Freezing Home-made Food

Just wanted to say, it's better to freeze good right after you make it. The "cool it to room temp" thing is a myth and might actually result in bacteria growth. Same with putting leftovers in the fridge. Don't wait.
That said, I freeze stuff all the time. Soups, pasta sauces, chili, meatloaf (sorry), pan of pasta, meatballs (sorry again!), lasagna, even stuff like cookies, etc.
Potatoes I would make fresh. Same with rice , etc.

I freeze things all the time. The biggest thing to assure flavor is the seal things properly. Before freezing anything, make sure it it is completely cool, this helps prevent ice crystals from forming. I just stick my stuff in the fridge and then freeze it later when it is cool. Ziplock bags will work well for storage. Once you have determined that you like foods that are frozen, you may want to consider a vacuum sealer. They take all the air out of the bag. Portioning things will also help with protecting the food. Most things last about six months (some things a little longer in a deep freezer). I usually date and rotate things, so most of our frozen meals don't last too long.

I haven't frozen straight up potatoes, but they are found in many things I freeze and I haven't had a problem with them being mushy. I have had no luck with quiches. I have tried a few times and a few recipes and they always get grainy. I find that grated cheese does ok in the freezer, but I am not a fan of cream cheese or white sauces that are frozen...they get a grainy texture as well.

Many soups freeze well. I often have chicken cheese corn chowder, chicken noodle and spinach sausage and vegetable in our freezer. We make our own broths and I freeze those as well. Chili also does well in the freezer. I put them in ziplock bags. I placed the bags in 2 qt juice pitchers and fill them with the soup. I put the pitchers in the freezer and when they were frozen solid, I removed the bags from the pitchers and stored them in the freezer. Putting them in the pitcher helped M. with portions and they stored well in my deep freeze.

Baked ziti and lasagna, both do well in the freezer. The recipes I have make large batches, so I split them and got two meals out of each one.(http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Ziti-I/Detail.aspx) (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Worlds-Best-Lasagna/Detail.a... I store these in disposable pans.I wrap in saran wrap (really wrap...all the way around) and then put tin foil over the top. The night I cook it, I reuse the tinfoil...putting tinfoil over the top will help it heat through without browning the cheese. And often I do wash the toss away pan to reuse for another time. I have made and frozen vegetable versions of these recipes as well.

Pot pies freeze well. I find these are easy to make in large batches. I make these a dozen or so at a time. They are my go to food when I don't feel like cooking. they cook better thawed, but more than once I have baked them frozen. It obviously takes a little longer, but if you keep it covered with tin foil, the crust doesn't get overly brown or burned.

We freeze many of the vegetables from our garden. I parboil them (which means you dunk in boiling water for a few minutes. Then after they have cooled completely, you can freeze them

Lumpia and egg rolls can also be made ahead of time and frozen. It helps to wrap them in wax paper before putting them in baggies. I store all of these in ziplock bags (vacuum bag have a tendency to rip the egg rolls apart a little bit).

Fried rice, which can be served as a side or main dish, does well too - although if I am going to add shrimp I do that the night we are going to eat it, I don't freeze it with shrimp. Red beans and rice does well, but make sure to add a little water when you go to reheat it. These can frequently be reheated in the microwave.

Meatballs for spaghetti and sandwiches can be frozen too. We make our own spaghetti sauce and I have that in our freezer as well. I usually cook up the sauce and then reheat the meatballs by dropping them in the sauce to cook.

I also make up dinner rolls, garlic bread and bread bowls and froze them. You just want to bake them for about half the time, let them cool completely and then freeze. They store well in ziplock bags. When it comes time to heat them up, you can throw them in the oven frozen and cook for the remaining time.

Hope this helps!

The most important tip, in my opinion, is to get all the air out of the ziplock. The more air in the bag, the more likely you are to get freezer burn on the food. And I prefer ziplock bags to plastic containers for this reason.

I have played around, and some things I prefer to put together, then freeze before I cook (meatloaf, chicken breasts in marinade), and some things I prefer to completely cook then freeze (taco meat, spaghetti sauce, stews, soups). It really does make life a lot easier.

My suggestion re: the freeze thing, is think about how long you plan to freeze for, how often you'll be eating out of the freezer, and whether you would be better of freezing batches or single serves.

When we make lasagna, we make 3. One gets eaten immed. One gets frozen in its entirety, the third gets portioned out into small servings and frozen in that form. If I want a piece of lasanga for lunch two weeks from now, I can have one handy without having to thaw out, and worry about eating a whole lasagna.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

Google freezing home cooked foods or even just frozen foods. You'll get plenty of sites.

Things like soups and stews freeze well. Also, casseroles and things like lasagna and stuffed shells. If you are going to freeze a pie, freeze before baking in a dish that can go into the oven. Then let it warm up with the oven and bake a bit extra. Homemade bread freezes well, too, if you double-bag in freezer bags. And yes, unless you partially (but not all the way) cook potatoes, they don't freeze that well.

You can also freeze pizza dough after the first rise. This is a good recipe, but divide it in 2-3 parts, depending on the size of your pan (and how good you are with rolling out pizza dough) instead of four: http://www.simplebites.net/warmer-weather-batch-cooking/

And, like it also mentions on that blog, pesto freezes well, too.

Good luck!

Lots of great tips already. I use 2 things to freeze food:

Food Saver machine. We LOVE it. I use it for raw meat buying in bulk, as well as cooked foods. the machine sucks the air out of it.

Soups, stews, rice, pasta (not lasagna) leftovers - I use these zip lock containers with a screw top lid. I use these for individual servings that I take with M. for lunch.

I freeze cookie dough in logs. I freeze banana bread. I freeze almost everything. Cream cheese does not freeze well.

Good luck, and enjoy!

LOVE my freezer! It is just as important for cooking dinner as the stove and oven! Who knew? :)

You already have lots of good tips here so here's something a little different:

I freeze nearly everything individually. I freeze enchiladas, stuffed pastas, pieces of chicken and pork (both raw and cooked), and cakes, breads, muffins by laying them out on a cookie sheet lined with freezer paper and freezing overnight. The next day you can toss them into freezer bags and they remain separate in the bag so you can pull out only what you want to thaw/cook/heat. Stuffed pastas and enchiladas get frozen without sauce, also on a cookie sheet and transferred to a bag. I take out only how many I want to have for a given meal and put them in a baking dish with the appropriate sauces then bake. My family generally does not eat a whole casserole sized dish of anything, so I like the freedom to cook only 8 stuffed shells or 3 enchiladas at a time.

I freeze cake by the slice. Mini muffins thaw in about 15 secs in the microwave, and are a super easy on the go breakfast or snack.

I also freeze smoothies. Make a batch of your fave, pour into bags, freeze laying flat, then run under warm water until slushy when you are ready to drink. Pour into your cup.

If you also love your crock pot, you can make crock meals very easily. Put all ingredients into a gallon bag and freeze. Dump the frozen contents of the bag into the crock before you go to work and dinner is ready when you get home.

I have the least success with freezing veggies and fruit. The texture changes for M. and I am sensitive to that. Most of my frozen foods are meats, breads, pastas, and soups.

Google freezer meals and you'll find lots of tips. There are also several good books that should be available at your library. Taste of Home frequently publishes booklets with freezer friendly meals as well. When I started cooking for my freezer, I was surprised at how much could be frozen. Soups are always good. Cook a lasagna and freeze half. Some people use a Once a Month Cooking method where they cook a whole bunch at one time and then freeze it all. Others will cook double and freeze half for a rainy day. I've done both and find it just depends on your schedule and if you have time to devote a whole day to cooking.

I do not have good luck with anything with celery or tomatoes in, freezing well. The celery and tomatoes get mushy. Since I live alone and really like whipped potatoes I make them and freeze about half of what I make. I find it too difficult to whip less than 5-6 potatoes, so I make them eat a little put some in the refrig and the rest in the freezer.

I freeze lots of things. Rice, pot pies, pasta (i make my own ravioli), lasagna, cake, turnovers, etc.bread, rolls.

I fry up my eggplant and freeze it. I freeze fresh fruit for smoothies or for fruit for pancakes. I honestly can't think of anything I don't freeze. I even freeze pasta sauces and soups with cream in it!