Freezer recipes and Ideas.

[hillfarm]

I made tons of goodies this weekend. A hundred dollar investment and I have two weeks worth of prepared meals. Just need to buy some sourcream and lettuce for some and I'm good. Mashed potatoes for others.

My favorite and easiest was parmesan knots. Buttermilk bisquits, torn in half, knotted and cooked then coated in Parmesan, parsely and oregeno and canola oil as soon as they come out. Tender and savory, barely had enuf for the freezer.

The worst was a Peanut butter fudgicle on a stick. It was made with gelatin. Kids were even grossed out. It was like jelly.

But what a great feeling to know I can feed the kids for at least two weeks just by thawing and sticking in the oven. Easy.

Spent two days cooking though.

 

[moolie]

I do my freezer cooking in fits and spurts (not every month like some plans propose but rather when I feel like it or I've got a good deal on something).

One thing that I think everyone does is to prep lots of ground beef (we use bison because my husband has gall bladder issues and can only eat lean meats).

I cook up big batches of ground bison with chopped onions, fresh or spice jar garlic, minced celery, minced bell peppers, and grated carrots. Then I freeze it in 1 cup and 2 cup containers and use it for pasta meat sauce, stuffed peppers, shepherd's pie, chili, lasagne--anything that takes ground beef. It thaws quickly if you pop it out of the container into a bowl and nuke (never microwave plastic) or overnight in the fridge. It also thaws fairly quickly if you freeze it in the 1 cup containers and then throw it right into the pot with a jar of tomato sauce and slowly warm it up while stirring/breaking up.

I also freeze home-made bread (baked in batches of 8 loaves), cooked beans (cheaper and healthier than canned--no bpa), home-made soups and stews, casseroles like chicken enchiladas:

Brown 1 lb ground chicken or turkey with a chopped onion and whatever other veggies you like, add 1/2 jar mild salsa, whatever seasonings you like for chili, and a can (or equivalent from dry) of black beans and cook together for a bit till flavours are combined, then divide into equal portions and roll up in flour tortillas in 9x13 pan with storage lid (like Pyrex). Sprinkle top with grated Monterey Jack or Cheddar and dot with remaining half jar of salsa. Freeze. Thaw in fridge overnight and bake at 350 till warm through and cheese is bubbly and starting to brown on top.

Off to check my favourite cook books for any more gems that we like!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Just a tip for if you make lasagna for the freezer--you don't have to precook the noodles, even if you just make it and bake it. Just add 1/2 cup water tot he tomato sauce, the noodles soften up and cook while it is in the oven.

 

[Bethanial]

I have a sheet of homemade marinades for "Ziploc Bag Chicken" - you put the ingredients for the marinade in a gallon freezer bag. Close bag and smush ingredients to mix. Open bag and add 6 boneless/skinless breasts, or equivalent poundage (2-1/2 - 3 lbs maybe?) of chicken pieces. Pull out the night before needed, let thaw in frig, and bake in the oven! Alternately, rip apart bag morning of and make fit in your crock pot, and cook on low all day. Fix your side dishes while it's baking and dinner's served

Somebody remind me tomorrow (when it's not past my bedtime ) and I'll locate and get those typed in (it's either 4 or 5 of them)