Good morning! As I mentioned yesterday, today is a day of baking and cooking (and freezing) with the hope of "getting ahead" a bit on some snacks, breakfasts and meal components.
I woke up this morning and made one important discovery....2 pounds of pintos are not going to work in a 4.5-quart crockpot! I've never made this much at once and didn't think about it when I poured the whole bag in to my "regular" crockpot. When I checked them as I was making my coffee, I found that the soaking process had expanded them to the top of the pot! Luckily I also have a 6-quart, so I did a quick rinse and switcheroo and the beans are on! Cooking time is supposed to be 8 hours on low, but they are pretty well hydrated now and I don't think that they are going to take that long!
After gulping down a pot cup of coffee and pulling butter out to soften, I was off to get the kids out of bed and off to school.
Then I realized that not only did I not have enough eggs and milk to get through Baking day, I also forgot to start the dishwasher before I went to bed (probably because the Oscars were so boring last night that I fell asleep on the sofa watching them!).
So after a quick run to Acme and starting the dishwasher (which is now done)the actual baking got off to a slower start!
The beans are a-cookin' and I have a double batch of pumpkin muffins done (I made some of them mini-muffins for my 2-year old) and the Baked Oatmeal just went in the oven.
Add one more large muffin to the count, because my daughter had no intention of waiting until the 2nd batch came out and for me to take a picture before she ate one!
Are you doing any baking today? How is it going?
Jen C
Thanks for the inspiration. I made baked oatmeal this morning, and my daughter must have liked it since she was eating some while I was making lunch, then asked if she could have some after lunch and then for a snack. I'd say that makes it a winner!
If I can get the kids down, I will try some muffins and soaking the beans so they can cook overnight. Good note - 2 pounds beans = 6 qt crock pot.
Leah
good job so far! that baked oatmeal is awesome...one of my fave recipes. i love how when you freeze it, it's really crumbly so you can freeze more servings than you need in one container, and just crumble out what you need at any given time. saves space! add a little milk to warm it and oooh so good! i'm going to check out the recipe you posted for pumpkin muffins..i have some pumpkin in the freezer i need to use!
Lisa
I just stumbled upon your blog today and I love it! I am a former SAHM, who is now a WAHM and wants to try to get back to being a SAHM again soon. I long to have the time to have a morning just for baking!
Have you ever estimated your savings by baking from scratch rather than buying mixes or premade things? I am sure that would be an interesting figure!
Donna S
I also had to run to the store to pick up a few ingredients since I was not prepared.
So far I have made 12 cups of rice, 4 pans of spinach rice casserole (1 pan has already been devoured!) Black beans are cooking (I only soaked them for 2-3 hours this morning so I hope they come out good! Next I'll tackle some baking, maybe baked oatmeal too, we love it! Pancakes or waffles... if my son ever falls asleep!!
Thanks again for the inspiration for the day!
Mindi
you're more than welcome! I hope you'll come back and let us know how it went!
Gail
Should your daughter need help in taste testing the pumpkin muffins, I will be happy to help! They are one of my favorites.
I will bake tomorrow. I want to make some homemade "fruit and grain" bars for lunches, red beans and rice (I have nice ham bone in the freezer from last weeks Sunday ham), maybe some taco meat to freeze, spaghetti sauce....
Mindi
See! I've started a trend!
(actually it was MoneySavingMom who started it...I just copied her ;-0 )
Sara
Great job! Your muffins look delicious! I baked banana muffins and cupcakes yesterday. These will be used for snacks this week. I also cut up and froze bananas and strawberries. They will be used in smoothies.
Mindi
I have some strawberries that I'm not in the mood to eat and I don't think are going to last much longer. I'm going to throw them in the freezer as well.
I've never frozen bananas...they don't go brown in the freezer?
Sara
I take the bananas out of the peel and slice them. I freeze them on a cookie sheet and then transfer them to a ziplock bag once frozen. They do not turn brown at all and are delicious in smoothies.
Shannon
What a great idea! Now I know what to do with my browning bananas that I know won't be eaten! Thanks!
Jennifer Y
We had a snow day today and I made the pumpkin muffins and some baked oatmeal (slightly different recipe). The pumpkin muffins are one of the best recipes I've ever tasted--and so easy. I can't believe I've never made them before!! I made half with craisins, so yummy.
I split my baked oatmeal into 2 8x8 pans. I baked one and DS and I have been munching on it all day. I froze the other one unbaked to see how that turns out...