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When I started having a larger than normal family, one thing I realized we could not get much of was convenience freezer snacks.  Yes, I know that they are not good for you, but every once in awhile I like to get a bag to eat for a special treat.  Well when you have lots of mouths to feed, that cost for a simple snack, gets quite expensive.  Plus I don’t want to feed my children those types of foods, if I can help it.

I decided I needed to come up with some alternatives to help feed those cravings of fun snacks.  I took inventory of some of my children’s favorites and came up with healthier versions.

southwestern chicken taquitos

These were probably one of my very favorites.  Deep fried and so good, but I knew I could not honestly feed these to my children, or myself for that matter and feel good about it.  I came up with my own baked version.  We really like them.  Serve with some ranch dressing, guacamole, or salsa and they are DELICIOUS!

baked corn dogs

I am not a big hotdog person, but my children love them.  They really like corndogs on a stick. Well with little ones, you really don’t want to be handing them a stick.  Eventually someone is going to try and poke someone’s eye!!  Plus deep fried, oh so not good. I came up with this baked version.  That to me tastes like the Bagel Dogs we used to get from the Schwan man as a kid.  Not bad.

twice baked potatoes

Ok well, we technically liked the potato skins that are from TGIFridays, but as a Mom, I didn’t want to waste the inside pulp, came up with these very yummy tasting twice baked potatoes.  They are filled with bacon, sour cream, cheese, and green onions.  So yummy!!

pretzels

My girls really like to make homemade pretzels, they find it quite fun to sculpt the dough into different shapes.  We used to buy these in large bags from the grocery store and have since resorted to our homemade ones.  After making them we place them onto a cookie sheet and freeze them until solid.  Place them into large sized plastic freezer bags.  You can pull out as many as you need to serve.  Fun treats for children to make.

poor boy subs

These are kind of convenient to have in your freezer.  I didn’t know that you could “freeze” subs and have them taste good.  Well you can.  This is nice for my husband who would like a quick snack, without me having to make them.  After preparing them, I wrap in tin foil and place into large freezer bags.  If you didn’t want to make them onto large bread, like I did in the post, you can make them on smaller sub sized buns for single servings.

What are some of your families favorite snacks that you have learned to make yourself instead of buying store bought?

 

Ok, I have admitted before that I do not like to make breakfast in the morning. With having many little ones waking me up all night, and then the mad rush of cranky toddlers and babies in the morning, I needed a way to make mornings run smooth.

For years I resorted to making cheerios and milk for its ease.  I just recently started doing oatmeal for them as a “healthier” alternative.  Which has been great, it is simple and quick and that is what I like in the morning.

Now that life has gotten easier, I still don’t like to wake up early to make breakfast, but I know that if I spend some time cooking one day, I can make my own convenience breakfast foods and feel good about serving them to my children.

The problem is that we have many laying hens which equals ALOT of eggs–about 15 chicken eggs, 3 duck eggs, and 1 goose egg per day.  I do not like to waste food, and we live in a land of farmers—not a huge need for eggs. We only make breakfast dinner usually once per week and that will only go through about 2 dozen eggs, I had to find a way to utilize the eggs we had and still make quick and easy breakfasts.

I came up with a bunch of freezer breakfast foods.

The great thing about this is that I was able to complete this in about a days worth of hard work, in addition to my usual workload.  Plus I used up a HUGE abundance of eggs– about 12 dozen and I was able to stock up on great tasting breakfast foods for my family.

Now all I do is get out whichever items I am going to feed my children for breakfast the next day and let thaw in refrigerator overnight.  As soon as the baby wakes up, I put it into the oven and by the time it is done, everyone is up and ready for breakfast.  Makes a nicer breakfast for the children without all the extra stress for me in trying to make a meal, while taking care of little ones.

French toast sticks

This is super easy to make, uses ALOT of eggs and my children, especially the little ones love to make and dip into syrup.

We went through 4 loaves of bread and 4 dozen eggs with this one.

 

Breakfast burritos

These are great for on the go or just a simple way to eat a mess-free breakfast.  Unless your toddler is into unwrapping to see what is inside.  I make these plain with no funny green veges, or anything that might spark a preschoolers curiosity of wanting to know if there is something yucky in her burrito.

We use our duck and goose eggs for our burritos.  They are a little heartier and meatier.  We went through 8 dozen eggs and it gave us about 130 breakfast burritos.  Sounds like many but when you have 10 children to feed that equals about 13 breakfasts for the month.  Not bad.

Pancake muffin

These were probably the little ones favorites as far as our freezer breakfasts go.  We tried to copy the pancake on a stick convience food and I think it worked.  We just put them into a muffin tin.  We made blueberry ones and sausage kinds.

We just pop them into the oven to thaw and serve with maple syrup.

cinnamon rolls

These taste great for special occasion mornings but who has time to whip up a batch before the troops rise??? Not I. That is why I love my freezer breakfast foods.  I make a mess one day—ALL DAY—and then I have these great foods already prepared in my freezer.

Cinnamon rolls are great to have for special birthdays or for when guests are over.  I just pop these out of the freezer the night before and let them thaw.  After rising, I place them into the oven and bake.

Now who doesn’t love the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the morning?

One of the greatest ways to wake up:)

My children enjoy breakfast much more nowadays. It is nice giving them a “choice” for breakfast. Plus I like to surprise my husband with freshly baked cinnamon rolls on the weekend.

I encourage you to take the time to “stock up” on some freezer foods, it will make your days go smoother, will save you money, and is better for you.

Anyone else have a recipe for using up a large abundance of eggs?? Preferably something I could freeze???