freezing food
Monday 
around lunchtime 
Mystie
I’ve been attempting some freezer cooking the past 5 or 6 weeks or so. In the past I’ve not had such good luck in doubling a dinner recipe and freezing half. Things never come from the freezer tasting well and the texture is often ruined. I do generally enjoy bulk cooking, however, and would like to be able to utilize that preference during pregnancies and down the road during school years. So, I applied myself to trying to figure it out.
My first problem I have identified is freezing meals in foil-lined dishes, then removing the foil-wrapped casserole from the dish once frozen. I resolved to try using nothing but freezer bags and see if my results improve.
My second problem I wished to overcome was the change in texture, especially in layered dishes, including things like enchiladas and pot pies. Anything with a breadish base surrounding some sort of filling never came out right. Tortillas were always soggy. Potatoes separated. So, my solution has been to freeze fillings separately. Hence, I have “chicken pot pie filling” frozen in plastic bags, awaiting either a frozen pie crust (I have attempted to freeze my own, but I haven’t tried using one yet) or a biscuit topping (which is quick, so I would do that just before baking).
Have you heard of Dream Dinners? They are getting pretty popular around here; I know several women who regularly use them. Personally, I can’t imagine spending that much, although I don’t think they’re overcharging for the convenience they are providing. I would prefer my freezer cooking to be more along those lines (preassembly, marinated meats, quick dump-into-the-bag meals) than the traditional OAMC (precooking, outdated casseroles, huge 3-day production) my mom used to do. So I went through my recipes and have spent several days worth (spread out over the last month and a half) of extra cooking, freezing recipes I know we already like in quantities of two and three as a test run. None of them were very time consuming, and I wrote down which recipes I used, so should any turn out well, I will put it in my freezer-cooking collection, should any turn out poorly, I will mark it and return it to my normal recipe collection.
Some people already have a “Dream Dinners at Home” plan you can purchase with instructions, recipes, and shopping lists. However, two things preclude me from going with this option. First, I hate paying for anything that it seems I should be able to do myself. I enjoy going through recipes, I enjoy planning things out, so why would I pay someone to do those enjoyable activities for me?! Second, I have to factor in that I can’t use cream of mushroom soup, ketchup, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and several other staples. Mostly I substitute (ketchup is tomato sauce with sugar and vinegar, barbecue sauce is tomato sauce with molasses and garlic, Worcestershire sauce is beef bullion and soy sauce, but I have no substitute for good old cream of mushroom soup, so all those recipes simply have to go out the window. I tell myself we’re eating healthier because of it.
So, I have about two months worth of dinners in our freezers. Yes, we have the freezer with the fridge that is included in the rental, our refrigerator we kept when we sold our house, and our upright freezer. All three are full. I got a little carried away. Now we’re talking about moving soon and I wonder if filling these was really such a great idea. Time to consume. Time for the test. And, since it is also time for morning sickness — yes, you who use rss feeds are missing something — all these times coincide rather nicely.
Any of you ever attempt much freezer cooking? What do you freeze and how do you go about it? What works and what doesn’t? I would like to put together reusable freezer cooking plans, and when I do I will make them public, so any tips would be appreciated and most likely incorporated! :)
(MCL)
with 
(personal library)
My mother in-law has a basic white-sauce recipe that can be used to create basic gravy as well as cheese, mushroom, celery, and chicken sauce. I use it when I accidentally run out of cream of mushroom soup, since that is essentially a thick white-sauce, and it’s not like my husband will complain if the mushroom taste is missing. However, you could simply add mushrooms to the sauce, if desired. It’s too big to copy the entire thing into a blog comment, but the recipe for “medium-thick” which “compares to undiluted condensed canned soups and makes apprismately the same amount contained in one 10-oz. can” is:
Melt 3 T. butter
Blend in 3 T. flour, and 1/4 t. salt, cooking and stirring until bubbly:
Using wire whisk to prevent lumps, stir in a cup milk, stock or combination.
To make it into mushroom sauce saute 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms and 1 T. finely chopped onion in butter before adding flour.
Every time you post like this is makes me think we should get a freezer to augment my limited side-by-side freezer/refrigerator! Maybe if you post often enough, I’ll actually do it!
Congratulations on the baby, again!
My favorite thing to freeze is chili. It doesn’t suffer at all in the process and is the foundation for two different meals: chili (with cornbread or beer bread) and baked potatoes with chili and other toppings. I have also frozen lasagne and enchiladas.
For the most part my freezing is limited to building blocks of meals: chicken stock, beans, ground meat, spaghetti sauce. This means some work is required, but at least a start has been made.
I look forward to seeing your plans.
Kirsti emerges from the shadows! :)
“Kirsti’s Black Bean Chili” has already had two cooking sessions and will certainly feature a prominent position in any forthcoming plans. :) Actually, I tried one set where I didn’t simmer it beforehand and just dumped the ingredients into the bag, squished it around, and froze it directly.
I don’t know how anyone lives without a separate freezer, Elly. :) Both Matt and I come from two generations on both sides (well, three sets of grandparents) that had at least one extra freezer. You have to have a freezer in the garage; it’s unfathomable not to. :)
Thanks for the cream of mushroom soup replacement! Now I’ll have to test and see if it freezes well. :)
I see that someone has already given you the idea of a thick white sauce as a replacement for cream of mushroom soup and it is a great idea.
I have seen a recipe for self made condensed soup somewhere . I just can’t remember where. I think maybe in the La Leche League cook book. I know that you have allergy issues (Hans, corn, if I remember correctly) and this is a great cook book with lots of ideas and suggestions for substitutes and recipes for basics like ketchup, and also recommendations for things that freeze well.
I live in Germany and make a lot of things myself that, if I lived in the US, I might buy as a finished product- tortillas, refried beans, etc..