With autumn upon us, and a few of us starting to see some snowfall (ugh) I’m trying to think of ways to trim our grocery budget while making some quick easy comfort food meals for those busy weeknights full of school events and other activities. The last time I planned ahead for long term food storage was before I had baby #3 this spring. I made a few meals ahead of time and they certainly helped.
While the idea of going all out and making freeze dried food for the pantry is a little beyond what I can do, I really want to find some great recipes to use this fall and winter so that I can have several dishes in my freezer to use when I’m not as prepared as I’d hoped some nights.
So, if you have any great recipes that freeze well, and also any tips on food storage (nothing ruins a meal like frost bite!) please share here!
I’m in the same boat right now! I find soups are the best bet for us. Today I made Hamburger Soup, tomorrow Zuppa Toscana (just like The Olive Garden’s) and I’m also making stew. Going to be a busy couple of days!
I’m always on the hunt for recipes that freeze well too. It’s nice being able to just take something out of the freezer. I usually do soups, lasagna, meatloafs, cabbage rolls, large batches of spaghetti sauce, etc. I also buy lots of vegetables when they go on sale and freeze them.
From the CBC show Best Recipes ever I got a few good recipes-big batch! The episode was Freezable Mains. I’ve made the shells and the burritos and both were good. Here is the link http://www.cbc.ca/bestrecipes/2010/03/best-freezable-mains.html
I buy a few take out style aluminum containers from Walmart. They have the lid you can write your instructions on and crimp the edges down(think Chinese take-out). I write everything needed, what it is, date made, temp, need to defrost?, how many servings, time to cook etc. That way I can remember but also hubby could cook or if a friend is in need a meal can be dropped off with no prep just grab a bagged salad or garlic toast and you have a complete meal!
Also bake double batches of muffins and banana bread style loaves and freeze the extra!
You can actually buy those containers at Dollorama too. I’ve done lasagnas, broccoli casseroles and hashbrown casseroles.
I make up soup starters – chop my veggies ie. carrots, celery, onions, and any other veggies you want to add. I put my spices in and add enough broth to cover the veggies (I use chicken bouillion or beef bouillion). If you freeze your tomatoes whole, you can just run them under hot water when you take them out and the skin peels right off. I usually add a couple of frozen tomatoes in the mix too. Then, when I’m ready to make soup, all I have to do is add my meat (ie. boil a few chicken legs or add leftover meat to it). You can pretty much clean out your fridge and add any leftover veggies too and you have soup ready to go, without too much effort. (you can add noodles/leftover pasta, rice or potatoes too!)
I like to do a giant (think aluminium roasting pan) Mac & cheese. Once cooked, I let cool completely. Then I cut into portion size, if completely cooled it’ll come up as blocks. Wrap in plastic wrap and then again in foil. Freeze in the blocks and reheat.
Lasagna works good too like this too, it just has to be cooled completely. It becomes pretty much solidified. Easy to wrap and freeze as bricks.