Hey ladies,
The hubby and I are looking for recipes we can make on the weekends and freeze for during the week. So far we've been doing chili, spaghetti and tuna hotdish, but we're ready for some variety. :) Thanks!
I've been cooking for my freezer this weekend too. Just about any recipe can be frozen! I freeze nearly all of my meals and side dishes. Some great ideas are marinading fresh beef or chicken and freezing it - let it thaw and its ready for the grill, you can also freeze sides like twice baked potatos. Other ideas are beef stroganoff, chow mein, chicken divan, etc.
There is a great book out there from the thirty day gourmet. http://www.30daygourmet.com/ The book is inexpensive and a great way to get started. I highly recommend it. Once you buy the book, you have access to the website where there are many more recipes and member message boards.
You can also google freezer cooking - there are tons of recipes out there.
If I don't have time to cook for just the freezer, I'll make a double batch of recipes when I make supper and freeze half. Many recipes can be frozen cooked so you just have to warm them up in the microwave, or uncooked so you just pop them in the oven. I do a little of both.
Once you get a system down, freezer cooking saves a lot of time and money. Good luck! Feel free to email me if you have questions or are looking for some specific recipes.
My aunt gave me The Warehouse Gourmet as a baby gift, and I love being able to make recipes for the freezer. You're supposed to make them all for the freezer, but I'll make three entrees--eat one for dinner that night, and then freeze two. Either way, I love having two or three freezer meals a week.
Hi Jessica,
We love having lasagna, chicken enchiladas and stuffed shells made up ahead of time. Enjoy!
Jackie
Really anything that doesn't contain milk can be frozen. (My experience with milk-based soups is that the milk separates.) Quiche, lasagna, any hotdish, taco meat, barbecue pork/chicken....
A couple of tips: When I freeze a dish that contains noodles, I only cook the noodles for one-third the time. (Ex. If the box says to boil for 12 minutes, I cook the noodles for 4 minutes.) When the dish is reheated, the noodles finish cooking and are still firm, never soggy or dissolved. Another tip is to make the dish "saucier" or "soupier" than you normally would, otherwise, the dish will seem dry when you reheat it. Good luck!
Martha Stewart has a great website where you are able to download free recipies. I use it all the time.
I have 2 great cookbooks. "Don't Panic, dinner is in the Freezer" which give you great recipes and tells you how to X3, X6 etc and how to freeze and then prepare them. Also "Cook Once and eat Well the Rest of the Week is also a great book. Good Luck
Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough is a good book.
Another great book is Once a Month Cooking by Mary Beth Lagerbord and Mimi Wilson. The book teaches you how to spend one day in the kitchen preping and freezing 30 meals. After that, you just have to thaw, bake and serve with salad or rolls. It saves a tremendous amount of time because instead of pulling out the pans to brown 1 lb of meat 10 times during the month, you brown 10 lbs of meat once. Same concept with vegetable cutting, etc. Also, it is economical to buy large quantities of meat, canned food, etc. that don't ever go to waste because you make the food all at once.
Another great resource is www.allrecipes.com . You can do a variety of different searches depending on what you need and all the recipes have ratings and reviews so you can pick the best ones that have been perfected by hundreds of cooks. And the website is free.
I also like to make soup and freeze it. I just drop the soup ice block into the crock pot and let it cook on low all day. By dinnertime, it is just right.
Good luck,
Shellie
I freeze alot of things myself to take to work. Here is one of my favorites:
8-10 chicken breasts with skin
2 heads cabbage
3 onions
2 industrial size cans of mixed vegitables-2 cans chicken soup base
1 tablesppon salt
1 tbl pepper
Fill pot about 3/4 full hot water
mix salt pepper chicken base
add chicken
bring to boil
cook 1-1.5hours
pull out the chicken and set aside to cool
chop up cabbage onions toss into soup broth
temp drop to med heat
drain cans of veggies, (toss the juice)
add veggie to broth
pull all chicken into chunks
add to broth
mix and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours.
Eat and freeze the rest.
Just a single father of a wonderful 3 year old lil girl.
I love doing that as well! Try burritos (beef or chicken) with all the fixins execpt lettuce. They free nicely individually wrapped or as a pan fun. Soup also freezes well - of course you have to allow for a longer thaw time.
All types of pasta dishes freeze well. Try making up some penne with browned sausage, red sauce & shredded parmesan on top. Freeze it right in the pan you plan tobake it in. Yum!
This one is a little time consuming, but it is really good. This one is from Cooking Light.
Chicken Tetrazzini
1 tblspn butter
cooking spray
1 c finely chopped onion
2/3 c finely chopped celery
1 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
3 (8 oz) packages of presliced mushrooms
1/2 c dry sherry
2/3 c flour
3 (14 oz) cans fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
2 1/4 c (9 ozs) grated fresh parmesan cheese
1/2 c (4 oz) 1/3 less fat cream cheese
7 c hot cooked vermicelli (1 c uncooked)
4 c chopped cooked chicken breast (about 1 1/2 lbs)
1 slice white bread
Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in a large stockpot coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, pepper, salt, and mushrooms. Saute 4 mins or until mushrooms are tender. Add sherry, cook 1 min. Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup, level w/knife and add. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add 1 3/4 c parmesan cheese and cream cheese, stirring with whisk until cream cheese melts. Add the cooked pasta and chicken, stir until blended. Divide the pasta mixture between 2 (8 in square) baking dishes coated with cooking spray. Place bread in food processor, pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form. Combine breadcrumbs and 1/2 c parmesan cheese, and sprinkle evenly over pasta mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the casseroles from oven and let stand for 15 mins. Yield 2 casseroles, 6 servings each (serving size about 1 1/3 c.)
I usually bake one right away and freeze one for later. When you reheat the frozen one be sure to let it thaw out first.
Farmer's Caserole
6 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup diced ham
1/4 cup sliced green onion
4 beaten large eggs
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
(you can also add scampi blend)
Grease 9x13x2 in baking dish. Arrange potatoes evenly in the bottom. Sprinkle with cheese, ham and green onion.
In a bowl combine eggs, milk and seasonings. Pour mixture over the potatoes.
Dish can be frozen (up to three months) and then thawed the day before you intend to use it. Or bake at 350 F, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until center appears set. Let stand 5 mins before serving.
lasagne, meatloaf, the possibilites are endless. My philosophy is if you see it in a TV dinner, you can make and freeze it yourself. I also utilize my crock pot and gas grill for quick meals during the week.
you have some great suggestions already,
but my favorites are
buritos
pizzas. use a flour tortilla shell as the crust or english muffins. my 3 year old helps me make them! we set up a little assembly line, and she loves it.
meatballs (for spaghetti)
pancakes
soups
beef taco bake
6 flour tortias cut 1 inch segments
1 can tomato soup
1/3 cup milk
1 cup shreeded cheese
1 cup salsa
1 lb ground beef (browned)
combine all but half of the cheese put in greased 9x13 pan bake 20 min at 400 degrees. Sprinkle rest of cheese bake an additional 5 min. freezes great
There is this storage container from tupperware called the rock n serve. It goes from freezer to microwave so you can put anything in there. I just did a tater tot casserole (tater tots, cream o mushroom and ground beef/turkey-add corn or greenbeans). Make a ton and freeze the leftovers.
A pork or beef roast works great you can make it with all the veggies and potatos and then freeze them. Or a beef strouganof would be good. Just about anything with gravy freezes well. Good luck!
Nancy
Jessica,
Probably the easiest dinner suggestion I have is for pork chops in the slow cooker. Place 4-6 pork chops in your slow cooker, cover with 1 family size can of cream of mushroom soup. Add a can of mushrooms if you like. Cook frozen chops on low for 8 hours or if fresh chops cook on low for 4-5 hours. They freeze really well and taste great reheated in the microwave. Enjoy!
Meatloaf - especially if you preslice so it can be used for hot sandwich or served open faced on a thick slick of toasted whole grain bread. Toast the bread, add the prewarmed meatloaf slice, top with cheese and slide under the broiler long enough to melt the cheese. Wonderful with broiled tomatoes and maybe some green beans.
Vegetable beef soup freezes well as do many chicken stock based soups.
Turkey dinner - just be sure to pack the right proportion of turkey, dressing, and gravy in each pack and seal well. The dressing and gravy help keep the turkey moist.
Roast or Friend chicken - add fresh green salad and maybe microwaved potato as side dishes.
Chicken baked IN dressing. Warm it in the oven still covered, then top with slices of sharp cheddar and slide under the broiler for long enough to get it bubbly.
Meatballs - add sauce for hoagies.
Mexican Casserole- 2lbs cooked hamburger,1 can cream of mushroom soup,1 6oz.can tomatoe paste, 1 sm. can of green chilies,1 bottle of taco sauce,1 can chicken and rice soup
,mix it all together. 10 flour tortillas,3 cups of cheese put a layer of tortillas on bottom of pan then meat mixure,1 cup cheese,and repeat layers so you end with the meat and cheese on top cook on 350 for 30-35 minutes until cheese bubbles.When you are ready to eat it you can put cut up lettuce,tomatoes, onions,sourcream or whatever you like on top. This is really good and makes alot. Enjoy!