Change of Pace Fruit Salad

Recently I've discovered this cool salad:


1 cup pineapple chunks
1 cup mandarin oranges
1 cup unsweeteened coconut
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup lite Cool Whip


Mix and chill.


It's low on Weight Watcher's points with 3 points per cup. I have it as a desert most of the time.



Since I made this salad, I've seen it in a few cookbooks and online here and there. It has many different names. I must have never paid attention before. I even saw this same recipe except substituting lite sour cream for the lite Cool Whip. I tried it and it tasted like a whole other salad.


This is now a regular recipe for me.

This post is being linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed With Grace
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tuesdays at the Table at All The Small Stuff
  

Easy Sausage & Cheese Balls

I got so excited when I found this easy recipe for sausage and cheese balls and I had all the ingredients on hand . . .

Easy Sausage & Cheese Balls

1 1/2 cups biscuit mix

3 or 4 cups shredded cheese

1 pound bulk turkey sausage

Mix biscuit mix and cheese. Add raw sausage and mix with your hands like meatloaf.

Shape into balls the size of walnuts (I used my cookie dough scoop). Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and drain on paper towels. Great warm and good cold.

It made 38 balls!

They came out spicy because the sausage I used was quite spicy. Also, they were more firm than a regular meatball. Everyone loved them. Even the toddlers loved the spiciness and hubby asked for more!


As usual, I bagged up the leftovers and put in the freezer for future toddler (and adult) lunches.


These will be on my regular lunch menu!

This post is being linked to:

• Frugal Friday at Life As Mom
• Food On Fridays at Ann Kroeker’s
• Family Recipe Fridays at Vanderbilt Wife
• Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge
• Friday Feasts at Mom Trends
• Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum
• Freezer Food Friday at What A Crock!
• Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life As A Mom
• Simply Made Sunday at Our Homeschool Fun

Spaghetti Squash for the Freezer

Recently I discovered I LOVE spaghetti squash--who knew? I'm glad I got adventurous and gave it a try. Did you know you can freeze it?

To prepare, I got a spaghetti squash, took the sticker off and washed the outside of it. Puncture a few time and place in the crock pot with one cup of water. Cook on high for several hours (it takes longer than you think!) I cooked mine for over 8 hours in my vintage crock pot that doesn't get as hot as newer ones. It's done when you insert a fork into it and it's soft.

Be careful removing the squash. You need to let it cool down before you handle it, and then use potholders to transfer it to a cutting mat or board. When it's cool enough to touch, cut in half. Scoop out the seeds carefully. Shred the squash with a fork. I put mine in reusable containers like this:

Label with masking tape and a Sharpie pen. I filled two of these 4 cup containers. I put one in the freezer and one in the fridge and I put a little in a bowl to eat right away while it's hot! I added a pat of butter and sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. YUMMY!

Most of the time I reheat this in my mini crock pot. I put a serving in the crock pot an hour or two before I want to have my meal. It warms up perfectly. I have warmed in the microwave, too, and it comes out great.

When I need to use the one in the freezer, I defrost overnight in the fridge first. I cannot tell the difference of the fresh squash vs. the one that had been in the freezer. The texture and taste are exactly the same.

I'm anxiously waiting for spaghetti squash to go on sale so I can make two or three to have them on hand.

Easy Doughnuts and Holes!

I'm really trying to cut out sugar consumption around here, so this is something I don't normally make, I just happened to have the biscuits, so I tried it........

I recently discovered an easy way to make doughnuts (and holes)! I'm sure this trick has been around a long time--why did it take so long for me to catch on?

Take refrigerator tube biscuits, cut a hole in the middle of each biscuit (I have a small circle insert in my biscuit cutter that I used), then fry the doughnuts and holes in a bit of medium-hot oil, turning when brown. Drain on paper towels. You can sprinkle with powdered sugar, cinnamon and sugar, or glaze them.

I left ours plain (trying to reduce our sugar intake--maybe I should call it 'fry bread'?), packaged in Ziploc baggies in meal-sized portions and put in the freezer.

No more than once or twice a month do I serve doughnuts. I get them out of the freezer on the day I want to serve them. They are defrosted by lunch time and I warm in the microwave or for a minute or two in the oven if I am cooking the sausage or other items in the oven.

I serve them usually with scrambled eggs or breakfast sausage links and fruit and veggie.

Doughnut days are special!

Leftover Mixup: Chicken Quesadillas

Here I am again, with a bit of boneless, skinless chicken breast leftover. Looking in my fridge, I have tortillas and cheese, too.

Spray the pan with cooking spray, put a tortilla down and turned the heat to medium.

Spread some shredded cheese on the tortilla, then shredded chicken. I sprinkled on some seasoning salt, then topped with the other tortilla and sprayed that one with cooking spray. Brown on both sides, and by that time, the chicken was heated through and cheese melted.

I cut into fourths with my kitchen scissors.

It was delicious!

If you have salsa, chopped onions, peppers, or whatever you like, you could toss those in as well. Leftover ground beef or turkey would be great.

Look for new ways to use up your leftovers :)

Toddler-Friendly Corn Dog Muffins

Corn dog muffins are yummy and I like how convenient they are, too, and they freeze well. They're just not toddler-friendly if you use the conventional recipe because you need to cut hot dogs into pieces so they don't become a choking hazard. I don't know why I didn't think of this before--cut up the hot dog and put into muffin mix?

I used two boxes of Jiffy Muffin Mix and made it according to the package directions. I'm sure any cornbread recipe or mix would work. I sprayed my silicone muffin pan with Pam, and filled the cups equally with the batter.

I cut 6 hot dogs up into little pieces and put about half a hot dog worth of pieces into each muffin cup.

I baked the muffins according to the package directions.

I let them cool, then got my Ziploc bags ready, bagged them up and put them in the freezer.

I got one Ziploc bag out of the freezer the morning I served them to the toddlers and let them defrost on the counter for a couple of hours, then zapped them in the microwave to warm them up.

There was a problem when I cut them in half to put on the toddler plates--they fell apart. There was too much hot dog pieces per muffin--oops. Good thing toddlers aren't picky. Actually, they enjoy taking muffins apart before they eat them anyway!

So, next time, I will put about a third of a hot dog per muffin and I will probably mix the muffin mix and hot dog pieces together in the batter before I put it in the muffin pan.

Do Toddlers Like Breakfast in a Muffin?

Toddlers DO like Breakfast in a Muffin. They all like eggs and bread and sausage, they all dove right in.

Truth be told, this is one of my favorites!

Taco Cups

I have made a Taco Pie before:

Make a basic biscuit recipe or use a baking mix. Press into greased pie plate. Layer with taco meat. Bake in 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Top with cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes. Slice and serve with lettuce and tomatoes.

So, today I thought I would try the same idea in muffin cups. It's more fun to have individual portions. Also, you know me, I am looking for items I can freeze easily in meal-sized portions.

Taco Cups Recipe

1 Basic Biscuit Recipe or I used a baking mix following their Drop Biscuit recipe
1 pound ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

1 cup shredded cheese

Spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray. Make the biscuit dough. Divide into the 12 cups
I used my cookie dough scoop--it was just the right amount. With floured fingers, press dough into each muffin cup.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook ground beef according to directions on the taco seasoning directions. Spoon taco meat into the 12 muffin cups.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and turn oven off. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with cheese. Return to oven for a few minutes, until the cheese is melted. Let cool, remove from pan. I ate one (Yummy), then put the rest in Ziploc baggies and into the freezer.

Breakfast in a Muffin

A friend was telling me about a recipe she made in a muffin tin with bread and eggs and mushrooms. My excitement stopped with "mushrooms"--not my thing.

So, I was thinking about it for a while and decided to make my version the same thing, but make it into a breakfast muffin.

Pamm's Breakfast in a Muffin

1 pound sausage roll

1 dozen eggs

2 cups milk

1 Tbs. Dijon mustard

2 Tbs. onion flakes

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 loaf baguette bread

2 cups shredded cheese

Brown and crumble sausage in skillet. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, beat eggs in large bowl. add milk, mustard, and spices and stir well. Cut bread into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes and add to egg mixture. Fold in cheese and sausage. Cover and put in refrigerator over night.

The next morning, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. I used my ice cream scoop to fill the muffin cups. I was able to get 18 muffins and a very small casserole out of my mixture. If I would have had 24 muffin cups, I think that would have been perfect.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cool. Remove from muffin tins. I packaged in meal-sized Ziploc baggies and put in my freezer. I ate one, too. They are very delicious. I hope the toddlers think so--I'll know tomorrow :).

What's my motivation for LOP?

I hope you have been enjoying the recipes this far. I just thought I would spell out the what got me started with Leftovers On Purpose.

It all started with a desire to eat better. I made a decision to lose weight, but more importantly, to eat healthy even if I didn't lose weight. This really got me reading the nutrition labels on all the packages I had in the house and what interested me at the store. It's eye-opening.

I then started to think about the food I was serving the toddlers. It wasn't bad, just processed, convenience foods. I then started to think about why I was resorting to that. Well, it all boiled down to my time. I really enjoy cooking, but not under pressure. I have a busy week and no guarantee that I can cook from scratch on a daily basis depending on the moods of several infants and toddlers. By the time my work day is over, I'm ready to rest, not cook

So, how can I make cooking homemade food work for me? Well, I need to have meals 'ready to go'. If I can make up a bunch of meals ahead of time and freeze it, that would be like making my on convenience foods. Most of the time I make up one or two items on a Sunday--generally I make four to six meals' worth and that should last me up to two months for that item. In just a few weeks, I have a couple of months' meals ready to go. Sometimes I will make a big batch of something on a weekday. If I'm going to go to the effort to make a meal, I may as well make a big batch.

The most often method I use to reheat my foods is to use mini crock pots. I look for recipes that will hold-up well with being frozen, then tossed in a crock pot and seem as if I've prepared it on that day. I am continually amazed at how well this works. Just a simple hot dog will come out perfectly roasted, hamburgers come out warm and flavorful, the burritos have a crispness even after being in the crock pot for a few hours! I plan to experiment more. If this method is not practical for you, a microwave or heating on the stove or in the oven will work, too.

One drawback I've noticed is that it can be more expensive. But, just as I shopped for a good deal on convenience foods, I look for sales on the ingredients I use.

An example is the burritos I made cost roughly 75 cents each. I was able to find frozen prepackaged burritos on sale for 25 cents each. The homemade burritos were about double the size of the prepackaged ones. Even though the homemade ones are more expensive, they have more nutrients in them, so the serving size is smaller and more satisfying. So, even though cooking from scratch may seem more expensive, it will go a lot further than the processed foods in the long run.

The serving sizes are something that I have been paying a lot of attention to lately. Who knew nine baked potato chips is all one serving? Since I'm watching my weight, I have been trying to stick to the suggested serving sizes (another shocking piece of info.). It took a while, but now I'm satisfied with the suggested sizes, whereas before I could have eaten double or triple what was suggested, mindless eating. This is a major reason I package items in meal-sized portions--I serve one serving size to each person. What I make available all the time is vegetables. If someone is hungry, they can have as many veggies as they want. I keep canned, frozen, and fresh veggies on hand. I follow the same rule for myself--if I've had my protein, carb, veggie, and a fruit, but I am still hungry, I get more vegetables until I am full.

One way to keep the the cost down is to shop the sales. I keep a list in my mind of ingredients of my favorite recipes. When that items goes on sale, I will stock up on it even if I don't plan on making that recipe right away. I just stash it for later.

So, why a blog? Why share? -- Why not?

I enjoy blogging. I've had people ask me about certain recipes and my methods. Blogging is fun for me and an easy way to share. My child care clients ask me for recipes I serve the toddlers. I have online friends ask how and what I feed the toddlers and what I make for myself. It's nice to have a blog to point them to.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for a lot more . . . .

More, Please! (Pamm's Brown Bag Burritos Toddler Verdict)

Today was the first day I served Pamm's Brown Bag Burritos to the toddlers.

This morning, first thing, I grabbed two burritos straight out of the freezer and put them in my mini crock pot on high. They were 'frozen together' so about an hour into it, I separated them and rearranged them in the crock pot. At lunchtime, I pulled them out and they were defrosted and heated through and to my surprise the tortillas had a slight crispiness. They were in the crock pot for almost three hours.

So, at lunchtime I used my pizza cutter to cut them into toddler-sized pieces. I was delighted at how little mess they made (the picture looks messier than it was). They held together quite well. Each burrito piece was like a toddler-sized burrito.

I put them on the toddler plates and served them with frozen mixed veggies and banana slices.

The banana slices are always the first to be eaten--I didn't get my camera ready quick enough to capture that. And when I say "frozen veggies" I mean I served the frozen. My little guys gobble them up as a summer treat and they are great for teething!!!

Anyway, I was very pleased at how the burritos held together even when they were cut into toddler pieces. There was little mess to it all with a normal amount of wiping faces and hands (I was preparing for the worst). All the toddlers ate it and when I looked at them most were saying "more, please" in sign language so I knew they loved it.

It's definitely a hit and will be served often.

Pamm's Brown Bag Burritos Makeover

I have been wanting to learn how to make my own burritos for a while now, I just needed the right recipe. I recently read this Brown Bag Burritos post and knew I could make something like that. So with excitement, I made my grocery list of the stuff to make them -- I just had a question: is that the big can or the smaller can of refried beans? So, I just guessed and tweaked the recipe a bit.

Here's Pamm's Brown Bag Burrito Makeover

2 pounds ground beef

1 large can refried beans

1 large can enchilada sauce

1 small can black beans

1 - 4 cup package shredded cheese

1/3 cup dried minced onions

1 Tbs. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. dried oregano

20 burrito-sized flour tortillas

Brown the ground beef and drain. Add all other ingredients (except tortillas), bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking pan(s) (I used two pans) with cooking spray. Fill the tortillas with about 1/3 cup of the meat and bean mixture. Roll tortillas, folding in the sides, into burrito. Place in baking pan (I was able to fit 8 in each 9x13 pan). Spray the tops of the rolled burritos with cooking spray. Place in oven for 15-20 minutes to crisp and beginning to brown.

After they cooled, I put them in the reusable bag the tortillas came in, then in the freezer.

My taste tester LOVED them! He said they're not very spicy and toddler-friendly. He loved the crispness of them, too--that's the part I added to the original recipe besides a few ingredient tweaks. He had them right out of the oven.

Stay tuned for the reheat and toddler review.........