hominy Soup
Ham Pockets
Pot Pies (single serve and full size)

Cookies of various flavors (I freeze the dough to bake as needed later. This also helps me with portion control =)

Crystal has a great post up over at Mom of Littles covering her freezer plan (with recipes!) as she preps for the arrival of her sweet new one.

Works For Me: Easy Snacks

For easy snacks at our house, I have a drawer in the kitchen set aside for non perishable snacks. I buy things in bulk, and divide them into portions using snack size ziploc bags. It really works for us to have something we can grab and go when we will be out of the house. It's also nice to have snacks that the kids can get to if I am busy with something else.

Things like dried fruit, pretzels, nuts, cereal (cheerios and chex) are staples in the drawer as well as any things that I may have picked up on as good deals. Right now we have a lot of Kashi bars, and I'll be adding PopTarts as well thanks to this great deal at Target (thanks Crystal!). For the kiddos, I'll be separating the Tarts into one per snack bag.

I also dedicate a drawer in the fridge for things like cheese, diced meat, veggies, and fruit. While the cheese and meat are perishable, you can make up a large batch of each and freeze them. This would benefit you in having all of the work done ahead of time, and you would be able to just transfer the amount you would use down the the refrigerator each week. Grapes and bananas both freeze well. They make yummy treats frozen, or you can transfer them to the freezer just as easily.

For more Work for Me posts visit We are THAT family here.

Baking Day!

Today I decided to do a baking day. My husband and I don't really have anything we can take with us in the mornings to snack on, and we rarely have time for breakfast in the morning. I had the day off of work, so I decided today would be a great day to take action, rather than just talk about it. I wasn't able to really get any housework done beyond several sinks full of dishes, but here is what I did get accomplished.

** 1 lemon meringue pie (I was craving it!)
** 2 dozen zucchini muffins
** 1 loaf of cinnamon bread
** 1 dozen dinner rolls
** foccacia
** 2 baguettes

Doing all of this baking today, even though it was a lot of work, will save us in the coming week. I know that I'll have nutritious, homemade foods for our family. It will save me time at dinner, and my husband and I will have things we can take to class with us which will prevent us from wasting money on take out. I'll do a little more cooking tomorrow for the week ahead. I'll do baked oatmeal and puffs for quick breakfasts. Maybe I'll make a double batch up pancakes for breakfast and freeze the rest. . .but then again, I better not get too far ahead of myself =)

"Cents"ible Sawyer -- New Video -- Stockpiling

The "Cents"ible Sawyer has a new video post up all about stockpile here. Denise gives you the ins and outs on how to start your own stockpile. She has a lot of super ideas.

Go check them out!

Did you know she was chosen to participate in Wal-Mart's Eleven Moms program? It is a video series designed to save us money. How cool is that? Find out more about the program and meet all eleven moms here.

Saving Time, Saving Money

Is it just me, or are there some days you just don't want to cook? There are times after a long and busy day when I just can't be bothered to go near the kitchen. Sometimes we are just very busy and run out of time. Other days, the sink is full of dishes and the kitchen is a mess. I think, "By the time I get the kitchen ready to make anything, it will be too late to make anything."

I don't really like the idea of feeding the kids cereal and peanut-butter and jelly for dinner, though believe me, that has happened. This "time-crunch" is another one of our "excuses" for eating out.

Lately, I've been trying to reduce this crunch in order to keep our budget low and our family eating healthier. One of the newer things I've been trying is making large quantities of things that freeze well--think sauces, pasta, meat, soups, etc. I then take these items and freeze them in quantities that I would need for meals, or in the case of the soups, serving sizes.

I know that can sound a little complicated and like a lot of work! I've noticed though that I'm not really spending much more time in the kitchen, as I often to this prep work in between other things. Last night, for instance, I made a pot of corn chowder while I was waiting for dinner to cook. I opted for this for myself instead of the tacos. I then froze the rest in serving size portions. This is much easier than I thought it would be.

I simply fill an extra large muffin tin with the soup and place it in the freezer! It's that easy! To remove, I dip the bottom of the pan in warm water, pop out the "portions", and place in a freezer bag. It really helps me to have these ready, and they are so quick to prepare when we are in a hurry!

Another thing I do to save time is to cook my meat in bulk. When I buy chicken breasts, I'll cook them in the crock pot during the day while we are away. That evening, I'll separate the chicken into meal-sized portions to use for meals later. Meals are much easier to prepare when the meat is already cooked. It is still quick on the days when you "forget" to take the meat out of the freezer for dinner!

Lastly, if I need to prep large veggies for a meal, I prep the entire veggie. Rarely do we use an entire squash, zucchini, etc for a meal. I go ahead and prep the entire veggie rather than just the portion I'll need for that meal. This ensures a quick dinner on a later night. Having the prep work done encourages me to use the rest of these veggies that may have otherwise gone to waste.

Initially, these can sound like a lot of work, but these hints really do save time. I don't feel like I'm spending much more time in the kitchen on these than normal since I try to do them during down times when I'm normally cooking. How about you? What does your family do to save time in the kitchen?