s/o prepackaged foods.... what do you do for fast and easy

[Laurel]

How long does it take to bake a frozen meal if you aren't using the microwave? Do you put it in the oven frozen or thawed? What kind of dishes or containers do you freeze in?

 

 

I usually allow for about an hour for a frozen meal to bake. (And I'm almost never on top of things enough to take it out the night before to defrost, so they almost always go in frozen.) I have lots of little ramekins that I freeze individual portions of casseroles in, and some larger Le Creuset casserole dishes. (All of these were bought as I found them for a good price at discount stores like TJMaxx.) You could also freeze in foil pans.

[LauraGB]

How long does it take to bake a frozen meal if you aren't using the microwave? Do you put it in the oven frozen or thawed? What kind of dishes or containers do you freeze in?

 

 

Will you tell me how to make these things, please?

 

I have an easy burrito recipe that I freeze all the time, if you'd like it. To a pan/skillet add 1 1/2 c refried beans (or 1 can), 2-3 c black beans (or 2 cans), about 1 1/2 c or so of salsa, some cumin (about 1Tbs), some chili powder (to taste, depending on how hot you like it and how hot your salsa is), and a pinch of oregano - warm that. This mixture fills about 16 8inch tortillas, top with cheese and roll up burrito style. Wrap each in foil and freeze. When you reheat them, bake them from frozen at 375 for about 40 minutes or so. We like to add cooked broccoli and cauliflower to make veggie burritos, so I halve the black bean amt and toss a few handfulls of each veggie into the mixture. Its a pretty forgiving recipe, so I suppose you could add anything, really - left over chicken or beef in place of the beans, corn, etc. I usually put 6-8 in a pan and bake them covered when I make them (unfrozen 350 about 30 min) and freeze the rest.

Edited January 21, 2010 by LauraGB

[LauraGB]

oops - double post.

[kalanamak]

Oh, dh and I are loving our veggie burgers. Dd not so much. I'm really surprised that dh likes them, and that dd doesn't. That is such a switch on normal.

.

 

Try a slice of her fav cheese on top.

[Parrothead]

I have an easy burrito recipe that I freeze all the time, if you'd like it. To a pan/skillet add 1 1/2 c refried beans (or 1 can), 2-3 c black beans (or 2 cans), about 1 1/2 c or so of salsa, some cumin (about 1Tbs), some chili powder (to taste, depending on how hot you like it and how hot your salsa is), and a pinch of oregano - warm that. This mixture fills about 16 8inch tortillas, top with cheese and roll up burrito style. Wrap each in foil and freeze. When you reheat them, bake them from frozen at 375 for about 40 minutes or so. We like to add cooked broccoli and cauliflower to make veggie burritos, so I halve the black bean amt and toss a few handfulls of each veggie into the mixture. Its a pretty forgiving recipe, so I suppose you could add anything, really - left over chicken or beef in place of the beans, corn, etc. I usually put 6-8 in a pan and bake them covered when I make them (unfrozen 350 about 30 min) and freeze the rest.

Thanks, Laura. I'm going to try that tomorrow.