Directions: |
Directions:- When I do freezer cooking, I almost never freeze things in nice baking dishes or Pyrex pans—primarily because I don’t want to tie them up for such a long time.
- I’m an ardent fan of foil baking pans of various sizes: You can buy them in bulk at warehouse clubs, and in most cases you can wash and reuse them a time or two…or, if you’re not in the mood to wash anything, you can just toss them once the food is gone.
-Plastic freezer bags of various sizes are another favorite freezer vessel of mine, and my general approach is filling the bag, then totally flattening it as I seal it. So whether it’s taco meat or soup, they freeze flat and allows me to stack them as high as they’ll go. This is much better than filling ’em in an upright position, which makes ’em more bulky.
- I also love these food storage containers for stews, soups, sauces, etc. They are totally handy and can easily be reused.
- More rarely, I’ll whip out my trusty vacuum sealer…but sometimes it can be a pain. I usually just use it when want to cut up a large piece of meat into smaller steaks or freeze pieces of raw chicken. Usually, Ziplocs are good enough for me.
LABELING
-Labeling is very important from two angles: First, it’s always a good idea to know how many centuries ago something was cooked. Second, in the case of foil-covered pans or storage containers, you generally can’t see clearly what’s inside. Labeling keeps you from having to “break the seal” and peel the foil back or open a container. A Sharpie is my favorite tool, as it writes as clearly on foil as it does on plastic.
-One helpful thing you can do is to write, along with what the dish is and the date, baking/warming instructions on each package, i.e. “375/40 minutes.” Of course, you’ll need to add the thawing time to that (or adjust the baking time accordingly.)
FREEZER-FRIENDLY INGREDIENTS: While I have a zillion one-dish recipes (casseroles, etc.) that I love to cook and freeze, one of my favorite freezer cooking tricks is making ready-to-go ingredients in bulk. Here are some things I do…and why:
GRILLED CHICKEN BREASTS. I love grilling up a whole bunch of marinated chicken breasts, then freezing them whole in packages of 2 or 4. (I don’t want to put a whole bunch in one large bag because then I’d have to open and close it, which would affect the quality over time.) If you have frozen grilled chicken breasts, you can thaw them out and:
* Slice them and put them on top of a Caesar Salad
* Dice them and put them on top of a Cobb Salad or Chef’s Salad
* Chop them, quickly saute in a little oil and taco seasoning, and put them on tacos or inside quesadillas.
* Dice them and stir them into Tortilla Soup.
* Leave them whole and put them inside panini.
* Shred them and put them in chilis, soups, or pastas.
* Or cut ’em in half, melt cheese on top, throw on some bacon, and make sliders!
BROWNED HAMBURGER. Oh, the possibilities. I freeze it in smaller bags and larger bags so I’ll have the right quantity for what I need. Here are the worlds that are opened up:
*Tacos. Throw it into a skillet with tomato sauce and taco seasoning and heat it up real quick, and you can have regular tacos, taco salads, nachos, even…
*Taco Pizza with shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes on top!
* Make a quick Spaghetti Sauce!
* Make chili and sloppy joes
BREADS AND BREAKFASTS
*Pie Crust. Formed into disks and stored in ziplocs. To use, just remove, let thaw for 30 minutes or so, then roll out.
* Pizza Dough. Unrisen, stored in ziplocs.
* Muffins of all varieties!
*Sweet rolls of all shapes and sizes.You can freeze them, unrisen and unabaked…then thaw and bake them later. Or you can freeze them all ready to go and warm them when you’re ready.
*Baked French Toast. I make full batches, and freeze them in smaller foil containers (either round or square) before the baking stage. Then I just pop ’em in the oven straight from the freezer. Yummy breakfast! |
This recipe for Hints from Ree Drummond is from