Freezer Cooking Reheating Tips

Reheating certain foods can be tricky. Many times over the years of learning, I’ve overcooked the pasta in a casserole or soup and had mush. Not very appetizing.  Here are some simple reheating tips so your foods will look and taste better:

• Soup can be a simple but very hearty and satisfying meal.  When it comes to freezer cooking, simply freeze the ingredients.  Frozen soups can lose their consistency when reheated.  If you make your own broth, you can definitely freeze that.  Add a package of frozen broth and a package of frozen chicken broth to one jumbo storage bag and label “chicken soup”.  When it’s time to eat the chicken soup, simply thaw the broth and chicken.  Add your veggies the day you will actually eat the soup.

• If you find your family doesn’t like a certain ingredient after it’s been frozen, simply omit that item and add it the dish as you are cooking it for that night’s supper.  My family prefers broccoli more firm.  This means I add it to a recipe at the last minute whenever possible.

• If your dish calls for pasta, remember to assemble it with slightly undercooked pasta.  The pasta will finish cooking when you reheat the dish.

Freezer Cooking Storage Tips

If you have wanted to try out freezer cooking but thought you would have to purchase 30 freezer-safe casserole dishes beforehand, you are in luck.  As it turns out you only need one or two of them! Here are some tips on how to freeze and store all of your meals:

• Stock up on aluminum foil, jumbo sized plastic storage bags, and both gallon and quart sized plastic freezer bags.  Around the holidays the aluminum pans go on major sales.  We shop at Costco for our storage bags, buying in bulk saves a lot.  No room to store bags in bulk? Go in with a friend to share the boxes and still get the discount.

• To make the most of your freezer space, try to freeze your foods as flatly as possibly.  You will be able to stack them on top of each other and fit more food into your freezer.

• To freeze casseroles, you’ll simply line the casserole dishes with enough aluminum foil to come up over the sides of the dish.  After the casserole is assembled, bring the foil up and cover the casserole tightly, and then wrap it in a second freezer bag.

• Once the casserole is frozen, remove it from the outer bag, pop the frozen casserole out of the dish, and place the aluminum foil wrapped casserole back into the freezer bag.  When it is time to cook the casserole, remove it from the freezer and place in the same baking dish to thaw.  Once thawed, take it out of the freezer bag and cook.  Since it is lined with the aluminum foil, clean up will be a breeze!  Simply throw the foil out and wash the dish!

• As you know, a full freezer is more efficient.  To prepare your freezer to freeze all the food, wash out your empty milk gallons and fill with water.  Place them in your freezer.  And if you wanted to quick-freeze something on your cooking day, all you need to do is take out one of the frozen gallon jugs and smack it on some cement to start cracking the ice.  Place the cracked ice and the items you want quick-frozen into a smaller camping-type cooler.  They’ll be frozen in no time!

• Make it a point to label each freezer bag.  You can write the name of the entrée and the reheating instructions on a piece of paper and stick it inside the bag, on top of the aluminum foil covered casserole or write the instructions on the bag with a permanent marker.  Another idea is to print out the information on packing slip labels ahead of time and just peel and stick as you cook and freeze your items.

• Keep track of the meals you have on hand by placing a magnet mounted whiteboard on your freezer door.  If you add three lasagnas, two portions of chicken fajita meat, two beef stews and one ham casserole, write them on your board.  As you take things out of the freezer to thaw, erase them.  It can be easy to forget what you have previously made, and if you don’t remember it’s there, you’ll never be able to use it!

• If you don’t have a deep freeze, try bulk cooking in two-week inventories.  By freezing things flatly you should be able to store two weeks worth of food in a normal sized freezer.  Our menu plan is set up for very small spaces and weekly freezer cooking.

Chicken Chowmein

This is a great recipe to make ahead and freeze. Especially in lunch size portions. It’s healthier than a lean cuisine and if you make up a big batch it is very cost effective. You can freeze the rice in ziplock baggies per portion or make some up at the beginning of the week and store in a tupperware container to use all week.

How To Make Homemade Chicken Chow Mein And Rice
By: Shelly Hill

When it comes to cooking Asian-style food, I find it difficult to find easy to prepare recipes that use ingredients that I can readily find at my local supermarket.

This particular recipe was given to us a few years ago by a friend. His wife is a fantastic cook and was gracious enough to share her recipe with us.

Time Saving Tip: If you want to save some time, chop up your fresh vegetables, precook your chicken and rice the day before and then refrigerate in separate containers. The next evening when you get home from work, you can have this meal on the dinner table in less than 20 minutes.

Chicken Chow Mein And Rice Recipe

12 oz. cooked chicken, de-boned and diced into pieces
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 oz. water chestnuts
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of warm water
1 cup cooked white rice
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

In a large sauce pan, simmer the chopped onion and celery in 2 tablespoons of water for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the 1 cup of water, cornstarch, soy sauce and ground ginger. Simmer this mixture over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes or until it starts to thicken. Stir in the diced chicken and remaining ingredients. Heat this mixture over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes. Your vegetables should be crisp and tender but not soggy.

Serve over 1/2 cup of cooked white rice. This recipe makes 2 hearty servings.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother who lives in Central Pennsylvania who enjoys cooking and baking foods for her family. You can visit Shelly online at my.tupperware.com/Ravish30 or her recipe site at wahmshelly.blogspot.com for additional easy to prepare recipes.

English Muffin Pizzas

This is an idea that I and my brother loved growing up. I can remember many slumber parties with an English muffin pizza bar. I’ve also done the same thing with my kids. They love putting as much stuff on their muffin as they can. Yeah, sometimes it will make a mess, but nothing that can’t be cleaned up in a few minutes. It’s also fun to see their friends faces light up when they get to create their own mini pizza’s.

One other thing to think about is the fact that you can make up these muffins bake them slightly to get the cheese melted enough to hold the toppings down and then freeze them. I use a very large and deep, aluminum lasagna pan. Let them cool and place in layers with wax paper between. I wrap the pan in aluminum foil and write the directions on top for reheating. It makes for a really quick snack when the kids get home. Especially on those days I may not be home when they are.

English Muffin Mini Pizzas Recipe For Kids and Adults
By: Shelly Hill

When our daughter was a teenager, she would ask me to make these English Muffin mini pizzas almost on a weekly basis! She absolutely loved eating these. If the toppings we used are not to your liking, feel free to replace them with whatever it is that you like on your pizza.

If you like a little kick to your mini pizza, you can try adding some crushed red pepper or minced garlic to your toppings.

Alternative Pizza Toppings: sliced ham, shredded chicken, beef steak pieces, pineapple chunks, anchovies, red and green peppers or broccoli florets.

English Muffin Mini Pizzas

3 English Muffin halves
4-5 ounces pizza sauce
1/2 of minced onion
2 tablespoons of sliced black olives
9 pieces of sliced pepperoni
4 ounce can of mushroom pieces
1/2 cup of shredded Mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain water/juice from black olives and mushroom pieces and set aside. Place English Muffin halves cut side up on a baking sheet lined with a nonstick silicone baking mat. If you don’t have a silicone baking mat, line your baking sheet with some aluminum foil. Place baking sheet into the oven for 5 minutes. In a small bowl, combine together the pizza sauce and minced onion. Remove English Muffin halves from the oven and spoon the pizza sauce on top. Gently layer the black olives, pepperoni, mushroom pieces and finally the shredded Mozzarella Cheese on top. Place the baking sheet back into the oven and bake for 10-12 additional minutes or until the cheese is melted, hot and bubbly.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania who enjoys quick and easy recipes for her family. You can visit Shelly’s online recipe site at wahmshelly.blogspot.com for free recipes and cooking tips. You can visit Shelly’s online Tupperware site at my.tupperware.com/Ravish30 to contact her directly.

This article may be reprinted for free so long as the author’s resource box is kept intact and all links remain live and clickable. The Article Source must also be included. All rights are reserved by the author.

Slash Your Grocery Budget With Freezer Meals

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