Friday, May 14, 2010
Freezer Meals
I know we talked about not doing themes, but I want to throw one out there. Do you have any recipes that you make that freeze well for later? Our compassionate service committee has asked for some of us to volunteer to have a casserole/meal in our freezer for when they need it. I just made three yesterday, all of which were enchiladas, but I have a confession I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food as a whole. I'll be going to Girls Camp for a week this summer and I'm sure the family would appreciate having something on hand in the freezer. So will you please post some of your recipes that freeze well, and make a label for freezer meals on the post so we can look them up. If you have Mexican food that freezes well feel free to share that too, because I know I am definitely a minority. Lets help each other out so we can stock our freezers with meals, so when we don't feel up to making dinner or some one need a meal we are ready. I can't wait to see what you have.
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3 comments:
Hi Erin -
This is a great idea...I'd love to have more freezer meal ideas. The only thing we've tried freezing are home-made soups and bread, and our southwest chicken egg-rolls (already on this site) and other burritos. I've also heard of others freezing home-made lasagna or pizza, but I've not done it myself. Soups freeze really well, though...especially if they're broth or tomato based instead of cream based. I save our large yogurt containers (32 oz size), wash them, and freeze soup in them. When we want soup I just thaw it in the fridge overnight and heat it in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.
I also will do soups in the Gallon freezer bags and you can lay them flat and stack the soups. I have lots of soups and mostly they are broth based and they taste great when thawed. Anytime I do lasagna I will freeze some or make a double batch because a whole pan is too much for us for a meal and leftovers. Also spaghetti sauces freeze great and I freeze them the same as the soups-just the bags flattened so they thaw quicker and store neatly. I will cook meats up in the crockpot and freeze them in the bags so I don't have to take the time to cook them when I need them. Taco meat and beans freezes great as well and it makes it super quick to make tacos and you have really flavorful meat. I've frozen manicotti before and it thaws out nicely. Another of our favorites is sweet and sour chicken so when I am making that I make a huge batch of the chicken and then freeze it in meal sized portions so I only have to make rice and sauce when we want it. That's what we usually have in the freezer around here. I'll see if I can think of other options too.
we do all of this! Soup, meats, sauces, lasagna, casseroles, bananas, bread, and dough. I always double lasagna and spaghetti sauce when i make it and freeze half. I have made meatballs and frozen them for later use. Things i have learned, never freeze and tomato anything in the disposable aluminum pans. the acid some how get the taste of the aluminum in the sauce. Dont freeze rice, it comes out mushy. So if you make chicken divan with a layer of rice on the bottom leave it out if you are gonna freeze it. and if you are making sauce or broth and have lots of bags freeze them on a cookie sheet so they will be flat then when they are frozen you can stack them nicely. we only have our one small freezer and i have to be super creative with our freezer space so this works the best for me!!
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