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Freezer stocking?

2K views 21 replies 15 participants last post by  13moons 
#1 ·
To start off, chef I am not...

We eat out/order in way too much.
I really want to try to do better. I was raised with most meals at home, nothing really organic and some "box meals". But when it was just DH and me we didn't do that much cooking. Now with DS being 7.5 months and starting solids I really want DH and I to eat better so DS will grow up eating healthy meals with the family.

The idea to freeze a pan of lasagna and then wrap it and have it in the freezer really intrigued me. What else do you guys make ahead and freeze for later? Can you give me some brainstorm ideas?

And I love the pantry challenge, we could probably live for weeks on stuff in there...now I need to figure out what to do with the stuff...
 
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#2 ·
I've done freezer cooking, to a greater or lesser extent, for about 5 years now. And the best advice I can give you is to find out how to freeze stuff your family likes and that you're good at making. There's no sense in making a lot of special "for-the-freezer" dishes that no one will eat later b/c they're not to your tastes, kwim?

That said, a good idea for you to explore if you're not much of a cook, is to freeze components of meals rather than complete meals. For example, cook a whole chicken (or several, or a big bag of leg quarters) and debone the meat, then package up enough for casseroles, soups, pasta dishes, etc. Same with ground beef or turkey -- brown it (along with onions and garlic if desired) and freeze in baggies. That way you can pull out a bag of precooked meat and add it to pasta sauce, soup, whatever. You can also saute and freeze vegetables -- same principle. Even mashed potatoes, or pasta or rice, or other side dishes can be frozen. Or make a big batch of, say, black beans with all the spices and whatnot, and freeze them in smaller portions for use later on top of rice, in burritos, in chilis, etc. Get the idea? It's a lot easier to face making a homemade meal if you can just take down several packets from the freezer, throw them in a pot, add some canned tomatoes or canned broth and seasonings, and voila. Or make things that can go on top of pasta or rice -- beef stroganoff, chicken ala king, sauce and meatballs, chicken dijon, whatever you guys like. In the time it takes you to make the rice (which you could also make ahead and freeze, btw!) or pasta, then you can thaw/microwave the sauce and maybe a package of green beans, or make a salad to go with it.

The other thing I like to do a lot is to make and freeze things that can be eaten in individual portions, for lunches or quick snacks: homemade pizza slices, homemade calzones, fajitas, bean-and-rice burritos, and so on.

Does this help inspire you?
LMK if you have more specific questions, and I'll do my best to answer them!

~Nick
 
#5 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by ChioMamaPT
Can you freeze pasta? Wow! What do you do to defrost it?

Yup, you sure can. If you're cooking it specifically to freeze (rather than just tossing leftovers into the freezer, I mean) you will want to undercook it somewhat so it doesn't get mushy upon reheating. And if you are adding sauce or incorporating the pasta into another dish (mac and cheese, chicken casseroles, etc.) to freeze, then add a little extra liquid so the dish doesn't get dried out.

To defrost it, just leave it out for a while like you would any frozen food. You could also pop it out of the container and into some boiling water. Or microwave.

Most folks don't freeze just plain pasta, b/c it takes so little time to cook normally. There's not too much point -- if you are heating up sauce or a topping anyway, or making a salad, you can have the water boiling and the pasta cooking in the same amt of time. KWIM? But there's no reason you can't.

HTH.
~nick
 
#6 ·
I've just started freezing some things for post-partum time, too. I've never really experimented with it before, so I've tried out a few things to see how they taste once defrosted. The things that turn out good, I'll make bigger batches of.

*Soup
*Chili
*chopped raw veggies to add to soups/chili later (red/green peppers, onions, mushrooms, corn)
*homemade pasta sauce
*herbs (I grew lots of basil this year!)
*pizza dough (was a little chewy, but not bad tasting)
*banana bread/cornbread/other quick breads or muffins
*blueberries
 
#8 ·
I started freezer cooking before we got our deep freeze so it's possible to do freezer once a month cooking with a small above the fridge thing... work but possible! LOL
I now have a upright freezer tht is the same size as my fridge/freezer is and it help me so save some much time and money! right now i have in my freezer...
2 lbs of fish that we caught a few months ago
6 hamberger patties already cooked
2 ziplocs of meatballs aready cooked
a lazanga
8 packages of tenderlions (left over from fire dept 4th july sell got really good deal when it was over)
2 apple pies
1 chicken pot pie
about 30bags of corn
about 10 bags of carrots (WIC)
8 chicken legs (SHARE foods)
3 ziplocs of shredded turkey from easter
3 bags of frozen blueberries
10lbs bag frozen brocalli (SAMs club)
2 meals of corn couder
1 meal of vegy soup
2lbs of cooked sausage linked (i cooked)
2 lbs of cooked ground sausage and hamber
1lbs of cooked ground hamberger
4 loafs of bread (i buy at a bread store .29c a loaf 1X a month)
6 packs of hamberger buns (bought left over from fire dept thing this summer about .20 a pack)
2lbs BBQ

I know there's more but my benaryl is starting to kick in now so i need to head off to bed! LOL I lived by my freezer cooking about the whole time i was pregnant with allison, then stoped after i had here, it's just not possible to spend a whole day in the kitchen cooking for the month, but i do break it down to about 3-5 days of cooking in one week and then i'm pretty set for the month, that helps out a lot. I make a monthy meal plan of about 24 meals (leaving eating out nights, meals at inlaws, parents, my grandparents, ect). It is a lot of work for is so worth me saving the $$ i so on my montly food budget of only $150 a month including dog food, cleaning supplies, tolitries, ect. That is also for a family of 5, and i do get WIC so that helps, we don't eat organic and we do eat meat at about 5 of our dinners a week. I would be more then happy to give more budget/food/freezer cooking tips tomorrow!
 
#9 ·
our local branch of MOMS club has a once a month cooking club. Anyone in the group who's interested can come. The gal who coordinates it sends out the recipes to choose from and a list of what she will buy in bulk. All you have to do is RSVP how many of what you want and bring your meat already cooked. We put it all together at her house. It's great. In one morning we all have a freezer full of meals.
 
#10 ·
My biggest freezer hint for a small family like yours is portion size. Through trial and error, I found when I made big casseroles to freeze, some would always be wasted. Now, I split my large casseroles into 3 loaf pans before I freeze them. They pretty much equal 1 large casserole. So for lasagna, the noodles I use fit exactly in a loaf pan, so for every 1 recipe, I use three loaf pans. When I make chicken casseroles, I just split it up as I dish it out. Then when we need it for dinner, I have enough for one meal, then usually some for dh to take for lunch the next day. Much less waste!
 
#11 ·
I just do not have the time right now to spend a day cooking for the month.When I make something for dinner like lasagne or soup or beans I make extra to freeze.It isn't anymore mess or time to do it that way and I end up with things I can heat up quick. Just make sure to package it well so it doesn't freezer burn. A real hit with my family right now is bagel pizzas and beef and bean burritos. I have not tried to freeze homemade pizza crust yet. I found a recipe that said to add garlic salt and onion powder to the crust. It makes it taste very yummy like restaurant dough.
 
#13 ·
I just started freexing meals yesterday for after the babe is born! I plan to make a list of the meals in the freezer with a note on how to re-heat them for my DH and other helpers. I am using Pyrex small sized glass dishes and freezer storage bags.

I need some help with this as I have never frozen a bunch of meals.

1. How long can things stay in the freezer? I'm due end of Nov.

2. In general, how do I go about defrosting/warming stuff back up?

3. Any vegetarian meal suggestions?
 
#14 ·
Stuffed manicotti(sp?
) Are good for the freezer

IMO the best thing is so make double and freezer the second amount. We do soups, stews and chili as they are really easy. Of course if the meal was really good we will eat it the next day and nothing will make it to the freezer :LOL

The only bad thing imo about freezing is to remember to get the food out in time for it to defrost before dinner time :LOL I am so bad about that.
 
#15 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunter
I just started freexing meals yesterday for after the babe is born! I plan to make a list of the meals in the freezer with a note on how to re-heat them for my DH and other helpers. I am using Pyrex small sized glass dishes and freezer storage bags.

I need some help with this as I have never frozen a bunch of meals.

1. How long can things stay in the freezer? I'm due end of Nov.

2. In general, how do I go about defrosting/warming stuff back up?

3. Any vegetarian meal suggestions?

If you are freezing things now i usally try to use things up with in 6 months there is a website that is great at telling times for differant things... i just can't find it try to google Once a month cooking or freezer cooking... if i find it i'll post it.
For defrosting, if it's like a casserole i would let it sit in the fridge about 24 hours b4 cooking then cook as normal. like single item things i have like the meatballs or twiced baked potatos, i would cook like i would if i bought the pre packaged kind that are store bought and just cook int he toaster oven, skillet, ect.
No veg ideas, we aren't begetarians so i can't help there. sorry!
 
#16 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Earthy~Mama
Becky,

I would love to hear more about how you budget and some of the particular recipes you use. I really need to tighten the straps! I have a stand alone freezer too but have no where near as much as you do. I just got last month! TIA!

No problem mama!
I love to share any money saving tips! When i shop i do spend almost a full day shoping, usally a friday after i drop austin off at school at 8am me and the girls head out. I go to aldies or save a lot first to get dried goods, canned stuff and produce if the farmers market doesn't have things i wanted. I usally spend about $70 there a month, then i head to walmart and get our shower items like shampoo, toothpaste, cleaning items, ect that i dont like using the generic of from aldies or save a lot that is usally about $20. then i go to the bread store and spend about $10 on 6 loafs of bread, 2 packs buns, and 1 hot dogs buns. Also i got to sams club (free membership through grandpas farm account) and get tide, dogfood, about every other month for $30 ($15 a month). And my final stop is at a butcher/ meat shop where i get all our meat suplies at a GREAT price, roast about $1.20 a lbs, hamberger $1.10 a lbs, pork chops $1.20lbs, sausage .99lb, chicken legs .89 bls and a whole chicken about .99lbs. I don't always buy all these things but some times i do, usally $35-40 there. And that's all i do... no coupon cliping, no add brosing, just serious meal planing.

If you want spicific recipes let me know i'll be happy to get them.. Also i do get WIC so i don't buy dry ceral, milk, cheese, eggs, or juice...
 
#17 ·
Thank you so much for your tips. My thing is how would you do that provided you lived overseas like me. Not too many discount stores here. :LOL So what would you do in my shoes to save with limited options for shopping? ALso I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you would share your recipes. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much for your time mama!


Shannon
 
#18 ·
Oh lets see, can you shop for sale items? make your meal plans off the sale items, i use to do that often. Also are there like farmers markets or somthing like that that you can get for less that way? Do they use coupons over seas (sorry if this is a dumb questions
).
As for recipes, i really don't good step by step i'm more of a through it all together person... hambergers just meat and some spices

meat balls lots of spices, egg, about 1/2 c bread crumbs to 1lbs meat

lasanga i do a layer of sause (canned sause w/ 1/2 lbs sausage 1/2 lb hamberger, 1 can tomatos diced), layer of noodles, layer of slice mots. cheese or provolone, layer of noodles, a layer of cottage cheese mixed with 2 eggs (cheaper then rochetta cheese). keep layer till you ahve a full pan. to freeze double wrap with saran wrap and then foil. defrost in fridge for about 24 hours, then cook in oven about 30-40 min at 350.

Chicken pot pie 3 cubed chicken breast, 2 cup mixed vegs, 1/2 extra corn, 1/2 carrots, 2 can cream of chicken soup, salt peper to taste, 1 1/2 can chicken broth, frozen pie crust and biscuts to top or put biscuts on bottem of 9X11 pan and pour mixture over it then bake and biscute will rise. I freezer the pie/biscute and chicken mix seprate and fix then cook...

Veg soup 1 can tomato juice, 1 choped onion, 1 c carrots, 2 c potatos, 1 c corn, 1 c green beans, 1 c peas, bay leaves, season salt, peper, think that's all... some times i'll add choped roast if i have it left over or somthing.

corn chowder (not home made, my mom made a huge batch and gave it to me...)

HTH let me know if you need more!
 
#19 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by becca011906
No veg ideas, we aren't vegetarians so i can't help there. sorry!
Some great books to check out for vegetarian ideas are "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home" by the Moosewood collective, and/or any other Mooswood cookbook; "The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen" by Peter Berley; "Cooking for a Healthy Family" by Simon Hope; and "Vegetarian Suppers" by Deborah Madison. I've just gotten into the last one and it is rather new, I think, so I'm not sure you could get it at the library. However the first three have been around a while, and are well known, so you should be able to get them at least through inter-library loan if you can't afford to go onto amazon and buy them. But they really have some GREAT recipes. Have fun!
 
#20 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Earthy~Mama
:LOL So what would you do in my shoes to save with limited options for shopping?
My brother lived in Osaka for a year, and got american food from some kind of co-op/wharehouse. I am not sure, but I think it may have been online. He has told me numerous times that the infrastructure is there to support x-pats (are you?), as far as foods and other support systems are concerned. I left him a message, and I'll see what I can glean for you!

I freeze things like meatloaf, "gravy train" goulash, mashed potatoes, meat balls and gravey or spaghetti sauce, lamb or pork loin stew, soups, chili, roasted meat cut into slices or shreds with gravy, pasties (a Michigan thing, I think, and very tasty!). I also make breakfast one day a week, and make a double or triple (depending on my time limits) batch and freeze the leftovers. This works well for pancakes, french toast, quiche, blintzes.
Perhaps if you can't get to a "supermarket" meat counter for sales/loss leaders, you could talk a butcher into giving you a deal for buying bulk--or have a Japanese friend do it for you if you're American. My brother speaks japanese fluently. However, frequently, because he was an "outside person" the natives to whom he spoke, even if it was IN Japanese, would pretend not to understand him. In any case, I have heard my friends say that sometimes they can get their butcher to give them a deal if they buy over X amount of a certain kind of meat. What they do is then freeze some of it uncooked, but most of it cooked into different kinds of meals. That gives them lots of different kinds of options. It also helps out the butcher (moves a lot of meat) and the person buying the meat (at a much better price). I'll post if I can get the source my brother used for food! Good luck, I understand that food prices are really really REALLY high there.
 
#21 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Earthy~Mama
Thank you so much for your tips. My thing is how would you do that provided you lived overseas like me. Not too many discount stores here. :LOL So what would you do in my shoes to save with limited options for shopping? ALso I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you would share your recipes. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much for your time mama!


Shannon

are y'all a military family, or do you just live in japan (i'd like to go there someday)
my dh is army, and we're in germany, so i understand where youre coming from.....

i love love love the commissary caselot sales. alot of its not very healthy, but they always have some sort of canned veggies, or broths, or whatever.
i know coupons are good here 6 months past the expiration date...
i'll post more after you reply, i dont wanna do a whole military post if you guys arent military
 
#22 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by VikingKvinna
The other thing I like to do a lot is to make and freeze things that can be eaten in individual portions, for lunches or quick snacks: homemade pizza slices, homemade calzones, fajitas, bean-and-rice burritos, and so on.
~Nick
ooh! This is what I was looking for...I know we had a thread a long time ago about making and freezing things like this (maybe it was with regard to taking lunches to work?) but I couldn't find it in my subs. It may have been you who mentioned it in the other thread...anyway, I would love to know more about the recipes, etc you use for things like this if you have time.
Do you flash freeze? Do you cook the dough first for the pizza and calzones? Do you use less "wet" ingredients in your sauces, etc. to keep the dough/tortillas from getting soggy? I am full of questions!

TIA!
 
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