CathyinNC Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 In my area, we have several businesses where you can go in and in one hour, put together 6-8 meals to pack in your freezer for future use. I love the concept but am too cheap to pay to go and do it. Do you have a meal that you love to make ahead and freeze? Will you share the recipe? Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Tater tot casserole! I'm too lazy to go find the recipe right now, but if you're interested, send me a PM and I'll hunt it down. Chili is another favorite to freeze and reheat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Enchiladas Lasagna soup spaghetti with homemade sauce (the only reason it is worth freezing) Just cooking some meat ahead of time can really help. I precook chicken breast, chop and freeze it. It is so quick to cook a meal if you don't have to cook the meat first. You can toss it in a tomato based pasta dish, make tacos, add it with alfredo sauce, or make taco salads. I also precook ground beef with onion and basic spices like oregano, basil and thyme. Sometimes I freeze both an Italian flavored batch and a Mexican flavored, but other times I just do it with basic spices and then can add to it from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIN Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I marinate my meat ahead and freeze (like chicken breasts), mix hamburger patties and freeze, make meatballs and freeze (uncooked), make extra muffins and freeze, make pizza rolls and pigs in a blanket for quick lunches and freeze those too. Oh, I also freeze homemade pizza crust by par baking it for 5 minutes. I just started doing this and it is so handy! It is so nice to just pull out something out of the freezer for supper! I also freeze homemade bread, make applesauce by the bushel and freeze, make freezer jam, can beans, tomato juice and spaghetti sauce. What I have learned is to freeze things my family already eats. :) Freezing new recipes in bulk and then discovering we don't care for it, is a bummer! Try just making extra of what you are making to build up some things in the freezer. The other thing I did this year was buy 20 pounds of chicken breasts when it was on sale. I pounded it all out flat, then marinated it or breaded it and froze it. My favorite cookbook for freezer meals is: Don't Panic! Dinner's in the Freezer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvbnhome Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I did OAMC for years, but it never tasted like things do when freshly prepared. However, this is one of the things I do like to use for meals today. I brown the above, season w/salt and pepper, and put it into freezer bags. Great & Easy to pull out for: Tacos (hard or soft, I put my meat in my pressure cooker for a few min. w/liquid - like salsa - makes it really moist, but you could do the same thing in a pan, with a little water or salsa, in less than a 2 minutes) Enchiladas Spaghetti Chili BBQ Buns Lacy, (Who is preparing for company and making homemade ice cream right now!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeslieP Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 See if your library has Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough. It will give you some great ideas on how to get started with freezer meals. Lots of recipes and just some good advice on practical ways to get started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Peach-Glazed Pork Chops from Dream Dinners Makes: 6 servings Prep: 10 minutes Thaw: 2 days in the refrigerator Cook: 12 minutes 1 bag (16 ouncecs) frozen peaches, about 3 cups 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoons dried onion flakes 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard 1/2 teaspoon chicken bullion (1 cube crushed) 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 6 boneless pork loin chops (about 5 ounces each) 2 teaspoons olive oil 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1. TO ASSEMBLE AND FREEZE: Place a large resealable bag into a large glass measuring cup and fold down the edges. Add peaches, sugar, vinegar, oil, onion flakes, mustard, bullion, rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Squeeze out the air and seal tightly. Shake bag to mix ingredients. 2. Place pork chops into a second resealable food storage bag and seal. Place the 2 bags in a third bag and seal. Lable and freeze for up to 2 months. 3. TO COOK: Thaw in refrigerator for 2 days. 4. Season pork chops with remaining salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Saute the pork chops 4 minutes on each side. 5. Remove 1/4 cup liquid from the peach freezer bag and mix with cornstarch. Set aside. 6. Add the contents of the peach freezer bag to the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir reserved cornstarch mixture into the skillet and simmer for one minute. 7. Serve chops with the sauce, wild and white rice pilaf and steamed green beans. Published in Family Circle February 2006. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatCyndiGirl Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Pizza Pockets Calzones Cheeseburger Pockets Lasagna Eggrolls Tacquitos Enchiladas Black Bean Soup (a meal that someone on this board Who Shall Remain Nameless sucked the bowl dry to finish off.....) You know who you are! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2read Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 -Stuffed shells. I use the recipe on the package-very simple. Cook them only until they are soft (about 5 minutes after they came back to a full boil) so that they will be easier to stuff and hold their shape. Put filled shells into pan, cover with sauce (about a cup or two more than the recipe calls for) and freeze. When you reheat, they will finish cooking and absorb the extra sauce. -Now that we don't have as many kids at home, I still double or triple crock pot recipes and freeze half. A big one in our house for awhile was baked mac and cheese. I would freeze lunch size portions in sandwhich bags and if the kids wanted one that day, they would take them out and put their bag in a bowl. By lunch time they were half thawed and would slip right out of the bag and quickly heat up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandellie4 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Ice cream -- peach! (It's a meal for me, anyway!) :D Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom4 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 This is something I do to help cut time and make meals quick. When Ground chuck/beef go on sale I buy around 40 lbs. I fry it all up and store it in 1lb sizes. This makes it so so quick to defrost for spaghetti, tacos, Hamburger Helper, etc.... What is even great is if you want your kids to do a little cooking you don't have to worry about them getting popped by grease. They can pull out a pack of meat(fully cooked) and do a recipe. With my younger ones I also am nervous about raw meat so this works great. To me this is as great as having frozen meals prepared. You can also freeze meat loaf (uncooked). You just need to give it time to thaw before you cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.