Freezing Dinners

[cmontg34]

Hi all,

As the title suggests I am looking for some help/tips on freezing foods to reheat for dinner. I started working at a new job a few months ago, and it is a lot more demanding than I originally expected. Now when I get home, I have little desire to cook. As a result, we have began eating out far too much, so now I want to get creative.

What I am looking for most are tried and true recipes that freeze well and retain their same flavor and texture. While I don't need them to be overly healthy, I'd prefer to stay away from anything that has no redeeming health values at all.

Also, I would like any tips or tricks on freezing cooked food. I.e. what not to freeze, how to properly freeze something, and anything else you might find helpful to add.

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[taxlady]

The first thing that comes to mind is "spaghetti sauce". It freezes well in plastic, microwaveable containers. If you make it with lots of vegis, you will have a pretty well balanced meal with the pasta, which is quick to cook.

This is a very filling soup that I love, and it freezes well: http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f56/roasted-root-vegi-bisque-87840.html#post1318848

Brown rice freezes well. I am told that white rice does too.

I'm sure I'll think of other stuff.

 

[cmontg34]

Thanks for the suggestions! The soup sounds great, and when I read spaghetti sauce I thought of lasagna, so I might try that.

 

[Rocklobster]

I always have some kind of meat pies in my fridge...after a holiday like xmas or thanksgiving I use the leftover turkey to make a batch of pot pies. I'll do up some small 5 inch ones. They take about 45 minutes to cook from frozen in the toaster oven, and with a few raw veggies like carrots and cucumbers, they make a great meal..
You can buy those jarred cooking sauces like Pataks butter chicken, tikka Masala, Vindaloo, etc...cook them up with a few chicken breasts, and freeze a few portions on white rice. They will reheat in the oven or microwave...
Mac and cheese freezes well...
Burritos freeze well,
Burger patties, 1 minute in the microwave to thaw and fry them up in a pan,

 

[RPCookin]

Stews and chili. Pulled pork, sloppy joe filling, cooked bacon and ham. French toast and waffles freeze well and reheat nicely in a toaster oven.

 

[Andy M.]

I make and freeze my lasagna in meal-sized disposable aluminum pans and freeze them. There is usually a good selection of sizes for disp. alum. pans so you can find what you need.

 

[NickeeCoco]

If you have a vacuum sealer, you can put all sorts of things in them, freeze them and then heat it up in a pot of boiling water. I've done everything from beef stroganoff to ravioli to chili that way.

 

[cmontg34]

Thanks for all the replies, I will definitely try out some of the suggestions.

 

[RPCookin]

why bother freezing rice when rice cooker can keep it warm for hours?

Um... you don't want to keep it warm for days or weeks.

 

[taxlady]

why bother freezing rice when rice cooker can keep it warm for hours?

Because it takes 1 to 3 minutes in the microwave from frozen to ready. And besides, as RP wrote:

Um... you don't want to keep it warm for days or weeks.

 

[FoodieFanatic]

I keep Trader Joe's Jasmine Rice in the freezer for those days when I don't want to wait. Otherwise, I make it on the stove, takes 18 minutes and is perfect every time.

 

[RPCookin]

I keep Trader Joe's Jasmine Rice in the freezer for those days when I don't want to wait. Otherwise, I make it on the stove, takes 18 minutes and is perfect every time.

Takes longer here at 4200 feet above sea level.

Then too, I rarely make white rice - it's been months since I cooked anything but brown rice, and that takes about an hour and a half here, as well as about 1.5-2 times as much water or stock as white rice does (the pot I use on the stove top doesn't seal tightly, so steam escapes - the longer it has to cook the more I lose to the air).

 

[FoodieFanatic]

Wow, never gave that a thought as we are 200ft above sea level in the valley.

 

[GotGarlic]

Takes longer here at 4200 feet above sea level.

Then too, I rarely make white rice - it's been months since I cooked anything but brown rice, and that takes about an hour and a half here, as well as about 1.5-2 times as much water or stock as white rice does (the pot I use on the stove top doesn't seal tightly, so steam escapes - the longer it has to cook the more I lose to the air).

If you're eating brown rice for health reasons, its probably not worth the extra cost of energy to cook it: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/brown-rice-really-better-white-rice

 

[RPCookin]

If you're eating brown rice for health reasons, its probably not worth the extra cost of energy to cook it: Nutrition Diva : Is Brown Rice Really Better Than White Rice? :: Quick and Dirty Tips ™

I think white rice is bland and boring. Brown rice has some flavor of it's own, then I always cook it with stock and wine and herbs and seasonings to enhance that still further. I can't really remember the last time I cooked plain rice, whether brown or white.

 

[taxlady]

If you're eating brown rice for health reasons, its probably not worth the extra cost of energy to cook it: Nutrition Diva : Is Brown Rice Really Better Than White Rice? :: Quick and Dirty Tips ™

I have to wonder about the reliability of something that says, "White rice, on the other hand, is higher in folate and thiamine." People who depended on rice as a major staple got beriberi, from lack of thiamine, when they switched from brown to white rice.

 

[taxlady]

I think white rice is bland and boring. Brown rice has some flavor of it's own, then I always cook it with stock and wine and herbs and seasonings to enhance that still further. I can't really remember the last time I cooked plain rice, whether brown or white.

I think it has more flavour too.

 

[GotGarlic]

Well, I wasn't talking about flavor - I was talking about nutrition. Personally, I don't like the flavor of brown rice. And I don't generally make plain white rice, either, but that's beside the point.

Re: the nutritional value, I'm referring to the rice sold in the United States, since that's where most of us live. From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_rice

A diet based on unenriched white rice leaves people vulnerable to the neurological diseases beriberi, due to a deficiency of*thiamine (vitamin B1).*White rice is often enriched with some of the nutrients stripped from it during its processing.[1]*Enrichment of white rice with B1,*B3, and*iron*is required by law in the*United States,.[2][3]"

 

[taxlady]

Well, I wasn't talking about flavor - I was talking about nutrition. Personally, I don't like the flavor of brown rice. And I don't generally make plain white rice, either, but that's beside the point.

Re: the nutritional value, I'm referring to the rice sold in the United States, since that's where most of us live. From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_rice

A diet based on unenriched white rice leaves people vulnerable to the neurological diseases beriberi, due to a deficiency of*thiamine (vitamin B1).*White rice is often enriched with some of the nutrients stripped from it during its processing.[1]*Enrichment of white rice with B1,*B3, and*iron*is required by law in the*United States,.[2][3]"

After I replied, I did wonder if white rice was fortified. I really would have preferred if the article had mentioned that there is more thiamine in white rice, when it is fortified.

 

[teeinthekitchen]

Casserole type dishes freeze well too, such as tuna bakes, chicken broccoli Devine, pies, Sheppard's pie, etc. just to name a few....