Would a "feed the freezer allergen free items" thread fly here?

[Wugmama]

If I have to go to the meal planning, feed the freezer threads and see one more recipe w/cream of mushroom soup...

I want to do feed the freezer. I have two batches of Jacqueline's cheesy bacon hotdish in the freezer. I used ground beef though, and rice noodles which I cooked to el dente, so hopefully when this gets thawed/reheated it will be okay - I'll let you all know!

I also have 2 lbs of basic ground beef meatballs (spices, flax egg, rice milk) frozen (raw) in the freezer. I think maybe I should have cooked them first.

I want to make a lot of muffins and freeze them - any caveats with freezing the GF/DF/EF muffins we all make here?

I have 2 crockpots, one small and one large. I want to cook up 3 chix and pull apart the meat on 2 for the freezer. It seems easy enough to put a chix in the crockpot but honestly I can't always get it in the crockpot early enough in the day to be done by supper, so that would help.

Any other ideas come to mind for our recipes that would do well in the freezer? I really have no experience feeding the freezer, and am still not much better than a novice on the cooking side of things, either. We lived on pizza before my dd had allergies.

~Tracy

[fruitfulmomma]

This would be a great thread.

i'll come back with my ideas -

[kjbrown92]

My muffins and cupcakes have been fine in the freezer (I don't frost them until I thaw them though).

I cook my meatballs in big batches and use some and freeze the rest. I use Ziploc bags (shhh... don't tell) and freeze enough for one meal in each one.

I've frozen meatsauce. But not rice pasta in things.

I freeze chicken broth. I've also frozen carcasses until I'm ready to make soup.

I freeze chicken soup (chicken with rice works better than chicken with potatoes). I also freeze chili. And orange/pineapple chicken curry. And pulled pork by itself or with baked beans. I also freeze chicken mirabella. And beef burgundy. My DH eats most of the leftovers at work so I also stockpile normal freezer food for him (jambalaya, lasagna, Spanish rice, crawfish ettoufe -- hmm don't remember how to spell that!, etc.)

[Chinese Pistache]

I've frozen chili, meatballs, falafel and muffins. I've also frozen portions of canned pumpkin or canned tomato paste. I need to try some pasta dishes. Is that cheesy bacon one in the recipe thread? Gf muffins are stickier (at least the ones I've tried) than wheat ones, so lay them flat in the bag (or whatever) to freeze so they don't gum together and you can pull them out individually for quick snacks.

[stephienoodle]

I freeze TONS of stuff. My DH works out of town - he leaves Sunday afternoons and returns home Friday evenings. I send all of his food with him every week, because if I didn't... he'd eat Raisin bran, cafeteria lunch, Hungryman dinners, and ice cream daily. Cooking is not a strong skill of his. I cook 2 -3 types of meals a week in bulk and freeze it. That way, if I keep up, I can rotate his food and he eats each type of meal only once or twice in a week. The most he has to do cooking wise is cook some brown rice or boil some pasta and every once in a while I'll send up some fish for him to toss in the oven, but mostly he just has to toss stuff in the microwave or on the stovetop to reheat.

Anyhow, I've frozen bone broth (every type), plain cooked meat, chili, soups, stews, taco filling (w/ goodies added like salsa & avocado), hawaiian chicken, chicken teriyaki, chicken or pork pulled bbq, spaghetti sauce, meatballs, meatloaf, salisbury steak, jambalaya, egg patties (so my husband can make egg sandwiches for lunch), burritos, pork & sweet potato casserole, stuffing for stuffed peppers (so all he has to do is shove some in a pepper and throw it in an oven), baked beans, sauteed squash, pancakes, baked oatmeal, bread, muffins, various types of porridge, unbaked cookie balls (just has to put them in the oven and then he has fresh homemade cookies), and there has to be more that I'm forgetting. All of it is whole grain and casein free and a lot of it is gluten free and egg free. I'd be happy to share some recipes and would love to see some more that freeze well!

[Wugmama]

This all sounds great!

Did I mention I'm an idiot and I need recipes and details....

~Tracy

[fruitfulmomma]

Bumping and whining (cause I just read one of *those* threads)... Why is it soooooooo expensive??? Okay, I know why, because wheat is subsidized, but $6 for 2 lbs of gf flour? I made one cake and one batch of bread and it was close to $10 for the flour alone. We've been doing a lot of rice but I want to rotate so we don't sensitize to that too.

Anyway, I am thinking of doing fried rice, pizza dough, maybe some soups.

My chicken soup recipe:

I don't measure, so don't ask...

Edited to add: FYI for those new to cooking chickens - you need to stick your hand into the cavity and remove the wrapper full of the heart and other goodies. Personally, I feed these to my cats raw, but they are good for you if you want to eat them, but I don't know how to do prep for them.

I roast the whole chicken in the oven with butter pats layered on the top (if you are casein/dairy free, sub with whatever you use) and parsley and salt. I cook it on 375 for about 90 minutes or until done. I usually eat the skin and give my kids the breasts along with veggies and potatoes for one meal and then make the soup the next day with the rest. So, okay take some of the chicken fat and melt it into your pot. Add a small amount of gf vinegar and more spices and chopped onion and celery. Stir while they are softening up. Then add some carrots. Debone the chicken and add all the meat into the pot and cover with water. Cover the pot and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve with gf noodles or rice. (I would freeze without the noodles.)

[fruitfulmomma]

Originally Posted by stephienoodle

chicken or pork pulled bbq,

Is this one gf? If so, I'd like the recipe. Thx.

[dannic]

From what I understand, GF does best ref or frozen until used, right? Cookies freeze well for me...I've also done broth, pasta sauce, bones for broth, meatballs, cooked roasted chicken deboned, green chili meat....I want to do this too! It gets too hot here for cooking with a swamp cooler.

[LBMarie9]

what an amazing idea! I've been watching my SIL (that we are staying with for 6 weeks) do freezer meal groups and all she does is unthaw stuff for dinner and I was feeling sorry for myself!

please share ANY recipe that you've tried that freezes well. I am just barely learning the nature of gf,df,eg free, etc, etc products and wouldn't know if thinks could freeze well. please share all directions as I am a little dense in this (what temp to reheat at, etc)

SOOO excited for this thread!

[lil_miss_understood]

subbing for now

[WuWei]

http://www.savingdinner.com/

This Menu Mailer site is really geared toward meat-eaters, so it won't work for everyone. In about four hours, you can do the prep for 20 entrees that go in the freezer - you don't cook them ahead of time, just do the prep. Then you thaw them the night before, and cook them right before eating.

On the same site they have menus for doing 5 freezer entrees at a time with all the same kind of meat, so that's much faster but you still can stock your freezer. Of course it's easy to adapt the same idea to your own favorite recipes, too. I have loved this method - it saves an enormous amount of time on prep and clean up in the kitchen.

Often, I'll double or divide the recipe to make a larger or smaller portion too. Since I already have all the ingredients out and open, it is much faster than the prep involved in individual meals. The recipes are simplistic and they are more varied than my 'Gosh, what are we going to eat tonight' process. They are not gourmet or complicated. You can alter the ingredients to your taste. Such as no onions or skip peppers, etc. Dh will eat everything and gets home late. So, mostly I make them for him and he has left-overs for lunch that week. Ds and I prefer to graze, more than sit-down meals.

I highly recommend the Freezer Crock Cooker menus. They give you a Master Shopping list for all 20 meals for the month. It saves money also, because instead of opening one can of tomato sauce and using 2 tablespoons, you use the whole can in about 4 different recipes at once. Same with cutting onions once and have them for 8 recipes, for example. You can alter the recipes as they only use real foods as ingredients. No cream of mushroom soup!

They also have "sides" menus which can be prepared and frozen in advance, in bulk or individually. Like rice, scalloped potatoes, green beans Almondine, etc.

I'd say that most of us can't follow them exactly, due to allergies. But, I've found them helpful and much more nutritious and varied than my own imagination! And tons easier to just pull it out of the freezer, thaw in warm water, if I forget to thaw it the day before.

Check out their "Bundles", those are probably the best deal. You get multiple menu types at a discounted rate. The batch of menus for the month are only like $10 and you down load it to your computer. I printed it out and have used the same recipes again and again. The other thing is that this inspired my creativity! And I altered some of them slightly when 'doubling' and had several different meals from the recipes very easily and quickly while I already had all the ingredients out on the counter. So, I always purchase some extra chicken or pork tenderloin or ground turkey/beef when I plan to make up the meals, to make extra meals at the same time.

The "only thing" is that it takes up your whole kitchen for hours with full attention. It is about impossible and took 3x longer when trying to be mama at the same time and getting interrupted 1000 times. So, I'd plan to do the shopping on the day before you do the prep and have the kids totally out of the house for the 4 hours while you do the prep for the whole month.


Anyway, I've loved the Saving Dinner menu mailers and need to do them again. I haven't recently and we are out of freezer meals! I just found them so helpful. I get nothing for this seeming "advert". Oh, I just found that they have ebooks of vegetarian menus also. And they have a weekly menu mailer with "Vegetarian options, Low Carb/Body Clutter (with family friendly side dishes, gluten free options, and kosher options) and a Heart Healthy menu (low sodium, lower fat)".


Kathy (kjbrown92), you need to set something like this up too! I'm exploring the ebook idea, as a friend just hired a web site to host her ebook.


Pat

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by WuWei

Kathy (kjbrown92), you need to set something like this up too! I'm exploring the ebook idea, as a friend just hired a web site to host her ebook.

If I did it, I wouldn't be able to put my blog in my signature (because I'd be a "business", which seems to be the best way to reach people who need it right now.

My pulled pork recipe freezes well. I guess I should put on the bottom of each recipe if they freeze well. I still need to add corn-free, gluten-free, dairy-free drinks to my recipes too. There just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want! I still need to work on my twinkie recipe too. And make more granola.

Back to the regularly scheduled program:
We also freeze spaghetti sauce, muffins, baked beans, bone broth...

[FireWithin]

I haven't had much success freezing cut up potatoes or pasta.

I regularly freeze pulled pork, meat loaf, sausage patties (put patties on the stovetop frozen). Italian Meatballs cooked, and soup meatballs raw.

I don't like the texture of muffins cupcakes frozen, but we do cookies (if they last that long.)

I like to make a large marinade and divide it among my meats and freeze them separately.

[rugbymom]

I freeze Kathy's cupcakes raw in those foil muffin liners and then just pull one out and bake it for my son when we are going to a party. I just defrost it for an hour first on the counter and it bakes up perfect!

[FireWithin]

Wow frozen raw cupcakes might be the answer.
Thanks!

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by rugbymom

I freeze Kathy's cupcakes raw in those foil muffin liners and then just pull one out and bake it for my son when we are going to a party. I just defrost it for an hour first on the counter and it bakes up perfect!

I never thought about that. Which recipe and I can add it (or you can in the comment section so that it'll look like people actually use my recipes!). I never thought of doing that either.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by rugbymom

I freeze Kathy's cupcakes raw in those foil muffin liners and then just pull one out and bake it for my son when we are going to a party. I just defrost it for an hour first on the counter and it bakes up perfect!

This is genius!

[pedi08]

ahhh, awesome info!


What cupcake recipe do you freeze raw?

[rugbymom]

Sorry I forgot to ever check back. I freeze the vanilla cake recipe. I think it works well since it doesn't have eggs in it. Hint: I think I lower the temp while baking- I just bake in the toaster oven and keep an eye on it.