topic Re: Cooking to freeze in Kitchen

Cooking to freeze

QVCkitty1 — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 14:12:51 GMT

I just finished making a big pot of meatballs and sauce to freeze for later. It is so satisfying to know that it is ready for days that I don't want to cook or just have a yen for pasta. What food do you like to cook ahead and freeze ??

Re: Cooking to freeze

OKPrincess — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 14:32:35 GMT

I mainly freeze ground beef w/dry onion soup which will be ready for hamburger stew or soup, manwich, tacos or additional pizza topping.

Re: Cooking to freeze

luvdoodles — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 14:53:37 GMT

I like to do meatballs too. Also soups and stews. I like them year round. All I have to do is reheat it and make a salad and maybe a few rolls.

Re: Cooking to freeze

wagirl — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 15:54:15 GMT

I like to marinate chicken, pork tenderloin and beef steaks for a day then pop into the freezer. I also freeze greens, spinach, kale, chard, collards, mustard and many others and use them in my smoothies in the morning. I buy huge bags, put them on big cookie sheets, then freeze them and put it all in big zip top bags. Can just grab a handful of this or that and toss it in my Vitamix.

Re: Cooking to freeze

shoptilyadropagain — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 16:45:33 GMT

Since I'm single, I do a lot of cooking and freezing (in individual portions) for later. I always do spaghetti sauce (no meatballs....hamburger is in the sauce), chili, taco soup, Southwest Chicken Tortilla soup, Chicken & rice casserole, pizza casserole, cubed steaks with gravy and many other things but those are my go to items. I'll pull something out the night before and I always have a salad chopped up & ready to go with it or else some cooked veggie. You can tell, I'm not a PBJ or microwave popcorn kind of gal!

Re: Cooking to freeze

jlkz — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 17:18:29 GMT

Several times a year, I make 20+ pints of marinara sauce and freeze in pint Ziploc bags. Can be used for sauce, pizza topping and soups.

twice a year I make large batches of small sized meatballs which I bake in QVC special trays. Freeze several of them at a time in pint size Ziploc bags. The trays allow the meatball fat to drip into foil-lined larger trays. When done, chill the fat and discard in trash.

Re: Cooking to freeze

Mominohio — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 17:28:42 GMT

Homemade soups, a lot of them.

Lasagna

Enchiladas

And I bake a lot, sweet breads, cookies, coffee cakes etc. to freeze.

Re: Cooking to freeze

chickenbutt — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 17:35:07 GMT

Mine are pretty boring - mostly split pea soup, turkey chili, and sauces. Vacuum-sealing is invaluable here, as you can cool, then put them in the serving sizes you want, freeze, then pop out of the containers and vacuum seal. This way they stay good for years.

I also liked to make my lasagne and freeze that in squares. I make a 17x12" pan, so it's like a zillion servings. I haven't made one in a few years and really miss it. It was nice to just pull out one square to re-heat and have my awesome lasagne at any time.

About all I have left, since I haven't been cooking so much due to a variety of health challenges, is a couple of split pea soup servings and some turkey chili. I made these a few years ago and they are still pristine, since I vac-seal them. I highly recommend this way of freezer storing this sort of thing.

Re: Cooking to freeze

January121 — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 21:04:02 GMT

@jlkz wrote:
Several times a year, I make 20+ pints of marinara sauce and freeze in pint Ziploc bags. Can be used for sauce, pizza topping and soups.

twice a year I make large batches of small sized meatballs which I bake in QVC special trays. Freeze several of them at a time in pint size Ziploc bags. The trays allow the meatball fat to drip into foil-lined larger trays. When done, chill the fat and discard in trash.

@jlkz ..... hi .... you mentioned you bake the meatballs in “QVC special trays” .... this sounds like a great idea... can you tell me the name & possibly the # of the trays? ..... THANKS😀

Re: Cooking to freeze

x Hedge — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 22:15:08 GMT

I spent years cooking to freeze, not whole meals, but components. When I worked I'd cook to freeze every Sunday.

I'll make a years worth of rice in one day, then freeze it in one cup servings. I cook spaghetti and other pasta ahead of time too.

I'll clean, cut, and bag ready to use servings of kale, leeks and mirepoix. When tomatoes are harvested and there are too many at one time, I'll make tomato soup, then freeze it.

I started this after I saw a great deal on lamb chops, marked way down because their "date" was that day. I realized I could cook the whole package that day, then freeze for future meals. Guess I'd never thought of that before.

Re: Cooking to freeze

peachesncream — Sat, 28 Apr 2018 02:20:59 GMT

Soups, stew, chili

Pasta dishes, enchiladas, cheese grits

Chicken pot pie, quiche

Scones, cookies, cake (slices or single layers), pie crusts

Tortilla roll ups, breakfast tacos

Mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes

Mashed avocado

Cooked rice

Around here, it's more like "What don't you freeze?" lol.

Re: Cooking to freeze

Daysdee — Tue, 01 May 2018 02:11:11 GMT

I do homemade spaghetti sauce, meat loaf in small portion or a slightly different recipe of meat balls. I did some soup the other day because I made too much; don't regularly freeze soup. I also make what I call "my own TV dinners." When I eat out I always have some to bring home-- other than sandwiches, I freeze my leftovers and have a good dinner on a night I don't want to cook. Also, when I bring a sandwich from a restaurant, I find reheating in the air fryer works better than microwave--bread doesn't get soggy.

Re: Cooking to freeze

Yahooey — Tue, 01 May 2018 13:09:15 GMT

Love beef chili- when I make a batch, I know there will be 2 large containers for next time. So nice in the winter.

This isn't cooking - but I always look forward to my frozen pesto packets made from backyard basil. 3 harvests from 8 plants and I'm good for the year.

Re: Cooking to freeze

froggy — Tue, 01 May 2018 13:36:11 GMT

@Mominohio wrote:
Homemade soups, a lot of them.

Lasagna

Enchiladas

And I bake a lot, sweet breads, cookies, coffee cakes etc. to freeze.

Oh, me too! Baked goods freeze fabulously. I make all our yeast dinner rolls, sometimes up to 12 dozen at a time and keep them in the freezer to be handy.

And almost any casserole is double the amount needed for two so I just separate into two baking dishes and put one in the freezer before it's even cooked.

I rarely freeze soup because my DH LOVES homemade soup and he just wants to eat it every day until it's gone.

Re: Cooking to freeze

Chicagoan — Tue, 01 May 2018 23:23:23 GMT

I dice and freeze fresh sweet onions in a gallon size bag, I also do the same with fresh bell peppers and diced ham in a quart size bags. I love having onions already prepped and ready for sauteing. I store sauteed bell peppers and onions in a 8 oz mason jar in the fridge for the week and are ready for omelets or served with scrambled eggs and sandwiches.

Re: Cooking to freeze

mousiegirl — Wed, 02 May 2018 00:18:36 GMT

@QVCkitty1 I freeze a lot. Homemade soups, pasta sauces, taco meat, ready to heat and serve, leftover grilled steak for steak tacos later on, tons of basil that I grow to add to soups, sauces, make pesto, etc., and bell and chili peppers, and green beans that I grow, etc.

The other day, I made a vat of pinto beans, mashed while still in the pot, then froze, so all I have to do for refired beans is to heat a container of them.

I also bake and freeze cookies and mini loaves.

Re: Cooking to freeze

brandiwine — Wed, 02 May 2018 00:22:39 GMT

I do the usuals like you guys, but in the summer when my basil is growing faster than I can cut it, I make pesto. It freezes beautifully and family and friends really appreciate a container or 2 in the winter months. I include a batch of homemade pasta and they are very happy.

Re: Cooking to freeze

mousiegirl — Wed, 02 May 2018 01:12:16 GMT

@brandiwine wrote:
I do the usuals like you guys, but in the summer when my basil is growing faster than I can cut it, I make pesto. It freezes beautifully and family and friends really appreciate a container or 2 in the winter months. I include a batch of homemade pasta and they are very happy.

@brandiwine Basil is my cash crop, along with chiles.

Re: Cooking to freeze

QVCkitty1 — Wed, 02 May 2018 01:20:02 GMT

@mousiegirl wrote:
@QVCkitty1 I freeze a lot. Homemade soups, pasta sauces, taco meat, ready to heat and serve, leftover grilled steak for steak tacos later on, tons of basil that I grow to add to soups, sauces, make pesto, etc., and bell and chili peppers, and green beans that I grow, etc.

The other day, I made a vat of pinto beans, mashed while still in the pot, then froze, so all I have to do for refired beans is to heat a container of them.

I also bake and freeze cookies and mini loaves.

@mousiegirl, Your freezer sounds delicious !!

Re: Cooking to freeze

gloriajean — Wed, 02 May 2018 15:09:46 GMT

I do this alot too! Lately I've been buying organic carrots in large packages and slicing them, blanching 5 min. and packaging them 2 cups in baggies to use for soups, stews, or just a side vegetable with our meail. Can't buy frozen carrots anywhere, just mixed in others. Today will be another cooking day for freezing. My husband and I are on the Fast Metabolism Diet since November, and I'm always cooking and freezing our portions and that works out well.