Fish can be frozen in boil-in-a-bag pouches or suitable containers with sauce included. (Good choices include tomato and mushroom sauce). Place fish in package with sauce, seal and freeze. Boil-in-a-bag pouches need only be simmered in boiling water and served.
Finding time to prepare and cook nutritious and delicious family meals can be a challenge for even the most organized mom. Between driving the kids to their various activities, household chores, and the everyday occurrences that come up, most moms find their time is at a premium. Once a month cooking is quickly becoming popular with busy moms. However, storage space can quickly become an issue if you don't have a stand alone freezer.
Freezing Soups or Chili in Bowls
Make a big pot of soup, chili, or stew and freeze the rest in bowls, thaw and heat up for the next meal. Out of one large soup pot I can get 5 meals or more depending on what it is. By Nikki
There are no "leftovers" at our house! We prefer to call them pre-planned meals. We buy meats on sale and I usually spend a Sunday evening cooking. I often make meat loaves, barbecued spare ribs and baked chicken.
Saving Holiday Bird Broth - Freezing Turkey Broth
The holiday bird always left me with plenty of leftover broth. I use the dixie drink cups, little kid size, to save it in smaller batches. I fill the cups, cover and sit them on a cookie sheet in the freezer till frozen.
Why buy frozen biscuits when you can do it yourself?
When I make biscuits I usually make about 20 to 30. I bake what I need at the time and then I put the others on a baking sheet covered with wax paper and place them in the freezer for a few hours. When they are frozen I just put them in a freezer bag. Then we have homemade biscuits in about 20 min.
Marinaded Frozen Chicken Breasts
When I buy "on-sale" chicken breasts to freeze, I add marinade, which could be Italian dressing, leftover wine and seasonings or beer or salsa, to the bag. They will be frozen in. That way they marinate before they freeze and while they are thawing and are ready to cook as soon as I thaw them.
New Contest! Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month
Frozen Assets is small in stature, but jam-packed with meal-planning advice. It contains recipe ideas, plus detailed instructions on how to get the maximum value from your food dollar, while also slashing meal preparation times.
An Introduction to Freezer Meals
Deborah Taylor-Hough has published some of the best information on the subject freezer meals and once-a-month-cooking. Check out the link below for a nice introduction to cooking for your freezer as well as a Lasagna recipe to help get you started. If you know of any other links feel free to post them in the feedback section.
Make Two Meat Loaves Instead of One
Save time and money by doubling your recipes, and putting half in the freezer for later use. Example: Meat loaf. Cook one for dinner that night, save the other one in the freezer for later. You can do this with many recipes. This may save you money on food by buying in bulk and getting a better per unit price), and in time by clean up being done only once and the prep work being done only once. Once you get this down you may venture into once a month cooking (oamc).
When preparing a meal (it doesn't matter if it is a breakfast casserole or a dinner), try doubling the amount you are cooking. Freeze the second part.. You automatically have saved your self precious time for the future, but you have also made a more nutritious "fast food" that you can use whenever you feel like it without going out of the house. This can come in handy at busy times of the year. By Pat-Aston PA
I use my stock pot to make huge pots of soup, or chili, or spaghetti sauce to use for one dinner and freeze the rest in meal-size portions and use one a night when there is not time to cook and you still need a hearty meal.
Can you 'perk-up' frozen leftovers?
I froze some mac & cheese. When it thawed out it was very 'blah'. Anybody got any suggestions for perking up something that shouldn't have been frozen; or was frozen incorrectly? BTW, I just put it in a freezer bag, how should I have done it? Chyann from KY
Keep a large plastic container in your freezer. A gallon jar with lid or a plastic ice cream bucket. Or even a large Zip lock bag will work. Instead of throwing away the celery leaves when you trim celery, tuck them into the container. That spoonful or two of leftover peas, corn, carrots, etc. Small amounts of meat or chicken when there is not enough to store in the fridge, a little leftover gravy, a dab of rice. Throw it all in there.
Soup Recipes and Freezing Information
I am a college student and avid soup eater. I live in an apartment so I have a kitchen available to me and I want to make a bunch of soup and freeze it. I usually buy Campbell's Chunky soup but would like to save some money. Does anyone have any good soup recipes and does anyone have any freezing tips for soup? - Seth
Easier Cooking for Easier Living
Did you know that March is National Frozen Food month? For someone who's been called the "Freezer Queen" on more than one occasion, that's my kind of celebration!
Quick and Easy Meals Using the Freezer (PDF)
Making meals ahead and freezing them in single-serve sizes can save you time and money. And, homemade freezer meals will be lower in fat and sodium than store bought ones.
Preserving Food: Freezing Prepared Foods (PDF)
Instructions for freezing meals: Baked Products, Doughs, Main Dishes, Soups, Sauces, Fruit Dishes, Desserts and more. Foods for packed lunches or elaborate dinners can be kept in your freezer ready for busy days, parties or unexpected company. By planning a steady flow of casseroles, main dishes, baked goods and desserts in and out of your freezer, you can make good use of your freezer and good use of your time.
I cook up 10 pounds of ground beef at a time and then divide it up into one pound packages (our family's size). Then I freeze it.
As a busy home school mom, I needed a way to have easy, quick, inexpensive meals without going out. I did not even have one day to do once a month cooking. So I cook half the month. I make a menu for 15 days.
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Freeze Dinners for Entire Month in an Afternoon
In just three hours, I made dinners to freeze for the entire month. I do this each month and it's so much easier than freezing the raw meat, then thawing it then cooking. This way, the kitchen is only hot for a few hours.
Turn Fresh Tomatoes Into Quick & Easy Dinners
Most of us know that planting a garden is one of the cheapest ways to provide your family with fresh vegetables. My husband is the chief gardener in our household, and since it is his domain, he gets to decide what to plant.
A Guide to Freezing Fruits. Select fruits for freezing that are ripe (or have started to ripen), have good color and are free from cuts, scars and mold. They should feel firm in texture (not hard), be free of soft spots and have a sweet odor.
