Homemade Freezer Dough for Whole Wheat Rolls

• Use 1/2 of the dough from Whole Wheat and Oatmeal Sandwich Rolls. (I like to make 24 fresh sandwich rolls and then freeze the others for more fresh rolls later instead of making them all at once)
• Divide the dough into 24 small balls and put them evenly on a large cookie sheet (I use a jelly roll pan). They look like you are ready to make cookies.
• Freeze the rolls on the cookie sheet. Once frozen, you can remove them from the cookie sheet and place them into freezer bags.  This way you can more easily remove only h ow many rolls you want to make at a time.

When ready to bake, remove the desired amount of rolls from the freezer and place on a greased cookie sheet to thaw and rise. (12 rolls per cookie sheet maximum) This process may take a few hours depending on the heat of your kitchen.

Bake at 425 F for 10-15 minutes.

Estimated cost: $3.66 for  dough for 24 rolls = $0.15 per roll.
My out of pocket cost: $0.00 (I used my storage items)

Quinoa Tacos

This is so Yummy and very fast!  I just used leftover Quinoa Green Chili Meatloaf and crumbled it up on Artisan Lettuce leaves.  I ate several for lunch today.  These would make a great main dish or an appetizer.

Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

2-3 Cups of  Healthy Sloppy Joes meat

(I used my leftovers from last night)

1 large Sweet Potato baked and mashed

(leaving the skin for extra nutrition)

Simply preheat oven to 350 F, put the meat into an appropriate sized casserole dish and spread the mashed sweet potato on top.  Heat through for about 1/2 hour.  (or heat in the microwave if you have one large enough) 

Serving suggestion: my Toddler didn't try it until I put some on a cracker and made her a mini-pizza, then she loved it and ate several more. 

This is also a great next day leftover tip--however, we didn't have any leftovers with this meal.  My family ate and ate until it was scraped clean.

Rice Pudding

I have tried a few different rice pudding recipes since my husband loves it so much. (I admit that I don't like it.) Usually he has eaten it but not loved it. This time . . . success!! He loved it and even my daughter liked it. It is made with leftover rice (or cook it ahead of time). If you like rice pudding, I highly recommend it.
For the recipe click here.

Using the Halloween Pumpkin

For Family Home Evening, I used my daughter's Jack'0 Lantern to make some cooked pumpkin to use in place of pie filling in a yummy recipe.
1) bring some water to a boil in 1-2 large pots, depending on the size of the pumkin you are cooking.
2) Cut the pumpkin up into several small pieces that can easily fit into the pots and add them into the boiling water.
3) Boil the pumpkin until it is the desired softness. It will cook faster if you cover the pot.
4) Remember to let it cool to a warm temp before using tongs to take the pieces out and peel the skin off of each piece.
5) either smash up or puree in a blender the small pumkin pieces.
Serving suggestions: This is great to use with butter and brown sugar to eat as a side dish. It tastes a lot like butternut squash. Yum! Also great in recipes calling for pumpkin pie filling. Freezes well for later.
We made some yummy and very easy pumpkin cookies with it from a very simple recipe from the Friend.All it took was a spice cake mix, eggs, chocolate chips or raisins and the cooked pumpkin.

Easy and Healthy Spanish Rice

This is such an easy one. A friend taught me this one and I have added to it over the last few years. I usually use leftover rice for this recipe.

Simply put some rice in an appropriate sized casserole dish. I used short-grain brown rice cooked the day before in a rice cooker. (I cooked the rice in chicken broth to flavor it and had some leftovers after dinner)

Then blend a can of diced tomatoes and some cooked veggies in a blender (I used 1/4 C broccoli today, carrots and mixed veggies are good too--just watch how much you add start with a little until your family is used to it for example if you add a LOT of broccoli it turns the sauce green and although it tastes great it might not look like it to a little one:). Add whatever spices you like. I used a little garlic and some basil. (leftover or canned spaghetti sauce works too)

Pour the sauce over the rice and mix it in. Then top with cheese and heat through. (during the summer I like using the microwave so the stove doesn't heat things up so much).

Serving suggestions:
Add some salsa and guacamole on top and serve as a warm dip with tortilla chips, or it is great alone or as a side dish. It is also good wrapped in tortillas as a rice burrito with some ranch dressing or sour cream. You can add some canned corn or meat to make it a heartier stand-alone meal. Add chilli powder or crushed red peppers for a spicy rice.

Yummy Fried Rice at Home

I really like this recipe and my husband hardly ever likes rice and he had seconds too :)

1) Scramble 2 eggs (not to0 dry) and remove and set aside.

2) Clean out pan, add 1 T olive oil and whatever vegetables you want to use ( I used frozed baby yellow and green beans and some dehydrated onion) and stir-fry until cooked but still crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.

3) Add 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil and 3-4 cups of already cooked and chilled rice (I used leftover rice cooked in a rice cooker a couple of days before) and stir-fry for a couple of minutes or until it changes color and gets a little darker.

4) Add back in the vegetables and scrambled eggs, some soy sauce to taste (I use a substitute see my post "soy sauce substitute") and heat through. I also added some turkey lunchmeat cut into small pieces with some kitchen shears.

A similiar recipe I consulted:

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/ricefried/r/basicfriedrice.htm