Even Little Bitty Kids Can Cook- Breakfast Cookies

They look great don't they? Can you believe that this tasty looking treats are actually a great breakfast cookie to eat on the run. We went on a nearly 2 week trip to DisneyWorld and were looking for easy breakfast items to grab and eat while on the shuttle to the parks and in the car for the 2 day trip there and back. These tasty breakfast cookies are easy, portable and much more nutritious than a PopTart.

For this round of cooking, little sister Rowan wanted in on the baking action. This little girl is my cookie monster and will eat just about anything if it is in the form of a cookie. She is very proud to be getting to help.




The girls creamed butter and brown sugar in the mixer.  Here they are scarping down the sides.


The cookies are really large and a fill a 1/4 cup of dough per cookie.




The whole wheat flour and bran from the cereal make the dough dark. I am normally not a fan of dark cookies, but these are so good and moist that I can get past a bit of color.




These are an awesome grab and go breakfast that make any weekday morning easy. The girls made 2 dozen and  we froze the cookies and just heated them in a damp paper towel in the microwave in the hotel. The recipe is really versatile and you can substitute any of the flake cereal and fruit combos. I have made this recipe with Raisin bran, Red berries and Chocolate flakes.  Sometimes I will add a handful of extra raisins or dried strawberries. Pick your family's favorite and give it a try.


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Breakfast Cereal Cookies

1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
3 cups mulitgrain cereal flakes



Turn on the oven to 350°F. Coat the cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Put the butter in the mixing bowl. Beat with the electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and baking soda. Beat until mixed. Add the eggs; beat until mixed. Add flour and beatuntil the mixture no longer looks dry. Use the wooden spoon to stir in the cereal.

For each cookie, pack the mixture into a 1/4-CUP measuring cup. Use the rubber scraper to scrape it out of the cup onto the prepared cookie sheet. Press mound of dough with your fingersto flatten it slightly. Repeat with remaining dough, placingcookies about 3 inches apart.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Makes 12 cookies.

Going Batching! What it is I do

I know I have posted many times about batch parties. I love them and they are really my favorite part of Menus, Meals and More. I get to hang out with fun people, learn new things and show a couple of my favorite cooking techniques and help people ffed their families healthy meals in an economical way. What could be better? Ok well sometimes it is better when there is wine and snacks, but that makes everything awesome.

There have been posts in the past about what a participant does at a batch party, but I have never really detailed what it is that I do. Its more than just shopping and setting up..... A LOT more.

The first thing that I do is come up with a selection of recipes that contain somewhat similiar ingredients, but don't taste alike. This way there isn't a ton of wasted ingredients left in a bottle, but you don't get tired of eating the same thing over and over again. After everyone has chosen the recipe that they want to be responsible for assembling, I write down every ingredient of each recipe and multiply the amount by the number of people participating.  When recipes call for the same ingredient, I combine them. Most of the time this involves some conversion fun because one recipe will call for teaspoons and another will call for tablespoons, etc.  Once the ingredient list is made, I will look through the local warehouse stores website to see what they carry in various amounts and prices.  This also involves some math because they don't sell soy sauce by the tablespoon. I have learned a ton about how many cups of cheese are in a pound and how many pork loins are needed to make 48 chops!  Learning the price break on buying a case versus individual items also helps everyone save a ton of money.

After I make the list, I estimate the total cost of groceries add my fee and divide it up by the number of participants. This is the "buy-in" that  is due before I do the shopping. The host of the party is responsible for collecting this. Most of the time I know the participants and they end up bringing me to the money, but I really need to delegate this more as a host duty.

Anyway after the buy-in is collected, I go to the various stores where I can find the best deals on the ingredients. Sometimes this includes going to Sam's Club, HEB, the local farmers market and Asian grocery store. The shopping usually takes me 2 full days and then I spend at least one day prepping. I butcher whole pork loins to make chops and roasts and trim all the chicken myself. There is a significant cost benefit to the participants when I do this, but it does take some time. I also mix fillings and chop veggies so that things just have to be assembled on party night.


On the day of the party, I come to the hosts house with tables and all of the food. I set up the tables and "stations" for each participant. Ideally, when the participants arrive all of their ingredients are set out for them with a copy of their chosen recipe. We hang out, chitchat, make up some meals and have a great time. I am there to help when needed, show techniques, run out for needed ingredients and kind of "conduct" the assembling. After everyone is done, I clean up and we settle up any differences in the estimated cost versus the actual cost of groceries.  Everyone goes home with a bunch of meals to stuff their freezer and a bit less stress. How could I not love this?

Chinese Braised pork with Brown Rice and Asian beans

This is going to be a great one for batch parties. I placed all the ingredients in a foodsaver bag and put it in the freezer.  The night before I cooked it I pulled it out and put it in the fridge.



The entire contents of the bag were cooked in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours.

I put the fat side up so that it could be easily peeled off after it was done cooking.





The meat was incredibly moist and fell apart when I was cutting it. It really turned into a Chinese pulled pork. I served the meat over brown rice and topped with the cooking liquid. The flavor was sweet and mildly tangy - Delicious!!!!! Look for this on next month's batch party menus!!

Check out this and other recipes on Wanderfood Wednesday!



Braised Chinese Pork Loin


1 (3-pound) boneless pork loin, trimmed
1/4 cup chopped ginger
6 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup dry vermouth
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise



High: 1 hour; then low: 8 hours, or until pork registers 170°F.

Serves: 10




Pork Loin   Slow Cooker

Keeping the Resolutions Going: Week 2 Meal Plan

Alright- Week one is done and we are on to the second week of the new year. This week I am trying out several new dishes. We are still  trying to be pretty low on carbs so this week has lots of new low-carb dishes.


Turkey Swedish Meatballs - this is a new one that I can't wait to try. Its a South Beach recipe that is also lower in fat because it uses ground turkey. This will be paired with cauliflower and spinach
Green Chili Pork - This is a batch party dish that I am pulling from  the freezer. It's usually served with corn tortillas, but we are having it over salad greens. YUM
Turkey Chili - Yum! I can't wait to try this on a very anticipated cold evening.
Chicken Sundried tomato and Artichoke bake - this is another new one that just sounds amazing!
Sausage and Lentils - this is a different take on a family favorite.
Teryaki Fish - Teryaki marinated tilapia- a kid and parent favorite.

So this is my plan for the week. Wish me luck!!!

Yet Another Freezer Meal: Asian Style Pork Chops!

Finishing off our week of planned meals was Asian Style Pork Chops. This is a family and batch party favorite.  This meal had been in my freezer since the last big sale on pork about a month ago. It is mildly sweet and full of flavor. One of daughters friends joined us for dinner. She is rather finicky about her food and she cleaned her plate. Her mother was quite impressed. I would definitely suggest trying it. Oh and don't forget to check out the Giveaway!!

I pulled it out of the freezer two days ago and let it defrost in the freezer.

I set it on the counter and let it warm a bit while I heated the pan. The chops were seared on each side.

and then they were put in the oven for 20 minutes.

Asian Style Pork Chops


6 center cut Pork loin chops
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbls sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tbls sesame oils
1 tbls ground ginger
1 tbls minced garlic
¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Place the chops in a large freezer bag. Combine other ingredients in bag with the pork.

Seal and Freeze.

Thaw. Grill until center of chop reaches 160.

Another one for the Freezer:Pepper Lime Chicken

Wednesday was a weird night for dinner for us. At about 5 o'clock, my kids decided that they wanted to make green eggs and ham.  We head read the book the night before and I guess it just struck them that we needed to try it out. Plus its hard to resist innocent faces standing there asking if they can make green eggs and ham, so they did.

Aren't they cute on the Cars and Princess plates?

Well after my 2 youngest had their green eggs, I had to feed the rest of us. We went with the Pepper Lime Chicken. This is another recipe like the Apple "Dump" Chicken that I am testing out for batch parties and it really was a great freezer recipe. I took it out of the freezer thawed it and decided to pan sear and then bake for 25 minutes at 350. It was so tender and the flavor was great. It really wasn't as peppery as I had expected and the taste was great. This is is a really easy dish that I am betting will be a hit!

Pepper-lime "DUMP" Chicken

1/2 Teaspoon Lime Peel

2 Cloves Garlic -- minced

1/4 cup Lime Juice

1 Teaspoon Pepper

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

1 Teaspoon Basil

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 1/2 Pounds Chicken Pieces

For immediate cooking: Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Place all ingredients into a

large baking dish, turn chicken to coat. Bake until chicken juices run

clear (45-60 minutes for chicken pieces, or 20-30 minutes for chicken

breasts).

For freezing: Place all ingredients into a 1 Gallon freezer bag. Lay flat

in freezer.

To thaw and cook: Take the bag out of the freezer the night before, make

sure the baggie is completely closed. Place the Bag on a shelf furthest

from the freezer (It works best if the bag is laying flat, although this

may not be the best option with a side-by-side fridge/freezer). Preheat the

oven to 350 F. Empty the contents of the bag into a large baking dish and

bake until the juices run clear (45-60 minutes for chicken pieces, or 20-30

minutes for chicken breasts).

Big Batch Cooking

Friday night we had a big fun Friday the 13th Batch party. The participants picked some really great meals and went home with 7 yummy entrees for the freezer. The recipes used for this party included:
Sweet Asian Chicken
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Spinach
Balsamic Chicken
Lemon Herb Pork Tenderloins,
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
Teryaki Burger. 

The grand total for 49 meals that feed 6 or more- $508.83 or 72.69 each!

A lot of people worry about how they are going to be able to fit the food in their freezer. Well, most of the meals are in gallon freezer bags and take up very little space.

Batch parties are a great idea for a Mom's Night Out. You can sit drink some wine, eat some yummies and assemble a weeks worth of dinners all at once. What could be better?!

Adventures in Batch Cooking- The Shopping

Yesterday was the big shopping day for our December batch cooking. This months menu includes :

breakfast burritos - 12

Mexican Lasagna - 2 8*8 pans or one full 10*13

Chicken Tortellini bake - 2 8*8 pans or one full 10*14

Beef and broccoli - 8 servings

Sage and Rosemary stuff Pork Loin - 2 pound roll

Chicken with Black bean salsa - 8 servings

Beef Stroganoff - 8 servings

Sausage muffins - a dozen

Spinach and Mushroom quiche - 1 pie

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf - 1.5 pound roll

The list took quite awhile to compile, but using a spreadsheet program really helped. Honestly, the shopping isn't bad, its the making of the list. If only recipes called for ingredients in the same measurements listed on the packaging. Converting cups of cheese into pounds in the bag and teaspoons into ounces takes some time. One thing I changed this time is that I used the Click and Pull service from our warehouse store. I was able to compile the grocery list online and place my order the day before. They gathered it up and had it ready the next morning. This works great for the frozen and canned items, but they don't pull things like ground beef and chickens with varying weights. My friend Anne came with me to help so that really sped things up. When we arrived at Sam's Club, the click and pull order wasn't ready yet, so we gathered what they wouldn't and then went to Walmart to get the items that didn't need to be in such large quantities. After that I went back to Sam's to pick up the order.

This is the food that was not on the Click n pull list.

The Click n Pull Flatbed

The total came to around $670 so $67 dollars each. Not bad for 10+ meals!
When we got the food back to my house, I divided it up into each persons recipe and those that were cooking ahead of time came to get their ingredients. The rest of the food went on to the host house to be help in the freezer until cook day. Now it is just time to prep so cook day will go smoothly!!