I've been exploring more uses for my suribachi set (like a mortar and pestle) and recently delved into homemade chai tea!

A trip to the local health/bulk food store provided starter amounts of cardamom, allspice, and cloves -- spices I didn't already have in whole form. Also pictured above: peppercorns, ground ginger, and cinnamon sticks. What a delicious combo! :)

This Spiced Chai Tea is spicy, creamy, and sweet. The aroma of freshly crushed spices, the body of black tea, and the addition of heavy cream and brown sugar make this a very luxurious treat!

The days have been dark and dreary: perfect for a comforting hot cup. I'm still finding time to relax, amidst small children, home school books, and the never-ending to-do list!

When Joshua and I were first married (almost 8 years ago), a friend introduced us to Whole Wheat Berry Pancakes, an easy whole wheat recipe that doesn't require a grain mill. We've made these pancakes ever since, and they're Joshua's favorite pancakes!

The whole grain wheat is put into a blender with some milk and blended until smooth. Add a couple eggs, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt and blend for another minute before pouring the batter on a hot griddle to cook. So easy and so delicious! :)

I added some frozen blueberries to the pancakes in these pictures. We ate them hot with a little butter! The brown sugar in the pancake batter makes them sweet enough for our tastes, so we rarely use syrup.

For anyone interested in using fresh whole grains, but not wishing to purchase a grain mill for heavy use, these blender pancakes are a fun and easy way to start! :)

I've mentioned in the past that we don't generally do many freezer meals, since we think most foods taste best when prepared, baked, and served fresh! :)

However, there are a handful of things that, while not quite like fresh, are still pretty tasty after being frozen. :) And since I've been nesting lately (I prefer to call it "disaster readiness prep"!) I've been brainstorming meal ideas for the freezer. :)

Several people suggested making a double batch of whatever we're having for dinner, and freezing half. I've been able to do this several times during the past couple weeks, and it's worked great!

I have two glass 8x8-inch dishes that work great for a single meal size. I couldn't bring myself to purchase the cheap foil pans (especially bad for tomato-based meals!) so I've been using the "mold technique":

1. Line the glass dish with wax paper and plastic wrap. (You could also use foil, like Amy does, although I prefer to avoid foil since it can stick and tears easily.)

2. Layer the casserole inside.

3. Cover with more plastic wrap and/or a lid, and freeze until solid.

4. After frozen, remove casserole from dish and wrappings, and seal.

I use the Food Saver to seal the frozen meal, since those bags are heavy and seriously prevent frostbite. If I'm going to the effort to freeze meals, I want them to taste as good as possible! ;)

You could also use heavy plastic freezer bags and remove most of the air with a straw, but I find that nothing compares to the heavy Food Saver bags and they just don't let air back in like freezer Ziplocks do. :) We have the FoodSaver Vac 750 model which has had lots of use in the 8+ years since we bought it, and it still works great!

Another advantage of using square or rectangular dishes of the same size is that the casseroles stack very tightly in the freezer.

My current freezer situation: Frozen casseroles, beef (cooked) and chicken (cooked), homemade cream of chicken soups (in bags at left), fish (raw and smoked), and vegetables. :)

Later this week I'll share my menu plans and which meals I decided to freeze, already completely made. :)

But for now -- does anyone have other great freezer tips to share? What are your favorite frozen homemade meals -- ones that taste just like fresh? :)

To Participate in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays:

Post a kitchen tip in your blog. Link to this post, and then leave your link here, so we know where to find YOU! :) No giveaways or non-tip posts, please!

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1. Stretching maple syrup (Mary Ann)
2. Freezer inventory (Amy)
3. Liver and meatballs (Carey)
4. Cooking potatoes (Erika)
5. Reviving frozen cookies
6. Freezer meal tips (Rachel)
7. Pre-cooked frozen veggies (Alea)
8. Easy cappuccino tip (Kolfinna)
9. Healthier baking tips (Rachel)
10. Holiday/big meal prep tips (Lora)

Have you heard about January's Eat From the Pantry challenge? Crystal and Jessica are challenging anyone who wants to join them in spending the month of January eating from the pantry and avoiding grocery shopping! :)

I can't wait to see what they come up with! :) Right now I'm actually working on filling our freezer/pantry for when the baby's born, but hopefully in another month or so I'll be enjoying a bit of a break. ;)

I think also that maybe since I shop mostly at Costco and only get the foods we eat on a regular basis (fresh and frozen fruits and veggies, meat, dairy, and occasional non-perishables) and don't get the "sales", I don't end up with as many "odds and ends" to use up. :)

For example, the items in my weekly grocery shopping photos are nearly all things we were running out of or would use within 7-10 days. I don't have to watch for a sale and buying as-needed helps keep my fridge and pantry streamlined. :) I know I am not getting rock-bottom prices on everything we buy but I am happy with the lack of stress when it comes to shopping! And I'm almost always satisfied that we're eating nutritious food. :D

Amid the busyness of life, I've fallen behind on documenting my grocery shopping! Here is December's second shopping trip.

I have actually gone shopping once since this trip, and bought items needed to make food for the freezer for when our new baby's born. Even though we've spent a bit this month on groceries, I am happy to say that we haven't eaten it ALL, yet, and my freezer is getting fuller!! :)

Is it any surprise that I went to... Costco for groceries?! Living 3 miles from Costco means I can go weekly. :| :)

Read more for items and prices...

One of Joshua's co-workers gave us the recipe for her natural fruit cake. I made some today and it's wonderful! :)

I am not really a huge fan of dried pineapple or dates, but I think the combination of flavors in this fruit cake is delicious! I haven't tried this recipe with different fruit and nut combinations, but I think that equivalent weights of various other nuts and fruits (walnuts, cranberries, blueberries, raisins, etc.) would work quite well. :)

It's sweet, but also very filling. Joshua and I both think it reminds us of a fruit and nut granola bar-type of treat.

This recipe is really easy to make. I used the food processor to chop the nuts and fruit, and Eliyahu helped me stir everything together. We ate two of the mini loaves and froze the other 4 for later or to give as gifts.

I did figure out that this recipe was rather pricey to make (almost $12 for 6 mini loaves!) so it won't be a regular treat at our house, but it's definitely worth making! :)

This was the first fruit cake I had ever made! Those of you who make fruit cake, what are your favorite ingredient combinations? :)

We love burritos!

For delicious meatless burritos, I make my beans and rice as described here, splash some Tapatio hot sauce inside, wrap in a flour tortilla and serve with sour cream. Easy, affordable, and delicious! :)

This is how I warm the flour tortillas, when we all want to fill our own at the meal.

When serving burritos for a crowd, I gather all the ingredients (warm or cold) and start assembling the burritos. Yehoshua was my helper a few weeks ago when we made burritos to take to church for the meal.

These are cooked pinto beans, mozzarella cheese, cooked basmati rice, and cheddar cheese.

When we finished, we had two full 9x13's of burritos. I covered the tops with foil and refrigerated. When we were ready to warm them, I baked them covered at 325 degrees for almost an hour. I like to serve them with sour cream and Tapatio (of course!). :) So easy!

We also love breakfast burritos and burritos with taco fillings (meat, beans, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa).

Before our new baby arrives, I plan to make up several kinds of burritos, wrap each one individually in foil, and place in a bag in the freezer (labeled!). I haven't tried warming the frozen burritos yet, but a friend said her frozen ones (wrapped in foil) take about 30 minutes at 350 degrees, resting directly on the oven rack. Sounds easy!

Do any of you have burrito tips to add to my post? I'd love to hear! :)

Bethany has a photo tutorial on how she folds her burritos. I do it similarly, though I put a bit more filling inside than she shows, and don't wrap the sides in nearly so far.

Bethany wraps hers in freezer paper and reheats in the microwave. :)

To Participate in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays:

Post a kitchen tip in your blog. Link to this post, and then leave your link here, so we know where to find YOU! :) No giveaways or non-tip posts, please!

In order to keep the kitchen tips more easily accessible, posts not adhering to these guidelines will be removed. We need to be able to easily find/see what your kitchen/cooking tip is. :) Thanks for your participation! :)

Leave your tip links in a comment. I'll manually add them to this post!

1. Homemade stock tips (Rachel)
2. Non-stick baking tip (Annie)
3. Frozen meat tip (Carey)
4. Entertaining tip (Becky)
5.
6.

I recently made these Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares. So sweet and yummy!

I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and these squares are an excellent homemade substitute when I'm craving a sweet peanut and chocolate combo!

They're also quick to make and don't require oven usage. However, they're not a bit healthy! ;)

And when I'm in the mood for a quick chocolate dessert (without the peanut butter) I head for some Chocolate No-Bake Cookies.

This is my mom's recipe and it's my favorite of any chocolate no-bake cookies I've tried. :)

When Joshua brought home M&Ms last week, we decided to make some sugar cookies to decorate. :) Eliyahu (almost 4) was my cookie helper! He borrowed Yehoshua's hot pepper apron and chef's hat for the occasion. :)

We made Old-Fashioned Cloves Cookies, a family favorite. As I mentioned in the recipe notes, the ingredients for this recipe were originally taken from the book Household Discoveries by Sidney Morse, c. 1903.

When I was a child, we found the book at a rummage sale and my brother Phillip decided to try this recipe from it. We liked the cookies and nicknamed them "Cloves Cookies" because of the strong clove flavor. :) The original recipe didn't even give a baking temperature or time. :)

My idea was to use the M&Ms to make smileys on the cookies.

Eliyahu, however, thought they should be doggie paw cookies, and made up some hilarious doggie stories as he worked on the "doggie paws". :) He had a LOT of fun decorating the cookies, spending quite a while intently hunched over the tray of cookies. :)

I must say, though, that I don't recommend using M&Ms (or any other chocolate) on these Old-Fashioned Cloves Cookies as they are rather spicy and the flavor doesn't go well with chocolate at all!! :)

I didn't get around to sharing photos and prices from my grocery shopping last week, so here it is, a bit late. :)

Joshua and the boys walked to QFC for bananas and came back with this assortment of goodies:

M&Ms    $2.99
Whole grain bread  $2.50
Orange juice   $1.50
Bananas    $2.83

Total:  $9.82

Joshua said he knew we were low on bread and bought some so I wouldn't have to make any the next day. :) The M&Ms were supposed to be a treat for me... and we ate some and put the rest on cookies! :)

Later in the week, I went to Costco and bought:

Read more for items and prices from Costco...