MOPS

This week's feature is Mexican Tortilla Skillet. This is one of my new favorites. So simple to make, but absolutely delicious. This one won't bust your budget...and who doesn't love that!?

1 lb. Cooked ground beef.
1 can tomato soup
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup salsa
12 flour tortillas (burrito size)
1/4 cup water

Lie tortillas stacked one on top of the other, onto a cutting board. Use a pizza cutter to cut tortillas into 1 inch strips.

Rotate cutting board and cut tortillas again so that you have 1 inch square tortilla pieces.

Combine all of the ingredients into a skillet and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add cheese on top and let cook until the cheese melts.

This meal is perfect for a quick, frugal family night dinner. The Mexican Tortilla Skillet serves 4 and costs $1.25 per serving when shopping at Aldi. Little tip: Aldi is a great place to get staples that are inexpensive. All of the ingredients in this recipe are sold at Aldi so you can one stop shop!

This is one of my husband's new favorites. Here it is:

Ingredients:
2 cups spaghetti sauce
1 pkg. (25 ounces) frozen Italian sausage ravioli or ravioli of your choice
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozarella cheese
1 pkg. (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place 1 cup spaghetti sauce in a greased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Top with half of the ravioli, mozarella cheese, spinach, and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Do this fun treat with your kid's help...

What You Need

1 roll of sugar cookie dough or your favorite homemade sugar cookie recipe
1 medium-sized gingerbread boy cookie cutter
"Red Hots" candies or other round candies for eyes
canned vanilla frosting
white chocolate almond bark
________________________________
What You Do

Roll the cookie dough out on a lightly floured table. Cut out gingerbread boys and bake as directed. Remove cookies to cooling racks and set on counter to completely cool. Do not attempt to frost warm cookies, the frosting and chocolate will melt.

Frost the entire top of each cookie with the vanilla frosting. Using the "red hots", give each mummy 2 eyes.

Add three blocks of white almond bark to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until the almond bark is completely melted. Let the chocolate sit on the counter for one to two minutes to cool, and then spoon it into a plastic baggie. Snip off one end of the bag and then drizzle the chocolate over the mummy cookies to look like bandages.

Dry on cooling racks. These cookies do not pack or store well once decorated. I suggest eating them the same day that they are frosted and decorated. You can make and bake the sugar cookies ahead of time and freeze them until ready to use. Just make sure that they cookies are completely thawed out before frosting.

I found this idea on Tami's Kitchen Table Talk. There are other fun Halloween treat ideas on there if you are looking for more.

Pizza
Pizza Crust (see recipe below)
Pizza sauce
Toppings (veges/ ham/ sausage/ pepperoni)
2 cups Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese

Once the pizza crust (recipe below) is done and spread out on your greased pizza pan (or stone), put toppings on and then bakes at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Homemade Pizza Crust
Use your bread machine to mix up and knead the dough. Place the following ingredients into the bread machine in order:

1 cup warm water 1 1/2 cups white flour
1 tsp. salt 1 cup wheat flour
1 tsp. sugar 2 tsp. yeast
2 Tbs. Olive Oil

Let the bread machine mix the dough and knead it (using the dough cycle). Let it mix and knead until the dough looks good and then stop the machine, take the dough out, and spread it on a greased pizza pan or stone.
**If you are mixing by hand, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

I made this today for the first time for our family and we were all so pleased. My son will always eat pizza, so that did not surprise me. What did surprise me is how big the pizza was. We couldn't eat it all. We were pleasantly stuffed, and I loved that this recipe used wheat flour in the crust as well as white flour. I will definitely be making this one again. One thing that I would like to add is a little trick I learned when I worked at Chuck E. Cheeses back in High School: Melt 2 Tbs. butter in the microwave and stir in about 1/8 tsp. garlic powder. Use your baster to coat the outside crust once you take it out of the oven. Also, sprinkle a little Italian seasoning or pizza seasoning over the entire pizza.

ENJOY!!

You're family will love you forever for making this one! :) It is absolutely DELICIOUS!! (and very easy...so you will love you too!)

2 packages (3 ounces each) beef-flavored ramen noodles
Boneless beef sirloin steak (3/4 inch thick)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (save one half for the Jalapeno Swiss burgers later this week)
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 Tbs. water
2 Tbs. steak sauce
1 medium carrot, shredded
2 Tbs. green onion sliced

Set aside seasoning packet from noodles. Prepare noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside. While noodles are cooking, cut steak into 3 in strips. In a large skillet, stir-fry the beef and jalapeno pepper in oil for 1-2 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

In the same skillet, combine the noodles, water, steak sauce, carrot, onion, and contents of seasoning packet. Cook and stir until heated through. Return beef to the pan and mix in.

Dinner is served!

Side note: I take the steak out of my son's portion. One day I thought I would let him try to eat it. I thought, "He needs protein. This will be good for him". He gnawed away on one piece for a good 5 minutes before we finally told him just to spit it out. :) He loves the rest of the recipe, though. So, that helps to make up for an otherwise traumatizing experience of not knowing how to swallow a chunk of meat. :) Poor kid.

Pumpkins are on sale for cheap all over the place now. Here is one way to make puree out of your pumpkins, to be frozen and used again in the future. Label your bags with the date you made your puree. It should last up to 6 months in your typical freezer. Let as much air out of your bags as you can to prevent freezer burn.

My dear college friend took pictures of the last time she made puree. Here are your step by step directions.

1. Find a pumpkin patch and pick out several pumpkins.

2. Go home and have some fun cleaning out the pumpkin guts! Make sure to save all of the seeds.

3. Cut your pumpkin in half and continue cleaning it up.

4. Cut your pumpkin into smaller pieces and place them on a baking sheet (or two!)

5. Place your pumpkin (with skin on) into the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the pumpkin looks soft and golden.

6. Remove the pumpkin pieces. Let them cool for a moment. Remove the skin, it peels right off the back!

7. Place your pumpkin into a food processor, or blender, and blend into a nice puree is formed.

8. Place your puree into seperate bags/tupperware and freeze. This puree will last several months in your freezer and can be used to make all sorts of yummy things in the coming weeks.

Now, clean off your pumpkin seeds. Even clean they will remain slimy.

Place them on a baking sheet and let them sit overnight.

The next day sprinkle them with olive oil, salt, pepper and seasonings of your choice and bake them!

Thank you to Katie at www.mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com for sharing her tips and pics.

This recipe came from my mother. It was the first dinner I prepared for my darling husband back when we were dating. I served it with apple sauce and Mountain Dew. :) This is back when we used to drink Mountain Dew like it was a dietary supplement that should not be missed. My husband (boyfriend at the time) ate seconds and thirds. Needless to say, I have been making it ever since.

What you need:
1-2 eggs, uncooked
1 lb chicken cut into pieces
1 tsp. garlic (1-2 garlic cloves)
1-2 cups rice cooked
vegetable oil
soy sauce
Frozen veges (we use peas, carrots, green beans blend)

Begin to cook rice, according to the directions on the package. Pour 2-3 Tbs. oil into skillet and begin to heat oil. Toss in 1-2 eggs and scramble. Add 1-2 cloves garlic and chicken. Allow to cook until chicken is no longer pink on the inside. Throw in vegetables and cook for 6-8 minutes or until veggies are tender. Stir in rice and soy sauce. (more or less according to taste)

To healthify this recipe substitute the following:
olive oil for veggie oil
brown rice for white rice
low sodium soy sauce for regular soy sauce.
For whatever reason, growing up, we always at this with apple sauce on the side. :)

ENJOY!

For whatever reason, I cannot get the pics onto this blog today. (I'll ask my husband about it later) If you are interested in seeing the recipe with pictures you can go here.

Ingredients:
I Jiffy Box of Corn Muffin Mix
1/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Milk
1 egg
2 Tbs. Chilli Powder
1 tsp. Parsley
1 can Chili (they said with no beans, but we used beans)
2 cups Shredded Cheddar cheese

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except for the can of chili and the cheddar cheese. On a floured surface knead the dough 10-15 times until it is easy enough to work with.
Roll out dough into a 9"x11" pan that has been greased. I had to use extra flour to get rid of some of the stickiness. Use the back of a spoon if you do not have a one-handed rolling pin.
Use the back of a spoon to spread the chili over the corn bread mixture.
Sprinkle cheese over the beans. Cook in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
Taken from a Jiffy mixes Recipe book.
Dinner is served.

Ingredients:
Frozen On Cor Chicken Parmesan or Veal Parmesan Dinner
Spaghetti

Directions:
Pop frozen chicken patties into your microwave and cook according the directions on the package.

Cook spaghetti according the directions on the package.

Plop some cooked spaghetti onto a plate. Plop a chicken patty onto the spaghetti noodles.

Our family ABSOLUTELY LOVES this dinner. It can't get any easier to make either. :) Enjoy!
Here is what your child will look like during dinner:

Here is what your plate will look like after dinner:

Baked cheesy chicken and biscuits
Use leftover turkey in place of chicken, if you have any.

I would suggest a few things:
1. To save some prep time: Bake the chicken (baking it makes it juicy!) ahead of time
2. Have a sink full of soapy water to put diry dishes in to save clean-up time
3. Make a double batch if you are serving more than 4 people.

This is what you need:

Ingredients: 1 can cream of chicken soup, 3/4 cup sour cream (divided), 2 cups chopped cooked chicken, 1 pkg. frozen mixed veggies (thawed), 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 cup baking mix, 3 tbs. milk., 8 inch baking dish (or larger if you double)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Step 2: Mix soup and 1/2 cup sour cream in a bowl (or your baking dish)
Step 3: Add sour cream and soup mixture to thawed veggies
Step 4: Add chicken to mixture and 2 cups of cheese
Step 4: Mix together
Step 5: Mix 1 cup baking mix with 1/4 cup sour cream and 3 tbsp. milk
Step 6: Stir until dough forms
Step 7: Spread mixture into pan and dollop biscuit dough on top
Step 8: Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Thanks to Sarah for the idea!

Baked Macaroni & Cheese Casserole

I found this one and had to post it, because let's face it...what toddler does not love mac and cheese? Enjoy!

1 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked according to pkg. directions
1 pkg. Kraft sharp cheese, grated
1 can cream of chicken OR cream of mushroom soup (Campbell's)
Bread crumbs
Milk

Instructions:

Mix soup with 1 can of milk in a bowl.

Butter or spray a large casserole dish.

Put alternating layers of the macaroni, cheese, and the soup into dish. Top with bread crumbs.

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Serves 6.

******
Add chicken or veggies to make it a one dish meal. Double the recipe and freeze one portion for another night to save yourself time later.

Thanks to Tami's Kitchen Table Talk for the idea.

Creamy 3 cheese tortellini w/ tomatoes and spinach

Here is what you need to serve a family of 4:

1 cup of milk, 9 oz three cheese tortellini, 3-6 oz spinach, 1 cup sliced grape/cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup parmesean cheese, 6 oz cream cheese, 1/4 tsp. pepper

Step 1: Over medium heat, place 1 cup milk and 6 oz cream cheese (cubed) in a saucepan. Stir constantly until the cheese is all melted.

Step 2: Once the cheese is all melted, add 1/4 tsp. pepper and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and continue stirring

Step 3: Cook tortellini according to the package directions. Note that I used one 9 oz container for a family of 4. If you want leftovers or have more than 4 people, I would recommend using at least 12 oz.

Step 4: Wash and cut your tomatoes in half. If you are making garlic bread, this is the time to put it in the oven!

Step 5: Place spinach in with cream sauce, stir and let cook. I used about 3 oz of spinach. The original recipe calls for 6 oz, so if your family loves spinach add it all!

Step 6: Drain tortellini and place tortellini and tomatoes in saucepan to simmer with the spinach and sauce. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes. If you cook too long, the tomatoes will start to pull away from their skin. (I can't believe I forgot a picture of this step- sorry!

Step 7: Serve and Enjoy!

Serves: 4

Thanks to Sarah Anne for another great dinner idea!

1 1/2 pounds lean (90%) ground beef
3/4 cup quick or old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided

1 egg
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine ground beef, oats, bell pepper, onion, 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, egg, thyme, salt and black pepper in Classic Batter Bowl; mix lightly but thoroughly.
2. Shape meat mixture into loaf in Stoneware Loaf Pan. Insert Digital Thermometer into center of meat loaf. Bake 50 minutes.
3. Spread remaining 1/4 cup barbecue sauce over meat loaf. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until meat is no longer pink in center of meat loaf and internal temperature reaches 160°F using Digital Thermometer. Remove from oven. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrients per serving: Calories 280, Fat 13 g, Sodium 660 mg, Fiber 2 g

©The Pampered Chef, Ltd. 2008
www.pamperedchef.com

This is a simplified version of an idea that was in the dessert Pampered Chef cookbook I just recently got when one of my dear MOPS friends had a show at her house. Use one box of white cake, one tub of white frosting, (there is another recipe for the frosting in the cookbook that uses marshmallow creme. If you are interested in more specifics let me know and I will type it in) and various candies to make a snowman cake with your children. I am using fruit by the foot for a scarf, mini pretzel rods for the arms, m & m eyes, fruit snack buttons, candy corn nose, and chocolate chips for the mouth, but use what you have on hand.

Mix cake batter as the directions tell you to do, but add 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar.
Use three different size glass bowls sprayed with cooking spray. I used my prep bowl, (1 cup bowl, with 1/2 cup mix), my mini batter bowl (4 cup bowl, with 1-1/2 cup mix) and my classic batter bowl (8 cup bowl with the rest of the mix).

Cook cakes. I did 30 minutes for the mini cake, 45 for the middle size, and about 55 minutes for the big cake. You'll know the cakes are done when the cakes spring back and not sink in when you touch the middle.

Let them cool completely. Wait at least an hour if you can. Too much heat from the cake while doing the frosting will be a messy situation. I can tell you from my previous experience that you will have a melting snowman...which could also be fun, but not the look we are going for.

Stick skewers (I used straws because it is what we had) down into the cakes after you stack them, to hold the three cakes one on top of the other. I used three straws and it held pretty well. Frost and decorate. I am decorating ours tomorrow with my son. I will post a picture after we are done. Should be interesting. :)

Have fun!

A couple of years ago, our oven went kaput. The one good thing that came from bidding farewell to our appliance friend came a number of new recipes from friends as I lamented about having to rely on our range, microwave, and crock pot for anything involving a hot meal as we shopped around for a good deal . . . a process which took a little longer than I'd have preferred. But, I digress . . .

Thanks to Tamra Tanner, wife to lead pastor Gene Tanner, I added a new crock pot recipe to my collection and would like to share it with all of you. It involves 5 ingredients and 5 minutes of prep work and tastes wonderful! Better yet, each member of my family likes it, too! Hopefully you'll experience similar luck with your own families. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Beef & Noodles

1 can of each: Cream of Mushroom Soup, French Onion Soup, Golden Mushroom Soup
1 lb beef stew meat
1 bag of egg noodles

Combine soups and stew meat in crock pot. Cook 6-8 hours on low heat.
Boil egg noodles and add to crock pot just prior to serving.

To turn this into a meal, serve with soup from the can

Ingredients:
6 large russet potatoes
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 Tbs. taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
15 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
3 green onions, chopped
Salsa and/or sour cream, optional

Directions:
Bake potatoes at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until tender. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. When cool enough to handle, cut the potatoes lengthwise into quarters.

Scoop out pulp, leaving 1/4 inch shell. (save pulp for another use...maybe to go with lunch tomorrow?)
Combine the butter and taco seasoning;
brush over both sides of potato skins.
Place skin side down on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with cheese, bacon, and onions. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Serve with salsa and/ or sour cream if desired.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
1/4 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 cup chopped peeled tart apples
TOPPING:
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbs. cold butter

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream and butter. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Peel and chop apples. I use a peeler/corer/slicer to make the peeling and chopping very fast. I am showing pictures, in case if you have never seen one used. I use my peeler/corer/slicer all the time when I make anything with apples and it save lots of time. Definitely a worthwhile investment. Fold in apples. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. I use a mini muffin pan because my son can easily pop one into his mouth as a snack. If you are using a mini muffin pan use 1 Tbs. batter for each cup. If you are using a regular size muffin tin use 3 Tbs. batter for each cup.
For topping, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle a rounded teaspoonful over each muffin. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes(I do 12-15 minutes when using a mini muffin pan) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Serve warm.

Makes 16 regular size muffins.

Makes 4 (1.25 cup) servings.

I have to start by saying that these pictures do not do this recipe justice. This soup is so good that it may just become a weekly "Sunday soup" in your house. Extra bonus: Doesn't take a lot of ingredients either. This one came from my Five Ingredient, Fifteen Minute cookbook. I LOVE this cookbook. It is definitely my favorite of all my cookbooks. This recipe has two easy steps.

Ingredients: 1 (14.5 oz.) can stewed tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz.) can chicken broth or vege broth
1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning (I always use it from an Italian seasoning packet, but I think the recipe intends that you just use regular seasoning)
3 cups frozen cheese ravioli (about 12 ounces)
1 small zucchini, sliced
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Step One: Combine first three ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
Step Two: Add ravioli, zucchini, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heart, and simmer 7 minutes or until pasta and zucchini are tender.

Now, the question is: Will you use a fork or a spoon?!

Thought I would give you a new breakfast idea. We loved this one. It came from a cookbook my mother-in-law gave me this Christmas. It is called, Taste of Home HOLIDAY get-togethers: 549 Festive Recipes to share with Friends and Family.
If you someone who loves getting new cookbooks I would put this one on a wish list somewhere. ;0) Okay, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
3 cups frozen loose-pack shredded hash browns, thawed
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup diced fully cooked ham
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup diced green pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions:
1. Press hash browns between paper towel to remove excess moisture.
2. Press into the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-inch pie plate. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.3. Combine the ham, cheese, and green pepper; spoon over the crust. (nice little head shot of my son here...he thinks he has to help me cook everything. At 2 and a half, I have not trusted him to measure yet, but stirring is more his thing.)4. In a small bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
5. Pour over all. 6. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake for 25-35 minutes or until knife insert near the center comes out clean. (hint: If the eggs jiggles when you go to move the dish, it is not done.) Allow to stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Yield: 6 servings, but for my family it was more like 4 servings. :)

Click here to print this recipe.

I will be doing this one for my husband on Saturday. He is a big breakfast kind of guy.
Here it is:

Ingredients:
Bread
Egg
Butter or butter spray
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut out a shape of a heart into your bread slice.

Heat a frying pan and spray with butter spray, or melt a little butter onto pan.
Place bread onto the pan and crack egg into the heart of the bread.
Allow the egg to set on the one side before turning to cook the other side.
Salt and pepper to your liking.

I served mine with salsa, because I love salsa. If doing this one as a Valentine's Breakfast consider serving it with bacon or sausage.

Ingredients:
2 cans of tuna
Mayo
green olives, black olives, or you could even cut grapes in half.
hot dog buns
pretzel sticks
a few round tortilla chips (if doing the butterfly)

Instructions:
1. Drain tuna and add about 1/8 cup mayo for every can of tuna used. (1/4 cup mayo if you are using two cans like I ended up doing. 2 cans made 5 sandwiches nicely)
2. Lay hot dog buns flat side up and spread tuna mixture over bottom halves of hot dog buns.
3. Shred cheddar cheese over the tuna.
4. Cook in a 350 degree oven for approx. 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and buns slightly toasted.
5. Put buns tops on and decorate, turning into a butterfly or a spider, depending on what kind of child God has blessed you with. ;) Preston gets a spider and watches me eat my butterfly.

Download and print a copy of this recipe here.

You know when you start a recipe and you are half way through the recipe when you realize that you don't have one major ingredient that you ALWAYS have on hand...like sugar or something like that? Well, I have a list for you. It is a resource for you. It is a list of common foods you might need for a recipe, and things you can use to substitute that ingredient. Hope this is helpful to some of you mommas out there.

Click here to download, or print a list of substitutions you can use in your own kitchen.

This recipe is actually a Pampered Chef recipe. It reminded me of the White Castle cheeseburgers. My husband calls them sliders. He LOVES sliders. It's a different way of making the classic cheeseburger. It's easy, it's fun, and it's tasty. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (I did not use fresh)
1-1/2 lb. 90% lean ground beef
1 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp. salt
6 slices American cheese
8 hot dog buns
24 hamburger dill pickle slices (I ignored this part, since my family would not eat pickles)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Finely chop onion and parsley using food chopper. Combine beef, onion, parsley, garlic and salt in a medium sized bowl; mix well. Press beef mixture evenly over bottom of Large bar pan or 9x13 pan.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until beef is no longer pink.

2. Meanwhile, cut cheese into quarters; set aside. Slice buns apart neatly at seam (do not separate tops from bottoms). Trim about 1/4 in. from each bun end to square off ends. (discard trimmings). Cut buns into thirds for a total of 24 square mini buns; set aside.

3. Remove bar pan from oven. Pour off juices, if necessary, and place on cooling rack. Cut beef mixture into 24 squares, using pizza cutter. Top each burger with one pickle and one piece of cheese. Place one fun top onto each burger; top with one bun bottom.

Cover bar pan with aluminum foil and bake 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and buns are warm.

4. To serve, place one burger with bun top onto one bun bottom using a mini serving spatula. Repeat with remaining burgers and bun bottoms. Serve immediately.

If you were at MOPS this week you heard me talk a little about freezing meals and how that can save time, money, and energy. One mom questioned what kinds of foods freeze well and what kinds of foods don't. My friend answered this question today on mealplanningmommies.com, so if you are interested in reading up on that go here. Our meal for today is a meal that can be frozen and eaten later. Make a huge batch of this and fill up several bags and you'll have dinner for several nights. (not in a row) ;0)

Our freezer meal is called Cheesy Filled Shells and you can find the recipe with pictures here.

Okay, mommas, here's one you can make a bunch of and freeze to use later. Waffles. If you have a waffle maker you can do this one. I think I got my waffle maker at Walgreens for like $5 or something, so mine is super cheap, but there are some really nice ones out there. Any waffle recipe will freeze well really, but I am supplying the one I made this morning for those of you who are interested. It uses whole-wheat flour, so you can feel good about it. ;) I doubled the recipe to make for several waffles, but if you go by these directions you might get 8-10 waffles. You could also triple or quadruple the recipe if you have enough room in your freezer.

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil or melted butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Lightly beat together wet ingredients in another. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Pour batter onto lightly-oiled waffle iron and bake until done.

We served ours with sliced bananas, crushed walnuts, and syrup. Yummy!

To freeze, let them cool and then stick 5-6 in each freezer bag. To thaw, just pull them straight out of the freezer and heat in the microwave, in a toaster oven, or in the oven.

I just got this recipe from Jan Zurek today and I had to share...especially since I never got around to Food on Friday (on Friday). So, Jan, thanks for a great recipe. Here's what Jan says:

This recipe lets you make 2 casseroles; 1 for today and 1 to freeze. You could add a little more chicken and tortillas to stretch the servings even further and freeze 2-3 meals! I put the slow cooker on right before bed and assembled the dish the next morning. Easy breezy!

Yield: 2 Casseroles (2 servings each)

1 # boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 1-1/2#)
2 15-oz cans of enchilada sauce
1 4-oz can of chopped green chilies
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
8 6-in flour tortillas (I used 12)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Mexican cheese blend
Sour cream, optional

1. In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the chicken, enchilada sauce and chilies. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees.
2. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Reserve 1-2/3 cups cooking juices. Pour the remaining cooking juices into a large bowl; add the beans and shredded chicken. Coat two freezer-safe 8-in square baking dishes with cooking spray; add ½ cup reserved juices to each (I didn't do the last step here)
3. Place about 1/3 cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in prepared dishes. Pour remaining reserved juices over top; sprinkle with cheese.
4. Cover and freeze one dish for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the second dish at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is lightly browned. Serve with sour cream if desired.

To use the frozen enchiladas: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake as directed.

Sneaking some nutrients into that box of brownie mix. Inspired by the book we have mentioned in our MOPS meetings lately, "The Sneaky Chef", I came up with my own version of brownies with some nutrients packed away. The family loved them so I thought I would share.

Click here for a recipe and pictures of some sneaky brownies you can make with your kids.