Freezer Meals

DIna00

DIna00

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What are some the best meals that freeze well?

I recently bought a number of 2 serving size aluminum rectangle containers and I want to make a freezer full of meals that I can just take out and bake. Now I just need some meal ideas!

I never really freeze food because my experience has always been my food comes back out tasting bland, tasteless, and with freezer burn. But I know many people do this so I'm determined to find some recipes that work!

Does anyone have any tips for freezing or ideas for meals that freeze well?
 
There are many foods that will freeze well . Whenever I make homemade soup, I always make a big batch and freeze some in meal containers. Its great to have on hand when you don't know what to have for dinner. Lasagna and Chili are two other things I freeze. I always make lots of these type of meals and since there is only two of us, there are lots of leftovers which I don't want to eat for a week..lol So, I freeze them.
 
I've found that tater tot casserole freezes really well. I'm not a huge fan of it, but my kids love it and it makes a great weeknight meal especially when one is already in the freezer and I just need to thaw it out. Another of my favorite freezer meals is pulled pork. I can get three meals out of one pork loin. Just need to buy hamburger buns on the day we want to eat it.

Usually when I make any kind of meal that can be made in a 13x9 I end up dividing it into smaller 8x8s and freezing one because we waste less food that way. I always write the date on the packaging, or even foil if I know it's not going to be in the freezer for too long, and always try to use the oldest first to prevent freezer burn.
 
For most of the week I have been going out to work and picking up something to eat from a small restaurant across the street. I don't want to sound picky but the food I have been paying for hasn't been great. I am very keen on the freezing of my food, but last time I tried that it did not turn out well. I remember water settling in the rice etc. I'll probably Google it but I welcome a step by step if anyone has the time for it.
 
winterybella said:
For most of the week I have been going out to work and picking up something to eat from a small restaurant across the street. I don't want to sound picky but the food I have been paying for hasn't been great. I am very keen on the freezing of my food, but last time I tried that it did not turn out well. I remember water settling in the rice etc. I'll probably Google it but I welcome a step by step if anyone has the time for it.
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Not all rice dishes freeze well and the trick is to defrost your dish in the refrigerator before reheating. For some reason, doing this gets rid of some of the water. I don't understand the logistics of it but I do know its true.
 
winterybella said:
For most of the week I have been going out to work and picking up something to eat from a small restaurant across the street. I don't want to sound picky but the food I have been paying for hasn't been great. I am very keen on the freezing of my food, but last time I tried that it did not turn out well. I remember water settling in the rice etc. I'll probably Google it but I welcome a step by step if anyone has the time for it.
Click to expand...

I have had the same experience as you Winterybella, nothing seems to come out great, it's actually seems almost ruined. I wonder if there is something I have been doing wrong.

Recently I have seen a few businesses where they have a dinner menu for the month - you pick some dishes, go to the place and physically make them yourself, put them in those tins, then go home and freeze them. Then you have premade dinners ready to just pop in the oven. I have looked at their menus and can understand how some of their meat dishes freeze well, but don't understand how the things with sauces turn out. I guess I should just splurge and try it out one month.
 
I really have not had much of an issue with foods getting gross when they have been frozen. Perhaps your freezer temperature is too low and more frost is forming on the foods? I recently froze some left over cheesy broccoli and rice and it thawed and reheated well. Tomato marinara is a sauce that freezes well, and most potato and veggie dishes do too.
 
Thanks for that tip Rosyrain - perhaps my freezer temp is too low, because yes, frost does form on lots of my freezer items, even from the store. Wow, I hope that is the answer! I'm going to go turn down the temp right now :)
 
I can only think of a couple of thing that do not freeze well. I basically survive off of freezer meals because I only cook in large batches for the most part.

Avoid freezing polenta because it will separate when it's thawed and you'll basically have to recook it to get the water back into the grain. Also mashed potatoes come out with a rather unpleasant texture. But otherwise, I freeze just about anything.
 
@DIna00 - I keep my freezer at the middle temperature on the dial so that it is just cold enough to keep everything frozen, and yet ice does not form in the freezer. I have never had to spend a day defrosting my freezer like I have seen some people do, so I think that is the trick.
 
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