Food that Freezes Well - Recommendations?

[October2008bride]

I know that title isn''t the easiest to understand, but my sister is pregnant with her second child (her first is 1.5 years) and for Christmas she asked for FOOD. Lots of it! Basically she wants me to cook some meals and freeze them for her and give her the gift of "time" for when the new baby comes!

So I was thinking of the standards, lasagne, spaghetti sauce, sheppards pie....but I don''t know what else to do!?

Anyone have any recommendations or recipes?

Thanks so much!

 

[Lorelei]

I think that is a great idea! Things like stews and casseroles freeze well, also batches of chili she can reheat.

 

[eks6426]

Oh, I freeze lots of things. The best advice I can give you is to freeze things in small portions. For example, with lasagna I precook it then slice it into pieces and freeze on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper...then put the frozen pieces in ZIPLOC bags. Sometimes I even plastic wrap each individual piece.

Most things freeze well. I find things with a high milk content don''t do great.

Soups, stews, chilis,

Casseroles

Lasagna, pasta dishes

You can also make a meal like chicken & rice and freeze after you cook.

Precooked meat for sandwiches (like Italian beef)--Even hamburgers will freeze...cook first then freeze--just microwave to eat.

Burritos, enchiladas, tamales

Meatballs

You can also make mini-quiches in muffin pans that are a quick breakfast. The same can be done with meatloaf. Take out of the muffin pans & freeze on the cookie sheet method first..then bag up after frozen.

Good luck. What a sweet sister you are!

 

[VegasAngel]

Here is a bunch of IDEAS HTH

 

[appletini]

One of my favorites to freeze is vegetable beef soup. I make a big pot and freeze in individual ziplock containers. You can also do chicken pot pie in ramekins, breakfast casserole. Google freezing plus whatever you are thinking about and you can find some tips.

 

[Jas12]

Hope she has a big freezer

Curry dishes are also good to freeze
Homemade pizza

maybe do a few dessert items like some squares or cookies for when she needs a treat or a quick item to serve when unexpected guests pop in.

 

[October2008bride]

OMG you guys are great and FAST! Those are some great ideas that I hadn''t thought of!

Good tip on freezing the lasagne pieces seperately! I hadn''t thought of that.

My sister has a big freezer, but FI and I don''t! Not sure how we''ll handle all of the freezing! We''ll figure it out though!

Thanks again everyone!

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Chilli, Beef stew, taco soup...

 

[Gypsy]

Quiche for breakfast. Steel cut oat meal in individual bowls (you can freeze them in oiled-- cooking spray-- bowls and pop them out into a ziploc. Or you can use silicone muffin cups... great for the quiches too, one serving size, easy to pop out).

Marinated meat that just needs to be thrown on the grill when defrosted.


Side dishes like mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes. Stuffing.

 

[ladypirate]

Pesto freezes great--you can freeze single portions in ziploc bags and then heat it up and put it over fresh pasta and it tastes like you just made it.

 

[October2008bride]

Date: 12/17/2007 2:34:07 PM
Author: Gypsy
Quiche for breakfast. Steel cut oat meal in individual bowls (you can freeze them in oiled-- cooking spray-- bowls and pop them out into a ziploc. Or you can use silicone muffin cups... great for the quiches too, one serving size, easy to pop out).

Marinated meat that just needs to be thrown on the grill when defrosted.


Side dishes like mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes. Stuffing.

Mmm...sounds good! Do you think I should cook the meat? For example, if I mix up the stuff for fajitas, should I cook it and then freeze it, or just put it in a ziplock with marinade and she can defrost it and cook?

 

[Gemma12]

Date: 12/17/2007 3:30:00 PM
Author: October2008bride

Date: 12/17/2007 2:34:07 PM
Author: Gypsy
Quiche for breakfast. Steel cut oat meal in individual bowls (you can freeze them in oiled-- cooking spray-- bowls and pop them out into a ziploc. Or you can use silicone muffin cups... great for the quiches too, one serving size, easy to pop out).

Marinated meat that just needs to be thrown on the grill when defrosted.


Side dishes like mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes. Stuffing.

Mmm...sounds good! Do you think I should cook the meat? For example, if I mix up the stuff for fajitas, should I cook it and then freeze it, or just put it in a ziplock with marinade and she can defrost it and cook?

If the meat has previously been frozen, you should cook it before you freeze it again. If it hasn''t been frozen, it doesn''t matter-and the extra marinading time whilst it''s defrosting will add to the YUM factor!

If you don''t have a lot of space, the other thing you could do is make the marinade and deliver that to her-just add meat/fish/whatever. You could also do a ''base''-like the chilli, without beans, which she can then add to spaghetti, or rice, or whatever, or a basic risotto which she can use as a main (with stuff added from the cupboard) or a side.

I second the point about freezing in batches. Most people do casseroles so the side dish thing is a great idea!

My favourites:
-chilli con carne
-lasagne
-chicken soup
-risotto

It''s lovely of you to do this for your sis!

 

[ellaila]

Can I recommend NOT doing something? I''m a new mom of twins, and a friend brought us a HUGE container of turkey chili -- and I haven''t been able to eat one bite of it

I had a c-section, and the gas pains lasted a full week after the surgery so I didn''t dare eat anything with beans in it! And since I''m breastfeeding, I don''t want to eat anything that may make me gassy b/c that could also affect the babies. So if your sister is either having a c-section or is breastfeeding, you may want to reconsider beany dishes or anything with broccoli or cabbage or cauliflower.

 

[October2008bride]

Date: 12/19/2007 12:03:02 PM
Author: ellaila
Can I recommend NOT doing something? I''m a new mom of twins, and a friend brought us a HUGE container of turkey chili -- and I haven''t been able to eat one bite of it

I had a c-section, and the gas pains lasted a full week after the surgery so I didn''t dare eat anything with beans in it! And since I''m breastfeeding, I don''t want to eat anything that may make me gassy b/c that could also affect the babies. So if your sister is either having a c-section or is breastfeeding, you may want to reconsider beany dishes or anything with broccoli or cabbage or cauliflower.

That is a great tip! My sister is having a C section and will also be breastfeeding! Good to know!

Thanks so much ellaila!