When in doubt, smile.

Defrosted frozen cupcakes taste just like fresh baked cupcakes!!! You heard me right, bake up a batch tonight!! The top was perfect, not sticky at all, just like the one I ate on Monday night (fresh baked).

Updating [this post] I did not flash freeze them, all I did was let them cool completely, then wrapped them in 2 layers of plastic wrap, then put a bunch of them in a gallon freezer bag. So simple, and soooooo worth it!

There’s been a box of cake mix on my counter that has been taunting me since Ella’s birthday party. I hardly ever bake for myself, since I usually end up eating the whole thing myself. So yesterday while I was having serious cupcake cravings I realized that some of the make-ahead cookbooks I have say you can freeze muffins and other baked goods. So I did a little search on the internet and low and behold, there are people out there who have frozen cupcakes, and said they were fantastic. This afternoon I whipped up the batch of dark chocolate Betty Crocker mix, and now my little goodies are cooling off.

Some tips I read about freezing cupcakes:

• allow to cool completely (duh)
• do not frost them
• keep the paper wrap on
• double wrap them in plastic wrap
• unwrap before defrosting (apparently this helps minimize the sticky gooey tops)

So .. that’s how I’m going to do it. I’m going to see if my tops are sticky before wrapping them. If they are, then I will be flash freezing them first, then wrapping them up. I’ll let you know in the future how they do with defrosting. I read you could stick them on your counter for 5 - 6 hours to warm up, or stick them in your fridge to get the job done. I’m sure I’ll experiment both ways

Another recipe from Fix, Freeze, Feast .. this one caught my eye because it uses cranberry juice. I just thought that was unique, so I had to try it!

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I have some catching up to do. A few weeks ago I made a few make-ahead meals, stuck them in my freezer, and forgot about them. Well .. I didn’t really forget about them, I made them, I photographed them, and then I never blogged about it. Which is a shame because they’re pretty good. So I have a few recipes to share with you today, and not much else Hope you enjoy!
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So last night I swore I was never going to feel better, that I needed to find another doctor, and sure enough my energy seemed to come back today. My throat is still swollen, and I’m wondering if it might be allergy related, so tonight I’m switching allergy meds to try that out. 

Today I managed to catch up on work a bit, ship out 3 photography print orders (woo hoo!!), run errands for 3 hours, including going grocery shopping, and put together 2 new recipes! I decided to try out a tequila lime chicken recipe & one called shanghi stir-fry from my new make-ahead cookbook. I’m amazed at how much food these recipes make. I ended up with 6 tequila lime chicken dinners and 8 shanghi stir-fry dinners (2 servings each!) They’re designed for 4 portions .. so its like everything is doubled for my 2 person family. Anyways, I quickly cooked up a tequila lime dinner tonight and both Sean and I really liked it. The recipe calls for basting, but I just put it on my george foreman grill because it was late and I was tired and hungry .. anyways, I couldn’t really baste on there. But I bet it’ll taste even better with the basting. I’ll share the recipe once I get a pretty picture .. today’s plate was too plain

I’ve recently discovered something about myself .. I really enjoy eating home cooked meals. On top of that I love to find recipes and try them out. However, I dont like to cook every night, more like once a week, I really enjoy cooking once in awhile. But because I don’t like to cook regularly I find myself heating up ‘bag meals’ and zapping microwaved box meals too often. So I started to wonder if I could start making my own frozen dinners. I found in my last Real Simple magazine that they had a ‘make-ahead’ recipe for steak fajitas. I then spent the rest of my Sunday afternoon reading everything I could about freezing meals and once a month cooking (OAMC). Monday I packaged up my first make-ahead meal, those steak fajitas, and this afternoon I reheated a bag for the first time.

Here’s straight from the freezer

After 10 min of defrosting

After draining extra water & turning heat up to cook the meat

Here is my fajita ready to eat (yes, I know I rolled it into a burrito, that’s just how I do it). Perfect meal for after my wii workout

The Recipe (from Real Simple Magazine, June ‘08)

freeze it

• 1lb flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 red bell peppers (I used 1 red, 1 green)
• 1 jalapeno, seeded (if desired) and thinly sliced (I diced mine)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (I ran out so I used a little chili powder, some cumin, & some cayenne pepper too)
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (forgot this)
• Kosher salt
• 4 1-quart re-sealable plastic freezer bags (I used 1 gallon because I put 2 servings in each bag)

cook it (per serving - my bags have 2 servings each, so this was doubled) 

• 1 bag frozen fajita mixture
• 1 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 8-in flour tortillas, warmed
• salsa (optional)
• sour cream (optional)

In a large skillet, over medium heat, heat the oil (use 1 teaspoon per serving). Empty the frozen contents of the bags into the skillet. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Raise heat to medium high and cook, uncovered, until steak is cooked through, 2 to 6 minutes. Serve with the tortillas & salsa and sour cream if desired. 

My changes - I doubled the recipe, ending up with 8 servings, or 4 bags of 2 servings. 

I’ve been inspired, I picked up a few cookbooks and I can’t wait to start stocking my fridge with yummy meals that I made! And I really can’t wait until Nikki can cook again and we can start exchanging make-ahead meals!