Feed the freezer recipes. (Stolen from Mealplanning.)

[*LoveBugMama*]

So, I saw this huuuge thread in Mealplanning, called Feeding the freezer. Very clever idea, me thinks.
Cooking enough to have extra in the freezer saves both time and money, so wouldn`t a vegetarian freezerthread be a good idea?

[Sayward]

Love the idea! Looking forward to seeing what vegan options everyone posts.

My freezer currently has: white beans, black beans, garbanzos all portioned out in 16 oz jars, homemade veggie broth in various sized jars, and split pea soup in big pickle jars.

I usually do soups. When I was nearing my due date I filled the freezer to the brim with lentil soup, split pea soup, tomato bean soup, chili, etc. It was awesome for the few weeks postpartum and now I plan to keep a steady stock of meals ready to go int the freezer. But all I can think of is soups!

So, I'd love to hear other vegan ideas. =)

[PoetryLover]

Awesome idea! I'm definitely subbing!

[*LoveBugMama*]

Beans of all kinds live in my freezer, too. Borlotti, black, kidney and chickpeas at the moment, I think.

Today I made chilli, and half of it will go in the freezer.
Grated cheese is also a freezerstaple. But, I am not very good at freezing meals, I usually just freeze parts of meals, like beans, cheese etc. So I would LOVE to see what everyone else is stocking their freezer with these days.

[mum21andtwins]

rice and green beans, any type of stew minus potatoes I don't think they freeze well, sloppy joes, veggy mixes for quick stirfries I add all the herbs & flavourings in then freeze, pasta, chili, mm thats all I can think of right now

[*LoveBugMama*]

I made a really yummy lasagna last week. Half of it ended in my freezer.
I used walnuts and chickpeas instead of meat, and it was delish! (Threw nuts and beans in the foodprocessor before adding them to the sauce.)

[Zoesmama]

Interesting!! I'll have to watch this.

Those that have froze beans how long is thaw time???

See this is one of the things I constantly forgot to do when I cooked a lot of meat. I always always forgot to pull it out. It would either be in fridge going bad or I'd forget to pull it out and have to make something else or stop for more 'fresh' meat. So really not sure if I'd remember to pull them out either.

[*LoveBugMama*]

I always have lots of beans in the freezer, and don`t find they need much thawtime. It depends on what I am making, actually. If I`m making chilli or something that takes some time, I just throw the frozen beans in the chilli and let them thaw that way.

Sometimes I just put the ziplockbag with the frozen beans in water for a while to make them thaw.

Not much help in me...

[jojoboy]

I also end up freezing ingredients more than full meals, but here are my thoughts:

I'll echo previous posts - beans freeze fantastically well. I reuse old cans (from canned tomatoes, usually), cut the top completely off and fill up with beans. Covered with their own juice, they freeze great even without lids for the cans.

Other things that freeze well - tomato products. I usually try to make double recipes of spaghetti sauce/pizza sauce/salsa whenever I'm having it for dinner and just stick the extra in the freezer for next time.

I do the same with brown rice. Since it takes so long to cook, I'll cook up a big batch, stick extra in the freezer and I have some "minute" rice whenever I need it.

As someone trying to be more vegetarian (I haven't quite given up all meat yet, but I'm getting there), I have lots of produce that can go to waste as well. Most veggies and fruits freeze great - I stick them in the freezer when they are about to go bad. Bell peppers (cut up), celery, tomatoes, fruit. All freeze fine. The texture isn't good for fresh eating, but fine for cooked items (soup, pizza, etc). The frozen fruit I use in smoothies.

You can use the microwave to defrost (obviously in plastic or glass, not metal). Microwave is about 10 minutes to full defrost for 4 cups of beans. But since I use the metal cans myself to freeze, I just fill the kitchen sink, or a big bowl with hot water and let the can sit in the water. It'll come free in a clump in about 10 minutes, and then a few more minutes, maybe 10 more, to totally defrost in a pan on the stove. I add a little water to the pan to make sure nothing burns. The beans are fully cooked, so I'm usually working on the rest of dinner while they defrost anyway.

[LightForest]

We've been feeding our freezer in preparation for our babe-on-the-way. So far I've got:

Tamales, my favorite
Cornbread
Black beans
Garbanzo Beans
Waffles
Lentil soup
...And always lots of frozen fruit for snacking, baking, and smoothies

I'm due in July, and I have found it more challenging to think up good summery freezer meal ideas. I've read that pesto freezes well. Anyone tried it? Got any other ideas for nutritious summer meals for the freezer that will be welcome in hot weather?

[eepster]

I do this. Current big batch homemade goodies in the freezer is:

• Tacos (link to old pot with taco recipe)
• Rice pilaf (Link to pilaf recipe)
• Faux tuna (this one's new and still needs adjustment, so I'll post the basic recipe below)
• Pasta sauce
• Guacamole
• Hummus d'tahini (link to both the hummus and guacamole recipes) (link to using sieve if you want to be really authentic, I would only do this for small batches though.)

I also prep large batches of onions when I can get my hands on organic Vidalias, and freeze them in half cup portions to add to recipes.


Eepster's F-una (Faux tuna)

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• several sheets nori

In food processor grind sunflower seeds, salt and nori to a rough meal, do not over grind, you don't want sun-butter. Put aside. In processor lightly chop chickpeas, don't over chop, or you will end up with hummus. Mix chopped chickpeas into ground sunflower mixture. (This isn't a really set recipe yet, my last batch was not quite right, so this reflects adjustments I planned but haven't tested yet.)

Use it as you would tuna (mayonnaise or vegennaise, chopped celery or onions, whatever you would have done to tuna if we weren't veg*n.)

[Rick Juliusson]

Every summer we buy 16 dozen ears of fresh local corn, then spend a glorious family afternoon shucking, boiling for 3 minutes, cutting off the kernels, bagging and freezing them. Then we try to find a use for 192 cobs and husks...

All winter we use them in soup, pizza, casseroles, omelettes, pretty much anything.

[cinister]

Along with all cooked beans I also freeze leftovers from any meals in single portion packets for myself. I'm the only veg in the house and do all the cooking so it's nice when I have a quick prepped meal for myself if the rest of the family is eating meat or cheesy dishes.

Some of those meals have been

Lentil Daal and rice
Honey baked lentils
Homeade Refried beans
Black bean enchiladas
Chickpea stew
Chickpea curry
Veggie Chili
Lentil or bean loaf with different bean or mushroom gravys
Also any leftover breads (pitas, naan, buns ect)

Oh and I also have a few different kinds of veggie burgers (falafal, black bean, mung bean and yam/white bean) prepped and frozen for quick meals.

[*LoveBugMama*]

Cinister:
I would love to have the recipe for honey baked lentils and a few veggieburgers.

[lach]

What do you freeze the food in? I use ziplocks for soup. Does anyone use those reusable foil baking dishes? Something else?

[snt88]

I freeze in glass pyrex food storage containers. They're not the cheapest...but reusable and fine to put in the oven, microwave and dishwasher.

[rainbowmoon]

I the feed the freezer thread.

Here's the honey baked lentil recipe.

I would love some freezable veggie burger recipes.

Things I like to freeze are;

-soups
-veggie lasagna
-shepards pie w/ mushroom gravy(from the How it all Vegan cookbook)
-chili
-cooked beans
-enchiladas
-burritos
-quiche
-pie/pizza crusts
-cookie dough
-muffins
-mashed potatoes
-berries!!! (we bought 30# of blueberries last summer and they lasted until May, I am trying to do this with strawberries,raspberries and peaches this year too)

I'll be watching this thread for more ideas! I am going to get a new chest freezer and stock it FULL this fall for when the new babe arrives!

[eepster]

Originally Posted by snt88

I freeze in glass pyrex food storage containers. They're not the cheapest...but reusable and fine to put in the oven, microwave and dishwasher.

We use and love them too. You can't beat pyrex.

[somegirl99]

Another vote for the pyrex containers, except that my DH stole most of mine and I think they are sitting in his office at work.

[jessicaksmith81]

Originally Posted by LightForest

I'm due in July, and I have found it more challenging to think up good summery freezer meal ideas. I've read that pesto freezes well. Anyone tried it? Got any other ideas for nutritious summer meals for the freezer that will be welcome in hot weather?

yes and its so nice to have oh hand. we add a tablespoon to just about everything pasta... we make a Chili pesto. with little hot chili's, olive oil, salt and pepper. freeze that as well, so we can quickly add it to things that need a little kick...