What's in your freezer?

Boca00

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 5:41 pm

Trying to fill up my freezer with easy suppers and baked goods so I can pretend to be a balabusta.

So far I prepped lots of soup, lasagna, meatballs and schnitzel for suppers, and baked cookies, hamantaschen and challah.

What else can I prep in advance?
Any ideas?
Bonus points for easy recipes that use typical ingredients!

thunderstorm

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 5:46 pm

Wow! Geshikt!
I'm actually working on emptying my freezers so that I clean them out and stock up on meat and chicken for Pesach.

I prep Potatoe Kugel once a month and freeze them baked. Cover to rewarm and they come out delicious .

boogiebabe

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 5:47 pm

Apple cobbler
Meat roast (cool and slice before freezing)
Lukshen kugel

Plan how much you'll need from now till erev Pesach so you don't cook too much.

chelsealew

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 5:51 pm

In attempting to stock freezer before baby,
I've done chicken soup, potato kugel, vegetarian kishke for shabbos.

N'sMom

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 5:54 pm

1. A LOT of soup. On tired nights, a nice bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich is a very decent supper. Also, if I am the one who gets a cold, no one is going to make soup for me, so I make sure to have some available.

2. Desserts for shabbos. Whenever I bake, I make 2 and put one away. That way I have a variety for last minute guests.

3. Meatballs, sliced roast and turkey in gravy, chicken cacciatore. Again, shabbos insurance policies. If a last minute person calls, and I have only planned on one protein, these are available.

4. Challah. I bake in bulk and it lasts at least 5 or 5 weeks.

I also have ingredients that I like to have around like fresh herbs, chocolate chips, fresh cranberries, etc.

Raisin

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 5:55 pm

Things I freeze:

Cakes of all types
kugels - potato, butternut,
Rice, orzo, mushroom boreka
apple crumble, lemon pie
chicken and other soups

I'm also trying to empty my freezers now in advance of pesach but if I have extra food I prefer to freeze then throw it out.

ra_mom

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 5:57 pm

My freezer has seasoned chicken legs, cubed baby chicken, breaded cutlets, formed meatballs, formed burgers, pepper steak, marinated roast beef, chicken soup, soaked cholent beans, marrow bones, club steak,
Frozen pancakes, fries, broccoli, ice pops, ice cream.
I was thinking about doing a full inventory to get through everything since pesach is in 8 weeks.

thunderstorm

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 5:58 pm

Learning wrote:

How do you freeze everything without it getting freezer taste?

I store my baked goods like bread, cake and challah in a non frost free freezer.
Frost free freezers leave a freezer taste the other type doesn't. But if you wrap the food properly there is no freezer taste. All my other things I freeze in frost free freezers. I wrap the food in aluminum foil and then seal each thing in ziplock food storage bag or "challah" bags which fit 9 x13 pans.

N'sMom

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 6:00 pm

Learning wrote:

How do you freeze everything without it getting freezer taste?

First of all, you freeze them airtight. Soup is easy -- you just put it in containers. When I freeze meatballs, cakes, etc., I put the entire pan into a ziplock and close tightly. The other issue is that I find that meats, etc only really freeze perfectly if they are a "wet" preparation. That's why I freeze chicken cacciatore and not plain roast chicken. The food needs to be mostly covered with a sauce, which I guess protects it from freezer burn?

mig100

Mon, Feb 18 2019, 6:48 pm

Learning wrote:

How do you freeze everything without it getting freezer taste?

Freezing raw prepared food is the best!
Ex: prepared meatballs, marinated chicken cutlets. Etc

U can freeze in a pan then put straight into oven for things that get baked. U can have fresh hot meal with no prep time!!

EmpireState

Tue, Feb 19 2019, 3:56 pm

mig100 wrote:

Doesn’t the extra baking/ cooking time (being that the food is frozen) negate the prep time saved?

ra_mom

Tue, Feb 19 2019, 4:17 pm

EmpireState wrote:

Doesn’t the extra baking/ cooking time (being that the food is frozen) negate the prep time saved?

I thaw first and bake once defrosted.
Also, I have time to set up the oven to delay bake before I leave the house, but don't have time to season, form or bread then.

nicole81

Tue, Feb 19 2019, 4:20 pm

Soup
homemade bread to serve with the soup
Raw stuffed chicken that goes straight into the oven (delicious recipe from Mishpacha)
Lachmagine
Individual frozen pizza slices
Various bundt cakes
Shepherd's pie filling (meat and vegetables), just add to fresh mashed potatoes and bake
Chicken tagine
Farfel
Various roasts in sauces
Corned beef cooked and sliced (heat with fresh sauce/glaze)
Capons stuffed with rice or flour based stuffing
Compote
Sweet and sour meatballs
Honey garlic meatballs (from this site)
Raw mini meatballs to throw into whatever sauce

pause

Tue, Feb 19 2019, 4:25 pm

Lots of frozen vegetables
Home made techina (I make it from tahini and freeze in containers for Shabbos)
Portioned for my size family chicken legs, chicken cutlets, ground chicken, meat for chulent
Portioned for shabbos: kneidlach and lukshen
Raw ready-to-bake chocolate babka (defrost and bake fresh)
Marble cake
Healthier oatmeal cookies for kids' snacks
Tons of frozen soups (vegetable, bean, butternut squash, split pea, etc.)
Challa

L25

Tue, Feb 19 2019, 4:42 pm

if you buy your food frozen how does that work? I buy frozen chop meat, chicken cutlets, tilapia... so if I defrost it I cook it. Freezing stuff raw sounds great just not sure how it works.

tothepoint

Tue, Feb 19 2019, 4:43 pm

I love to freeze raw prepared dishes. That way no will ever guess it's coming from the freezer.

-cabbage pastrami egg rolls
-marinated cubed cutlets in wontons
-shortcut mozzarella sticks... Just roll a pc of string cheese in egg roll

Deep fry for 5 minutes and yala!