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Make your work do double duty. Doubling or tripling the recipe for casseroles, stews, soups, pot pies, pasta dishes or enchiladas is not hard. Put the second and third portions in dishes to freeze to use at a later time. Most casseroles will be good for up to two months in the freezer. Dishes with chicken will last up to three months.
Cooking two or three times as much takes only a little longer for chopping and rolling, but on a busy night in three or six weeks, you will have bought yourself some time. -
Spray a baking spray into the dish before adding the food to be. Place the cooked food into the dish and cool it in the refrigerator. Then cover it tightly with foil and freeze it for a day or two. When it is fully, frozen, remove it from the baking dish and place the frozen food in a securely locking freezer bag. If it is too big for a freezer bag, wrap it tightly with heavy duty foil by double folding the foil at the top and on the sides. The idea is to keep all the air out.
When you get ready to reheat the meal, it will slip right back into the baking dish that molded it,and will be able to be reheated and served with that dish. Keep a log on or near the freezer, listing what is available and the date it was frozen. - Cabbage, celery and radishes do not freeze well. Egg products get rubbery, or runny. Rice and pasta, if frozen alone and not in a main dish, become mushy. The local agricultural extension services provide useful information about preserving food and nutrition in general. University of Georgia provides more tips about what not to freeze.
