From the Freezer to the Party

[Sage]

For as long as I can remember I always have meals waiting in the freezer ….just in case something should come up and I can’t cook or that unexpected visitors arrive. During the holidays, there are lots of traditional foods that I prepare as well as many family favorites. My cookies are also waiting to be plated; I remember my boys going to sneak some of these treats when they thought I wouldn’t notice.
Do you have and favorites waiting in the freezer?
Here is what I found here at Food.com
Tourtiere (French Canadian Meat Pie)…this one a necessity in French Canadian homes.
Freezer Ready Cornflake Chicken Fingers
Tuna with Ginger-Mushroom Cream Sauce
A Different Chicken Pot Pie (for the freezer)
Chocolate Chip Freezer Cake
Meatballs Baked for a Crowd Pleaser or Freezer
Easy Chicken Parmesan
Freezer Tacos Kit

Happy Cooking!

[JoyfulCook]

There are so many dishes that you can precook and have ready to just defrost and reheat.

I always have Sauces to put with pasta but here are are a few of my favourites



Chili Con Carne
Sri Lanka Chicken Curry
Tasty Italian Beef and Pasta

[**Tinkerbell**]

I usually have a selection of soups and chili vacuum packed in the freezer.
Often there is lasagna and/or enchiladas as well.
I used to be really good at making a lot of OAMC recipes, but these days I'm not cooking for an army so I can just make a regular recipe and freeze half of it.
I also like to prepare portioned packs of chicken strips, chicken chunks, boneless breasts, beef chunks and steaks. Some I'll vacuum pack with their marinades already in them, so when they thaw they're marinading.
I just mark the package if it's strips or chunks so I know what recipes I can make with it.
It's so convenient to have something handy that you don't have to think much about to get it on the table.

[duonyte]

I have not been as good about this as I used to be in the past. And a few times I've thrown things in the freezer in a hurry without labeling thinking I'll remember - yeah, fat chance. How I ended up with liver defrosted when I thought I was pulling out veal. I don't really make and freeze casseroles or complete meals. I will freeze left over stew (sans potatoes) and chili. Soups we pretty much always eat up.

I do always have frozen meatballs - a lifesaver for spaghetti dinners, sandwiches, or hearty but quick soups. I buy pork and rib-eye sliced for bulgogi, divide it into smaller packages, so can make stir-fries and other things that call for thinly sliced meat very quickly - as well as bulgogi.

I also always have frozen hamburger patties in the freezer. I will fry from frozen for a quick hamburger or cover with a mushroom gravy for a patty dinner or thaw two patties to make 30-Minute Chili or a soup. They thaw quickly in the micro if I did not think to take out earlier.

I also freeze two link portions of sausage - Italian, bratwurst, greek - sometimes fail to label them, but that's the breaks - and those are good for pasta or soups.

Frozen dumplings - Asian, Lithuanian, Polish - are good for a quick meal. Also frozen scallops are good - they thaw quickly and just a few make a nice serving.

In the past I used to do more, but these seem to be the most useful things for me to be doing.

[**Tinkerbell**]

duonyte wrote:
a few times I've thrown things in the freezer in a hurry without labeling thinking I'll remember - yeah, fat chance.

Ugh! I hate when I do that! Seriously, my brain says, "Honey, you ain't gonna remember what that is."
But my lazy butt says, "Oh come on! It's bright red!"

fast forward two months...

Brain: "Um...there are 3 bags of red stuff in here. Why didn't you label all of them?!"
Lazy Butt: What? Huh? Oh... Are you talking to me?

It happens more often than I'd like to admit.