The freezer is a wonderful invention. It makes my weekdays a whole lot easier. I rarely have time to “assemble” my lunch before work, and I would rather not go out to eat because it takes up too much time, money, and calories. I make it easy on myself by taking one day on the weekend or a weeknight to prepare most of my meals for the work-week.
I did some major cooking and baking on MLK Day since I had the day off from work! I decided to make winter veggie burritos and used Jenna’s method for slow cooker black beans.
Winter Veggie Burritos
- black beans (canned or slow cooker style)
- cheese
- roasted sweet potatoes
- steamed kale
- super sweet corn
- salsa
Roll all of the ingredients up in a tortilla. During the summer I use zucchini and yellow squash in place of the sweet potatoes and kale.
Once you’re done rolling, you can wrap them individually in foil and place them in a bag in the freezer.
I ran out of tortillas, so I used brown rice instead. Brown rice freezes nicely; you just cook it, let it cool, and then it’s ready to go in the freezer.
You can take them out the night before to thaw, or you can take it out in the morning and put it in an insulated lunch bag. Mine is still frozen 4 hours later, without refrigeration. It usually takes about 3-4 minutes to warm in the microwave.
Lunch is not the only thing you can prepare ahead of time. I made blueberry muffins for my breakfast all last week. The recipe comes from The Cupcake Calendar that my sister-in-law gave me (Thanks Ellen!). It’s a neat little daily calendar that has a cupcake/muffin recipe for everyday.
I left six out for Vee and I to eat over the next couple of days and wrapped the rest individually in foil and put them in the freezer. Just unwrap and nuke the muffin for 30-45 seconds in the microwave and you’re good to go.
Snacks can be frozen too! I made hummus and put it in small freezer safe containers that hold about two servings each. You can put the container in the fridge overnight to thaw. Assuming that you freeze it right away, it will last two days in the fridge.
All in the name of time. Amen.
Do you any have meal-time saving tips?
You get the picture.
and taking yoga photos of this gal:
We had lots of good food and my brother Kenny made us a surprise!
Doesn’t he look like Emilio Estevez?
I digress.
Our Gramma passed a few years ago, but she used to make this treat every Christmas. It has probably been at least seven years since I’ve had it. So it was definitely an awesome surprise.
I’ve never really heard of Boiled Custard outside of our family. It is basically eggs, milk, and sugar heated over a double broiler and then chilled. My Gramma would chill it in a ceramic dish, (we think) to create little ice shivers. The taste kind of reminds me of snow cream. My brother Stevie tasted it and said “WHOOOO, that’ll pull you right out of a diabetic coma!”
On my plate I have an egg roll, pansit, fried rice, Monte’s stuffing, beans, and turkey. Mrs. Emily’s egg rolls are seriously famous in my hometown. They are stuffed with ground beef, cabbage, and carrots. She always makes extra for family friends. Her fried rice is delish too. I tried to make it once. It tasted good, but certainly wasn’t as good as hers. Vee proclaimed “Hmmm, not bad. You’re almost Asian baby.”
The tree went up!
And I believe I witnessed a new Christmas tradition! Christie and Jonathan made Christmas Balls for their Mom’s tree. In Greensboro, there is a neighborhood that decorates all of their trees with a LOT of these balls. It’s really a beautiful sight to see. Now Mrs. Emily is the only one on the block in Lumberton with these pretty things.
I love the Holidays.
This little guy came in my 
I choose wine by their pretty labels.
I got to test out my nifty camera bag. 
Played with my cam.
Such pretty feet.
A bush trying to get fresh on me.
Charlie was mad that I didn’t spend time with him instead. 😦
Cupcake Jane 