Freezer meal cooking -ouch!

[simpsongal]

Oh man, I made the mistake of doing all my freezer meals in one day. My legs looked like blue tree stumps by the end. But you're going to love having all that delicious homemade food!

Corn dog muffins sounds awesome!

[natablue]

Wow, good for you! DH and I did a grocery store haul this week, but that's about as far as we've gotten.

[simpsongal]

re: stocking up. DH and I are guzzlers of skim organic milk. I confess, we have 5 gallons in the fridge right now.

[mannah]

Jan 25, 2014 20:39:24 GMT -5 jjwritergirl said:

Are you going to freeze the pancakes? Have you ever done that before? It sounds delicious and I never thought to freeze them before, so I just wonder if they are good re-heated.

You made great progress though! Those potatoes probably took forever.

Oh yes, pancakes freeze and reheat great! Just wrap them real tight and suck all the air out so they don't get freezer burn. When you reheat then you can use the microwave and then pop them in the toaster for a sec to give them a little crunch.

[bk1]

Freezer cooking is the best! I've done this for a couple years. My mom and I will get together for a day to stock up our freezers. So nice for when you are busy and still want a home cooked meal. 

[changedname]

I'm planning on doing mine this week. (or at least starting it). I'm going to do:

Shepherds pie
fish pie
bean burritos
vegetarian chili


(these ones will all be cooked)

Then next week i'll do the chicken meals (uncooked but frozen ready for the crockpot)
cilantro lime chicken
chicken taco chili
italian chicken

I will possible do a couple of chicken pot pies too and muffins

[lulu21]

You're inspiring me to cook today! It's either cook or veg out and watch Breaking Bad and try to recover from this week. Maybe I can manage both

[icechalk]

Stuffed shells freeze really well too! I usually do spinach but you can add meat.

[changedname]

Jan 26, 2014 10:21:47 GMT -5 icechalk said:

Stuffed shells freeze really well too! I usually do spinach but you can add meat.

 Can you talk me through this? Is it stuffed with ricotta? Do you cook and then freeze or freeze uncooked? If you cook them then freeze, how do you heat them?

[jackie011]

Jan 25, 2014 19:30:16 GMT -5 bricco said:

Ugh. It's occurred to me to do this, but I just don't think it will work for us. H is SOOOOOOOOOOOO stinking picky. We basically never eat the same things anyway, so I don't know if there's a point.

Sounds like you made awesome progress though!

This is our situation, except insert *me* in place of H.  I've been buying a few extra skillet (Bertolli, PF Changs, etc) meals at the store whenever they're on sale.  I think I need to find a hiding place in the freezer, though, b/c DH keeps making them!

[purrbox]

Jan 25, 2014 19:30:16 GMT -5 bricco said:

Ugh. It's occurred to me to do this, but I just don't think it will work for us. H is SOOOOOOOOOOOO stinking picky. We basically never eat the same things anyway, so I don't know if there's a point.

Sounds like you made awesome progress though!

Oh, my gosh, yes. This is my life. I have such a difficult time cooking things because he's so particular about his food!

[icechalk]

Jan 26, 2014 16:57:52 GMT -5 changedname said:

Jan 26, 2014 10:21:47 GMT -5 icechalk said:

Stuffed shells freeze really well too! I usually do spinach but you can add meat.

 Can you talk me through this? Is it stuffed with ricotta? Do you cook and then freeze or freeze uncooked? If you cook them then freeze, how do you heat them?

Super easy!

I buy the extra large shells and follow the recipe on the box pretty closely.

It's basically the big tub of ricotta, parm, mozzarella, spinach and an egg. And then seasonings. I definitely spice it up more than the recipe calls for. If you are using meat brown it then add to mixture.

Sort of parboil the shells until soft but not over cooked. Stuff and then freeze on a cookie sheets. Once frozen solid toss into a freezer ziplock. Then when ready to cook them I just cook them from frozen. I usually put a little sauce slightly watered down on the bottom of a pan, the shells on top, then more sauce. Cover and bake at 350. Once heated through uncover to get toasted/ melty. Baking time depend on how many shells you are cooking at once.