Can you even believe it?! (also, OAMC part 3)

Yes, well, I finally have a working laptop again (it hasn't worked properly since September and actually died in October - so much for that Mac theory!)… BUT praise the Lord and pass the ammunition folks because I am just on overload now. I don't know what I would have done without a smartphone! Can you imagine life before constant access? (Sad, isn't it, how dependent we are? hmm…)

Before I lose my mind since January is almost over and my freezer is starting to clear out already, I wanted to update with another foodie post (I'll get to the grand holiday stuff later - it's tardy already anyway). Mostly, I just want to share with you a couple of new recipes that rocked my socks off. Yep, rocked 'em right off. Shall I start with my absolute favorite? I suppose then you have no reason to work to the end? ;) I'll do it anyway, and you can just trust that they are all good. Okay, so here was my list for January - followed by links/photos of the new additions that were important enough to earn a highlight on homework night.

1. Breakfast cookies (duh)
2. Frozen fruit cups (I know its winter, but my kids think its dessert, and its just fruit!)
3. marinated dump chicken (2 bags!)
4. Meatloaf/meatballs (2 pans of meatloaf, 4 bags of meatballs)
5. Meaty Manicotti (2 - 8x8) (NEW!)
6. Lasagna (2- 8x8) (NEW!)
7. Three cheese baked mac (downgrading from the spicy mac due to a complaining 5 year old!)
8. Yogurt (NEW!)
9. Granola Bars (NEW!)
10. Idaho Sunrise (NEW!)
11. Breakfast Bagels
12. Garlic bread
13. Cheese Scones (NEW!)
14. Chinese pot roast
15. Italian pot roast
16. Waffles - have yet to get a batch to the freezer.. Need to make them at night instead (duh)

Idaho Sunrise

Okay - first, the Idaho Sunrise. My new favorite I think. I love quick, easy, good-for-you breakfast, and I think this is fairly good for you? You make a nest of hashbrowns (with a little cheese mixed in), bake it a bit, then crack and egg in, top with parsley, a little bacon and cheese. I don't like whole eggs, so I scrambled them and then poured them into the 'nests', but same idea. I flash froze them, then put them in a gallon sized bag. I was nervous about reheating these in the microwave. I waited SOIMPATIENTLY for the toaster oven on the first morning. NOT a quick route at all. But WHOA was it worth it! The girls started asking for bites too. Even my picky bird, E! So then I put one in the microwave and did a nervous dance not wanting to ruin one of these precious treats. And it tasted just fine! YAY! So in 1:30, you have an amazingly fresh tasting breakfast, and its easy and filling and YUM. One seems to be enough, but I tend to want more. Uh oh… These are going to be a staple for sure. Plus they require so little bacon it works well with the bagel sandwiches. TRY these. It would also be a great breakfast/brunch item served fresh if you are having company over. Use a dark pan - you want these to get brown on the bottom or they fall apart when you try to get them out.

Manicotti (We put sauce on top too)

 Manicotti - and lasagna.. we LOVE pasta. We actually tested out the Wal-Mart brand "oven-ready" lasagna noodles and the recipe right off the box, which we had never tried before - and put it to the freezer test right off the bat. It works, if you thaw it overnight. It actually wasn't bad, even with Steve making it - I tend to flavor things a bit more than he does :) Nice job! I like the Target box recipe better - they add more cheeses, but I think we could toss in more variety and it wouldn't matter.
The Manicotti was, again, a recipe we had never tried. It needed a little more spice, but it froze well.

This inspired my yogurt..

This pinterest find was actually for smoothie packets, but it got me thinking about gogurt… We buy gogurt all the time for Josiah's cold lunch - to freeze and then you stick it in the lunch box and it thaws in time for lunch… And just in general I guess, I always hate that he begs for the cartoon kind and I always am having to explain why I don't want to buy that kind for him - we get the "natural" kind - but even so, its not very natural I suppose (just a bit more?).. So why not make our own! Now, on www.onceamonthmom.com, they have a post showing how they make their yogurt into gogurt tubes. I am not about to attempt that (yet). And I haven't yet tried making my own yogurt, though after this we did talk about doing just that. But we bought some good-for-you yogurt and some flash-frozen fruit and we dumped it all in the processor. Then I stuck it in portion-sized gladware cups and froze them. So he has gogurt cups now, but he LOVES the taste, and I love that its REAL. So we'll work on the packaging (I'll put a sticker on it or something). 

I made my Cheese Scones heart shaped, but these are okay :)

Ah yes, cheese scones. These turned out yummy. Its more like a biscuit because its savory and cheese-ish, but it makes a nice snack or side item for my kiddos (or I will steal one too). And I wasn't being an over achiever in making hearts, it was the smallest cut-out I had!