Saturday, January 29, 2011

Freezer Recipes Part 2

Here are some more freezer meals that I make (or want to try):
Baked Chicken Penne
Chicken Cacciatore
Apricot Chicken
Easy Asian Chicken
Ranch Chicken
Chicken Burritos
Roasted Tomato & Eggplant Soup
Vegetable Chowder
Sausage & Bean Casserole
Empanadas
Black Bean & Rice Cakes
Turkey Tetrazzini
Cinnamon Oat Pancakes

Other freezer meal ideas (that you probably already have recipes for):
Taco Soup
Chicken Curry
Meatballs (you can use these for SO many things!)
Mac & Cheese
Eggplant Parmesan
Chicken & Rice Soup

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Freezer Recipes Part 1

Here's just a list of recipes that are already on the blog that you could use as freezer meals. Double a recipe & freeze half to use later! I've also added my own tips for freezing foods.

SOUPS
Crock Pot Chili
White Chili
Minestrone
Wheat Berry & Bean Chili
Lentil & Sausage Soup

TRADITIONAL
Beef Stroganoff
Sloppy Joes
Meatloaf
Shredded Beef au Jus
Baked Beans
Pulled Pork
Red Beans & Rice

BREAKFAST
Baby Cakes
Apple Pancakes
Scarce Eggs
Swedish Pancakes
Blueberry Pancakes

ASIAN
Chicken Sate
Japanese Fried Rice
Gyoza
Korean BBQ
Tofu & Beef Lettuce Wraps

TEX MEX
Easy Chicken Tacos
Mexican Rice
Enchilada Bake
Honey Lime Enchiladas

MEDITERRANIAN
Nate's Lasagna
Spaghetti
Greek Stuffed Peppers
Quinoa Pilaf
Basil Pesto (freeze in ice cube trays)

TIPS & ADVICE
1. You can freeze cooked rice! Just make sure you keep it in a separate baggy/container than whatever you plan on eating it with.
2. Cooked noodles do NOT freeze well. So any dish that requires you to add the pasta while cooking do not make great freezer meals. But marinara sauce does great in the freezer. Just cook your pasta right before dinner.
3. Things with cream or half & half also do NOT freeze well. Something about the fat & how it curdles just comes out of the freezer looking gross.
4. Ditto with things that have a cornstarch slurry. Just think of day-old refrigerated gravy....you get the idea.
5. Beans do GREAT in the freezer. So any soup with beans makes for a terrific freezer meal.
6. Sometimes soups with potato in them are weird when thawed. Use caution there. I prefer to omit the potato when freezing, then I boil some just before adding them later on.
7. I LOVE to freeze breads. At any given time I have various types of bread, hamburger buns, bagels, muffins, & tortillas (not sure that qualifies as bread) in my freezer. Yes, my freezer like my fridge (umm, I mean...fridges) are stuffed to maximum capacity!