freezer meals

one of the best things is not knowing what to throw together for dinner...

and then remembering that you have freezer meals in the freezer!

a few months ago, my friends kim and jessica got together for the first of (hopefully) many freezer meal exchanges!  we started out simple the first time--we each made three of the same meals, and then swapped (so we came home with three different meals.)  the next time we each made two meals to trade + a dessert.  and the last time we did it, we each made two meals + a side.  

we've come away with some awesome meals:

chicken taquitoes from our best bites

soup + rolls

pizza dough + sauce

cookie dough

ice cream

mini cheesecakes

calzones

breakfast burritos (we personally love these!!)

hamburger buns + patties

for our last swap, i made:

sweet and sour chicken

shepherd's pie

granola bars

the granola bars were a hit.

among the girls, and among my little family.  i couldn't feed them to avery fast enough!

they are super yummy (the chocolate chip ones tasted like cookie bars!) and they are very healthy.

enjoy!

p.s. i even snuck some quinoa into the shepherd's pies!

cook the quinoa, mix it into the hamburger...and the meat stretches 3x as far!!

plus, when it's mixed in with hamburger, you can't even tell.  the textures are identical.

do you have any yummy freezer meals you'd like to pass along?

under pressure

my parents got me an electric pressure cooker as my graduation present:

i'm sure some of you are saying, "an electric whattt??"

let me just assure you that it's not your grandma's pressure cooker. it is completely safe to use + incredibly amazing.

i've been cooking all sorts of grains that i never knew existed

{have you heard of quinoa or kamut before??}

and i'm in love.

i attended some classes by chef brad during education week--he is awesome. if you've never heard of him before, you should really check out his website. he is in love with any and all grains and his love rubs off on all those he speaks to. seriously!

i've been adding grains to all of our favorite dishes, and the best part is...

max and danny still eat them!!

i'll be sharing some recipes with you soon,

but in the mean time, i'd love to hear if any of you cook with a pressure cooker?

or if anyone loves grains as much as i do and wants to swap some recipes?? :)