I love to have a nice warm muffin with yogurt and orange juice for breakfast in the morning. The problem is my daughter's school bus leaves at 7:30 am and my husband leaves for work right around the same time. And the biggest problem - I am NOT a morning person. So most mornings we stick to cold cereal. That is about to change!
This week I mixed up and baked several boxes of muffin mix that had been laying around for a while. They were nearing their expiration dates and I knew we needed to eat them. I was able to freeze over two dozen muffins. Now all we need to do on those crazy mornings is pop them in the microwave for about 30 sec. per muffin. We have a nice warm yummy muffin and no prep time, no clean up time, and no grumpy mommy!
The next step will be to find a great, healthy, from scratch muffin recipe so I can make lots once a month or so to bless my family.
My other project this week was to make some bake and serve rolls. (they are the little round white things in the middle of the picture) We love having fresh hot rolls for our big Sunday Dinners and I've decided making them from scratch the same day is too much work. So, I pulled out my bread-maker and used the roll dough recipe that came with it to crank out two dozen rolls.
First step was to throw all the ingredients into the bread-maker, then I put it on the dough setting. An hour and a half later I pulled the dough from the pan and let it rest on the counter for 10-15 min. I then divided up the dough and formed it into small balls for rolls. I placed these balls on a cookie sheet, covered them and stuck them in the freezer. When they were good and frozen (couple of hours later) I removed them from the cookie sheet and placed them in a freezer bag.
Now on Sunday all I need to do is place my little frozen dough balls in a greased pan, cover them, and let them raise for 3-5 hours or until they are doubled in size. Then I'll bake them for 25 min. at 350. Easy!
The benefit with these rolls is that I'll be able to adjust the recipe to use more whole grains and it is so easy prepare. Plus it is lots cheaper than buying rolls at the bakery or even buying the bake and serve stuff from the store.
I'm not positive on prices (since I haven't bought rolls in a long time) but I believe bakery rolls are around $3-$4 a dozen and one brand of bake and serve rolls is on sale this week for $3.59 (for 36 rolls). I figured that I used about $.90 worth of products to make my two dozen rolls (and that's only using average prices not super-great-deal-type prices on my pantry products). So, definitely some great savings!
2 comments:
Smart ideas! I think I might try that roll one...I love rolls, too. Never thought about making some up to the first rise, then freezing them.
Hey, I've got some other breakfast treats you can make ahead and freeze. One is French toast. Simply make the recipe as you usually would. I like to use a 9 x 13 pan for the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla because I can 'soak' a few pieces of bread at a time. Here's what makes it fast: cook them in the oven, not on the stove! Preheat to 350 degrees (F). Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Bake your toast for 7 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on the other side. Of course, you should adjust to your own oven, if necessary.
When they are done, put them in the freezer on a platter or cookie sheet you sprayed with non-stick stuff and freeze them just long enough so they don't stick to each other. Then bag them up--and take out as many as you want when you need them! Use your toaster or microwave to reheat.
Another idea: Cook up some of those big biscuits that come in a can (or make your own--I can't make biscuits for some reason). Fry up some bacon or sausage, or use some ham. Scramble some eggs. Put some meat, eggs and some cheese on each biscuit. Wrap them individually and put them in a plastic bag, then freeze. My boys love these. They take about a minute or so to reheat in the microwave.
I hope this helps bring some variety to your breakfast menu--and that you don't mind this is so long!
I don't use muffin papers in my muffins. I spray mine (or you can grease them with shortening) with Pam.
Two dozen muffins would only last 2 days in my house.
I make muffins in the morning and we eat them for breakfast and for snacks in the afternoon.
Making from scratch will save you a lot over the box mixes.
Post a Comment