October Freezer Baking

This month I planned most of my menu around meals that were already hanging out in the freezer from my September Freezer Cooking, so the bulk of my freezer cooking for October is baking.  I love fresh baked goods, I hate cleaning up the mess.  I've found that by batch baking, I can get the best of both worlds.  Some things go into the freezer already baked, others head for the freezer flash frozen so they can be pulled out, baked and eaten fresh and warm.

This is more than I would normally be baking, but we have quite a few engagements this month that we're signed up to bring baked goods for.  The prep work now, will save me a lot of time and dishes later!  Here's the list of what I'm working on:

Pumpkin Applesauce Bread -recipe to follow, baked and frozen

HV Zucchini Bread -baked and frozen

Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies -Scooped & Frozen

Sugar Cookies -cut & frozen-directions to follow

Pie Crusts -I take no credit - it's HandyMan's Department!

And I've been dying to try the Chocolate Butterhorns so I'm hoping to get them in the freezer this time around too!

Sloppy Lasagna -Pasta is on the menu. I'm trying a variation of this recipe and will make three pans instead of large quantities of leftovers.

Happy cooking!

This post is linked up at Life As Mom's October Freezer Cooking post.  Check it out for lots of great ideas.

Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies

December 2 Update: If you've landed here from Life as Mom's Ultimate Cookie Swap, welcome!  You may also want to check out my Easy Sugar Cookies method and my Coconut Fudge cookies:  both go to the freezer to make your life easier!

We had just finished dinner.  I offered a [perfectly yummy] pumpkin bread for dessert.  Handy Man says he's in the mood for something more chocolate-y.  Who am I to argue with that?!  I knew I wanted to mix up cookie dough to get in the freezer for upcoming events and asked if he liked nuts in his cookies (we've only been married just short of nine years).  He does.  I told him I would consult my little black box [computer] and find a recipe.

I started with this recipe and tweaked it a bit and here's what I ended up with.  It's not quite as healthified as my HV Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread that's featured over at The Cheapskate Cook's site today.  But I've taken some baby steps.

Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies

Note: This recipe is for a double batch and will yield about 8 dozen cookies.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour


• 2 cups white whole wheat


• 1 cup baking cocoa powder


• 2 teaspoon baking soda


• 2 cup butter or margarine, softened


• 1-1/3 cup sugar


• 1-1/3 cup packed brown sugar


• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 4 eggs


• 3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips


• 2 cups finely chopped pecans

1.  Cream together butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and blend thoroughly.

2.  Sift together flours, baking soda and baking cocoa and add to the liquid batter.  Blend completely.

3.  Fold in chocolate chips and pecans.  Scoop rounded tablespoons and bake for 8-12 minutes at 350 degrees, or until set.

Note: If you do not use the whole wheat flour you may need to add 2-4 tablespoons of additional flour to your batch to get a good stiff consistency.  Whole wheat flours absorb more of the moisture from recipes than all purpose flour.

Jack Frost Ended My Garden Season

This week, Jack Frost has brought an official end to my growing season.  My thriving green beans and slow growing peppers probably would have had a chance to continue into the fall had I paid attention to the weather and given them a sheet of protection.  But alas, life has been too hectic and good ol' Jack had his bite and they've wilted into a sad state of green limpness.  I still have a couple pumpkins that I'm hoping will ripen up.   I'll add them to the pumpkin I pureed yesterday for pies and breads.  Yummy!

I've had a busy summer and fall and I'm thankful for the produce that I was able to coax from our land and it really does taste better!  We're working on breaking down our garden for winter.  Yesterday HandyMan disassembled our tomato trough.  We decided that remnants of last year's blight must have been in the wood since those tomatoes did so horribly.  We'll explore options for reconstruction in the spring.

GBaby's cast comes off next week which will make outside time a little more fun for all of us.  I'm hoping to get a good dose of garden clean up done then.  For this week, it's candle pouring and baking!

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Sunday Sunshine: Many Miles

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude by giving.

This week brought safe travels for our whole family as we traveled in different directions across the Northeast.  GBaby and I traveled to New Hampshire for a few days with my parents while HandyMan was off working in PA.  It's always fun to see GBaby with her grandparents, and just as fun to leave her with them for a few hours of much needed girl time with my dear college friend who still lives in NH.  The yummy Danish Puff that said friend sent home with me was pretty good too!

We had beautiful weather and great fall colors for our drive and GBaby earned a couple more gold stars for her car seat.  She is such a great traveler!

I was blessed that our local school district had given the students Friday off.  I had a craft fair to pack up for so I was able to make use of my Extra Hands since she was out of school (Thanks again!)

Saturday was a craft show with moderate sales, beautiful sunshine and a blustery breeze (yeah, could have done without the breeze, but better than rain!)  Today brought a much needed nap and a family date out for dinner.

We've logged a lot of miles this week - rolled one of our cars over 100,000 miles at I-495 and the Mass Pike on Thursday - and are happily home and settled in for a quiet evening to start the coming week.  I hope you can look back, and forward, to find the joy dotting your story!

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!