freezing rice and beans

[pumpkin]

I'm planning to freeze

1) pumpkin enchiladas
2) jerk chicken enchiladas


with both I would also like to freeze some side dishes.
I absolutely have to freeze the side dishes if I want to have them. I'm having surgery and won't be allowed downstairs, let alone be up to any cooking. DH will get me any take-out I want, but cooking, not so much. He has agreed to pop things in the oven or microwave. So far I've made individual serving lasagnas and individual serving chicken marbella. I'd like make enchiladas, but know that I will want some side dishes too.

So can I freeze pinto beans and rice? refried beans? any kind of mexican style side dish? Also, if I can freeze them, what is the best way to reheat?

For the jerk chicken enchiladas, I hope to get ahold of some plantains, but this living in PA thing kind of limits my options. Oh how I miss the produce in Socal.

[wife&mommy]

Ahh I just replied but it ate it... sorry if this posts twice for some reason.

I have not frozen rice and beans by themselves but I have frozen them in dishes and they have turned out great. As far as other mexican side dishes, I have frozen guacamole before, you could have that with chips. I froze it in ice cube trays and then transferred to a bag and only defrosed what I would eat for whatever meal we were having.

The jerk chicken enchildas sound good, do you have a recipe for them?

[UmmZahra]

Hey, hun. I freeze beans regularly and they're great. The thing I would say is not to put much garlic in them. The garlic intensifies the longer its in the freezer. I definitely cut back when I'm freezing beans.

As for rice, I find the rice texture changes a little bit. It's edible, but not great. jmo.

Good luck with your surgery.

[pumpkin]

thanks for the info

as for the jerk chicken enchiladas.

I had a recipe years ago that was great. I lost it. I only made it once so I don't remember it well. I have spent several years looking for recipies and never found quite the right one. So in the interest of efficiency, I will be using a bottle of store bought "carribean" sauce. It won't be stellar, but it will provide some variety with very little effort on my part.

[sassafrass94]

If I could piggy back on this thread... I love rice but don't often have time to wait for it to cook. I would like to be able to freeze family sized portions. I sometimes have the trader joes frozen organic rice on hand-but would like to be more self sufficient. To those who have frozen rice: What kinds of containers have you used? Ziploc bags? Tupperware? Has anyone tried freezing rice spread on a cookie sheet to freeze the grains a little more individually? (idea from trader joe...) Best way to reheat? I plan to experiment a little when I have more time- but would appreciate the guidance from you household experts out there.
Thanks,
Sarah

[425lisamarie]

i ALWAYS freeze rice and/or beans together, separate, whatever. They freeze really good. I use either ziplock freezer bags or vaccum sealer bags. I don't really notice a terrible difference unless I leave them more than a few months the vaccum sealer ones don't have any ice at all, but still it's not a big deal.

I always re heat in oven or on stove top because I find that it eliminates whatever little build up of ice which turns in to water if you just microwave it

[sassafrass94]

lisamarie, do you just plop them into a ziploc right from the pot? Cooled a little? Please excuse the fact that I'm a kitchen fool.... I'm assuming that you reheat them very low in a covered pot, no?

[425lisamarie]

Originally Posted by sassafrass94

lisamarie, do you just plop them into a ziploc right from the pot? Cooled a little? Please excuse the fact that I'm a kitchen fool.... I'm assuming that you reheat them very low in a covered pot, no?

I spread them out on a sheet pan to cool fast, then I stick them in the freezer for about 30 minutes and they get just barely firm. Then I take them out and sort of break them up with my fingers while I pack them in 2-4 cup portions.