Rock Bottom Frugal Living Tip #29

Tips for Freezing Make Ahead Meals

When preparing meals to be frozen and eaten at a later date, follow these procedures to safely store and protect the food:

1. Make sure the food is completely sealed in airtight containers or plastic bags specifically made for the freezer. Ideally, vacuum-sealed packages are the best.

2. Do not fill the freezer containers all the way to the top when freezing liquids such as soups or sauces. Liquids often expand during the freezing process which can pop off the lid and cause freezer burn - or a big mess.

3. Properly label sealed containers and packages. Include the name of the dish (or ingredients) and the date.

4. Some foods do not freeze well and will separate when frozen, such as mayonnaise, sour cream, or yogurt. The same is true for other cream-based sauces like gravy or hollandaise sauce that have been thickened with flour or cornstarch. As an alternative, freeze the stock or broth separately to make the gravy just before serving.

5. If you are freezing foods that contain pasta such as spaghetti or lasagna, undercook the pasta. Otherwise, the noodles may be too soft after reheating. Whole or chunks of cooked potatoes do not freeze well, but mashed potatoes or twice-baked potatoes are great for freezing and reheating.

6. Cheese also freezes well, but it may be more crumbly after thawing.

7. Sometimes when making up a meal ahead of time, you can freeze the parts separately better than freezing it together. One example is pizza. You can freeze the pizza crust separately. You can freeze the sauce in a container. You can freeze the toppings and the cheeses as well. If you organize your freezer space, you can find the ingredients easier to pick out to make your custom pizza.

8. When you freeze a casserole, you can place the ingredients in a bag and slip the bag into the casserole container you would bake it in. Freeze container and all. Then lift the bag out of the container and label which one to use when reheating. To cook, set out the frozen bag to thaw a few minutes so ingredients slip out of the bag easily. Fit it into the original container and bake/cook.

What do you freeze successfully?

Source: Yahoo Groups--Bizy Moms