Feed the freezer recipes - Page 32

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by genifer

Subbing. Awesome thread!

Im so needing some inspiration for easy meals. I have a very tiny fridge and freezer so its not so much a case of premaking meals as it is just needing ideas on what to make. Im just bored with what we usually make for dinner.

Burritos! Mom and I are probably going to do a large quantity of burritos next month!

Dp and I rolled lumpia this month, and froze them, and here's the thing.. I can take them out one at a time (although I can NEVER eat just one!) and cook it and eat it, or I can do a whole family's worth... the same is true for burritos. I lined mine up and vacuum sealed them in the small size bags.. I could pull out just one and reseal them if I really wanted to.

[highlandmum]

Subbing!!!

[LambQueen]

we can get ground lamb from our butcher.

[columbusmomma]

subbing too

[Jill0905]

Freezing meals for dummies

sorry, wrong thread.

[AnnieNimIty]

subbing

[kellid]

i've subscribed to this thread for some time (years) and we finally put together a oamc club and 6-8 women have been getting together at a church and pulling together about 10 meals to take home each family and put in the freezer for future meals. looooooooots of hard work, but sooooooo rewarding.

[Joshuasmom16]

[columbusmomma]

That's awesome kellid

[Pariah]

I'm only at page 14 or so of this thread, but I had a question about freezing mashed potatoes... Does that change the taste or consistancy at all? We're all big potato fans, but it seems strange to me to freeze mashed potatoes... Twice baked potatoes seem fine to freeze, though. That would definitely be nice to have on hand.

So far my freezer has a pizza crust, and will have balls of cookie dough by the end of tonight. I also found a couple of potatoes that need to be used up ASAP, so I guess I'm making some of the twice baked variety tonight.

[3plus2isme]

[napless]

This casserole - Hamburger and Cheesy Rice with Crisp Topping - freezes well. This is one of the things I'd make when I was pregnant, to have on hand in the weeks after the babies came. Make a double batch - one to eat and one to freeze, or two to freeze!

Note that you'll need cooked rice.

If you make this ahead to freeze, stop after you've spooned on the cheese/rice layer. Cover tightly with foil, and seal tightly in a freezer bag. When you want to eat, thaw it completely. Make the butter/crushed cereal topping and sprinkle it on. You'll need to bake the cold casserole for 45-60 minutes.


1 lb/500 g ground beef

2 cups/500 mL mushrooms, sliced

3/4 cup/ 175 mL chopped onion

1 clove garlic, pressed

1 can (5.5 oz/156 mL) tomato paste

1/4 cup/60 mL water

1 tsp/5 mL oregano

4 Tbsp/60 mL butter

1/4 cup/60 mL flour

1 1/2 cups/375 mL milk

1 1/2 cups/375 mL shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups/375 mL cooked rice

2 Tbsp/30 mL butter

3/4 cup/175 mL rice cereal, crushed

Preheat oven to 350F/180 C.

Cook the ground beef in a large skillet until no longer pink. Spoon into a baking dish.
Add the onions to the skillet. Cook until they begin to soften. Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue cooking until the onions are very soft. Spoon into the baking dish.
In a small bowl (or glass measuring cup), whisk together the tomato paste and water. Add the oregano. Pour this into the baking dish, and mix everything well.
In a medium saucepan, melt the first amount of butter. Blend in the flour, stirring. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove it from the heat. Add the shredded cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Stir in the cooked rice. Spoon over the meat in the baking dish.
Melt the second amount of butter. Stir in the crushed cereal. Sprinkle over the casserole.
Bake until hot and bubbly (about 20 minutes).

[Pinoikoi]

The other day I froze about a dozen rolled lumpia and 3 quarts of chili

Today I am baking probably 3 (MAYBE 4?) meatloafs (I have two in the oven at the moment and should be done soon).. and adding probably 3 quarts of Mexican tortilla soup to the freezer.

SO proud of myself. The soup is made from about 3 or 4 leftover chicken enchiladas with rice (I added a can of black beans and chicken broth).

The meatloaf is using up some onions that were past their prime, and the last of my Italian bread crumbs.

I was INTENDING to make some mashed potatoes for the freezer, but it looks like dp threw out the WHOLE 5 lb bag... so here's my question.. isn't it NORMAL to sort through a bag of potatoes and toss out the old, cut off any bad parts of otherwise fine potatoes and use the "good parts"? Dp doesn't agree with this. Apparently one bad potato makes a whole bag of bad potatoes. Your thoughts? I grew up in a place that didn't get regular deliveries- we often had to return eggs that were bad to the store (and get a replacement dozen), cut off bad parts of onions, cheese, or potatoes, or whatever and salvage what was good.. is this not normal?

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Pinoikoi

The other day I froze about a dozen rolled lumpia and 3 quarts of chili

Today I am baking probably 3 (MAYBE 4?) meatloafs (I have two in the oven at the moment and should be done soon).. and adding probably 3 quarts of Mexican tortilla soup to the freezer.

SO proud of myself. The soup is made from about 3 or 4 leftover chicken enchiladas with rice (I added a can of black beans and chicken broth).

The meatloaf is using up some onions that were past their prime, and the last of my Italian bread crumbs.

I was INTENDING to make some mashed potatoes for the freezer, but it looks like dp threw out the WHOLE 5 lb bag... so here's my question.. isn't it NORMAL to sort through a bag of potatoes and toss out the old, cut off any bad parts of otherwise fine potatoes and use the "good parts"? Dp doesn't agree with this. Apparently one bad potato makes a whole bag of bad potatoes. Your thoughts? I grew up in a place that didn't get regular deliveries- we often had to return eggs that were bad to the store (and get a replacement dozen), cut off bad parts of onions, cheese, or potatoes, or whatever and salvage what was good.. is this not normal?

Generally speaking, not commonly done anymore, no.

[Pariah]

Originally Posted by Pinoikoi

isn't it NORMAL to sort through a bag of potatoes and toss out the old, cut off any bad parts of otherwise fine potatoes and use the "good parts"?

I've always done this...I thought everyone did! It seems really wasteful not to.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Pariah

I've always done this...I thought everyone did! It seems really wasteful not to.

I agree it's wasteful but it's not commonly done anymore... My DH looked at me like I'd grown a second head the first time I did it.
I think there may be a higher proportion of the population who does it on MDC.

[flminivanmama]

I can't bear to throw out food & also try to salvage what I can....

[mommy22boys]

I just found this thread, and am just reading the first few pages, and love it!! I'm just wondering, I have never "fed the freezer" before, so how long can the foods you cook and freeze be frozen for?
TIA!

[Pinoikoi]

A lot of things should be eaten within three months or so, but I have gone longer than that many times with no freezer burn.. I think a lot of it has to do with WHAT you are using as packaging, and some things are just thicker and better protection than others..

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/...ng/index.asp#8

Ok- I found this chart (scroll all the way to the bottom) which has times for different items- generally meats and poultries can be frozen for 12 months..soups, stews casseroles just a couple of months... It DOES say that frozen food will "remain safe" indefinitely and the time periods are only regarding quality (it talks about change in pigmentation and dryness further up in the info)..

The info also discusses the difference between refrigerator freezers and chest freezers.. Chest freezers can keep things frozen for longer periods of time without changing the "quality" than a refrig/freezer.

Ime, though the packaging REALLY makes a difference. I don't get freezer burn when something has been packaged well.. and I am pretty picky about what I use.. We bought a package deal last year from the local butcher and they used freezer paper, I was surprised how well things lasted.. mostly though I use the seal machine thing. I have found that "freezer bags" just don't keep things as long.. and I think that is a difference in the thickness..

[Honey693]

Has anyone made pizzas and frozen them? I'd love to do this b/c frozen pizza is out go to meal when we don't want to cook. Store bought ones are so tasty, but so full of crap I feel guilty eating them.