Freezer Cooking: Egg Muffin Sandwhiches

I don't do much freezer cooking.  I don't have much freezer space nor the desire to actually cook in bulk.  However, having a husband who leaves the house before dawn (commuting 1 1/2 hours each way) for work, has led us to discover that freezer cooking for his breakfast benefits everyone.  He needs something more substantial than cereal and milk or yogurt, so we've gone to making egg muffin sandwiches.  This way he has a hearty breakfast, that he can heat quickly (and quietly) & I don't have to get up 4 hours before the kids to make it.  I spend about an hour a month preparing them & he's got enough to get him through almost every morning for the entire month!

18 English Muffin

18 eggs

1 package of Canadian Bacon (there are only 15 pieces in the pack I buy, so he has 3 that don't have meat)

18 American Cheese slices

I have this adorable little egg frying pan and it works perfectly!  I spray a little non stick cooking spray, crack the egg into the pan, break up the yolk with a tooth pic & cook it.  Since I'll be using the entire carton of eggs, I just put the cracked shells back in the carton :)

As each egg is cooked, I place them on a wire rack to cool. 

As the eggs are cooking, I get out my bread knife and begin to the cut the muffins in half.

Go ahead and toss the box, but keep the bag the box comes in for later.

Then I begin assembling the sandwiches.  I start with the bottom of the muffin, then add an egg, a slice of canadian bacon & the top of the muffin.  We have found that adding cheese at this point is really not the best idea since it heats so much more quickly than the rest of the items.

Once all the sandwiches are assembled, I individually wrap the sandwiches in seran wrap.  Once they are all wrapped, I place the individually wrapped sandwiches into the bag from the english muffins, secure the top of the bag and place in the freezer.

In the morning, my sweet husband takes out a sandwich, unwraps it, wraps it in a paper towel and microwaves the entire thing for 1 minute & 15 seconds.  While it's cooking, he grabs a slice of cheese out of the fridge.  Once it's cooked, he opens it, adds the cheese, lets it sit for a minute or so and enjoys a nice, hot, filling breakfast.

Best part is, there is an entire month of drive thru style breakfasts for about 10 bucks...can't beat that!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

adapted from allrecipes.com

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 1/2 cups white sugar, divided

1 2/3 cups & 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided

3 eggs, divided

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup vegetable oil or unsweetened applesauce

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and 1 egg; beat until smooth. Set aside. 

Sift together 1 2/3 cup flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and pumpkin pie spice; set aside 

Place pumpkin, vegetable oil/applesauce, 2 eggs and 1 cup sugar in a large bowl; beat well. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. Fold in the pecans if desired. Pour 1/2 of the pumpkin batter into the loaf pans. Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of this layer and then pour on the remaining batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

So, I messed this up, but it is so good I can't wait to make it again :)  

What I did wrong (pictured above): I only had one 9 inch loaf pan, so I thought I could make a large loaf and maybe a few muffins.  I put in the bottom pumpkin mixture, then 1/2 the cream cheese.  It wasn't until I had already started putting in the top layer that I realized I was not going to have enough left to make anything else.  So I ended up with a really good bread, but with a smaller layer of cream cheese than expected.  Take care to make the bottom layer fairly thin as it will rise when baking.

I think I may go buy two 8 inch loaf pans just so I can make this again soon :)