I just read/saw this wonderful vlog! I’m glad I saw it tonight, BEFORE I go to Costco tomorrow!

Would anyone like to guess what that picture is of?

If you guessed my freezer, you are correct.

That’s my freezer door. Most of the 90 burritos (30 each of: breakfast, bean and cheese, chicken and rice) are on that door. Needless to say it’s much heavier than usual. It makes the freezer close with a satisfying thwap.

It took my friend and I thirty minutes to pack everything in there… and that’s after my husband and my friend’s dad killed their hands and arms carrying a very full cooler from their car parked down the block.

What does this have to do with love you may ask?

Well Bean came 12 days early… on the day that I had planned to do a lot of my freezer cooking. So I’m in the hospital recovering from major surgery and trying to figure out how I’m going to feed my family. I decided to trust the Lord.

He answered my cry for help. Three ladies from church, along with their daughters, cooked up the food we had bought. They each added a few pans of their own casseroles and showered us with food that we can just heat and eat.

I almost cried when I heard what they were going to do and then I almost cried again when I look at my filled freezer…

Here, have another look.

Isn’t it pretty?!

I am loved.

This recipe was shared on one of my mommy message boards a couple years ago and it’s become an annual favorite in our home… I think the mama who shared it said it came from kerflop.com originally…

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Pre-Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream together:
1 C. Shortening
2 Eggs
3 C. Sugar

Add:
2 C. Pumpkin (15 ounce can) and mix well.

Stir in:
2 t. Baking Soda
2 t. Vanilla
1 t. Salt
2 t. Baking Powder
2 t. Nutmeg
2 t. Cinnamon

Gradually stir in:
5 C. Flour

You may need to add an additional cup of flour or so, dough should be “kind of stiff, not really stiff, but medium stiff. Not so sticky that it won’t push off a spoon onto the cookie sheet without sticking all over your finger”. See why I find baking difficult? This apparently, is not an exact science.

Stir in a bag of:
Chocolate Chips — Best if they are milk chocolate, unless you actually LIKE semi-sweet

Do not grease cookie sheet, drop a tablespoon or so of dough and drop them about an inch apart, they don’t spread out flat.

Bake at 375 for about 12 to 15 minutes.

They are soft and chewy and to die for!

This is what I put in my freezer in preparation for Munchkin…

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I’m starting to think about meals for after Mr. Bean is here and found this post in the archives. It’s from almost two years ago…

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For some reason I got it into my had that Cynthia shared a pumpkin waffle recipe. I didn’t realize my mistake (it was for pumpkin pie OATMEAL) until after I’d promised my hubby pumpkin waffles and I decided that going back on my word was probably not what I wanted to do, especially since we just had oatmeal yesterday. LOL.

So…

You know what’s coming next right?

Yeah for Google! Well lots actually, and among them I found a recipe for pumpkin waffles that was with ingredients I had on hand! I made a few adaptions based upon reading comments and seeing what other recipes had done and this is what I came up with. (What follows is what I actually did; the variations on the original recipe are already spelled out.)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon nutmeg
1-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1 pinch salt
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 2/3 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 handfuls finely chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Start waffle irons heating
2. Beat egg white until stiff and set aside. (I used my kitchen aid to do this while I was getting everything else ready)
3. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl.
4. In another bowl, add egg yolks, sugar, pumpkin, milk, and butter; beat well.
5. Mix wet and dry ingredients. (Same rules about not having to wash your kitchen aid apply as to my other waffle recipe)
6. Gently fold in egg whites
7. Cook according to your waffle iron directions. (It took about 5-7 minutes per batch, a couple minutes longer than the recipe says, which was plenty of time to whip some heavy whipping cream for a DELICIOUS topping. The waffles are not extremely sweet so you may want to put a little extra sugar in the whipped cream.

They were a big hit with Hubby and the Munchkin… and Mommy too of course.

I did something dumb when I made chili last week. I used the last of the chili powder and then promptly put it back in the drawer and didn’t mark it on the shopping list. **rolls eyes** So much for being the Queen of Spice.

So this morning I went to put BBQ beef sandwiches in the crockpot. Would you like to guess what ingredient number four is? You got it. Chili powder.

Problem #1: Munchkin is napping… the whole point of assembling it right now

Problem #2: I am not dressed yet and Hubby has already left for work.

Problem #3: Even if I did wait until #1 and #2 were resolved, how am I supposed to get around the “no enclosed spaces while on ACTH” rule?

Hmmm… I wonder if google can give me a chili powder recipe that only contains spices I have in my spice drawer. (Side note: I moved my spices off a cupboard shelf using a nifty little doo-dad I found at my favorite store in the world. I will never, ever go back to a shelf again. It’s so easy to find stuff, except for when you put empty bottles away instead of tossing them…)

Bingo. Not only was I feeling lucky, but I was lucky! The first hit for “homemade chili powder” was this recipe:

Mild Chili Powder

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. red or cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Mix well. Place in an airtight container. This makes 2/3 cup.

Not wanting to use all the rest of my individual spices I did a third of the recipe which made enough for BBQ sandwiches today with about 1-1/2 Tbsp left over in case I need more before I can get to the store again.

And dinner is safely in the crockpot before 10am! WOOHOO!

Cynthia posted a recipe in the comments on the previous post and I wanted to make sure you all saw it! It looks absolutely yummy!

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal (Serves about 4)

Bring to a boil:
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (100% pure, not pie filling)
1 or 2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice (or cinnamon)

When it comes to a gentle boil, stir in:
2 cups old fashioned oats

Cook about 5 minutes, til creamy.

Remove from heat, add
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar

(Optional) Top with chopped nuts and/or raisin, etc.

The kids and I loved it! I walked away from breakfast with a pumpkin pie taste in my mouth… (Ha ha) Yum!!

By the way: The recipe doesn’t call for a whole can of pumpkin, so to use up the rest, make Pumpkin French Toast. Make it just like regular french toast, except add pumpkin to the egg. The ratio is 2 Tbls. pumpkin to 4 eggs, plus 1/4 tsp. cinnamon.

Let me know what you think!

Thanks so much for sharing Cynthia. I wish I had pumpkin so we could have it for breakfast this morning, but I don’t and I know I don’t because I just organized my pantry yesterday… Anyway, I’ll definitely try it and let you know how we like it!

My friend Jenny posted this recipe on her blog.

1 pkg. Double Stuf Oreos – Cool Mint Flavor – (1 lb., 1 oz pkg.)
• use 22 cookies with cream centers included
• use 10 cookies with cream centers discarded
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1 pkg vanilla bark

Finely crush the cookies in a food processor. Stir in softened cream cheese. Mix well. Roll the mixture into 1″ balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. Place covered in freezer or refrigerator for a few minutes to help retain shape when dipping in melted chocolate.

Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry.

Refrigerate and enjoy!

It looks so yummy to eat, but I’ll bet the best part is having to “discard” those 10 oreo centers. I’ll be happy to do that… right into my mouth! TFS Jenny!

I found another great recipe: http://nancysrecipes.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/bbq-beef-sandwiches-crockpot/

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

3 to 4 lb. beef chuck roast
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 (1 ounce) pkg. onion soup mix
1 tbsp. chili powder
3 tbsps vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsps. prepared mustard
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Kaiser rolls
Cheese slices, your choice (I use monterey jack)

Trim fat from beef and place in crockpot.

Stir together all remaining ingredients together ~ except rolls and cheese ~ and pour over meat in crockpot.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, or until fork tender.

Skim off fat. Remove meat from crockpot and shred. Return meat to sauce in crockpot.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of meat on bottom of each roll and top with cheese. Place under broiler to melt cheese if desired.

Makes 6-8 sandwiches.

The only thing is it was not done until closer to 6-7 hours on high. I’m not sure if every crockpot is the same in that regard, but in the future I’ll definitely make it an all day thing if I want to eat supper on time. Otherwise the recipe was a winner here!