I am amazed at how great it is to have some ready to cook meals in the freezer. I wish I had tried this a lot sooner.
A few weeks ago DD and I spent a day making freezer meals again. The recipes were a bit more time consuming and we weren't quite as organized so it took us quite a bit longer than last time, probably around 4 hours. However, we each got around a dozen meals so it was time well spent.
Here are some of the recipes that we made this time:
Chicken Pot Pie
We added a jar of a turkey gravy to this recipe because it seemed a bit dry. We made family size pot pies, rather than individual ones. DD felt that this recipe needed a bit more seasoning, and she would add a bottom crust next time. I left out the peas and substituted corn and green beans instead. DD used frozen mixed vegetables. We didn't use the celery. Andy and I thought this was very good. When I baked this, I thawed it in the refrigerator for about 18 hours. It was still a bit frozen when I baked it. I baked it covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered for 30 minutes.
Beef Stew
I made one recipe of this. I was a bit dubious about freezing raw potatoes, so I baked them a bit first. (The recipe suggested this if one was uncertain about freezing raw potatoes.). They were still pretty solid when I added them to the freezer bag, but they totally disintegrated between freezing and cooking. This didn't taste awful, but it wasn't all that flavorful either. I'm not sure if I would try this recipe again. If I did, I'd try freezing the potatoes raw.
Creamy Italian Chicken
This is a different recipe from the one we made last time and we haven't tried it yet. I plan to serve this over pasta.
Pizza Casserole
We made this mainly to see how pasta would fare in the freezer. This is essentially pasta with ground beef, canned spagghetti sauce and cheese. Nothing special here. However this is very kid friendly, and it certainly could easily be fancied up a bit with a few added pizza topping type of ingredients. We cooked the pasta al dente, and immediately rinsed it with cold water to prevent further cooking. We found it to be pretty mushy after freezing and baking despite that. It tasted okay though. A bit more seasoning could be added. If we made another pasta dish, we would cook the pasta for a shorter time before assembling the casserole.
Shepherd's Pie
We added about 3/4 cup of tomato sauce and a tbsp or so of Worcestershire sauce to a double recipe, and we used less water, about 2 cups total. Initially I was concerned that this would be salty, given the brown gravy mix and the condensed soup in it, and using less water, but the meat and gravy mixture was quite bland. DD used frozen mixed vegetables and I used corn and carrots. Both DD's family and Andy and I liked this. Both DD and I agree that we would season it more next time. We would also add more tomato sauce or some tomato paste.
We repeated the Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, Cowboy Casserole, and Alton Brown's baked brown rice. This time we used frozen french fries rather than tater tots in the cowboy casserole. I put the meat mixture in the bottom of the casserole and topped my meat with slices of American cheese. DD put potatoes both under and over the meat, as she is feeding a houseful of growing boys. She used shredded cheddar cheese in her casserole.
Dd also made some sloppy joes for each of us, but she didn't use a recipe.
This website, Fabulessly Frugal, has a lot of great sounding freezer recipes. We tried a few of them this time, and there are more that I'd like to try. This link takes you to the freezer recipe list. If you are looking for recipes to freeze, this is an excellent resource.
Showing posts with label Freezer cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freezer cooking. Show all posts
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Filling the freezer
Today my oldest daughter and I spent a couple of hours making meals for the freezer. In order to keep track of the recipes for future use, I'm linking to all of them in this post. Altogether we spent a little over 2 hours working on this today. That doesn't include the time we each spent prepping, but it does include cleanup. I got 11 meals out of the deal and she got a few more. Some of these meals are casseroles that bake in the oven, and quite a few of them are "dump" crockpot meals. (You dump the ingredients into a ziplock bag, and when you want to cook the meal, you dump the contents of the bag into the crockpot.)
We each did a bit of prep ahead of time. She made Zesty slow cooker chicken barbecue, and Spaghetti sauce, and I precooked chicken and diced up leftover ham for Chicken cordon bleu casserole. (I've made and frozen this one before, it's good with rice or over pasta.). I also made a double batch of Alton Brown's baked brown rice .
We made cowboy casserole which should appeal to the grandkids as well as Andy. I made a half recipe of Chicken Philly cheese steak, without the peppers. I didn't stop to consider how really unappealing that is going to look with all the white from the chicken, onions, and the cornstarch. Peppers would certainly add some visual appeal.
DD made Pesto stuffed shells, (she gave me two servings, but I'm not too sure how well they will go over here, although they sound delicious to me), and Salsa chicken, (I passed on this one because I'm not so sure Andy will even consider eating it). We also made Creamy Italian chicken. I wondered if this recipe had too much Italian dressing in it, but DD says she's made it before and it's very good served over pasta. I also made Cool ranch chicken tacos, but DD passed on that one.
As we eat these meals, I plan to add our thoughts on them.
10/4: I cooked the cool ranch chicken tacos when ds came for dinner a few weeks ago. Both he and Andy really liked them. I found them slightly spicy, but that's normal for me. I'd make them again.
11/20: The chicken Philly cheesesteak was quite good. I served it on buns, with Swiss cheese and heated them in the oven after assembling. We also really liked the zesty chicken barbecue, which we had on baked potatoes. Pesto stuffed shells were very good and would be suitable for company. As for cowboy casserole, you can't really go wrong with meat, cheese and potatoes. (Unless you are grandson 2, as he did not like it.). I'd use American cheese instead of shredded cheddar next time, just because it seems cheesier and melts better.
DD reports that her oldest son pronounced the chicken cordon bleu casserole awesome served over rice. We had it over pasta last week and liked it that way too.
DDs family thought the creamy Italian chicken was okay, but not especially great. She says she added chicken broth and vegetables to the leftovers and made chicken noodle soup, which they liked better than the original recipe. Andy and I both liked the creamy Italian chicken a lot. We had it over whole wheat pasta. I would make it again as written, but I don't think that DD would. Initially, I was skeptical about the recipe, as I thought that it had way too much Italian dressing, and DD thought it would be great. Funny how the results were the opposite of what we expected.
Alton Brown's baked brown rice is good, and very easy. I always omit the salt, and add two chicken or beef bouillon cubes instead. I also add about 1/4 cup more water than the recipe calls for. When I make it, I do two or three pans of rice at a time. I've already got the oven going so I figure that I might as well fill it. I've never tried doubling the recipe in a single pan, since I don't want to mess with what I already know will work. The rice freezes very well. I freeze it in quart size bags and then put all the bags into a larger bag so that I don't have little bags of rice floating all over the freezer.
We each did a bit of prep ahead of time. She made Zesty slow cooker chicken barbecue, and Spaghetti sauce, and I precooked chicken and diced up leftover ham for Chicken cordon bleu casserole. (I've made and frozen this one before, it's good with rice or over pasta.). I also made a double batch of Alton Brown's baked brown rice .
We made cowboy casserole which should appeal to the grandkids as well as Andy. I made a half recipe of Chicken Philly cheese steak, without the peppers. I didn't stop to consider how really unappealing that is going to look with all the white from the chicken, onions, and the cornstarch. Peppers would certainly add some visual appeal.
DD made Pesto stuffed shells, (she gave me two servings, but I'm not too sure how well they will go over here, although they sound delicious to me), and Salsa chicken, (I passed on this one because I'm not so sure Andy will even consider eating it). We also made Creamy Italian chicken. I wondered if this recipe had too much Italian dressing in it, but DD says she's made it before and it's very good served over pasta. I also made Cool ranch chicken tacos, but DD passed on that one.
As we eat these meals, I plan to add our thoughts on them.
10/4: I cooked the cool ranch chicken tacos when ds came for dinner a few weeks ago. Both he and Andy really liked them. I found them slightly spicy, but that's normal for me. I'd make them again.
11/20: The chicken Philly cheesesteak was quite good. I served it on buns, with Swiss cheese and heated them in the oven after assembling. We also really liked the zesty chicken barbecue, which we had on baked potatoes. Pesto stuffed shells were very good and would be suitable for company. As for cowboy casserole, you can't really go wrong with meat, cheese and potatoes. (Unless you are grandson 2, as he did not like it.). I'd use American cheese instead of shredded cheddar next time, just because it seems cheesier and melts better.
DD reports that her oldest son pronounced the chicken cordon bleu casserole awesome served over rice. We had it over pasta last week and liked it that way too.
DDs family thought the creamy Italian chicken was okay, but not especially great. She says she added chicken broth and vegetables to the leftovers and made chicken noodle soup, which they liked better than the original recipe. Andy and I both liked the creamy Italian chicken a lot. We had it over whole wheat pasta. I would make it again as written, but I don't think that DD would. Initially, I was skeptical about the recipe, as I thought that it had way too much Italian dressing, and DD thought it would be great. Funny how the results were the opposite of what we expected.
Alton Brown's baked brown rice is good, and very easy. I always omit the salt, and add two chicken or beef bouillon cubes instead. I also add about 1/4 cup more water than the recipe calls for. When I make it, I do two or three pans of rice at a time. I've already got the oven going so I figure that I might as well fill it. I've never tried doubling the recipe in a single pan, since I don't want to mess with what I already know will work. The rice freezes very well. I freeze it in quart size bags and then put all the bags into a larger bag so that I don't have little bags of rice floating all over the freezer.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Using up fresh tomatoes....
I have a good recipe for pasta sauce, but it relies on canned ingredients. This past Friday, we visited with DH's brother and sister in law, and they shared bags full of garden bounty with us. Hubby will not eat fresh tomatoes and I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat all of them before they went bad, so I went on a hunt for ways to use them up in something that we would both enjoy. I combined a bunch of ideas and this is what I came up with. It smelled amazing while it was cooking. We ate it over spaghetti, and found it really tasty.
Crockpot Tomato Pasta Sauce, (using fresh tomatoes)
1 to 2 tsp of olive oil
Minced garlic to taste, fresh or dried, (I used 2 tsp dried minced garlic)
2 or 3 small white onions, finely diced (any sort of onion would work),
5 to 6 cups of chopped tomatoes, (I seeded mine, but it isn't necessary)
1 medium zucchini, diced into small pieces
1 large carrot, shredded
1/4 cup of red wine (I think you could probably leave this out)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp each dried fennel seed, thyme, and rosemary
1 tsp salt (more if desired)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, more if you like spicy sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
I used a 5 quart crockpot, which would have been able to handle double of this recipe. Turn it on high, and add enough olive oil to just barely cover the bottom. Toss in the chopped onions and garlic, give it a good stir to coat everything with oil, and put the lid on the pot. Let this cook while you prepare the tomatoes. After a while, this will start to sizzle and the onions will brown a bit. (This step isn't necessary, but it brings out the taste of the onions and garlic.)
Meanwhile, wash and chop the tomatoes and zucchini. I seeded the tomatoes, (hubby's request), but did not peel them.(I would add some chopped fresh green pepper, and maybe some mushrooms, if I were the only one eating this.). By this time the onions in the pot should be sizzling nicely. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the pot, except for the fresh basil. Stir well. Cook on high for an hour or two. Once it is boiling, turn the pot to low and let it simmer for 3 to 4 hours. It will likely be somewhat thin, so at this point, I turn it back up to high, add the basil, and uncover it about halfway so that some of the liquid evaporates. I have an oval shaped crockpot and I just turned the lid sideways. When it has reached the desired consistency stir in the tomato paste. It took a couple of hours for the sauce to get nice and thick. This would probably vary, depending on the type of tomato used, and the consistency desired.
I think that this would freeze well, although I haven't tried it.
It was my plan to let the sauce cool and then run it through the blender, (a food mill would work too), as hubby does not like lumps in his food. Surprisingly, he told me not to bother. He even had two helpings.
Crockpot Tomato Pasta Sauce, (using fresh tomatoes)
1 to 2 tsp of olive oil
Minced garlic to taste, fresh or dried, (I used 2 tsp dried minced garlic)
2 or 3 small white onions, finely diced (any sort of onion would work),
5 to 6 cups of chopped tomatoes, (I seeded mine, but it isn't necessary)
1 medium zucchini, diced into small pieces
1 large carrot, shredded
1/4 cup of red wine (I think you could probably leave this out)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp each dried fennel seed, thyme, and rosemary
1 tsp salt (more if desired)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, more if you like spicy sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
I used a 5 quart crockpot, which would have been able to handle double of this recipe. Turn it on high, and add enough olive oil to just barely cover the bottom. Toss in the chopped onions and garlic, give it a good stir to coat everything with oil, and put the lid on the pot. Let this cook while you prepare the tomatoes. After a while, this will start to sizzle and the onions will brown a bit. (This step isn't necessary, but it brings out the taste of the onions and garlic.)
Meanwhile, wash and chop the tomatoes and zucchini. I seeded the tomatoes, (hubby's request), but did not peel them.(I would add some chopped fresh green pepper, and maybe some mushrooms, if I were the only one eating this.). By this time the onions in the pot should be sizzling nicely. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the pot, except for the fresh basil. Stir well. Cook on high for an hour or two. Once it is boiling, turn the pot to low and let it simmer for 3 to 4 hours. It will likely be somewhat thin, so at this point, I turn it back up to high, add the basil, and uncover it about halfway so that some of the liquid evaporates. I have an oval shaped crockpot and I just turned the lid sideways. When it has reached the desired consistency stir in the tomato paste. It took a couple of hours for the sauce to get nice and thick. This would probably vary, depending on the type of tomato used, and the consistency desired.
I think that this would freeze well, although I haven't tried it.
It was my plan to let the sauce cool and then run it through the blender, (a food mill would work too), as hubby does not like lumps in his food. Surprisingly, he told me not to bother. He even had two helpings.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Cooking for the Freezer
In a previous post, I said I did some cooking for the freezer. I'm going to post links to the recipes here for next time, so that I can easily find them and remember what I thought about them.
Alton Brown's Baked Brown Rice
This is one of the easiest ways I've ever found to cook brown rice. I haven't tried doubling the recipe, but I make 2 or 3 pans at a time. I don't heat up the water, butter and salt first. I just use the microwave to melt the butter right in the casserole dish, (or I chop it up, or I substitute olive oil for the butter), and add in very hot tap water, salt and rice. I use a casserole dish with a cover, and bake as directed. (Keep a bit of a watch on it toward the end, it seems to absorb the water in less time some days. If I remember, I add about 1/4 cup more water than the recipe calls for. I've never had it come out soggy.). Sometimes I substitute a crushed beef or chicken bouillon cube for the salt. This freezes beautifully in freezer bags, and reheats well in the microwave.
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
I sometimes add a little crushed garlic to the water that I cook the potatoes in. When I thawed these, they had a lot of watery liquid in the bottom of the pan. This might be related to the type of potatoes I used. I drained this off before baking them. Despite this, these were very good.
Chicken Burritos
I used fat free refried beans for this recipe. I tossed some salsa and some chili powder into the filling. These were soggy when reheated in the microwave, but turned out well in the oven. I sprayed a baking dish, and baked them at 350 until they were hot. I sprinkled them with additional shredded cheese for the last few minutes.
Chicken Alfredo Calzones
I made these with homemade bread dough, but it was hard to roll the dough thin enough and I ended up with a lot of bread in relationship to the filling. Next time I try these, I'm going to try Pilsbury pizza crust, the kind that comes in cans, like biscuits. We liked these, even though they were a bit heavy in the bread department. (What's not to like about warm, homemade bread!)
Bacon Wrapped Mini Meatloaves
I liked this concept, but wasn't crazy about this particular recipe. The bacon isn't neccesary, just adds fat and calories, and got soggy when the meatloaves were reheated in the microwave. Both hubby and I thought the seasonings were "off" for meatloaf. I'd freeze meatloaf again, but I'd try a different recipe and make little mini loaves for the two of us, rather than cupcakes. I'm not sure I would pre-bake either. The whole muffin tin thing, and the bacon was really fiddly and time consuming, and made for a lot of clean up.
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
This was yummy. I used leftover ham and turkey rather than chicken, since that's what I had, and substituted cream of chicken soup for the evaporated milk and chicken bouillon. We ate this over the afore-mentioned brown rice, but it would be very good over pasta as well. If you scroll down to the bottom of the post, there is a link to a printable recipe, which is a lot easier to read than the picture heavy post.
Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins
I had bananas to use up and a couple of bags of blueberries in the freezer from last summer. These were okay, a little heavy in my opinion, and definitely best warm.
Alton Brown's Baked Brown Rice
This is one of the easiest ways I've ever found to cook brown rice. I haven't tried doubling the recipe, but I make 2 or 3 pans at a time. I don't heat up the water, butter and salt first. I just use the microwave to melt the butter right in the casserole dish, (or I chop it up, or I substitute olive oil for the butter), and add in very hot tap water, salt and rice. I use a casserole dish with a cover, and bake as directed. (Keep a bit of a watch on it toward the end, it seems to absorb the water in less time some days. If I remember, I add about 1/4 cup more water than the recipe calls for. I've never had it come out soggy.). Sometimes I substitute a crushed beef or chicken bouillon cube for the salt. This freezes beautifully in freezer bags, and reheats well in the microwave.
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
I sometimes add a little crushed garlic to the water that I cook the potatoes in. When I thawed these, they had a lot of watery liquid in the bottom of the pan. This might be related to the type of potatoes I used. I drained this off before baking them. Despite this, these were very good.
Chicken Burritos
I used fat free refried beans for this recipe. I tossed some salsa and some chili powder into the filling. These were soggy when reheated in the microwave, but turned out well in the oven. I sprayed a baking dish, and baked them at 350 until they were hot. I sprinkled them with additional shredded cheese for the last few minutes.
Chicken Alfredo Calzones
I made these with homemade bread dough, but it was hard to roll the dough thin enough and I ended up with a lot of bread in relationship to the filling. Next time I try these, I'm going to try Pilsbury pizza crust, the kind that comes in cans, like biscuits. We liked these, even though they were a bit heavy in the bread department. (What's not to like about warm, homemade bread!)
Bacon Wrapped Mini Meatloaves
I liked this concept, but wasn't crazy about this particular recipe. The bacon isn't neccesary, just adds fat and calories, and got soggy when the meatloaves were reheated in the microwave. Both hubby and I thought the seasonings were "off" for meatloaf. I'd freeze meatloaf again, but I'd try a different recipe and make little mini loaves for the two of us, rather than cupcakes. I'm not sure I would pre-bake either. The whole muffin tin thing, and the bacon was really fiddly and time consuming, and made for a lot of clean up.
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
This was yummy. I used leftover ham and turkey rather than chicken, since that's what I had, and substituted cream of chicken soup for the evaporated milk and chicken bouillon. We ate this over the afore-mentioned brown rice, but it would be very good over pasta as well. If you scroll down to the bottom of the post, there is a link to a printable recipe, which is a lot easier to read than the picture heavy post.
Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins
I had bananas to use up and a couple of bags of blueberries in the freezer from last summer. These were okay, a little heavy in my opinion, and definitely best warm.
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