Planning for Fall Freezer Cooking...

[AuntJamelle]

Cindylouwho -

Try this link:

http://magicalholidayhome.com/forum/threads/master-freezer-cooking-thread-all-plans.32483/

If that doesn't work to to Holiday Cooking forum and scroll down to look for thread "Master Freezer Cooking"

As to needing gluten free and wanting lasagna - maybe there is a Gluten Free Lasagna Noodle product out there? I think Barilla has some. The other thing you might want to research if you haven't already is Einkorn flour and the products made with it. It is a very very old strand of wheat that many people who require gluten free can eat just fine.

http://www.amodernhomestead.com/the-case-for-einkorn/

On your beef that is already frozen - bummer! Although I don't like to do it, I believe the FDA has said that raw meat, thawed properly and quickly refrozen, is safe. We'd have to look it up to be sure though! Or like you said you could cook it and then refreeze in recipes too.

 

[Cindylouwho]

Cindylouwho -
The other thing you might want to research if you haven't already is Einkorn flour and the products made with it. It is a very very old strand of wheat that many people who require gluten free can eat just fine.

http://www.amodernhomestead.com/the-case-for-einkorn/
.

Thanks AJ! Yes -- I have see GF Lasagne noodles. I'll try them without freezing and see how they do. The link on the Einkorn wheat is VERY interesting. I have an entire commentary on it but I suspect it would hijack this thread. Will come back this weekend and start a new thread on that for us Gluten Free folks!

 

[HouseElf]

Emptied my freezer today of the few items and it is now unplugged and thawing! Tomorrow after a good clean it will be ready for filling with fall and winter meals! Working tonight on fall menu planning!

 

[AuntJamelle]

Got quite a bit done this weekend in this category! Made two pans of lasagna, two small pans of Veggie Stuffed Shells, a batch of Egg Roll Filling, a batch of Italian Pinwheels and tested a Herb Cream Cheese Pinwheel idea I had - both use Puff Pastry and are meant as appetizers.

Also cooked a lb of bacon and froze what we didn't eat right away

 

[luludou]

good work AJ! I need to cut up more bell peppers to freeze this afternoon.

 

[aggy]

I have some cut up carrots in the freezer, however upon looking at them yesterday, they look freezer burned. Do you think they're any good or should I just toss them out?

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I have some cut up carrots in the freezer, however upon looking at them yesterday, they look freezer burned. Do you think they're any good or should I just toss them out?

I toss items like that into soup or a casserole dish.

 

[aggy]

I toss items like that into soup or a casserole dish.

Thanks. I can use them when I make chicken & biscuit.

 

[AuntJamelle]

Just got my grocery list for later this week finished! Picking up items for freezer cooking and as many other non-perishable items from my master grocery list as possible!

I've been tweaking all my holiday menus and am feeling pretty good!

 

[Minta]

I picked up a bunch of red and green bell peppers that I chopped up. I was able to fill up 3 qt size freezer bags for the freezer.

 

[AuntJamelle]

Did a major round of batch cooking this weekend - even added in a couple of recipes I'd plan to make later since it was convenient with the ingredients I already had on hand for the others.

- Two pans of Crunchy Swiss Topped Chicken Bake - Frozen with the panko bread topping in its own bag bundled together with the foil wrapped main part as a kit

- Two pans of Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Roll Ups

- One pan of Poppyseed Chicken, cracker topping in its own bag again

- Two pans of Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

- Two bags of Crockpot Beef and Mushrooms

- One round of Mini Chicken Turnovers

- One batch of Baked Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls (recipe only ended up making 9 egg rolls but since this is the first time making it will be a nice test amount!)

Also had a few cups of extra cooked shredded chicken left over that I froze for use later. And I purchased ground beef on Friday and got that portioned out and frozen in ziplock bags as well!

The bar fridge freeze is FULL! Chest freezer is starting to fill up too! I really need to dig through it and the upright to see what needs to be thrown out and what can be rearranged to make more space!

 

[Ahorsesoul]

- Two pans of Crunchy Swiss Topped Chicken Bake - Frozen with the panko bread topping in its own bag bundled together with the foil wrapped main part as a kit

Did you bake the chicken before freezing or just put the ingredients together and freeze?

 

[AuntJamelle]

That particular recipe the chicken is put in raw, then topped with Swiss cheese slices and then a sauce. I froze that in a foil lined pan, popped it out, wrapped in foil again completely and put in a big ziplock bag. Then I just slipped the small ziplock of Panko crumbs (with seasonings) inside that same large ziplock bag. The day I make it I'll just take the crumbs out and mix with some melted butter!

I prefer to freeze the dry ingredients of a crumb topping like this with the meal in question - OR sure as shootin' I would forget to have the right items on hand the day I intend to bake it!!!

I can post this or any of the recipes above in the Master Freezer Cooking Thread? Some may already be there - I know I made this one last year and we loved it!

 

[Ahorsesoul]

Thanks. That was how I thought you might have froze it. I have it on the menu for next week. OT--I just noticed a tiny message as I was typing that a draft message was saved. Love that feature on this site.

 

[AuntJamelle]

Did some more freezer cooking this weekend!

Two 8x8 pans of Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole and a batch of PB Chocolate Swirl cookies!

Also a nice big bag of cooked and shredded chicken breast too!

And I also made two batches of Broccoli Cheddar Soup to freeze - one for work event this Thursday and one for a party in a week or so.

And I made a big batch of White Chicken Chili for the same work event as well.

 

[Minta]

Made a big batch of taco meat over the weekend. Used part of it for dinner over the weekend and freezing the rest.

 

[Cindylouwho]

Okay -- I've hit my deadline. Used the very very last freezer meal. And I have a quarter-share of beef coming in the next few weeks so have to watch the space. Gotta figure out dinner.

Meanwhile - Re GF Lasagne. I don't think I posted this, but I found a recipe with Tinkyada GF Pasta that I'm going to try. Still suspect it will be a bit slimy but we will see. Fingers crossed!

 

[MinnieCo]

Made up some meat, onions, mushrooms for beef stroganoff this weekend and made a double batch to put one in the freezer for later.

 

[AuntJamelle]

This weekend I made, baked and froze a batch of Lemon Snowball cookies and a batch of White Choc Peanut Rolo Cookies. Also made and froze the dough for Gingersnaps.

Also did two 8x8 pans of Butternut Squash Lasagna, a 1/2 batch of Swedish Dill Meatballs, a batch of Beefy Mushroom Gravy and about 1.5 lbs of browned ground beef with onion. Was hoping to do Funeral Potatoes too but ran out of time. Will try to squeeze that in later this week.

I'm in the home stretch on freezer cooking. Only the rest of the cookies and some appetizers left to go really. All the main dish type meals are DONE!

 

[Cindylouwho]

Thank you for posting that AJ! I needed to see that this morning -- it gave me the oomph I needed to conquer my day! Dang you are so good! I have other projects I'm obsessed with at the moment but I REALLY REALLY want to do freezer doughs this year. Hope I can make that happened. White Chocolate Peanut Rolo Cookies? Really? (that sounds SOOOOO good!)
(There's a recipe my friend makes that has white chocolate, dried cranberries and orange zest -- I'm going to try to make it with GF flour for thanksgiving time if I can get my act together.)