What are your favorite make-ahead-and-freeze recipes?

The topic says it all. What are your family favorite make-ahead recipes that freeze well? (If it's a recipe you have already posted, a link will do just fine.)

My niece is expecting twin babies next week, and I've been asked to help fill their freezer for them to live off for a while. I've got plenty of ideas already but thought I'd ask here, as I thought a thread on frozen meals (as opposed to freezing veggie harvests for preservation) might be useful and interesting.

For her and her husband: No food allergies or other dietary restrictions, but not keen on potatoes, peas, dill, or anything super-hot. (Guess I have to put away my bottle of Sri Racha! )

Thanks!

I don't do a lot of this but I have done tuna casserole. I know, not much help...

lasagna (make it in those bread pans - it's just right for 2-3 people; 5 people if 3 of them are young children) - i made about 12 of those for our family.

prebrown ground beef with the flavors you like - green pepper, onion, garlic. then freeze in 1 1/2 cup portions - drain off most of the fat. this way fast meals can happen - tacos, cheesy casseroles with meat, etc. all one needs to do is thaw the meat in microwave and fry up with whatever. . .

precook chicken and flash freeze, then individually freeze if pieces so again, quick microwave thaw and heat can happen.

some of the precooked chicken dice up so it can be a topping to make chicken alfredo, etc.

most pasta dishes will freeze and thaw well - i do it all the time here - like the pasta/meat/cheese dish most folks 'throw together'. just freeze in ziploc bags and lay flat in freezer. easy to thaw and heat to serve.

if you're making dishes, always nice to have some desserts, too. cheesecakes (one of my favorite things to make and share) is incredibly easy. and then after it's baked and cooled overnight, throw in freezer for 4-12 hours - and cut it in quarters when it's very cold. wrap in parchment paper/waxed paper each quarter adn overwrap with alum foil. voila, 4 desserts - simply thaw and serve. eqch quarter will serve 4-6 folks - easiest to cut 'pretty' slices when the cheesecake is frozen - then put on dessert plates. by the time dinner is finished eating the cheesecake will be perfect to end the meal.

really i would suggest finding out what favorite meals are - and make up a bunch of those as each family has different tastes.

another idea too - something i did during each pregnancy is to intentionally make double or triple dinners. then freezing in family sized portions in those disposable pans you can buy at GFS, etc. truly made life simple. (and i know not green, but it sure was a sanity saver with lots of little children running around and hungry tummies). to have homemade meals already done was awesome.

you're an amazing blessing to consider doing this for your niece.

i just reread your post and realized she's having them next week. wow!

i would definitely recommend just making double/triple meals when you cook your meals for your family, sending the extra meals on - one to freeze, one to eat that week. definitely disposable pans. she's gonna be one tired mommy and the husband? is gonna be worried and tired, too.

also, on the dessert thought, bake cookies, too - they freeze EXTRAORDINARILY well. heck, that's what i serve for dinner tonight (well dessert, lol). i pulled out 2 cookies each of 5 different varieties and let everyone choose what they watned. i put together gift trays all the time that way and everyone always thinks how fresh and tasty they are (i'm a celiac so i don't eat them - i purposely don't bake gluten free most desserts 'cause my bottom is voluptuous enough.)

i sure did yammer on. hope you find something useful in my ramblings.

bettyann
mommy to three amazing kids on earth - 6,4,2

stuff in my freezer:

chilli
lasagna
meatloaf
beef stroganoff
diced cooked chicken
browned ground beef
veggie soup
potato soup
black bean and salsa chicken soup
beef stew

i actually save all those 32 oz yogurt containers and 24 oz ricotta cheese containers. they are PERFECT for a family of 5 for soups and stews. it's actually too much for a meal - but there's just enough for a leftover or 2 for lunches.

pretty much anything i cook, i put in freezer. i actually fill up a container for freezing at the same time i'm serving up dinner so there IS 'leftovers' that way. any surplus after that is reincorporated into meals later that week so we don't have a lot of 'leftovers' at any time in our fridge. it works for us. my family doesn't really enjoy eating the same thing more than once every couple weeks at most so this was my solution. turned out to be a timesaver.

hth

bettyann

ps i do have a blog where i've been trying to be better about posting recipes.

http://familyfavorites-recipes.blogspot.com/

but really any cookbook or 'allrecipes.com' search will find the aforementioned recipes - they're pretty standard - just tweak to your family's palate.

What a great post, bettyann, thank you!

They were not too particular about favorites and seem pretty easy to please. For myself, I would definitely go the route you suggested in terms of cooking chicken / etc. to throw together into their own creations. When I am especially lazy I chop up and freeze onion, peppers, etc, browned ground turkey/beef, etc, for EXACTLY that reason.... but for them I want it to be a no brainer -- thaw, cook or re-heat, eat, with minimal thought/decision making.

Lasagne is definitely on the list. Love the loaf pan idea. I was going to just do a 7x13 pan and cut it up into squares and freeze it that way... may have to re-think that one. It is just the two of them (these are their first babies.)

I've got enough pesto put up that it will be on there, too. Other things... if not a meal in one, I want to make them them "kit"-oriented... minimal touch time, everything for a single meal bagged up together and ready to go.

Love your ideas on desserts. I have never made a cheesecake, but cookies are a good idea.... and I found an interesting freeze recipe for apples with chocolate and nuts.

One trick I learned years ago was to par-boil pasta, then freeze it. What you do is this: Cook your pasta until just al-dente. Drain it, add a little olive oil and shake it around while still in the colander, and let it cool. (Normally I never add oil to pasta unless the oil is the dressing itself--but in this case, you need it.) Put into a zip top bag (typically a gallon bag), squish all the air out, and then freeze solid. When comes time you want to use it, put a full kettle of water on to boil. Put the frozen pasta block into a colander in the sink (do not break it up). *This is where you evict kids and pets from the kitchen.* When the water is truly at a raging rolling boil, SLOWLY pour it over the frozen pasta.... circling the pour around to cover all the pasta in turn. By the time your kettle is empty, the pasta should be hot and ready to go, perfectly cooked. This is faster than heating up a big stockpot to boil the pasta. Not "green" (as you're heating up water twice), but, it can be convenient.

On the same note, something else I also learned was, if you pre-cook rice, do not, ever, NEVER ever, freeze it in a one-gallon ziptop bag. Freeze it in 1-cup amounts, 2 cup if you are daring. The first, and only, time I froze a big batch of rice in a gallon zipbag, I got a block with thermal capacity which very possibly could substitute for those heat-shield tiles they use on the Space Shuttle. No joke. It took me 2-3 days to thaw the darn thing.

HA HA, thermal tiles... I have noted your recommendation... lol.
I found this site on freezing seems to be good info here.

camprn wrote:HA HA, thermal tiles... I have noted your recommendation... lol.

Also, do not drop it on your foot....

Megan wrote:

camprn wrote:HA HA, thermal tiles... I have noted your recommendation... lol.

Also, do not drop it on your foot....

http://www.foodchannel.com/recipes/recipe/wild-rice-chicken-supreme/

My kids used to really love this.. I made a lot of it and froze in loaf pans. Its pretty tasty !!

Here's another site for ideas...
http://www.momsbudget.com/freezerrecipes/index.html

There are a whole bunch of "cook once, eat all month cookbooks and Desperate dinners, ready in 20 minutes or less." I would make casseroles, as a lot of folks do not cook enough to know what to do with ingredience. Write what it is and how to cook it on the package, especially if 15 more minutes in the oven means you do not need to defrost it. Happy cook book reading.

Patty in Yorktown

I second BettyAnn's post. Lasagna and beef or lamb stew are our favorite frozen meals. Shepherd's pie and chicken tetrazzini are good, too. (I like Giada De Laurentiis's tetrazzini recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chicken-tetrazzini-recipe/index.html) It's much better than my mom's which called for a can of mushroom soup and Cheez Whiz. Mom's also called for slivered almonds, too, which I still add to mine.

I also pre-cook a lot of meat and freeze it. In addition to ground beef and ground pork I also roast bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, cool them and place each in individual sandwich bags, then freeze several bags in a gallon freezer bag. (I think the skin helps keep the meat from drying out.) Whole breasts can be microwaved or oven-heated for a meal, or the skin and bones can be removed and the meat used for anything from casseroles and stir-fries to chicken salad. The bones and skin can then be simmered in water for soup broth. (Sometimes I place basil or sage leaves or garlic under the chicken skin before roasting for extra flavor.)

I do the same thing with pork chops, hamburger steaks, and meatballs, and for a quick meal I serve them with bottled barbecue or spaghetti sauce or on sandwiches. I brown my chops or meatballs in a skillet, then put them in the oven to finish cooking. I freeze the cooled meatballs on a cookie sheet before bagging them.

You could also roast whole sweet potatoes and wrap them and freeze them, but by the time they thawed and heated, your relative could just throw a fresh one in the oven and roast it. I've been buying those microwaveable bags of brown rice to use when I'm in a hurry. They aren't too bad. Add a salad and a piece of fruit or ice cream for dessert to round out a complete meal.

i thought of this post tonight while i was making dinner. tonight i'm serving chipotle inspired dinner - i love going to chipotle but it's not really in the budget for 5 eager eating folks (and trust me, the youngest kid can hold her own there!)

so i make similar to what they offer - tonight i made cilantro lime rice, black beans, fried up onions and green peppers, made tomato and corn salsa, and topped with a mexican blend of cheese - layered it all in a casserole dish and heated up for a bit. *grin* i just pull out when it bubbles and smells real good in the house.

the garlic, onions, green peppers, tomatoes and corn all came from teh garden this year - pulled everything from the freezer (sans garlic and onions - those are in my basement in the dark corner).

to make cilantro lime rice - just add some cilantro (i used dried - i didn't grow any this year - but it's on the list for next year, *grin*) and some lime juice. along with the salt and a Tablespoon of butter. cook as you would rice. voila, rice that tastes a whole lot like chipotle's.

i made 2 pans - one to freeze and one for tonight.

hth with another idea.

find out what kind of 'fast food' they like and see if you can make a homemade (and much more filling) version of it.

we have 'fast food' night here every other week. and yes, i consider chipotle fast food. *grin*

we have olive garden dinner, too (that also goes under the 'fast food' category - even though it isn't.

that dish i've never had any extra of so i don' tknow how it freezes, but i bet it would do well. i am sure i shared that recipe on my blog - it's my husband's favorite way to eat chicken - and i don't like it as much as him, so i only make it about 4x year (i'm not into artichokes nearly as much as him) - it's a crockpot dish even! very forgiving. .

just went to my little recipe blog and discovered i don't have it listed. shame on me - so i'll find it and type it up and share the link.

in the meantime - here's a recipe that DOES freeze well. my husband just loves this dish - and he's not a flavor/spice kind of guy. it's antoher crockpot meal - i am notorious for puttinng meat in crockpot frozen solid. . 'cause i never remember to pull it from freezer. .

http://familyfavorites-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/07/chicken-makhani.html

I don't have specific recipes, but I have a TON of "Entree" size freezer containers. Whatever I make for dinner, I make a couple extra portions for the freezer. So there's ALWAYS a variety of meals in the freezer for hubby to take to work or when I don't feel like cooking.

Yesterday I added Sweet & Sour chicken with rice to my freezer.

Almost ANY casserole recipe and MOST soups work.

Pulled pork BBQ filling (you can even freeze the rolls) freezes well.

Think about the variety of frozen meals at your grocery store and you can get a feel of what freezes well.

Even breakfast foods freeze well!

Thanks everyone!!

Today is omelet day, plus finishing up the sauce for the beef, and bread baking. (Some of it....)