How 'bout some fabric? Anyone out there have any need for some fabric? One lucky duck will receive 1 1/4 yards of both of these splashy prints! (Is that confusing? It adds up to a total amount of 2 1/2 yards in case that helps clarify the situation.) The one on the left there is one of my brand new prints for Timeless Treasures . . . you can see the rest of the collection here!What do you have to do to enter? This time I need some advice. I'm throwing out a query into the great wide void, and I'm hoping you all will have some insight for me. Here's the situation. My predicament. My secret sorrow. I persistently have lofty aspirations and pious intentions of doubling my dinner recipes and putting half on the table and half in the freezer. It sounds like it would be a good idea, right? Then on those crazed evenings when I haven't made it to the store, the car is in the shop, and all of my children have big school projects they need help on . . . I can just pull something out of the freezer. This situation occurs roughly 8 to 10 days a week, so I could definitely use a stockpile in my freezer.
And yet, despite the obvious good sense of this plan, I can only ever think of about 3 meals that I cook that actually freeze well and that would be worth the bother and that anyone would ever want to eat. That's my trouble.
So here's what I need from you. Ideas. Sympathy. Consolation. Recipes. Give me one or more of these things and I'll give you a shot at this fabric! And, as always, if you link to this post you'll get an extra entry!
Posts
206 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1 – 200 of 206 Newer› Newest»Gorgeous new prints! I bought Don't panic dinners in the freezer(vol 2) this fall and it's been handy - the breakfast burritos have been a big hit (although we jazzed the recipe up some).
I tried preparing freezer meals for the first time when I was expecting my baby. I found the trick that worked for me was just to make a bigger batch of whatever I was making for dinner and then freeze the leftovers in a gallon Ziploc bag (with a label and date!). Best of luck in you endeavors! :)
Yes please, I love your fabric. It inspires me to greatness. I freeze quite a bit of our dinners. And that is saying something since I basically have to quadruple a recipe to get one in the freezer for my family. Chili, Sausage Lentil Soup, Homemade Corn Muffins, Turkey Tetrazinni (sp?), Chicken Pot-Pie, just to name a few. Breakfast dishes freeze well too. Blueberry french toast bake, cinnamon rolls, Sausage and Swiss Strata. Yummy.
Chicken Enchiladas.
But that's probably obvious right? Here's a recipe I found online that's the closest to the recipe I make here. My kids all love it.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-enchiladas-with-creamy-green-chile-sauce/
(Their photo actually looks kind of gross to me, but when I make it, it looks a lot better than that and tastes good too!)
Cheers! And your fabrics look bright and cheery with a touch of elegance. Just right.
Love your new prints! Loved your old prints! So glad you're designing:)
We love Vodka Sauce. So much. But it is so rich, that we usually ended up having a real bang-up fakeo-Italian dinner one night, with salad, and bread, and butter, and Boursin, and extra cheese, and pretty much have heart attacks all evening afterwards. So, by the by we cannot eat again or have seconds, cuz we're already rolling in our chairs. So, make and freeze and enjoy. Kiki also uses hers on pizza. Amazing.
Beautiful fabrics! I've frozen breakfast burritos (not as useful for dinner) and enchiladas. I also freeze homemade marinara sauce - just add noodles and ground beef!
I like to put lasagna (made with the no boil noodles) or stuffed shells in the freezer. Also, these two dishes have variations of the same ingredients - marinara, ricotta, spinach and/or meat, mozzarella, parm etc. - so it is cost effective.
That blue fabric is just what I am looking for to finish up my half bath!
Hi there! I just found your website and love your fabrics, patterns and clothes! I clicked over to your blog and I really love these fabrics, too! Regarding freezer meals, I have had some success (after many failures!). And it seemed that my freezer was full of lasagna and soup. Which is great, but gets old. I'll share with you what I learned...first, freeze everything in gallon-size zipper freezer bags. Label it with the directions. You'll save lots of room in your freezer, won't hold your casserole dishes hostage and things thaw much faster. Cream soups don't freeze well. Add them just before baking, after thawing. If you have contents to be added just before baking, label them and put them in a designated spot in your pantry. I learned this after accidentally using chicken broth meant for a recipe. Nothing like feeling smug that dinner is about ready only to end up ordering pizza at the last minute! Ideas:Freeze the chicken filling for lettuce wraps with a little baggie of chopped cashews. Mix them together when you serve it and, of course, wrap in lettuce. Chop up ham with Swiss cheese, mustard, poppy seeds and Worchestershire sauce and stuff into onion rolls. Wrap individually in foil and freeze. You don't even have to thaw these, just leave them in their foil and bake at 375 til hot. Seal fillings (such as hamburger, diced potato and cheese or chicken and vegetables) into poptart-size portions of refrigerated pie crusts and when you are ready to use them, thaw and bake according to pie crust directions (they bake faster than a whole pie). We like breakfast for dinner and I found that Martha Stewart's oatmeal pancake recipe freezes and reheats nicely. Buy frozen bread dough, thaw and roll out. Top with mozzarella cheese and pizza toppings of your choice (not the sauce). Roll up and seal edge, slice about 1/2 inch thick and bake at 350 til golden. Cool and freeze. Keep a jar of pizza sauce in your pantry to serve with (they don't need to thaw, just reheat in a slow oven). I hope these ideas help! It's kind of fun once you start tweaking things to be freezer-friendly!
I would love to offer up some advice, but I always find myself in your exact predicament. So I'm looking for some stellar tips in this comment section.
Would just loveee some of your gorgeous fabric to sew something up - it's beauty and presence might actually motivate me to do so! :-) Nae
How about making a bunch of soups? They freeze well and it is easy to make tons of them.
LOVE your fabric!
I'm horrible at using freezer meals. I keep them in the freezer until they're no longer usable and then toss them. Joanna should have a freezer meal blog, she had some great ideas. The new prints are beautiful!
I don't cook so i empathize with your predicament, I have however blogged about it!
http://sue-niven.blogspot.com/2012/01/fabulous-fabric.html
I like to double this recipe in order to freeze a meal for later.
It reheats wonderfully. This is such a simple recipe but the flavors mingle in a beautifully synergistic way...to make something very yummy.
Hamburger Chowder
1lb Ground Beef
1 lg Onion, chopped
4 Potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 Carrots, chopped
¼ cup Barley
1 - 28oz can Whole tomatoes
Beef stock, wine, water or any combination of these to cover … around 2 to 4 cups
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour Cream
Fry ground beef and chopped onion. Drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 1 hour.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream.
I've found that freezer meals always happened for me better if I just set aside two days and went crazy. The whole do a double every now and then never seemed to be something I really got around to. Being a homeschooler, I always did a big batch right before school started. 60 meals would carry us through to Christmas, since I didn't use them everyday. 2 crazy days - worth it!
Oooo! Gorgeous!
I cook a turkey once every month or two, and use the meat in recipes just like chicken, (but a lot cheaper if you stock up at Thanksgiving.)
I make (and freeze) two favorites in particular - turkey taquitos to bake (so relatively healthy) and turkey pot pie. We loooooove turkey pot pie, and I like having them in the freezer in case someone needs a meal.
Each pie needs about two cups of meat and two cups of veggies (left overs are awesome, or use frozen). Make a roux with onions, sage, butter and flour, then add broth and milk. When that thickens, pour it over the contents of the pie, before you put on the top crust.
Do NOT thaw the pie before you bake it - the bottom crust gets soggy. Bake it at 425 for 30 minutes, then at 350 for 70-80 minutes. Takes almost two hours, but easy squeezy and your house smells wonderful :D
Julie
My most recent freezer favorite is quiche. Part of my routine monthly purchase is frozen pie crusts (bulk from Cash and Carry), a 5# bag of shredded cheddar, and a bag of frozen pre-cooked sausage. Pull out a pie crust pour in sausage, cheese (and anything else that might be lurking in my fridge to use up). Whizz up some eggs and milk and pour over it all. Bake it at 375ish for 45ish minutes. BUT I am also recently addicted to my crock pot...and only to the recipes that I can dump and walk away. Lovely!!!
Obviously, lasagna is one of the best freezer meals. Another good one is to prepare a lot of rice and store it in serving sized bags in the freezer. This can take a lot of time off of tons of meals (stir-fry, chicken bakes, soups, etc). There is nothing like finding a nice big tub of split-pea soup in the freezer on a cold winter day!
My go to freezer items is meatballs and sauce. You can make spaghetti or sandwiches. I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/#!/DistractedDebra/status/162426422751801344
Rather than freezing an entire meal, which takes lots of space, AND has the disadvantage of taking 90 minutes to cook properly, I came up with a different plan: I freezing "parts.". One morning, I throw several pounds of boneless chicken in a crockpot with taco seasoning & water. Simmer for 8-12 hours. Mush it, put in containers. From the Costco grnd turkey 4-pk, we cook 2 w Italian & 2 plain. Freeze. One night, we wash & bake 15-20 # potatoes. Case of tomato sauce, olives, refried, beans, pasta, sr cream, Parmesan, tortillas, Mexican cheese, butter, we now have at least 15 meals; including: pasta w Meat Sauce, Nachos, Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Twice Baked potatoes a la Italiano or Mexicano, Quessadilla, Lasagna, etc. I also sometimes cook up a Lentil Curry, then serve it with fresh rice or quinoa.
Mom of 6 (12-21), who cooks for 8-10 all the time.
Owner of Ruby Thimble patterns--new designs this spring!
What looooverly fabric! Please enter me...
I find cooked minced beef freezes really well and can then be turned into whatever you like; lasagne/chili/Bolognese,etc.
You can do up bacon ahead and freeze it. Make sure you have lettuce/tomato on hand and you can always have a BLT quick. Most meat items are easy that way. Porcupine balls, meat loaf (either whole or in slices). Soups work well, you can freeze most breakfast foods (pancakes/french toast/the sausage for sausage egg biscuits, etc) I doubt anyone will argue with having breakfast and a frozen fruit smoothie for supper. ;)
My favorite thing to freeze is soup: simple to store, easy to re-heat. This is our favorite soup to make, and I freeze it often: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/white-bean-stew-00100000068403/
And, it's a crock-pot recipe! :)
I freeze loaves of uncooked meatloaf. I'll make a bag of the frozen mashed potatoes and a bag of steamed veggies to go with it. I also freeze chicken pot pie filling. I top it with a biscuit dough, puff pastry, or pie pastry dough, depending on what I have. I've also frozen homemade pocket sandwiches, my version of Hot Pockets. --Heidi in T
Hi! I will carve time out of my week-an hour, afternoon or whole day (s) and make one or all the following to put in the freezer: Lasgana, bread, chicken nuggets, meatballs, fries, chili, soups, stews and cookies.
We have a Chili recipe that is great to freeze.
Chili
1 medium onion, chopped
1 or 2 green peppers
1 Large Can Dark Kidney Beans
1 Large Can Light Kidney Beans
1 28oz. Can of Plum tomatoes (no juice)
1 pound of Hamburger
Sautée onions and green pepper in a little bit of Olive Oil for about 5 minutes. Then add the hamburger till it is cooked. Drain the fat of the hamburger mixture after it is cooked. Put the beans, it's juice and all into a pot. Then add the hamburger mixture (leaving out the grease).
Then add the plum tomatoes- no juice. I just squish the tomatoes with my hand down in the pot so it doesn't splatter. Then add chili powder- as much or as little according to your taste. stir. Cook till the veggies are done cooking. It is tastes better the longer it cooks.
Then top with cheddar cheese and sour cream. Serve with corn bread or bread.
You don't have to use 2 different kinds of Kidney Beans- I like it because it adds color. If you cannot find large cans of kidney beans, then I use the small ones. You want about 6 total.
I don't need the material- I am not a great sewer:). It is very beautiful material though. I just wanted to help out:).
Have Fun!
Jen K.
make the biggest pot of spaghetti sauce that you can: ours included a variety of meat (ground beef, ground venison, and sausage). Then you can freeze flat portions in ziploc bags. Use the sauce for things like: spaghetti, lasagna, eggplant parm, chicken parm, eat the sauce plain, etc. Honestly? I keep a few frozen pizzas on hand....3/$12 at places like Sam's Club :)
Stuffed shells. Make with cottage cheese to keep them economical. Kids can help stuff. Flash freeze on a cookie sheet and then pop into Ziploc bags. When you need a meal they're ready to go into a pan and be covered with sauce and cheese. Saved dinner many a time around here and makes a good "care meal" to boot. Lovely fabric.
I sympathize, too. But have you seen the A Year of Slow Cooking Blog? Stephanie O Dea wrote it, and I think that most of her recipes are freezer worthy.
http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/2009/03/day-56-tomato-basil-parmesan-soup.html
This soup was really good and definitely freezeable! Thanks!
Yes please, love to sew something up :)
Most soups freeze really well... :)
Cute fabric, would love to try my hand at something with those!!
I like to freeze soups, those are always easy. White chili is also amazing (cans of white beans, chunks of chicken, onion, garlic, oregano, chili powder (diced jalapeno for the spice lovers), chicken stock, pepper bring to a boil, just before eating add some milk and cream, yummmmm! Just don't freeze it WITH the dairy products, add those later). I have a friend who makes Cordon Bleu (I think that's what it's called... Chicken breasts pounded thin, stuffed with sausage/chorizo and shredded cheese (add spinach if you please). Roll em up, throw em in the freezer. When you want to eat them, thaw, roll in corn flour and sautee em up, or bake them, so good!). Whenever we get my hubby's paycheck I buy an extra 2 pounds of ground beef when I go to the store. At home I mix it up with an egg, spices, bread crumbs (and if I want to stretch it more I'll add some shredded potato or carrots). I make up a bunch of patties and freeze them in sets of 5 (for our family of 4, daddy gets 2!!). Again, super easy = ) Hope this helps (hope I win too!!). Blessings to you and yours.
Why, yes, I'd love to sew something with your lovely fabrics. Here's one of my go-to recipes. Not only does it freeze great but there's only two fresh ingredients, so it's possible to keep most of the ingredients on hand for whenever the mood strikes you. You can make it on the stovetop, in a crock pot, you can easily mix and match the ingredients to suite your tastes as well.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
• 3 cups of cooked diced chicken or fajita chicken strips
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 packet of fajita seasoning
• 1 tsp garlic
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 2 cans of green chili (undrained)
• 1 can of chicken broth
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
• 3-6 tbs of lime juice
• tortilla chips
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream (optional)
Precook chicken and dice or use fajita chicken strips and dice
In a large soup pot or stock pot, combine the olive oil, onion, garlic and sauté on Medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add the fajita seasoning and chicken and cook for 1 minute while stirring.
Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for about 15-25 minutes.
Serve with shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream.
lasagna, veggie pot pie (freeze pie crusts and filling separately, throw together and voila!), (no)meat-balls and sauce [I'm vegan, so these are all vegan in my head, but you do what you like!], any kind of soup, homemade (frozen) pizza![you need some cardboard for this one... so it will freeze flat], that's all I got right now. Would love some fabric!
I love to freeze Shepard's pie, sausage minestrone soup, and lasagna. I will link too. I love your new fabric line! Thanks for the giveaway.
This is my favorite!
Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage
This recipe makes two pans of pasta. Serve one tonight, and keep the other in the freezer for up to three months. To freeze, prepare the dish through step 4; let cool completely before covering tightly with plastic wrap and placing in the freezer. If you freeze this dish, do not thaw before baking. Remove plastic wrap, and cover with foil. Cook until heated through, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. Remove foil, and continue with step 5.
Courtesy of Martha Stewart
Serves: 8 Edit
Total Time: 1 hr 15 min
Prep Time: 30 min
Oven Temp: 400
Ingredients
U.S. Metric Conversion chart
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon(s) olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 clove(s) garlic, minced
1/4 cup(s) vodka (optional)
1 can(s) (28-ounce) whole tomatoes with juice, lightly crushed with hands
1/2 teaspoon(s) dried oregano
1/2 cup(s) heavy cream
1 pound(s) rigatoni
10 ounce(s) baby spinach
12 ounce(s) smoked chicken sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
6 ounce(s) fontina cheese, 4 ounces cut into 1/2-inch cubes and 2 ounces coarsely grated
1/4 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic. Remove from heat; add vodka, if desired. Return to heat; cook until almost evaporated, 1 minute.
Stir in tomatoes and oregano; cook until tomatoes are falling apart, 10 to 15 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cook pasta in the boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. Add spinach, and cook just until wilted. Drain, and return contents to pot.
Add tomato sauce, sausage, and cubed fontina to pot; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Divide evenly between two shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dishes.
Top with grated fontina and Parmesan. Bake until browned and edges are crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.
Love all your fabric!
Maybe you have tried it, but crock pot recipes might also help your dilemma if you can put them together the night before and just turn on the crock pot in the morning. Try the "Fix It and Forget It" or "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow" cook books or this blog: crockpot365.blogspot.com - huge recipe archive for crock pot cooking.
For the freezer, chicken noodle soup works great. Make a big pot of it, then freeze half before you add the noodles. I use those large ziplock disposable containers. When you want to use it, just heat it up and add the noodles. I freeze homemade spaghetti sauce too and lasagna. Meatballs freeze well too and chili.
Here's a casserole recipe that freezes well:
Reuben Bake
6 oz. egg noodles, cooked and drained
1 T butter, toss with cooked noodles
16 oz. sauerkraut
12 oz. corned beef
-layer the above ingredients in a 11x7 casserole dish: noodles, sauerkraut, corned beef.
-mix together 1/2 C mayo, 1 T ketchup, 1 t dried onion flakes. Spread over top of corned beef.
-top with 2 C shredded Swiss cheese.
-bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
If I can give any advice for freezer cooking it is: NEVER freeze a meal you wouldn't be dying to eat! The best thing I have found for our freezer is my "Zuppa Toscana" type soup. We love it so I never dread talin it out for dinner. Mamaandbabylove.com has some really wonderful (looking) freezer recipes that require NO precooking! You chop, throw it in a bag, and then it goes right in your croc pot for dinner. As soon as we can eat some of our summer veggie freezer stash I would like to try her recipes. Pretty fabric :) looks like it's worthy of a fun project or two!
I am a co-author of a website with tons of healthy recipes and dinner ideas. It is www.thrivinghomeblog.com. All of our recipes have been personally tested and tasted by one of us. We also make tweaks to make it healthy and easy for moms!
Like you, I have big freezer plans and fail. My favorite thing to freeze is quiche and it can be made using any veggies you find in your fridge.
I keep trying to do this but we keep using the meals up quicker then I can get them in the freezer :) Some of our favorite is Chicken Cacciatore (make the sauce and then all you have to do it boil the pasta), White Chicken Chili, Homemade Creamy Chicken Taquitos, and most soups freeze well.
http://annies-eats.com/2011/04/27/creamy-chicken-taquitos/
Chicken Cacciatore:
3-4 chicken breast
1 pk of italian sausage
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 jar spagetti sauce
white wine for deglazing
1 green pepper
1 onion
salt + pepper
In a crockpot place your pepper + onions + tomatoes. Throw spice on top of that. Brown up the chicken + sausage in a pan. Place browned meet in crock pot. Deglaze the pan to get all that yummy stuff in there. Pour wine into crock pot. Pour your sauce on top and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
If you double this recipe you will probably get more like 3 dinners from it. You can also add more spaghetti sauce to stretch it even farther. It makes a BUNCH of yummy sauce.
Hope this helps!
Lasagna, Enchiladas, Beef Stew, cinnamon rolls (unbaked for breakfast), bread. We don't cook many casserole-type meals, so I have the same problem. I think it's helpful to just cook parts of meals to make meal prep faster. For example, you can cook extra meat and freeze it (or simply marinade and freeze extra meat) so that it can be easily added to make a quick but fresh meal. It would probably work best to just have plenty of freezer bags and foil pans on hand and cook as you normally do, then freeze meals or parts of meals that you would like to have in the future. :)
I love the fabric! Would love to have a skirt made from them. Okay, freezer meals. As a mother of 8, I use this trick often. Chilis and soups freeze perfectly. I freeze them in either family sized portions or individual portions for lunches.Casseroles also freeze easy. I love enchilada or mexican casseroles the best.Also, sometimes its just having the protein cooked that helps. So I brown up lots of meat at once and freeze in 1 pound portions to grab and throw into spaghetti, or other pasta dishes. Or meatballs as well. And a frozen meatloaf is one of my all time favorite go to meals. Have fun cooking! (And pick me! :))
Minestrone soup
This can feed an army and gets better the second time around.
1/3 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion
4 large carrots shredded
2 large potatoes diced
1 green pepper diced
2 zucchini diced
1 cup or can cut green beans
1 medium cabbage shredded
4 cansbeef stock
4 cans chicken stock
1 small can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons oregano
1 tablespoon basil
1 can white beans
1 can kidney beans
1-2 lbs sweet Italian sausage cooked
3 tablespoons sugar
Shredded parmesan cheese for garnish
use a large stock pot with heavy bottom
Sauté onion first about 10 minutes then add vegetables in the order listed and sauté 3 minutes after each addition. You may need to add a little more oil.after all the vegetables have been added, stir in cabbage and cook 5 more minutes. Add stocks and tomatoes along with oregano, basil, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat to boiling, cover and reduce heat to simmer and cook about 3 hours. This should thicken up. About 15 minutes before serving add beans and sausage and cook for the remaining 15 minutes. Garnish with cheese.
Sometimes if I am down to one bag of soup, (large family) I throw in some cheese stuffed tortellini or more sausage or beans along with some stock to make it go a little further.
Soups are always easy to freeze-- chili, or another other filling soups would be a good option for your family!
I am a sewing fiend, and I love your fabric and patterns. I remember reading on sewing blogs all kinds of great comments about your booth at the quilt market and feeling proud of you as if I "know" you, since I've followed the Femina blog for so long.
Anyway, I haven't had much success with freezer cooking. Sometimes I will cook a big pork loin in the crock pot, shred it and mix it with BBQ sauce, and then we will eat some right away and freeze the rest. It's easy to reheat and put on buns for sandwiches. Otherwise, I don't do much freezer cooking.
Ayam Panggang (don't be frightened)
3 lb. chicken pieces
1 Tbsp. chopped green chilis (the cheap canned kind works well)
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 tsp. crushed peppercorns
2 tsp. soft brown sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. turmeric
1 Tbsp. lime juice (squeeze 1/2 lime)
2 Tbsp. butter
Mix all but the butter and chicken. Lay chicken pieces in crock pot, smother with sauce, and dot with butter. Cook on low for about 6 hr.(+/- as needed). This recipe makes one meal plus some leftovers for my family of 6, and would work well for doubling and freezing! We love it with rice.
Roasts are my go to. They take forever to cook, but they aren't labor intensive. Out of one big roast, pork or beef, I can make BBQ/sloppy joes, pulled pork tacos/enchiladas, chili/stew, or keep it simple and serve the roast with salad and a veg. It's super easy to pull the roast and freeze portions in plastic bags for one of those crazy nights. Nothing gets to my husband's heart quite like a slow cooked roast.
Also, a whole roasted chicken (6 lbs) can make about 4 meals (chicken curry, chicken and dumplings, chicken tacos, chicken and veg + make stock from the bones).
Hope this helps. Hang in there. I've been blessed with 3 girls under 3 and one on the way. You'll survive, by God's grace, and so will the kids.
Plus, the fabrics are lovely.
Love your fabric! And, yes, doubling meals is my go-to method, too, although I often forget to do it! My favorites to double (because they're easy and good) are:
hamburgers (make and freeze extra patties, so you can just fry them up)
taco meat (easy to make into tacos, enchiladas, taco salad)
sloppy joes
meatballs
chili
lentil barley soup
chicken soup
curry
calico beans
With most of these, you just need to throw some rice in a rice cooker or throw in some frozen bread or biscuits!
Hope this helps!
My Friend recently shared this recipe with me: http://annies-eats.com/2007/11/19/benchiladas/
They not only taste good but the recipe doubles, triples... well, however much you'd like. I just roll them up and place them in gallon zip-lock bags side by side. Defrost them a bit and then finish cooking them in the oven. Serve with salsa.
I did add refried beans to the sour cream/ranch mixture. It added body and extra nutrition!!
Another thought is to make big batches of a chicken pot pie recipe and freeze it in bags that hold enough for one pie. I always keep pie crust ingredients on-hand, so a homemade ckn pot pie is a few easy steps away!!
Oh course all of this requires you to be super woman and be prepared for said evenings... let me know when you figure out how to do that!! :)
Gorgeous fabric, btw!! :)
O.k., I pretty much freeze everything. I get those cheap aluminum pans sold at Costco, and fill them up by doubling or tripling a meal I'm already making. Today, I'm making Chicken and Dumplings. With this, you put it in a pan, bake it, then freeze it (that way the Dumplings aren't mushy). Then warm it gently in the oven on the day you want to serve. Most meals though, I don't bake ahead of time.
In this way I have a quick giveaway dinner, or an easy cleanup dinner always ready to go. So, I'd say, take whatever recipes you like, double it and freeze it. I realize that some don't taste as great as others, but...when you are in need, it is better than TV dinners. You can always add ketchup. :)
Can I just say that this fabric IS adorable! I would love to make a skirt or a kitchen apron with it!
For a great freezer meal we make : CHICKEN POT PIE FILLING, put it in a ziploc when it's cooled, then all you have to do is pull it out of the freezer at lunchtime to let thaw until supper time; make a thin biscuit or pie crust (or use a store bought crust for an even faster option) pour the thawed chicken filling in and bake until the crust is done! Presto! Who can resist piping hot chicken pot pie?! yum.
I don't really do tons of freezer meals, but these are probably the top 3 that I do manage to freeze ahead of time: 1) Pasta sauce (sautée a bunch of olive oil, onions, garlic, then celery, carrots, zucchini, etc.; add canned tomatoes, herbs, red wine, balsamic vinegar, then buzz with hand blender)--I freeze it in ziplocs and then can have pasta or pizza whenever. 2) Shredded chicken--roast multiple chickens at a time & then freeze the meat for whatever meal strikes your fancy. 3) Cookies--okay, this isn't a meal, but I like making a MASSIVE batch and then rolling a bunch of cookie balls & freezing them in ziplocs. Then I can just bake a half-dozen or so whenever and have warm, fresh cookies. Mmm.
Sadly, I have no ideas for freezer meals -- although I'm gleaning from this. I do, however, send boatloads of sympathy for your tragic situation.
And I LOVE the fabric!
Favorite freezer meal is Urban Garlic Chicken from the freezer cook book Fix, Freeze, Feast (try to say it 5 times real fast!). It can go from the freezer to the crock pot without thawing. Juice makes great gravy, and whole chickens are usually cheap.
1 whole chicken
3 T. olive oil
1 T. red wine vinegar
½ T. minced garlic
½ tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 carrot, peeled and cut in half
1 celery stalk, cut in half
½ onion, peeled
Rinse chicken under cold water and remove neck and giblets from cavity. Pat chicken dry with paper towel. Combine oil, vinegar, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Gently loosen skin on breast of chicken by working your fingers between skin and meat. Rub the marinade under and over the skin and in the cavity.
To cook now: let chicken marinate for at least 4 hours. Place carrot, celery, and onion in cavity of chicken. Place chicken, breast-side up, in a greased baking dish. Roast for 1 ½ hours at 325°.
To freeze for later: Place chicken in 1 gallon freezer bag. To serve, thaw and cook as above. Crock Pot: place frozen chicken and veggies in crock pot on low for 8-10 hours. If desired, remove the insert of crock pot and place in oven for 15 minutes to brown skin. With either method, the juice makes fabulous gravy.
And I love the fabric!!
Mindy B.
I can always use beautiful fabric!
Every time I make soup or chili, I freeze half. That way I always have soup in the freezer in a pinch. But I think my favorite freezer meal is Chicken Divan. There are several recipes out there, here is one I found on the FoodNetwork, but you could search until you find your favorite. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chicken-divan-recipe/index.html
This recipe calls for mayo, I omit that. This recipe calls for whit wine, but you can use milk if you want. I add chopped spinach to the sauce. I don't add the butter on top.
I freeze chili, soup, enchiladas, lasagnas, baked zitis, and cooked brown rice.
Here's my grandmother's hamburger soup, which takes just a few ingredients, and freezes beautifully. My mom always made this for my freezer when there was a baby due :)
http://kellkellmusings.blogspot.com/2011/02/soupilee-2011.html
Well, all I can offer is sympathy! I've always thought it would be great to do the same, but alas, I don't make it happen much! Good luck! But I do find that making a big pot of soup each week is great - great to have the leftovers on hand for quick meals.
I know what you mean~I deal with the same thing. Except, I have a tip tha has helped me and *may* help you....
instead of going the whole meal route~ instead focus on the meat. Freeze already cooked ground beef, beef strips, shredded pork or my personal favorite~ cooked chicken.
It is a WHOLE lot less hassle than preparing actual meals (and actually gets done) and then you can use the cooked meat to make a quick sloppy joe, shepherds pie, soup or my favorite~ STIR FRY!
Try it and see if that helps things out.
Also-soups freeze great (chili!) and are a snap to quadruple in size which is what I need to do in order to ever get any leftovers! ;-)
Hope this helps! (And hope I win!!! hehehe) I love your fabrics.
personally i say slow cooker, you get good tasting meals, that are good to go later. my personal favorite recipe is taco soup. it makes tons and its like a chili, so i think it would freeze well. heres the link http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/original-taco-soup-crockpot-recipe.html
you could also prepare your meat (chicken or what ever) ahead of time, freeze and thaw and put into whatever meal, you just cut whatever time you take to prepare that part of the meal :)
hope this helps :)
Soups (pureed sweet potato soup), meatloaf, spaghetti sauce... all kinds of wintry foods! And for summer: pesto, marinating meat to grill etc. I do love your fabrics and would love to make something with them!!
Well, I'm in the sympathy boat. I froze a lasagna while I was pregnant and it spent a whole year in the freezer becoming steadily less edible, first because I couldn't handle the thought of eating it, and then because it was too gross to eat and too much food to throw away. I need some better ideas...
I have three fabulous freezer cookbooks: Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer (1&2) and Fix, Freeze and Feast. I'm not a huge fan of freezer food, so I didn't have high expectations, but these simple, little books have radically altered the lives (and diets) of my six kiddos (under 10) and my hubby. And the recipes are good...like things I actually enjoy making and eating; and they're easy to dress up.
So from one menu challenged homeschooling mama to another, I hope you find dinner success!! :)
Tell you what. 85% of my meals come from Cook's Illustrated (ever seen America's Test Kitchen?). They know what they're doing and rarely have I come away from a recipe disappointed. They have several books to choose from but there is a "Make Ahead" themed that I've heard is stellar. Most of the meals or at least main portions of the recipes can be frozen. These guys are all about flavor and won't pull a fast one on you "MMM...isn't this good?" (why, no, actually the texture is like stage 3 baby food). I loathe. LOATHE! Those kinds of recipes. They also give extensive directions about EVERYTHING which I'm sure is probably important when it comes to freezing. http://www.amazon.com/Make-Ahead-Recipe-Cooks-Illustrated-Magazine/dp/1933615141. Man, I like the experts.
My sister-in-law has invented some delicious handheld meals that freeze well. Simply make your favorite biscuit recipe. Roll and cut half the dough. Fill with your preferred, fully cooked fillings - pizza toppings, scrambled eggs and sausage, taco filling, etc. Roll and cut remaining dough and top the filled sides. Pinch edges closed and bake. When cooled you can freeze these. Then to serve simply reheat in the microwave or toaster oven. They are delicious, and the breakfast ones are great for fast morning meals when you're in a hurry but need a decent meal!
I love making extra food and freezing it for later meals. It really does help. You can freeze leftover pot roast or steak. Slice it up first. Later, defrost it in a frying pan, add a can of beans and taco seasoning and serve as soft tacos with your favorite toppings.
Also, this soup freezes well: http://thecottonapron.blogspot.com/2011/05/red-lentil-ham-soup.html
Actually, a lot of soups and stews freeze well as long as there aren't any vegetables in them that get really mushy from extended cooking (such as zucchini). And another word of advice, for some things it's really handy to freeze them in muffin cups or flat (slice meat), then put them in freezer bags and mark them. This way you can defrost them quicker, or take out just the amount that you need.
Beautiful fabric! I'll second the lasagna suggestion with additional tip - you don't even have to precook the noodles OR buy no-boil noodles. Just use the regular ones and use a bit extra sauce. It makes for delicious lasagna that stays in a nice square on your place.
The new prints look lovely! As others have said lasagne freezes well and our children love it, especially with garlic bread. If you like pies then I use this quick and yummy recipe to make a chicken, mushrooom and bacon pie. http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chicken-mushroom-and-bacon-pie-6. I make double what I need then freeze the mixture I'm not using so that on a day we feel like some comforting pie all I need to do is defrost and reheat the mix and then put on the ready rolled puff pastry and into the oven!
If I offer you my sympathy does that count?:) I'm afriad I'm not a good freezer-meal kind of gal. But I did have on idea which I think I'm going to try. Taco seasoned ground beef, cooked and divided into freezer bags. I'm always surprised by how easy tacos are to make, and if the meat was ready to go and just a quick reheat, it might be worth it.
Anyway, not sure if that's helpful or not, but worth a shot!:)
Lovely fabrics. The following is a recipe I inherited from my Mother-in-law. Freezes beautifully. http://providencetable.blogspot.com/2011/11/copy-cat-chicken-lasagna.html
Love the fabric!!! I just started freezing meals and buying meat in bulk for this purpose. My stand by is pork tenderloin. Soo easy! You can use a crock pot or oven. Season it with what your family likes (we sometimes go for teriyaki, or regular salt, pepper, garlic) there are so many ways to change it up. Change the side to rice or mashed potatoes. Any who just a suggestion. Good luck. Always looking for easier meal options also!!!
Love the fabric! I love to double my recipes and put them in the freezer. I typically do it easily with chili, soups, chicken pot pie/turkey pot pie. I also make extra chicken drumsticks and put them in the freezer as well as meatloaf muffins!
Lovely fabric!
I am in the same state as you right now, so I am excited to read these comments! Here is a link to what I am looking to for help with some new ideas...
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/01/nutritious-freezer-meal-carnival.html
Also, this fall we picked lots of apples and I was done with applesaucing. So we did the apple peeler corer gadget and put loads of big freezer bags full of apples in the freezer. Then we do big batches of crisp topping and pop them in ziplocks too. Makes for easy rounding out meals or company treats:)
Looks yummy! Thanks for the motivation!
A side note...I just mada a meal for a friend and am not crazy about doing so much in aluminum. I lined the pan with parchment before putting the casserole in, and it worked great:)
My favorites are enchiladas or chicken chili. Both are cheap, easy, and taste just as good after they've been frozen!
One of our favorites is a big pot of chili, it makes for two meals in our house. I usually freeze half, but sometimes I just put the other half in the fridge if we have a busy day coming up.
Chili
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. sausage
4 cans Amy's Vegetarian chili
2(28oz)cans crushed tomato
6oz. tomato paste
1 large onion, chopped
4 cubes beef boullion
1/2 cup beer
1 tbsp. chili powder (or to taste)
1 tbsp. worcestershire
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. oregano
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. sugar
Brown the beef and sausage in a pan.
Add everything into a big pot, stir it up and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours. Stir occasionally. The longer it simmers, the better. If you have a gigantic crockpot you can stick it in that on low for the day!
Serve over rice, with corn chips!
I really think serving the chili over rice helps stretch it to two meals for a large family(mine being a family of 7).
There's nothing as comforting as chicken soup--roast a chicken or two one night (meal one), save the leftover meat, then throw the bones in a crockpot with water to cover, a sliced up onion, bay leaf, whatever you want to throw in there, and leave it to cook for 12-24 hours. Voila! You have the most delicious stock. Pre-make some biscuit mix (2 c. flour, 1 T baking powder, 1 t salt, 5 1/3 T fat) and store in the freezer. Now just add milk, and you have dumplings for your soup (meal two).
There's also nothing like cheery fabric to comfort you on a rainy day!
lhyink at mac dot com
I can certainly offer condolences, since I, also, love the concept and can't seem to figure out things that come out of the freezer lookin' spiffy. I do, however, have memories of eating food made and then frozen by my great-grandma. She made vegetable and beef soup, chicken pot pie, and apple pies and froze them. She also used to take a loaf of bread, spread butter (well, margarine, which naturally isn't half as good) on each slice, slap cheese between it, then stick the whole loaf back into the bag and freeze it as quick grilled cheese sandwiches. Her hobby was sending us home with food.
Stews and curries freeze really well, I've found. As for curries, this is our favourite--it's fantastic: http://www.route79.com/food/rogan-josh.htm
That cloth looks delish. I hope you ship to Australia...
Bekah, I need to get over here more often. I like when you remind me on Femina. Love your new patterns. Lasagna freezes well in my opinion. I do not cook my noodles first (so much faster!) but make sure my sauce is extra "juicy" and then cook it longer (one hour, thawed, at 350). Would love some of your ID snow, but know to be thankful for our 60 and sunny Jan. days in VA this year. The grass is always greener:)
My sympathies! I was going to post my brilliant idea of making a big pot of chili to freeze, but I think about 100 other people have beaten me to that idea... so you're left with just sympathy! And the word of advice when making chili - it's worth it to get a really good chili powder mix! It makes the end result just sparkle with that certain je ne sais quoi. Happy freezing!
Probably the best suggestion I could make would be to drop hints that if people want to throw you a baby shower...since you probably don't need more baby clothes, you could request a FREEZER MEAL BABY SHOWER. Friends of mine did this when our 3rd child was born and I kind of wish I had requested it for baby #4 & #5 too because it was super helpful! The great thing is you get to try different recipe's and maybe even find a few family favourites in the process.
One stellar recipe that our family loves to double and freeze came to our family through this "Freezer Meal Shower" idea, "Mini Cheddar Meatloaves" (the key is the brown sugar & ketchup sauce that you pour over each little meat loaf). I always double our "No-Bake Noodles Lasagne" recipe. As well as "Favorite Chicken Casserole" given to all of the seminary wives from Mary Mohler when we lived in Louisville, KY.
Someone else already suggested freezing soups, which is a great idea if your family likes soup. My 2 favourite soup recipe's are "Leek & Potato" and "Butternut Squash". Both super easy, creamy & delicious (it only took me 11 years to start trying to make soup for my soup-loving husband and these 2 recipe's have made for a happy husband...and our sometimes picky kids are even growing to like these soup recipe's as well:))
For your sake, I hope you get that "Freezer Meal Baby Shower". If I lived closer, I'd love to drop off a meal for you to try!
P.S. let me know if you'd like any of the recipe's I mentioned.
I highly recommend the "Don't Panic" books - there are at least 2 that I know about and they are great helps. Make the time in your schedule to spend a morning or afternoon working on your freezer stockpile. It is SO worth it!
You can also check out freezer cooking from simplemom.com She has lots of good recipes and suggestions.
Blessings,
Love those fabrics! This is such great timing! I was just wondering the same thing about yummy freezer foods. I'll have to read through all the comments. I've been successful freezing lasagna, chicken enchiladas, chili, stew, the Cooks Illustrated shepherd's pie, and taco meat. When I plan these things, I make a double batch either when I'm making supper for us or for the family with the new baby (or whatever) in the church. I also find that buying meat in bulk at Costco and then freezing it divided into meal size packages helps when I haven't had time to do the whole freezer meal thing. Grab out the chicken, pop it in the microwave, then it's ready to make whatever. Next you should get everyone to send "Yikes it's 4:30, what do I make for supper?" suggestions. :)
My sister in law's white chili! I make a double batch of course - she submitted it to a friend's blog and pasting the link will be quicker than typing it out.
http://www.pinkpeppers.com/2010/06/03/white-chicken-chili/
I'd enjoy it even more with a bigger fabric stash of course :)
Rachel
brandnewtulipsATyahooDOTcom
I have Cook's Illustrated Best Make-Ahead Recipe cookbook, which includes tons of freezable meals as well as ones you can prep first thing in the morning while all your kids are at school, and pop into the oven later. The book is like a great little freezable cookery school, making it so you can adapt some of your own favorite recipes to freeze. Aside from this cookbook, I tend to freeze parts of almost every dinner I make, sometimes just a little extra cooked meat or a sauce. So maybe dinner isn't altogether ready, but it keeps me from ordering pizza when it really isn't a dinner emergency.
Just some consolation here. I used to do that all the time, but when we moved last summer, we had to leave our extra freezer behind. I still haven't replaced it, so I haven't bothered to make meals ahead anymore. Sorry I'm no help. But I'd love some of your fabric...
What beautiful fabric!
My favorite meal to freeze is tomato bisque! Basically: simmer a quart of canned tomatoes, 4 stalks of celery, a diced onion, 4 cloves minced garlic, and a tsp of dried basil in a saucepan for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a roux: in a soup pot melt 4 tbsp butter, stir in 4 tbsp flour, and let it get golden for a few minutes. Then slowly add 1 quart of chicken broth or stock & whisk it in. Simmer the broth until it it starts to thicken. Once the tomato stuff is done simmering, blend it up in a blender or with a stick blender, and then add it to the thickened broth. Pour in a cup of cream, and let the whole thing simmer for 10 minutes to heat through. That's it! It freezes beautifully, and tastes just as good reheated.
Oh, I understand, this is my own dilemma as well! The tried and true for me to double and freeze is Coconut Chicken Curry. My family cheers every time I cook it, and I cheer every time I pull the doubled out of the freezer!
Aww ... I don't really have any ideas but I love the fabric so I offer you my consolation. If you have a Costco nearby though they have great Ravioli (frozen).
This is a sympathy post. I sympathize. (and I'm really enjoying collecting ideas from the rest of your comments!)
My friends and I get together each month and trade freezer meals. Each of us makes 10 dishes to trade. Having 10 different meals in the freezer in reusable containers has been a life saver on crazy school nights.
I think the fabrics are so pretty!
So I don't know that much about freezer cooking, except that the leftover pancakes and waffles always go there for later use, but I highly recommend slow cookers! :) I would love the opportunity to win your fabric.
Things we freeze:
Spaghetti
noodles, pasta, and cheese mixed together (possibly with pepperoni)
lasagna
Plain brown Rice Noodles, whole grain noodles, white noodles
Stuffed peppers
Veggie Soup
Bob's Red Mill Bean Soup (it's a dry mix of . . . 16?. . .different beans)
Betty Crocker Triple-Chunk Brownies (good frozen!)
Browned hamburger for tacos, sauces, etc.
Pancakes (such as ones from Hodgson Mill's buckwheat mix - yum!)
and I keep frozen berries that quickly heat into a pancake sauce, plus frozen bananas which can be quickly whirled into a smoothie
And by the way, you make lovely things! They are so cheerful.
I have been wanting to accomplish this myself...making a large meal and freezing some for later. Sounds great. But the only thing I have successfully done is chili. The problem I run into is never making enough we always eat the whole dish or want some for leftovers. (Or maybe it is just my pregnant self that just has too healthy of an appetite right now)
I don't do a lot of freezer meals but I should. One of my favorites is to make BBQ pork loin in the crock pot and then freeze half. It is such a quick meal in the evening, just reheat and eat. Tammy's blog is full of ideas, experiments and results, and tons of other great information.
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node
My favorite way to freeze for quick dinners, is to prep the ingredients and freeze them - so for instance chicken tortilla soup - roast and blend the tomatoes, cook and shred the chicken, chop the onion and pepper. All those ingredients get put into separate bags in the freezer, and they're ready to throw together with some chicken broth and spices at the end of a crazy day. I also freeze big bags of cooked black beans, packets of fish, and pizza sauce and dough. These can be used for quesadillas, a fabulous meal of fish with rice and green beans (also from the freezer), or pizza - all I have to remember to do is take that frozen dough out of the freezer earlier in the day!
White chicken chili. Breakfast burritos (scram eggs, saus, cheese). Stuffed jumbo shells (stuff with cheeses or with taco meat). Basically I just cook up a TON of chicken at once and store it in the freezer already cooked and chopped. I boil it so I get chicken stock at the same time. Just having that handy saves tons of time on the meal front.
Thanks for the query - I needed help in this dept too! And congrats on the new fabrics!!
We had chicken curry from the freezer for dinner tonight, leftovers from this crock pot recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/341088/chicken-curry
We ate up all the peas the first go round so I added a fresh (well, frozen) bag and more cocnut milk because I love it and served it with freshly made basmati rice, which cooked faster than the curry heated on the stove-top.
My favorite things so far to make double of and freeze... pizza crust, French breakfast puffs, chili and stuffed pasta shells. Sometimes too, I just cook double meat and freeze it so that when I make something, the meat is already ready to go. I'll cook extra chicken for quesadillas, chicken salad or chicken cream cheese pockets. I'll brown extra hamburger for spaghetti, soups, chili. I'll brown extra sausage for pizza & sausage basil tortellini.
Super fast fancy pizza: pesto sauce, mozzarella, tomatoes, black olives & chicken. Love it! I'll make extra pesto sauce & freeze it in Ziplocs.
I don't do freezer meals as often as I should, but they are super handy! What a great way to get more recipes!! And I love your fabric!!
I like to brown a whole bunch of hamburger meat and freeze it. That way it is already cooked and easy to make spaghetti, tacos, sloppy joes or just about anything else!
We do quite a bit of freezer cooking. My hubby makes a huge batch of meatballs and also some chicken enchiladas. I freeze soups, baked pasta dishes and lots of chopped cooked chicken. That can be made into anything in a hurry. Good luck!
Enchiladas are a great eat now/freeze for later meal item!
I use a wonderful recipe from The Cook's Country Cookbook. This is actually a cookbook worth keeping around. It is from the editors at America's Test Kitchen. They not only give you hundreds of wonderful recipes, but a full page of background on the variations you can use with the ingredients, why one worked best, and some of the history of these classic and heirloom recipes. I'm not a super experienced cook, so their explanations and the science of what you're doing has really helped me avoid mistakes.
Your fabric would be a wonderful addition to our cozy home!
The fabric looks beautiful! For two years, friends from church and I coordinated freezer meals every other month. There were seven of us, but not everyone was able to participate each time. When it was time to start coordinating, we would each e-mail our list of three meals, that way we could avoid all of us making lasagnes and shepherd's pies. :) We packed all our meals into coolers on Sunday morning and arrived at church early to exchange them before the service. It was wonderful!
whoops! I forgot to add that we multiplied each of our three meals by the number of families participating. If there were seven families, I'd make seven lasagnes, seven batches of chicken marsala, and seven beef and rice casseroles. At the exchange, we'd each have 21 different meals. :)
I just recently ran into this dilemma. Thankfully I came across a website called saving dinner.com. I haven't tried all the meals yet but, what I have I've liked. Check it out :-)
This South of the Border Lasagna freezes well and has a fun taste. I need to remake it and add pictures, that blog entry is from 2005.
Does your family like Chili or any other substantial soup. When I make chili or soup, I make as much as my stock pot will hold and I divide the portions into plastic freezer bags. Many soups freeze REALLY well and can be thawed out really easily. I do chili ALL THE TIME and it's always a big hit! I've even frozen the cornbread :). Here are a couple tried and true...
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/05/my-favorite-dinner-guest-post-chili-and-cornbread-2.html
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/01/zuppa-tuscana-soup.html
I've not found a lot of dishes that really taste the same out of the freezer-- the texture is part of the problem... One thing that does freeze well is lasagna. .. Wish I could be of more help! Thanks for the chance to win some of your delicious fabric!! I'll bet it is just as gorgeous out of the freezer! ;-)
I love the fun and flirty prints on the fabric. So feminine.
Okay I'm in the same boat! I've done freezer meals in the past but it is time to do it again!.
I make an easy Sweet Turkey Chili that is easy and healthy. Also Hot Chicken Salad is great to freeze. I also love to make Sweet Potato Pancakes and Waffles to freeze and they are great for breakfast or many quick easy dinners for the kiddos.
The crockpot is my best bet for making extra to freeze, but the key for me is getting things going first thing in the morning. We've been getting yummy free range chickens that hold together well in the crockpot and leave us plenty to freeze for another meal.
Freeze raw meat in your favorite marinades either in ziploc bags (keeps 2-3 months) or vacuum sealed bags (keeps for 6 months). You can also freeze rice. Make chicken or beef stock to freeze. These are basics for making some great meals later.
Your fabric is so beautiful Bekah! Freezing tomato sauces in the summer, or anything that goes on pasta for that matter has worked for me. Of course, a little coffee ice cream next to the freezer meal also adds to the sucess of the evening!
I'm stocking up for baby coming soon! So far my easiest recipe is chicken breast with orange marmalade and balsamic vinaigrette marinade and a little rosemary. Freeze all together, then thaw morning of and toss everything in a pan. Serve w rice or spinach.
Hi again! Spaghetti sauce is awesome to freeze! To go along with that, you can make meatball sandwiches with the frozen sauce and meatballs.:) Get hardy rolls, put meatballs and sauce on rolls. Put Slices of provolone cheese on top and heat in oven for 375 degrees till meatballs are hot and cheese is browned.
I forgot to mention on my other entry, that you can double, triple on the chili recipe:).
This is fun!
Just helping out! Jen K.
Just to chime in with everyone else, "Great fabric!"
When I cook ground beef for tacos, spaghetti, chili, tortilla soup, I cook up an extra amount and stick it in the freezer. Of course I have to have the other things that go with any of those meals on hand, but it is a big help to just pull that out of the freezer as it defrosts easily.
Extra cooked bacon or sausage frozen is good to pull out for "breakfast for dinner" night as well.
It's fun to read through the comments and get some inspiration! Thanks. Jen Sch.
How about grilling marinated chicken, then shredding for the freezer. When you pull it out you could have it for:
Loaded chicken Fiesta Potatoes
Grilled Chicken Chef Salad
Chicken Quesadillas
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Love the fabric!
I LOVE this fabric!! Please pick me!!
I'm due with baby #3 and am starting to stock the freezer too! Here are a few ideas...links to websites that also have lots of other recipes to pull from too.
Black Beans and Rice (really good!)...the leftovers make great burritos.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2012/01/black-beans-rice-with-chicken-and-apple-salsa/>
Taco Soup
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/original-taco-soup-crockpot-recipe.html>
and a BIG batch of sloppy joes...
SLOW COOKER SLOPPY JOES ("AKA" CRACK BURGERS)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hour(s) 10 minutes
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 (16-oz.) package ground pork sausage
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 8 hamburger buns, toasted
Preparation
1. Brown beef and sausage with onion and bell pepper in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring 10 minutes or until beef and sausage crumble and are no longer pink. Drain well.
2. Place beef mixture in a 4 1/2-qt. slow cooker. Stir in tomato sauce and next 9 ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 hours. Serve on hamburger buns.
Cooktop Method: Proceed with recipe as directed in Step 1, returning drained beef mixture to Dutch oven. Stir in tomato sauce and next 8 ingredients, omitting flour. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Prep: 15 min., Cook: 45 min.
Note: To freeze leftover Sloppy Joe mixture, let cool completely. Place in zip-top plastic freezer bags; lay bags flat, and stack in freezer. Freeze up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or defrost in the microwave.
Oh, love the fabric and since I have a sewing machine in my on-line shopping cart at another site the timing seems perfect!
I have been without a sewing machine for about two years now and I'm just itching to get my hands on a new one! (confession: as I have been saving for the machine I have already been buying fabric ahead!)
Ah-hem, now on to your question.....the last time I found out I was pregnant I started freezing like a fiend because I knew I had approx two weeks before the sick hit. By far the biggest success I had was the hunters pie (shepherds pie with red meet) and I have continued to make huge batches of this to freeze. It is one recipe that hardly takes any extra effort to quadruple. And I fees it in disposable pans so no clean up and no tying up my glass pans.
Cook one very large beef roast overnight in the crockpot with garlic, onion, s&p, a little water and some red wine. In the morning remove the beef and shred up, make a gravy sauce by adding flour to the hot stock in the crock pot. Head up several bags of frozen mixed veggies and mix with meat and gravy. Spread into your pans.
Make a large batch of mashed potatoes seasoned however you like, spread on top on each casserole. Top them all with cheese if you care to. Wrap with several layers of plastic wrap and then heavy foil and freeze :o)
Thanks,
Sarah
Ladyofthehomeschool@yahoo.com
Would love the fabric but all my potential frozen meal ideas have already been mentioned...lasagna, turkey tetrazinni, pot pies, pizza, chilli....I'm sure you could do something like chicken divan and cook up some rice while the cassarole is baking/re-heating.
I linked to this! I don't think picture online do justice to how lovely your fabrics are. They're so pleasantly bright.
Oh, do I need that fabric. We are moving into the Warden's House at WEST and boy does it need some brightening up!
Sympathy: ugh. I feel your pain. When I actually have the meals in the freezer, it feels so good, I don't want to use them up.
consolation: atleast you don't live here where you would feed your children sausage rolls and pork pies too often.
Ideas: soup is always the easiest. Whatever leftover vegetables I have, I roast and/or saute, simmer in broth, blend and freeze. Then biscuits are so easy to whip up with the soup, or just serve whatever bread you have.
Rather than having a complete meal, I find cooking extra chicken, or ground beef and onions helpful. I just freeze the meat, than have more options.
Making several chicken pot pies when I make pastry works well and they freeze really well.
Pancakes - we make extra when we do them and they freeze well. We just put them in the toaster.
Martha's Cuban Red Beans and Rice is a fav in my house. I serve it as a main dish topped with sour cream or serve as a side to slow roasted pork loin (the crockpot does wonderful for this). You will want to double the recipe, but it is super fast and easy.
http://www.marthastewart.com/315399/cuban-red-beans-and-rice
It looks like it has been mentioned, but I was thinking of pulled pork sandwiches. I like to buy pork shoulder with bone-in, rub with brown sugar, mustard and add onions, cover tightly with foil and cook on low in the oven overnight (or during the day if you get it in in the a.m.). Then removing the bones are easy, and shredding is easy (right in the pan you used) and you can add salt/fav. bbq sauce. It's easy to freeze, the family packs are huge and feed us for days (family of 7) and freezing buns to have on hand is easy, too.
On a different note, make-ahead cheese blitzes are a lot of work (crepes, cheese filling-although you could buy the crepes) but SO worth it for a fun brunch (or fun dinner). Just add a fruit sauce for topping (heating frozen berries with a bit of sugar) once you have the blitzes heated through and mmmmm! :)
The fabric is lovely!
Have you seen the cookbook, Slow Cooker Revolution? It's from the Cook's Illustrated folks. Anyway, their recipes for versatile meats (everyday shredded pork, for example) are easy to make and freeze. Easy to pull out later and use either alone, or for sandwiches, or included in a bigger recipe.
Love the fabrics!
I wish I had a recipe to give you, but I have just as much trouble with this. I'm glad to see a lot of comments on here, because I've seen some great ideas I should try. I LOVE your fabric, by the way : )
How very pretty- I can think of so many things to make with those fabrics. Thanks for the giveaway!
The easiest thing for me is not to make whole meals to freeze, but to make sure my meat portions are frozen and ready. Roast a whole chicken, have the rest shredded and ready to pull out for chicken pot pie or soup. Roast beef, ready for barbecue. That kind of thing. We don't do a lot of casseroles, so this is how I make things move along in the kitchen.
I would love to win these! :-)
I love to freeze Shepherd's Pie...which for us is ground beef in a homemade gravy, topped with cooked carrots, topped with mashed potatoes, topped with cheese. It freezes beautifully and is very tasty!
beautiful fabrics!!! Before children, a friend and I would shop and cook together using the Once a Week Cooking Plan by Joni Hilton. All the recipes are designed to freeze and, I thought, had excellent flavor. She has a whole chapter on freezing food. Some of our favorite recipes were Mexican Chicken Lasagna, Pesto Pepper Chicken Pizza, Cheesehead Chipolte Frittata, and Barbecued Beef Quiche with Pinapple Salsa. I need to start doing this again :)
we make extra and freeze one dish. Here is a great fast meal that i double:
chili pasta bake (right off the s&w diced tomatoes can)
10 oz penne pasta (we use gluten free)
1# ground beef or meat of choice
1c. chopped onion
1 tbs or less of chili powder (i only use 2 tsp so not too spicy for the little ones)
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1c. salsa
1 can (7oz) diced grn chilies
2c of shredded chz of choice
Cook pasta and drain (i under cook the one i'm freezing). cook meat and onion in skillet; drain. Add remaining ingredients. Toss with the pasta. Spoon into 13x9 pan. Top with cheese. bake at 350 for 20 min. and freeze the other one!
Another awesome help has been the recent purchase of the Pampered Chef Covered Baker. I wan't a big fan of microwave cooking, but this little baby can pump out a roasted chx (nicely browned) in 30 minutes. I just made mashed potatoes in the micro in 20 minutes, from start to finish and only one dirty baker! I may never go back to the traditional way!
So if you are like me and forget to plan for a crockpot day, this baker will rescue you, literally!
I don't sell Pampered Chef; i JUST LOVE MY CRANBERRY COLORED NONSTICK BAKER! (never much liked my crock) The problem is I only have one and often need it in addition to the crockpot!
I think freezer meals are yuckola. I do have a scrumptious easy side dish for you. Take a veggie, any veggie, coat it with olive oil, a generous amount of salt, spread on cookie sheet, roast at 350-400 until lightly browned (10-30 mins depending.) I've had success with:
Fresh: cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes (peel and cut like fries,) green beans, squash (peel and cut up,) asparagus.
Frozen (super easy-just open the bag, coat w/EVOO and salt while frozen, bake): cauliflower, green beans, broccoli.
Hope dinner turns out yumola.
Your fabric is beautiful and I'm dying to know how you make your own line of fabric designs-would you please share???? Thank You!
I would love to win that beautiful fabric for my new best friend!
Taco soup tastes yummy and freezes well.
1lb ground beef or turkey
1 large onion, ch.
48 oz beans (pinto, black, kidney)
3 16oz cans corn
29 oz can petite diced tomatoes
29 oz can tomato sauce
1 1/2 c water
4 1/2 oz green chiles
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix packet
2 T chile powder
1/2 t crushed red pepper
1 1/2 t garlic powder
1 1/2 t onion powder
Cook onion and meat; drain. Add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes. Makes 14 c. Sometimes I add a bit of broth to make more soupy.
I like to freeze my leftover soup in recycled sour cream containers. Then when I need them I run hot water on the outside, let the contents slide into the pot, put the lid on and let the stove do the defrosting.
Cooks Illustrated had an entire issue dedicated to make ahead freezer meals. I love that issue! We have done manicotti, stuffed shells, burritos, chicken pot pie, Shepard's pie, and a fancier chicken pot pie made with a white wine sauce topped with rosemary biscuits.
My mother used to make bean dip in large batches and freeze it; it was just as good defrosted as when fresh. We use bean dip in tacos and quesadillas, or just eat it plain with corn chips.
That's beautiful fabric. I would like to win so here goes:
An idea for your quandary;
Brown up some good sausage and onion with garlic. Add some veggies, such as carrots and peppers and seasonings to include basil and oregano. Pour enough chicken stock to cover all and add a large can of diced tomatoes and paste too. Bring to a boil and add some freshly cooked tortellini and wine. Make a double portion. You could freeze all the ingredients except the tortellini and wine. Add those the day you reheat and voila! You've got a fab soup on your hands and everyone smiles. Serve up with french bread and people offer to wash the dishes for you..
Spaghetti sauce, chili, meatloaf, mashed potatoes....
In my experience, it is best not to plan to make things, but just to suddenly decide you think it would be a good idea, and fly by the seat of your pants. I often find myself making about 80 meatballs out of nowhere. Oh, look, I just did that! I also make and freeze my own spaghetti sauce, so I almost always have it on hand (unless...I run out...and forget). That's an easy peasy meal. Another good one to freeze is a 9x13 chicken pot pie. I just lay pie crust in the bottom, and then one on the top, and let aesthetics fly out the window.
Thankfully - God doesn't leave us without comfort. I am on a foreign mission field and struggle with many small discomforts. We persevere in many little and seemingly unimportant ways each day, and God's grace allows the right fruit to grow. God's grace reaches into every part of life and brings relief and rest.
Bekah-
We shop once per month - I have a master list of staples that I always keep on hand so that I know I can put something together. I also do a weekly meal plan of all the meals ahead of time so I can plan out how much of my day it will take to prepare that day's food (and do any pre-work). You could have on hand some cooked, frozen meat (hamburger, pulled pork, shredded chicken) pie crusts (quiche and pot pies), broths, pasta sauces, different pastas and tortillas (wraps or mexican type meals).This way, you could put together some very quick meals if you needed to. Cooks Illustrated Cookbook ($10 kindle version) has quite a bit of recipes where the more difficult parts of the recipe can be made ahead.
http://www.momsbudget.com/freezerrecipes/chickenquesadillas.html I used this to make a bunch of freezer meals before our 4th baby arrived--they're awesome if you enjoy Mexican-style food :)
And, thanks for a chance to win :)
I suggest potpies, mexican dishes like burritos or enchalidas. One of my favorites is frozen calzone because you can freeze them individually and them heat them in the microwave as needed for lunch, dinner or even just a snack.
I feel your pain, I find anything soupy or stewy freezes well. One of our favorites is Smitten Kitchen's sweet potato chard bake, it sounds weird but EVERYONE who's tried it loves it. I also love freezing lasagnas and pastas in extra sauce. Love the fabric! Thanks for the chance to win!
rebecca.lynn84@gmail.com
La Madeliene's Tomato Soup
2 lg cans crushed tomatoes
2 cups tomato juice
1 or more TBS basil
Splash of lemon juice
1 cup cream
1 stick butter
Simmer first four ingredients for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. And butter and stir until melted. Turn heat down low and add cream. Done! I have frozen this in repurposed spaghetti jars and it works wonderfully.
Also I hope I win! I love the vintage look of your prints.
Crock pot. On the bottom put a can of apple pie filling. Then about three pounds of cubed pork. Then a prepared box of stove top stuffing. Cut on low for flourish hours. Super yummy! I will happily send you the ingredients if you want!
Where can we buy your fabric?
Okay, well as much as I'd love to be one of those with numerous great recipes to offer you, that's just not me! Our kids are so disgusted by my cooking that they will often request the "squished up food cups" (Gerber baby food cups)INSTEAD of what I have cooked! Our 4 kids range in age from almost 2 to 6, so they're definitely too old for this food, but I figure it's healthy and they like it, so who cares!! (I'm REALLY not sure what we are going to do this fall when we bring home our 5 year old son who is waiting on us in China!) So, I can't cook, but I'm not half-bad at sewing and your fabrics are lovely and vibrant! I'm going to stalk your comments for food ideas :)
Love those fabrics! I like to make spinach sausage pies to have on hand for breakfast, lunch, or dinner (think quiche that is more man-friendly). Here's the recipe:
4 eggs
1 lb hot breakfast sausage, browned and drained
1 10oz pkg frozen spinach, drained
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 pie crust, pillsbury or homemade
Beat the eggs. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into bottom pie crust and top with crust (I usually don't do a top crust, but it is more delicious!). Seal edges and cut a whole in the middle of the top crust and 5 slits around. Bake at 375 for about an hour to an hour and 15 min. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
My favorite thing to freeze is soups. Beef stew, chicken noodle soup, and chili- especially chili! Except everyone in my family loves chili so much that it usually doesn't spend very long in the freezer... Of course, these things don't work if you're a vegetarian, but I'm sure there are veggie options as well. Best of luck to you!
Gorgeous fabric! I'd love some. :-)
Freezer recipes that work for me:
* Pretty much any kind of soup
* Chilli/taco meat
* Spaghetti sauce
* Pretty much any kind of pasta bake dish
* Bread, muffins, cookies, cake
* Shredded beef or pork
* Quiche
* Pizza
I freeze pretty much anything -- just make more of whatever you're making for dinner and freeze it. The only thing I don't like freezing too long is rice, as it gets freezer burn really easily.
I would love to win the fabric! Some easy ideas to throw in the freezer definately soup as well as sausage, peppers, and onions. Make a big batch of spaghetti sauce and throw it in there too so easy to defrost and eat.
Janet
There are lots of things you could freeze! We freeze spaghetti sauce, taco meat, lasagna, chicken enchiladas, fajita chicken mixes, stir fry mixes, many soups, marinated chicken (lemon, italian, BBQ, etc). My friend brings home her ground beef, cooks it up & separates it into baggies before freezing it. It cuts down on her meal prep time a ton! Good luck with your meal planning!
My Dad sometimes cooks an enormous cauldron of Bolognese sauce. He then bags it up and puts it in the freezer. It's really nice and is a great recipe to prepare as a family on a free afternoon. This the the recipe we use. And it's fabulous. The chicken livers, bacon, and wine make it extra special. I have many fond memories of being taught how to cut onions up small and preparing mountains of mushrooms! http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/italian/an-authentic-ragu-bolognese.html
I love the fabric! I am ALL about making 2 of a meal since I am already going through the trouble of making the meal, anyway. Less to clean up later, right? On my blog in Dec. I posted about making an enchilada in the crock pot and bake one. Bake and freeze! http://practical-stewardship.com/2011/12/19/crock-pot-enchilada-recipe/
Beautiful fabric! Making homemade calzones ahead and freezing works really well. I buy pre-made dough so it's extra easy.
Beautiful fabric--and other than homemade mac and cheese, my freezer attempts aren't as appealing as they are the first time around, even if it's something we love to eat. Something about the water draining out of the veggies, the ice crystals making everything look too old to eat. But, that could just be me!
There have been seasons that I've frozen those "meals" you get in the deli area of Costco. They freeze well, aren't overly expensive, and seem to be reasonably healthy. Also, don't feel the need to freeze a meal that's completely prepared. Maybe freeze some extra sauce so it's easy to throw on pasta or freeze some extra browned and seasoned meet so the steps are fewer and it's fast to complete a meal on rushed nights.
Facebook linked
I would love to offer recipe help, but, since I have not yet entered the wonderful world of actually needing freezer meals, I don't feel qualified. I will offer sympathy instead and praise for the new prints. They are bright and cheery and the perfect introduction to a dreary January. I love them!
I've made a few freezer meals but really have not found them to be as convenient as I thought {you have to know ahead of time you will use them so you can plan long enough baking times or defrost in the fridge first}. So I started keeping ingredients in the pantry and fridge for super quick, easy meals.
One of our favorites is sloppy joes~ 2 lbs hamburger or ground turkey, 1 bottle of bbq sauce, 1 jar of salsa and 1 bell pepper chopped. Cook the meat {even if it is frozen}, drain and add the bbq and salsa and chopped pepper. Serve with rolls and shredded cheese and a veggie or fruit.
Meatballs (for spaghetti, sweet & sour meatballs, swedish meatballs, for a few ideas); chicken cordon bleu roll-ups (chicken breasts pounded thin and rolled up with cheese and ham in side, then breaded and baked); enchiladas; stews; all freeze great.
Beautiful fabric!
I love crockpot meals! I mostly make beans and we have tostados or burritos. But, you can make baked potatoes, and more. The downside is that you may not enjoy the smells while it is cooking - when I am pregnant, I put the crockpot in the mudroom!
To make this count as an entry, I'll recommend Sue Gregg's cookbook - From Freezer to Table: Meals in Minutes. I love what she says - the easiest way to fill your freezer is to triple your recipe and freeze the leftovers! But she gives advice, recipes and more in the book and shares what freezes well, etc.
One of my favorite freezing meals if Spaghetti Sauce. Everyone has her own recipe; mine comes from my mother, and I passed it to my children.
Your giveway fabric is fantastic!
this:
http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Zucchini-Black-Bean-and-Rice-Skillet-5623.html?utm_campaign=RSE_JULY_28&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=SD&WT.mc_id=RSE_JULY_28_A&WT.mc_ev=click&fmid=14269414
long link! very good
The way to go is not to freeze whole meals but "almost ready meals." It's way easier to make a big batch of tomato sauce and freeze half of it (perhaps in zipper bags)than to prepare a meal and then freeze it.
Then when you are hungry you can just make some pasta or rice, and heat up some sauce.
It's really time efficient and makes your food more interesting because you can always add whatever you have in the fridge to your starter sauce.
My most favorite meals of all time to freeze are 1.Eggplant Parmesan, so gourmet but easy to fix and almost tastes better after being frozen giving it plenty of time for all the flavors to mesh together. My husband is always excited when he sees this going in the oven, or the freezer for that matter. 2. Pizza, simply make plenty of extra dough and freeze balls of it, and then have grated mozzarella and other toppings frozen as well or use fresh ones you have on hand. This keeps the pizza making to a very quick fix and gets all eager eyes at the table smiling big. 3. Chicken fajita fixings. All this one needs is sliced red peppers and onions and chicken frozen. And your bag of flour tortillas you pull out of the freezer and what a meal you've thrown together in minutes.
The best freezer meals are easy to throw together before and after the freezer and still come out tasting great and not second rate. I give these three a thumbs up.
The prints are great! I happen to have a cooking defiency and cried out to the Lord for his help. And this is what I call a divine intervention: a friend introducing me to once-a-month cooking. My husband was a bit skeptical until he was eating like a king for a fraction of the cost. The secret to my freezer cooking succes was cooking with a group of 3 other families. The 6-8 hours we spent together on "cooking day" flew by as we were able to fellowship with one another while diving up the meals we were putting together into four portions. And of course these other families have been doing this for several years now and have many tried and true recipes which I will e-mail all of them to you, if you like. Some of our favorites are Cheddar meat loaves (I've never liked meatloaf), chicken enchiladas with fresh cilantro, fancy veggie casserole (w/stuffing and topped with mozarella cheese) and BBQ spare ribs (I dream about theses, they're so good!) and honey butter peas. If it is easy to put together, cheap and tastes delicious, it is on our menu. Another helpful tip is to use the aluminum 9x13 pans from Sams Club, cover with tinfoil, write the baking instructions on top and also write the recipe name on the side of the pan. Thaw the night before or double cooking time if the dish is coming straight from the freezer. After you eat, throw the pan away- no messy clean-up! If all of the above is not convincing enough to do once-a-month cooking I did forget to mention the very best thing. I never have to think about what am I going to make for dinner. I just say, honey what do you want to eat? and pull the meal out of the freezer. You can enjoy your freetime however you like, I like to spend more quality time with my children.
Once-a-month cooking with a group of 3-4 families was my solution to stockpile freezer meals. A friend of mine has been doing this for several years and has very many tried and tested recipes. They are simple, cheap and taste delicious. I will gladly e-mail all of them to you. Cooking day was about 6 hours but flew by because of all the terrific fellowship I enjoyed (cooking with friends also helps alleviate stress when things don’t go according to plan, either). When each person only puts together several meals and divides into equal portions, the group gets a month worth of meals for each family. My husband was a bit skeptical at first but quickly changed his mind when he was eating like a king for a fraction of a price. Cooking your meals once-a-month is definitely a way to stretch a dollar. Some of our favorites include mini cheddar meat loaves (I’ve never liked meatloaf before this), BBQ pork ribs (my mouth is watering), chicken enchiladas with fresh cilantro, fancy veggie bake and simple things like tater tot casserole or honey butter peas. We use the disposable aluminum pans, cover with tinfoil then write the directions on top with a sharpie marker. We also put the title on the side of the pan so you can stack the meals and still find the one you want. At home, I either thaw the night before or put directly into the oven frozen but then I usually double the cooking time. And the best thing yet- no more panicking about what to make for dinner. Everything has been planned a month in advance, just ask your honey, what do you want for dinner? and pull it out of the freezer. You can decide to do whatever you want with your free time, I like to spend more quality time with my kids. And I could also use it to make some beautiful skirts!
Soups, Curries, stews, pot pies, pizza pies, ratatouille, baked/ breaded chicken (can repurpose into sandwhiches & salads . My favorite is a chicken stew with pumpkin, potato, green beans, onion, corn and rice. Sounds simple but it's SO GOOD!
http://www.marthastewart.com/355551/chilean-chicken-stew
Then - I freeze half - except in the sitting and freezing process the rice soaks up ALL of the liquid. So, I defrost the next week & bake it with bread crumbs and cheese on top - YUM! Then it's a casserole - and my family thinks it's actually two different meals. Another - is I double up pasta - then put half of it in a casserole dish with cheese on top and pop it in the freezer (Just make sure there is a good amount of sauce in there!). Last - bean soup! I make a HUGE pot - then use some of the beans in taco salad & chilli.
Is it cheating if I link to a great site I got off Pinterest? Hope not ;P
http://ovenlove.blogspot.com/2012/01/adventures-in-freezer-cooking.html
Pizzas, potpies, lasagna, soups, goulash, or twice-baked potatoes...
Beautiful fabric!!
You know what? My freezer is tiny so I can't do the freezer thing (we are 7 very voracious people, and we eat two entire whole meals together every single day! Ouch!) What has been working very well for me, is making my meals with a little bit of extra built into it. If I plan well, I end up with TWO meals of leftovers, all sorts of things which kids and husband LOVE to choose from. I usually have a couple of soups leftover (NOT potato soup, it has about two days of life and doesn't make it into the leftover field....) as well as some pasta sauce or pasta dishes, maybe a chicken leg from a previous dish, etc. I vary who gets to pick first, so there excitement about that as well. It only works from week to week, so it is not a long term solution, but for us it has worked super well!
Sympathy: Oh you poor dear, you are so sorely misunderstood and taken advantage of by others. They just trod on your heart and soul daily. If they took the time to really see you and hear you, they would book you a flight to Florida with me Friday morning for a 2 week beach and beverage of choice vacation. I am so sorry that things are tough with you. Seriously it is hard but we are women and we are strong. Now run on over to my blog and enter to win a really cool book
http://jeannegwin.blogspot.com
First of all, LOVELY fabrics, and I'm drooling over/down/up here in Texas. I know they want to come home with me. I heard them.
Secondly, Bless you my child. I do feel your pain. Truly I do. I purposely make double of most of our meals so I can freeze them. There is really not much that CAN'T be frozen. Spaghetti and meat sauce, macaroni and cheese with ham pieces and a can of cream of something soup, chicken tetrazzini, chili, white chili(made with chicken YUM), shepherd's pie, homemade chicken pot pie (easy peasey). If you would like me recipes for any of these, let me know. They are VERY easy, as I'm not one to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
Thank you for the giveaway. I'm going now to stand by my mailbox. LOL
Me again...I have put a link to your giveaway on my blog for another chance. :0)
love your fabrics!! I love freezing chicken spaghetti, cooked meatballs, king ranch chicken and chicken pot pies!
oh my, such AMAZING FABRICS!!!! I haven't bought any fabric is sooooo long--but those prints--they woke up that urge. Not sure if I should thank you or hit you in the head with my checkbook....lol! (I know, that is mean, and I don't really know you....nor do you know me.... I promise--no crazy woman with a checkbook will be running after you! Well, *I* won't be the crazy woman with a checkbook--maybe there's another crazy one out there, but I cannot control that!)
jfred
I do try to make 2-3 of meals we can freeze (chic pot pie, stuffed shells, stuffed peppers--though they are kinda soft and watery, the peppers, but still yum, lasagna, meatloaf). And if I am making a roast or roasting a chicken or a pork tenderloin--I make enough for 2 meals--so 2 chickens, 2 roasts, 2 tenderloins (we're a family of 4, you'll need to make double what your family eats), then I freeze the 2nd one for later. And lastly, when I get ground beef, it's usually in family packs of 4.5ish lbs--so I cook it all up with chopped onions, and then freeze it in 1lb increments--which are perfect for pulling out to quickly make tacos, sloppy joes, spaghetti, ect.
Hope that helps some. ;) I'd like to start making enchiladas to freeze, and I need to get more meals, too....
Why not keep some pre-seasoned taco meat in your freezer. When you make up several batches ahead of time, you can use my taco seasoning recipe so you don't have to buy several packages of the mix from the store. And I always like keeping taco shells on the pantry shelf just in case. And that way you can quickly have dinner of tacos just by heating the meat up in the microwave.
Love,
Aunt Monica
i don't know about dinners, but my mom used to make her own versions of hot pockets to freeze for breakfast - makes mornings fast too :)
Taco soup is one of my favorites to freeze. And it is super easy to make too.
jesslburke@hotmail.com
No doubt this was already suggested, but it is what I do:
Soups, soups, soups.
Potato soup with a little sausage, black bean and chicken, white bean with carrots and ham.
They all freeze well, and they all are easy as, well, soup, to heat up and serve for dinner.
I also freeze my chocolate chip cookies. I know it's not a dinner, but if I leave them out, I'll eat them all, and this way there's something crunchy, cool, and tasty when I'm having one of those days that do indeed seem to happen about eight times a week.
Good luck!
Sarah
what yummy fabric! I would gladly share a great recipe for freezing...although, it is not mine. It is the one I use all of the time for these kind of situations. Quilters rarely cook on a regular basis, unless it involves chocolate anyway. Here is the link for an excellent quiche:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quiche-supreme/detail.aspx
The book:
Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead
is amazing. It gives you the adjustments for recipes if you want to double, triple, quadruple etc. it! I hope this helps you!
Rachel (tim edwards little sis) from oxford here.So your post is very timely as i have been discovering thedelight of bulk cooking of late."The Kitchen revolution" book and www is a wonderful place to start!Its especially handy when an extra family turn up ,namely my brothers with their hungry 5!However,my personal favourite at the moment is my personal twist on Ragu bolognese (serves 8)
350g minced beef
4 streaky bacon rashers,finely chopped
2 tbls olive oil
2 onions chopped
2 fat garlic cloves crushed
2 tins of passata/chopped tomatoes
2 tbls of tomatoe puree
small glass of red wine
3 pieces of very good dark choc
1 tsp dried basil or 1tbls fresh basil
3 large carrots coarsely grated
method:heat oil,soften onions and garlic and bacon for mins.Turn heat up add beef and brown it keeping the meat moving.Add teh tomatoes,puree,wine,basil and seasoning.Put the lid on and gently simmer for 15 mins then add carrots and chocolate and simmer a further 10 mins.
We love it served with whats in season here.Now its purple sprouting brocolli(or cauliflour or regular brocolli) with pasta or jacket spuds.The oxford cauliflour is very good this season.
Hope this is a winner for your brood-i know the Edwards devour it and love GUESSING what the secret ingredient is!?
I would love some fabric but can happily wait till you and Ben cross the pond again.But count my recipe in!
Whoa there are a ton of comments. I am a terrible cook, so I won't give you recipes. Wait, that's a lie. Martha Stewart mac + cheese freezes well, actually. We have turkey ham and peas on the side. The turkey ham freezes too. And peas come frozen, so there you go. I can also be the 181st person to say chili. While I don't have a lot of actual help, I can offer you much sympathy and care. All for fabric. :)
Meatballs, broccoli noodle casserole, and mac'n cheese are pretty good freezer meals. I love these fabrics!
Lovely prints- excited to see bright colors on a dreary day. Here's a link to a website that my friends and I cook from. We used to gather once a month to make meals that were freezer friendly for our families. We'd have a huge cooking session and then have meals for our families for a few weeks! It was such a fun time to be together and a great way to accomplish a ton (especially when you have brand new babies). Here's the link:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/search/label/Freezer%20Friendly%20Recipes
one of my favorite is the crock pot asian pork with mushrooms--- this can be used in a variety of other meals as well! hope this helps!
chicken enchiladas, chicken potpies, shepherd's pie, chili, taco meat - all browned and seasoned up, anything marinated for the grill, sloppy joe meat, most soups, Baked oatmeals for Sunday mornings (make a quadruple batch unbaked, divide it up into tupperwares or ziplocks, and have Sunday mornings covered for the month!), cooked chicken (for Asian chicken salads, chicken noodle soup, etc), barbeque, and such. I love the fabric. A lot.
Meghan
For shepherd's pie, I like to cook/prepare the meat ahead of time and then freeze it in baggies. I also separate a huge bag of cheese into little baggies and put those in the freezer and use one whenever I need it.
I love the fabrics! Ive found the easiest thing to make in large quantities and freeze are often crock pot meals, which is a double win because you don't have to rush home to make them ;) Try soups, chili, pulled pork, or even french dip subs(minus the bread of course)!
Cyndi_mf@hotmail.com
Waffles. Make loads of waffles and freeze them for breakfast, lunch, that afternoon snack with tea, and heck do 'em for dinner once and awhile. Try milling almonds for an almond-flour variety:
http://paleomg.com/almond-flour-coconut-waffles/
Glad to have found your blog. :)
How about a recipe that is so easy that you don't need to make it ahead of time? Takes more trouble to freeze and thaw this one than to make it. It has become one of our family favorites, and mine, too, b/c I can put it together in less than 10 minutes.
Easy Chicken Parm found at
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2008/02/end-of-chicken-parmesan-as-you-know-it.html
Love the fabric! And love all the ideas for cooking ahead. Somehow, making dinner sneaks up on me every night.
Martita
Another site I came across that has some good ideas for freezer meals & how to bag them, even :D
http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html
Hi there! I'm visiting over from Femina. Sorry to say all I have to offer is sympathy. And empathy. I can't figure this out either. It seems like I have a stash of good freezer meals somewhere but I just can't seem to make it happen. Best of luck to you!
Love the fabric! And I totally sympathize with the dinner woes... I need some freezer ideas too. I do breakfast-for-dinner on nights when things are too crazy to make real food. Pancakes, dutch babies. Or, you know, cold cereal.
Hmmm I live in India and my freezer is the size of two shoe boxes (a woman's size 9 I would guess). The electricity goes off for hours in the heat of the summer season which is March to November and can easily wreck all that is in the freezer so I would say grin, bear it and be thankful that you have a freezer. Personally I liked the potpie idea and freezing cooked turkey meat to add to something easy like spaghetti or a soup. I also think that if you are going to do it right then take a week and do a cook off with friends so that five freezers get filled in one week... just an idea.
I often freeze our favorite soups and stews, though we usually have enough leftovers only for a lunch--still helpful. Here's my favorite tomato soup:http://www.oremsupperclub.blogspot.com/2009/09/tuscan-tomato-soup.html
Yikes, you got a lot of comments! Hopefully plenty of recipes to try! What about co-opping dinners with a few friends? Get together to discuss what your families like/dislike, pick some recipes, then you each make 1 or 2 of those recipes for each family, get together after mass cooking & swap the meals. Each month you meet, you should be open to discussing which recipes were a hit or bust so that you can keep or discard it for the future.
My friend just had a great post on her blog about freezing soups: http://www.therolstons.com/2011/11/freezer-files.html. I love the broccoli cheese recipe that she posted! Also, some of my favorites to freeze are lasagna, stuffed shells, chicken & wild rice casserole, chicken enchiladas...
A few years back, three friends and I met together once a month and agreed upon four recipes that our families would all eat. We each made eight of one thing and froze them. We kept two and traded away the other six, two to each of the other families. In return we received six meals. We used the book Cooking Among Friends. Here's their web address: http://www.cookingwithfriendsclub.com/index.php?
Happy cooking!
Almost anything will freeze. Try just making 2 of whatever you are making for supper and in a week, you will have 7 meals in the freezer. I find this easier than making 50 things at once.
I love to freeze Basil Pesto. All you have to do is pull it out earlier in the day and then boil whole wheat pasta to put it over.
1 4oz bunch of Basil
1 plastic tub of parmesan
3-5 garlic cloves
1 handful of pine nuts, toasted
1/2 t salt
Blend in food processor, adding Olive Oil until it no chunks remain. Its a family fave. My son eats it by the spoonful.
Oh, such beautiful fabric! How 'bout the next time you are making enchiladas, make a double or triple recipe and freeze the rest. I love to add beans and chilies to the meat for the filling and it makes it go a long way. Also, you could freeze the filling and just throw them together and pop 'em in the oven for a quick meal. ; )
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