Showing posts with label freezer meals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freezer meals. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
"Freezing Foods" Article on Allrecipes.com
Just a quick post - I was on allrecipes.com and found a really great article on there about making freezer meals. It has great ideas, safety guidelines, a best-by chart, and several recipes that would be good for freezing. Just thought it would go great with my little freezer meal series I've been working on. I know I learned a thing or two. Check it out here!
Baked Beans with Hot Dogs - Freezer Meal
Just a basic Baked Bean recipe that I added hot dogs to. Beans freeze really well, so they make an ideal freezer meal no matter how you cook them! Like with the bean soup, I used half black beans and half black-eyed peas. Other beans or bean combinations can be used; the actual recipe suggests navy beans.
At this point I'm running low on room in the freezer, and bemoaning the fact that I have no room or money for a chest freezer! I may or may not have to go on a freezer meal hiatus after these beans, until I can use up some of the stuff we've got in the freezer and make more room for meals. :-) We'll see how it goes. But I sure am having fun stocking my freezer with all these meals! With these baked beans, there is now a total of twelve meals and twenty burritos in my freezer. Awesome.
Baked Beans with Hot Dogs
1 lb. dry beans
2 quarts water
1/2 cup molasses (wasn't sweet enough for me, I also added 1/2 cup brown sugar)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 package hot dogs, sliced
Soak beans in water overnight or by quick method. In same liquid, bring beans to a boil and simmer until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain, reserving liquid.
Combine beans with remaining ingredients in a 2 quart casserole. Add bean liquid to cover. Bake 4-8 hours at 275, adding liquid occasionally if necessary. Cover during first half of baking time, then uncover.
Or you can do it in the crock pot - I chose to because I didn't want the added heat of running the oven for four hours! Combine beans with remaining ingredients in crock pot. Add bean liquid to barely cover. You won't need as much liquid as if you were doing it in the oven, because the liquid won't cook off. Cook on low overnight.
Freezer Meal: By now you should know the drill - let the beans cool, then spoon into freezer containers, canning jars, or freezer bags. Freeze. To use, thaw in refrigerator and reheat in a saucepan over medium heat.
At this point I'm running low on room in the freezer, and bemoaning the fact that I have no room or money for a chest freezer! I may or may not have to go on a freezer meal hiatus after these beans, until I can use up some of the stuff we've got in the freezer and make more room for meals. :-) We'll see how it goes. But I sure am having fun stocking my freezer with all these meals! With these baked beans, there is now a total of twelve meals and twenty burritos in my freezer. Awesome.
Ick, yucky picture. Lighting is all weird lately. Too bright for the bowl, too dark for the beans. Sigh.
Baked Beans with Hot Dogs
1 lb. dry beans
2 quarts water
1/2 cup molasses (wasn't sweet enough for me, I also added 1/2 cup brown sugar)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 package hot dogs, sliced
Soak beans in water overnight or by quick method. In same liquid, bring beans to a boil and simmer until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain, reserving liquid.
Combine beans with remaining ingredients in a 2 quart casserole. Add bean liquid to cover. Bake 4-8 hours at 275, adding liquid occasionally if necessary. Cover during first half of baking time, then uncover.
Or you can do it in the crock pot - I chose to because I didn't want the added heat of running the oven for four hours! Combine beans with remaining ingredients in crock pot. Add bean liquid to barely cover. You won't need as much liquid as if you were doing it in the oven, because the liquid won't cook off. Cook on low overnight.
Freezer Meal: By now you should know the drill - let the beans cool, then spoon into freezer containers, canning jars, or freezer bags. Freeze. To use, thaw in refrigerator and reheat in a saucepan over medium heat.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Bean Soup - Freezer Meal
Here's the next installment in my freezer meal saga! Going through all my dry beans, I realized that I'm running really low; there was only enough for the refried beans, the chili, and these next couple of bean meals. So this soup and the baked beans (soon to come) had to be made with the only beans I had left - one pound each of black beans and black-eyed peas. I soaked them all together, then used half of that combination to make the soup and will use the rest for the baked beans. And yes, we bought several more pounds of beans when we did our weekly shopping yesterday!
I will take this moment to remind you (or rather, remind myself...) that when you decide to do several large freezer meals in a short period of time, make sure you have all the ingredients necessary. I took it for granted that we would have basics like carrots and onions, because we always have those! But I forgot to take into account that I've been using them in large amounts for the other meals I've done. So when I went to start chopping veggies for the soup, I realized I had only two small carrots and was out of onions. Jeff volunteered to walk to the nearby grocery store and pick up onions (I just can't live without onions), and I added a chopped green bell pepper in place of the third carrot. I could have avoided the need for an extra trip to the store had I made sure that we had all necessary ingredients before we did our shopping yesterday - even the ones that I take for granted!
Bean Soup
2 cups (1 lb) dry beans
2 quarts water
1 ham bone or several polish sausages, sliced (optional, I didn't include this)
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 quart tomato juice or stewed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Soak beans overnight or by quick method. Drain and add fresh water, 6-8 cups. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer 2 hours or more until beans are tender. Add more liquid if necessary. If you used a ham bone, remove meat from bones, chop, and return to soup.
Freezer Meal: Let soup cool, then spoon into freezer containers or canning jars in meal-sized portions. I don't recommend putting the soup in freezer bags, just because it's so liquidy. Freeze. To use, thaw in refrigerator, empty into a saucepan, and heat over medium heat. Should be good served with a loaf of fresh bread or some corn bread!
I'll probably cook the rest of the beans this evening and do the baked beans in the crock pot overnight tonight. That way I won't heat the apartment too much, which is very important. ;-)
Just a note to myself: I really need to start using more of what's already in the freezer - I'm running out of room to put all these freezer meals! I still have a few more planned and am just hoping that there will be room to squeeze them all in. Fingers crossed!
I will take this moment to remind you (or rather, remind myself...) that when you decide to do several large freezer meals in a short period of time, make sure you have all the ingredients necessary. I took it for granted that we would have basics like carrots and onions, because we always have those! But I forgot to take into account that I've been using them in large amounts for the other meals I've done. So when I went to start chopping veggies for the soup, I realized I had only two small carrots and was out of onions. Jeff volunteered to walk to the nearby grocery store and pick up onions (I just can't live without onions), and I added a chopped green bell pepper in place of the third carrot. I could have avoided the need for an extra trip to the store had I made sure that we had all necessary ingredients before we did our shopping yesterday - even the ones that I take for granted!
Bean Soup
2 cups (1 lb) dry beans
2 quarts water
1 ham bone or several polish sausages, sliced (optional, I didn't include this)
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 quart tomato juice or stewed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Soak beans overnight or by quick method. Drain and add fresh water, 6-8 cups. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer 2 hours or more until beans are tender. Add more liquid if necessary. If you used a ham bone, remove meat from bones, chop, and return to soup.
Freezer Meal: Let soup cool, then spoon into freezer containers or canning jars in meal-sized portions. I don't recommend putting the soup in freezer bags, just because it's so liquidy. Freeze. To use, thaw in refrigerator, empty into a saucepan, and heat over medium heat. Should be good served with a loaf of fresh bread or some corn bread!
I'll probably cook the rest of the beans this evening and do the baked beans in the crock pot overnight tonight. That way I won't heat the apartment too much, which is very important. ;-)
Just a note to myself: I really need to start using more of what's already in the freezer - I'm running out of room to put all these freezer meals! I still have a few more planned and am just hoping that there will be room to squeeze them all in. Fingers crossed!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Bean and Cheese Burritos - Freezer Meal
I finally got around to assembling the burritos I've been planning on for days. I made those refried beans several days ago, and was totally planning on making my own flour tortillas to wrap the beans in. But I never got around to it, and really needed to assemble these burritos before the beans started going weird... So storebought tortillas it was!
These were super simple, and I think they'll be really good to have around - frozen burritos can be so convenient!
Bean and Cheese Frozen Burritos
Flour tortillas
Refried beans (can be canned or homemade)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Start by heating the tortillas, a few at a time, to make them malleable. Spoon 3-4 tablespoons beans on a tortilla, and top with about a tablespoon of cheese.
Fold in ends of tortilla, and roll up. Place seam-side down in a baking pan.
Repeat with remaining ingredients. When pan is full, cover with foil or plastic wrap and place in freezer. I made two pans of burritos, and have some beans leftover. When the burritos are frozen, remove from pan and place them in a large freezer bag. Be sure to squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible to prevent freezer burn. You can also choose to individually wrap the burritos before bagging them to further protect against freezer burn.
If you want, you could do beef and bean burritos instead. Just substitute taco meat for the shredded cheese.
To heat, I'm not really sure. I would guess you just stick one on a plate and microwave for a couple minutes or until it's heated through. To do several at once, heat in the oven until heated through. Since I've never made these before, that's about as detailed as I can get right now! Maybe the next time we go shopping, I'll peek at the directions on a package of frozen burritos to see what that says. :-)
Next up on my list of things to make and freeze are baked beans with hot dogs, and bean soup. I'll be soaking the beans tonight, so stay tuned for those recipes!
These were super simple, and I think they'll be really good to have around - frozen burritos can be so convenient!
Bean and Cheese Frozen Burritos
Flour tortillas
Refried beans (can be canned or homemade)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Start by heating the tortillas, a few at a time, to make them malleable. Spoon 3-4 tablespoons beans on a tortilla, and top with about a tablespoon of cheese.
Fold in ends of tortilla, and roll up. Place seam-side down in a baking pan.
Repeat with remaining ingredients. When pan is full, cover with foil or plastic wrap and place in freezer. I made two pans of burritos, and have some beans leftover. When the burritos are frozen, remove from pan and place them in a large freezer bag. Be sure to squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible to prevent freezer burn. You can also choose to individually wrap the burritos before bagging them to further protect against freezer burn.
If you want, you could do beef and bean burritos instead. Just substitute taco meat for the shredded cheese.
To heat, I'm not really sure. I would guess you just stick one on a plate and microwave for a couple minutes or until it's heated through. To do several at once, heat in the oven until heated through. Since I've never made these before, that's about as detailed as I can get right now! Maybe the next time we go shopping, I'll peek at the directions on a package of frozen burritos to see what that says. :-)
Next up on my list of things to make and freeze are baked beans with hot dogs, and bean soup. I'll be soaking the beans tonight, so stay tuned for those recipes!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Home-Style Chili - Freezer Meal
I love this picture - makes me think of hard life on the trail, eating whatever foods you brought or could hunt up. Foods like chili and other simple one-pot meals topped the menu. This picture is found in the chili section of the book "Where's Dad Now That I Need Him?" The book is a lot more than recipes, but there is a sizable recipe section, including an entire chapter on chili.
This is the first recipe in that chili chapter, and it's super good! Simmering for a really long time, it starts very watery but over the hours it thickens and the flavors blend so deliciously. This is a chili that just gets better the longer it sits! That's also what makes it a great freezer meal.
For this recipe, since it already makes so much, I didn't have to double it or anything. Just made it as-is, and it made enough for 3 freezer meals for my family, plus enough for dinner tonight.
Home-Style Chili
3 cups dry kidney beans plus soaking water
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
4 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped celery (I skipped this, as I used up all my celery for the curry)
1 tsp. pepper
4 tsp. chili powder
6 cups water
1 #2 1/2 can tomatoes, pureed in blender (about 2 14-oz. cans)
2 cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tsp. celery salt
I also added about a cup of squash puree from my freezer, a couple sliced carrots, a seeded jalapeno, and a can of olives, sliced. I like lots of stuff in my chili! I also used TVP in place of some of the ground beef.
Wash beans; cover with water and soak overnight. In a skillet, cook meat and onions until meat is browned and onions are tender. Add to beans in a heavy kettle. Stir in remaining ingredients except celery. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 4 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Add more water if necessary to keep chili from scorching. Add celery and simmer 30 minutes more.
This could probably be done in a slow cooker - just toss everything in once you've browned the meat and onion, and cook for several hours.
Mmm, look at that big ole' pot of thick, chunky chili! Yum!
Freezer Meal: Same as with the curry - once chili is finished cooking, let cool and separate into meal-sized portions, into freezer containers, ziploc-style freezer bags, or canning jars. Freeze. To use, thaw completely in refrigerator, and heat in a saucepan over medium heat until heated through. Again, if you use freezer bags, freeze it flat to make best use of freezer space, and to allow for faster thawing.
I did the curry in gallon-sized bags, and the chili in quart-sized. With a fairly small family like mine, either size works fine.
Easy Curry - Freezer Meal
This is the second freezer meal I've chosen to work on (the first being the burritos for which I made those refried beans). I really love curry. I grew up on the boxed curry, where you cook the meat and vegetables, then add water and those squares of curry paste. It's so yummy, but those boxes are so expensive! I do think that the boxed curry will always be my favorite, but this recipe is a very delicious and inexpensive substitute. It came from the More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre. I love using this book for yummy, inexpensive, practical recipes.
I doubled the recipe and it made enough for three freezer meals for my family. I cooked it up after dinner last night, so I wasn't heating up the apartment by simmering the food during the day. I try to avoid doing anything that will heat up the apartment in the middle of the day - it's already too hot!
Easy Curry
1/4-1/2 lb. chicken or other meat (raw or cooked), finely cut
2-2 1/2 cups water
2 medium carrots
3 stalks celery
1 green pepper
1/2 medium onion
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. curry powder (this makes a medium spiciness - for spicy use more, for mild use less)
1 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp. cornstarch
Brown meat in small amount of fat. Add water. Chop and add vegetables. Add salt, pepper, and curry powder. Blend tomato sauce, milk, and cornstarch, and add.
Simmer 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender and sauce is thick and glossy. Stir frequently. Serve over rice, noodles, or biscuits.
Freezer Meal: Once curry is finished cooking, let cool and separate into meal-sized portions, into freezer containers, ziploc-style freezer bags, or canning jars. Freeze. To use, thaw completely in refrigerator, and heat in a saucepan over medium heat until heated through.
If you put it in freezer bags, flatten it out to freeze. You can stack the frozen bags easily so it takes up less freezer space, and it thaws faster.
I was going to wait and do the curry another night, but we had chicken last night for dinner and there were several drumsticks left. Opportunity knocked, and I used the leftover chicken to make the curry after we had dinner. I had planned on boiling some separately for this recipe, but why do all that work when there was already cooked chicken available! ;-)
Later today I'll be making a nice big batch of chili, and possibly tortillas for the burritos. Stay tuned!
I doubled the recipe and it made enough for three freezer meals for my family. I cooked it up after dinner last night, so I wasn't heating up the apartment by simmering the food during the day. I try to avoid doing anything that will heat up the apartment in the middle of the day - it's already too hot!
Easy Curry
1/4-1/2 lb. chicken or other meat (raw or cooked), finely cut
2-2 1/2 cups water
2 medium carrots
3 stalks celery
1 green pepper
1/2 medium onion
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. curry powder (this makes a medium spiciness - for spicy use more, for mild use less)
1 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp. cornstarch
Brown meat in small amount of fat. Add water. Chop and add vegetables. Add salt, pepper, and curry powder. Blend tomato sauce, milk, and cornstarch, and add.
Simmer 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender and sauce is thick and glossy. Stir frequently. Serve over rice, noodles, or biscuits.
Sorry for the bad pic, the lighting in my kitchen is terrible! But here you can see all the delicious veggies and the thick, glossy sauce.
Freezer Meal: Once curry is finished cooking, let cool and separate into meal-sized portions, into freezer containers, ziploc-style freezer bags, or canning jars. Freeze. To use, thaw completely in refrigerator, and heat in a saucepan over medium heat until heated through.
If you put it in freezer bags, flatten it out to freeze. You can stack the frozen bags easily so it takes up less freezer space, and it thaws faster.
I was going to wait and do the curry another night, but we had chicken last night for dinner and there were several drumsticks left. Opportunity knocked, and I used the leftover chicken to make the curry after we had dinner. I had planned on boiling some separately for this recipe, but why do all that work when there was already cooked chicken available! ;-)
Later today I'll be making a nice big batch of chili, and possibly tortillas for the burritos. Stay tuned!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Refried Beans
I've got a series of posts that I'm working on right now. I've decided to delve into the world of freezer meals - who doesn't love the idea of having dinner all ready in the freezer, and all you have to do is take it out to thaw in the morning and it's ready to heat for dinner! So I sorted through all the stuff in my freezer, taking inventory and deciding what to use and how to make room for dinners. Next I planned several meals that I will be making over the next many days. Freezer meals usually mean big batches and lots of cooking. You can either do one or two huge marathon cooking sessions and get it all done at once, or spread it out over several days and/or cooking sessions. I'll be spreading it out, doing one or two meals or parts of a meal per day.
One of my planned meals is frozen burritos. These appeal to me because you can take out and heat as many as you need, plus I just really love burritos. But one of my criteria for the meals I planned was that they should use as many things that I already have as possible - no going out and buying a can or two of refried beans when I had a bag of pintos waiting in the cupboard! So I made a big ole' batch of refried beans from scratch. It was easier than I expected, though it took a long time.
Refried Beans
1 lb. dried pinto, pink, or kidney beans plus soaking water
6 cups water
2 onions, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup hot bacon drippings, margarine, or lard
Salt to taste
Soak beans overnight or by quick method. Add water and onions. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer slowly until beans are tender, about 3 hours. Mash beans with potato masher.
Add fat and salt. Mix well; continue cooking, stirring frequently until beans are thickened and fat is absorbed. Serve at once or refrigerate for later use.
This is the first time I've made real refried beans. I've made a quick facsimile using bean powder, but never actually cooked the beans, mashed them, and "refried" them. I was pleased that they turned out so good - thick and flavorful. They also thickened up quite a bit in the fridge. These pictures were taken after chilling overnight - I made the beans last night when there was no good lighting. But don't they look good now?
Stay tuned for the next post in my freezer meal adventure - I've got to assemble and freeze the burritos!
One of my planned meals is frozen burritos. These appeal to me because you can take out and heat as many as you need, plus I just really love burritos. But one of my criteria for the meals I planned was that they should use as many things that I already have as possible - no going out and buying a can or two of refried beans when I had a bag of pintos waiting in the cupboard! So I made a big ole' batch of refried beans from scratch. It was easier than I expected, though it took a long time.
Refried Beans
1 lb. dried pinto, pink, or kidney beans plus soaking water
6 cups water
2 onions, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup hot bacon drippings, margarine, or lard
Salt to taste
Soak beans overnight or by quick method. Add water and onions. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer slowly until beans are tender, about 3 hours. Mash beans with potato masher.
Add fat and salt. Mix well; continue cooking, stirring frequently until beans are thickened and fat is absorbed. Serve at once or refrigerate for later use.
This is the first time I've made real refried beans. I've made a quick facsimile using bean powder, but never actually cooked the beans, mashed them, and "refried" them. I was pleased that they turned out so good - thick and flavorful. They also thickened up quite a bit in the fridge. These pictures were taken after chilling overnight - I made the beans last night when there was no good lighting. But don't they look good now?
Stay tuned for the next post in my freezer meal adventure - I've got to assemble and freeze the burritos!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)