Perfect Whole Grain Freezer Pancakes

Every morning I ask my kids what they would like for breakfast, and their answer 95% of the time is PANCAKES. Now getting up every morning making pancakes gets tiring and on some sleepless nights it sounds terrible! On special occasions I do make my own pancakes, but in the last year I have gotten lazy and started buying pre-made pancakes. You know the one you find in the freezer section? 

There are a few problems with this:

1. They are expensive. 

Homemade anything is usually cheaper then the pre-packaged version.

2. All are made with white flour. 

I am not anti-white flour but research after research shows everyone needs more whole grains in their diet. I think it's better to start your kids out younger eating the whole wheat flours, so as adults they have adjusted to the taste difference (because there is one) and will hopefully enjoy (and choose) the healthier version. 

3. Packed with preservatives.

Again, I am not anti-preservatives, they are necessary in some foods to help them keep longer. However, if I can't pronounce you preservative ingredient in a simple pancake recipe (which for hundreds of years people have been making at home without preservatives) then I probably shouldn't be feeding it to my kids. 

4. Environment Impact

Ok, yes I know my hippie self is coming out, but all of the pre-made pancakes come in a cardboard box and about every 3 pancakes are wrapped in a plastic bag. Just imagine how much garbage goes into landfills each year? I am just adding to that with each plastic bag I unwrap because I have been too lazy to make my own pancakes?

With all those reasons listed, I have been on a hunt for the PERFECT whole grain pancake recipe. I have tried many other recipes on the internet and have been highly disappointing with most of them. Either the whole wheat flour alters the flavor too much, the texture is off, they are flat, or too fluffy. Finally, I can say I have found the PERFECT recipe! The kicker to this recipe is the dry mix can sit pre-made in your cupboard for weeks if you feel like stirring up a batch of fresh pancakes OR you can make a bunch of pancakes and freeze them! Here's my recipe and I hope you enjoy!

{now only if I could learn to pour the perfect pancake}

Perfect Whole Grain Pancakes

printable version

Dry Mix:

4 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

4 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon baking soda

1. Pulse old fashioned oats in food processor so they are broken up a little. Do not puree into a flour. 

2. In a large bowl, mix oats, flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
3. Store in airtight container.

To Make The Pancakes:

1 Cup of Dry Mix above

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk or unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon of orange juice

1 large egg

1. Place 1 cup of dry mix into a bowl.

2. Whisk in vegetable oil, buttermilk/almond milk, orange juice, and 1 large egg.

3. Cook on a oiled skillet or griddle.

TO FREEZE YOUR PANCAKES:

1. Lay pancakes out on a cookie sheet. Do not overlap them.

2. Place in freezer for 1 hour or until completely frozen. 

3. Remove from freezer and place 3-4 in plastic freezer bag. 

4. When ready to eat, place in microwave for 60 seconds or until hot.
Tip: Save your plastic bags to reuse when you make them. 

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22 Healthy Freezer Meals for Maternity Leave

Many of you might not know this, but my little sister Christi (who also writes for this blog) is 9 months pregnant. Here is her beautiful pregnancy photo here:

{Adara Photography~She is AMAZING!}

With her expecting her first child, one of the main pieces of advice I could give her is to make some freezer meals. I didn't make them with my first child but I stock piled them with my second and honestly it was a HUGE lifesaver! **PS- This is going to be the longest blog EVER!!**

Over the last few months we both have pinned quite a few freezer meal ideas but there were a few problems with some of them:

1. They Are Unhealthy

 Many of them use bricks of cream cheese, loads of shredded cheese, and lots of white pasta. We really wanted meals we felt like we could eat and not feel super guilty for just eating enough calories to support a normal sized human for a week. 

2. The Prep Time Is Ridiculous

There are a lot of recipes out there that the prep time is crazy. I don't want to sit there and wrap each individual thing, saute this for 2 hours, etc. We wanted some that we could throw together and be done! 

3. Cheap Protein & More White Pasta

Many of the bulk freezer meal recipes out there claim to make '20 Meals for $50' or some other cheap amount of food. I looked into some of them and when you tell me to use 1 frozen chicken breast to make 4 meals, that just seems crazy. Protein is a good thing, it keeps you fuller longer and makes you eat less. And last time I checked, adding more white pasta to a meal to make it "stretch" is honestly not good for you. With our meals here, we used protein and we used GOOD protein. We used lean beef, boneless skinless chicken, and cut our own pork loin. 

4. Sweet Meat

Christi does not like sweet sauces on meat. I don't mind them. However, in keeping with the somewhat healthy theme, adding less sugar is always a good thing in my book. 

5. Many Freezer Meal Are Gross

Some things DO NOT freeze well. It's true. I would say about 50% of the meals I have tried to make into freezer meals just didn't thaw and bake up as good as they were the first time. We wanted to try to find recipes that actually taste good after they were frozen and I am confident we did. 

With all that said, we had a little bit of a challenge picking out the meals, but because I have made frozen meals in the past I had an idea of what froze well and what didn't. So here is our list of 

 Healthy Maternity Freezer Meals*

{Prego Christi preparing for 2 hours of freezer meal prep!}

*Disclaimer- I am saying healthy because the calorie content of these meals is very reasonable for the portion size. You will notice in many of the meals we did use *Cream of Whatever* soup which many people do not find healthy. We used the 98% Fat Free soup, as a means of simplicity in preparing these meals. If you are not a fan these canned soup, feel free to look up a recipe to make a homemade version. I was unsure how the homemade version would freeze up so I stuck with the canned because it has worked in the past for me. 

Chicken and Wild Rice  x 4

Chicken Taco Soup  x 4

Goulash  x 4

Tater Tot Casserole  x 4

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops  x 4

Parmesan Pork Roast  x 2

That's a grand total of 22 meals!

{We did not use all that cheese (only a half of one bag) but we did use the rest of the ingredients!}

Now before you begin, here are a few tips for you:

Tips For Freezer Meals:

If you haven't ever prepared a bunch of freezer meals, I can give you a few tips:

1. Buy Half Size Aluminum Steam table pans and lids.

They are about $5 for 15 of them and $5 for the lids. They are great to keep on hand and less dishes are always a good thing with new babies.

2. Buy Crock Pot Liners & Gallon Bags

Again, less crock pot cleaning is always a good thing. You will need the gallon bags for some of the meals. 

3. Buy In Bulk

We purchased a large pork loin and cut our own pork roast and pork chops. You get so much more meat for a lot less cost. Also, we bought boneless, skinless chicken, and 88% lean ground beef to keep things healthy. Large bags of frozen veggies are the best and cheaper then the canned. 

4. Prepare throughout the week

-Dice up onions (or other veggies) 

- Brown ground beef

- Use a crock pot to cook your chicken (just throw it in for 8 hours with no water) and then use a Kitchen Aid Mixer to shred it (or two forks)

- Cook up rice another day

- Do not cook up pasta in advance. It will stick together. 

5. Make a Recipe List

Know how much you need of each item and organize your ingredients at home by recipe. 

6. Make a Shopping List

Go to the store with a list of what you need organized by department.

7. Print Labels For Your Containers

Label your containers earlier in the week and set them with the ingredients. Each label should give you the recipe name, calories, how to prepare, and if any other ingredients are needed. 

After you have all that done, you are ready to begin. It took us about 2 hours to assemble all of these. Now the recipes below are in one meal quantities. I left them this way so you can decide how many meals you want to make and just double, triple, quadruple...whatever the recipe. 

So without further adieu here are the recipes:

Chicken and Wild Rice 

1.5 cups wild rice 

10.75 oz  cream of 98% fat free mushroom soup

10.75 oz  cream of 98% fat free chicken soup 

1 small can mushrooms, drained

16oz chicken breast

1 cup slivered almonds, optional

1. Cook rice according to package. Mix in both cans of soup and mushrooms. 

2. Pour in to freezer dish and top with 1 pound of chicken pieces and sprinkle with slivered almonds. 

3. Double wrap in heavy duty foil, label and freeze. 

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour until chicken juices run clear.

Serves 4 @ 456 calories

Chicken Taco Soup

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans

1 (15 ounce) can black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (12 fluid ounce) can of chicken broth

2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning

12 oz chicken breast

Combine all ingredients into a Ziploc bag. Freeze. 

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, or tortilla chips, if desired

Serves 6 @ 391 calories

 

Goulash

1lb ground 88% lean beef

10 oz  tomato soup

6 oz Tomato Paste 

2 cups uncooked whole wheat elbow macaroni

2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 can (15oz) corn, drained

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

4 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1. Brown Ground beef (earlier in week)

2. Cook noodles according to package, drain (on day of)

3. In a large bowl, combine soup, garlic powder, onion powder, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, noodles and ground beef.  Stir in corn.

4. Transfer to freezer baking dish and top with cheese. 

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until heated through and melted cheese.

Serves 4 @ 390 calories

Tater Tot Casserole

1 lb. ground beef 

1 small onion, finely chopped 

10.75 oz  cream of 98% fat free mushroom soup 

1/4 cup skim milk 

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

4 ounces Shredded Cheddar Cheese 

1 lb. tater tots 

1. Brown Beef (earlier in week)

2. To the ground beef stir in frozen veggies, soup and milk. Mix well. 

3. Pour soup mixture into bottom of pan. Top with potato nuggets and then shredded cheese.

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw the meal in the fridge overnight and then bake at 350 covered for the first 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until hot. 

Serves 6 @ 369

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops

4 Pork chops

1 Can Cream of chicken soup

1 Package Ranch dressing (dry)

*Cut the bottom 6”off both ends of loin for roast and then cut the center 1" thick to make pork chops

1. Mix cream of chicken soup and ranch powder together.

2, Place Pork Chops in crock pot bag. 

3. Pour soup mixture on top. 

4. Twist crock pot bag and tie. Place in labeled gallon freezer bag. 

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Thaw over night. Place in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. 

Serves 4 @ 473 calories

Parmesan Pork Roast

1 boneless whole pork loin roast 

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup honey

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dried basil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

*Cut the bottom 6” off both ends of loin for roast

1. Place pork roast in crock pot bag. 

2. In a small bowl, combine the cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, oil and salt;

pour over pork. 

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS:  Remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours.  Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours. Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast; serve with gravy. 

Serves 6 servings @ 518 calories

So that's the meals! I know many of you are wondering how much the meals cost us, so I will tell you. We made 22 meals for $214.04. That's $9.73 for a meal that feeds 4-6! I know that is a little higher priced then some other websites claim to be, but our meals have a lot of protein in them and we bought the healthier version of ingredients which always cost more

{I feel like Yeti should give me some sponsorship money for this pic!}

Also, for your convenience I have uploaded a few documents for you.
1. Freezer Meal Labels ~Just print them on sticker paper
2. The Recipes
3. Excel Shopping List ~Just plug in servings for each meal and it will calculate how much to purchase


Well, I hope I have inspired some of you out there to make some meals ahead of time! I know that when it comes to a new baby, the last thing you want to be doing is slaving over the stove in the kitchen! If you have any question on making these meals, feel free to email us!

Happy Cooking!! 

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Make Ahead Meals: Wild Rice and Sausage Casserole

I am starting a series of blogs for Make Ahead Meals that I am preparing before Baby 2.0 arrives. Every night when I make dinner, I am doubling the recipe and putting the second in the freezer. I am hoping that the prepared meals will help on those totally exhausted days when cooking sounds like no fun. I am hoping many of the meals I will be preparing will be somewhat healthy and low calorie, but I know there will be some meals mixed in that aren't. To prepare for the freezer meals, I purchased some slow cooker liners (for the crockpot meals), gallon freezer bags (for the freezer skillet meals), and Aluminum Foil Steam Table Pans with matching lids (for the freezer casseroles).

I made this recipe a while back and it is now one of my husband's favorite casseroles and he requests it all the time. 

2 packages (6.3 oz each) rice pilaf 

2 cups of wild rice mixture, cooked

1 lb bulk pork sausage

12 celery ribs, chopped

8 medium carrots, sliced

2 cans (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

2 cans (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

4 tsp onion powder

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp pepper

4 cups of chinese chow mein noodles

2 packages (2.5 oz.) of sliced almonds

Prepare rice pilaf according to package directions. 

I like this brand of rice pilaf, but I only use 1 seasoning packet as I find with two it gets too salty.

-

In large skillet, cook the sausage, celery, and carrots over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. The veggies might be a bit crisp, but will cook down in the oven. 

In a large bowl, combine the soups, onion powder, garlic powder and pepper. 

Add mixture to the skillet full of carrot, celery, and sausage. 

Add in the rice pilaf mixture and stir.

 Add in cooked wild rice and 1 package of almonds.

Stir.

Grease two baking dishes. I made the meal that night, so used the smaller one for dinner and the larger one is for the deep freezer.

Transfer the casserole over to the two dishes.


Sprinkler top with remaining package of sliced almonds.

And top with chow mein noodles.   

Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. I use tin foil on the top and then cover with the lid that matches the pan to prevent freezer burn. Label the freezer one to thaw, bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until warm.

For dinner that night, bake the remaining casserole at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Enjoy!!

Meals to date:

1 x White Baked Penne Pasta

1 x Curried Pork Loin

1 x Honey Orange Pork Loin

1 x BBQ Pulling Pork Loin

2 x Spaghetti and Meatballs (really just frozen meatball)

1 x Sweet & Tangy Meatballs

1 x Quesadilla Casserole

1 x Cranberry Chicken

1 x Apricot BBQ Chicken

1 x Sticky Chicky

1 x Wild Rice and Sausage Casserole

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Make Ahead Meals: Dump Chicken Meals

I am starting a series of blogs for Make Ahead Meals that I am preparing before Baby 2.0 arrives. Every night when I make dinner, I am doubling the recipe and putting the second in the freezer. I am hoping that the prepared meals will help on those totally exhausted days when cooking sounds like no fun. I am hoping many of the meals I will be preparing will be somewhat healthy and low calorie, but I know there will be some meals mixed in that aren't. To prepare for the freezer meals, I purchased some slow cooker liners (for the crockpot meals), gallon freezer bags (for the freezer skillet meals), and Aluminum Foil Steam Table Pans with matching lids (for the freezer casseroles).

Another sale at the local store, this time with boneless, skinless chicken! Perfect for some dump chicken meals. Now if you have never heard of "dump chicken" let me define it for you:

Dump Chicken { ˈdəmp  ˈchi-k^ən }:

 The process of combining many ingredients with chicken and then pouring (or "dumping") them in a baking carafe to make a meal. 

In other words-- very easy meals made with chicken and some other random ingredients. I made three "dump chicken" meals and I thought I would share the recipes. 

All of these meals I plan to cook in the crockpot (though you could also bake them in the oven), so I put them all in a slow cooker liner bag. I separated three pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts into three slow cooker liner bags. 

And then I prepared myself to begin dumping ingredients.

The first recipe:

Cranberry Chicken

 You will need: 

1 tablespoon Soy Sauce

1 can Cranberry Sauce

1/4 cup Orange Juice Concentrate

1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. 

And "dump" on your chicken in the slow cooker liner:  

Seal with a twist tie: 

I plan on serving this meal with Quinoa on the side and it should be pretty tasty!

Pretty tough, right? Only two more recipes to go!

The next recipe is: 

 Apricot  BBQ Chicken

You will need:

3/4 cup Ketchup

3/4 cup Apricot Preserves

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbs Worcestershire Sauce

2 teaspoons Chili Powder

1/8 teaspoon Salt

3  teaspoon brown sugar

Again, mix all the ingredients in a bowl: 

And pour over a different bag of chicken: 

Twist with a twisty tie: 

I plan on serving this meal either as whole chicken or pulling the meat into sandwiches. I think it would be great with a side of corn bread. 

Ok, can you handle one more??? I know these recipes are tough! This is the last one: 

Sticky Chicky

You will need: 

2 tablespoons Oil

2 tablespoon Soy Sauce

3/4 cup Peanut Butter

3 tablespoons Ketchup

1  teaspoon of Salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl together: 

Pour over final bag of chicken: 

And seal again with a twisty tie: 

I plan on serving this meal over some cooked brown rice! Super easy!

Now because all of these chickens are in slow cooker liners, which are somewhat thin, I decided to put each bag into a freezer bag to prevent any freezer burn. 

You can label them each

"Thaw overnight. Cook in slow cooker for 4-6 hours"

or 

"Thaw overnight. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 degrees."

These "dump chicken" meals are so easy to put together and always turn out great! 

Meals to date:

1 x White Baked Penne Pasta

1 x Curried Pork Loin

1 x Honey Orange Pork Loin

1 x BBQ Pulling Pork Loin

2 x Spaghetti and Meatballs (really just frozen meatball)

1 x Sweet & Tangy Meatballs

1 x Quesadilla Casserole

1 x Cranberry Chicken

1 x Apricot BBQ Chicken

1 x Sticky Chicky

I have a little confession to make-- I have made a ton of meals so far, but honestly not had the time to blog about them all. I actually go into the hospital to have the baby in 4 days, so I doubt that I will be able to blog about the rest of them in time, so I will just keep posting these until I have them all up! Thanks for understanding! 

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Make Ahead Meals: Quesadilla Casserole

I am starting a series of blogs for Make Ahead Meals that I am preparing before Baby 2.0 arrives. Every night when I make dinner, I am doubling the recipe and putting the second in the freezer. I am hoping that the prepared meals will help on those totally exhausted days when cooking sounds like no fun. I am hoping many of the meals I will be preparing will be somewhat healthy and low calorie, but I know there will be some meals mixed in that aren't. To prepare for the freezer meals, I purchased some slow cooker liners (for the crockpot meals), gallon freezer bags (for the freezer skillet meals), and Aluminum Foil Steam Table Pans with matching lids (for the freezer casseroles).

First of all, I like to buy meat in bulk when it's on sale. When it comes to ground beef, I usually buy large quantity and brown it all at once. Usually I will end up with a giant container of browned ground beef in my freezer like this:

I was on the hunt for another ground beef recipe and I came across this recipe for Joyful Momma's Kitchen for Quesadilla Casserole (Freezer Meal) and thought it sounded like a pretty easy and yummy meal to add to my deep freezer. (You can check out the full recipe here.)

To start this meal, dice the onion and caramelize over medium heat. 

Next I assembled the ingredients to make the inside of the casserole: chili powder, ground cumin, dried minced garlic, oregano, crushed red pepper, 16 oz tomato sauce, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of whole kernel corn, and 1 can of green chilies. 

 I added the ground beef to the cooked onions.

Then I mixed in all the ingredients and let simmer for 20 minutes.

To start the casserole, spray oil spray on the bottom of your foil pan and then spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed.

Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese.

Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Top with remaining beef mixture and cheese.

Top the pan with foil and cover with pan lid. Label with the following instructions:

- Thaw and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. 

Let stand 5 minutes before serving. 

And just if you are wondering, here is the calories count on this meal. 

source

Not the lowest calorie meal, but I have a feeling it might end up feeling more like 10 people instead of 8.

Meals to date:

1 x White Baked Penne Pasta

1 x Curried Pork Loin

1 x Honey Orange Pork Loin

1 x BBQ Pulling Pork Loin

2 x Spaghetti and Meatballs (really just frozen meatball)

1 x Sweet & Tangy Meatballs

1 x Quesadilla Casserole

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