I'll be having a baby in a few weeks and want to stock up on frozen casseroles & other foods like that. My wonderful niece will be doing most of the warming up & reheating of food right after the baby is born so I'm looking for a great cookbook that will not only give me a recipe, but will also tell me EXACTLY how to go about reheating it. Or if you have any that you have tried & love please send my way.
I've looked on Recipezaar.com but haven't seen much in that way of preparation (probably not searching right) and the ones I've found say "freeze & reheat when ready." A little too vague!!! TIA Mammas!!!!!!
Thanks for the great suggestions. Looks like I'll be checking out a couple of websites & cookbooks over the next couple of weeks. I just want to make things as easy as possible for my niece since she is sweet enough to help. Thanks again!
WWW.savingdinner.com has these awesome 5 for the freezer recipes!!!
I was looking on the food network website for another recipe I wanted to share with someone else on mamasource and saw that they had a link for freezer friendly recipes on the main page. I didn't actually review any of these recipes, but I thought maybe it would have something you could use:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/lf_qe_freezer_friendly/0,....
It's so great that you're thinking ahead about this. I wish I had. And congratulations on your upcoming bundle of joy to be!
:-)
Actually, Freeze and reheat is exactly that. As a rule most things can be cooked from frozen. They just may take a bit longer. A good rule of thumb for frozen foods is increase the heat you would normally cook at by about 25 to 50 degrees F. It depends on the oven you have. Most average casseroles will be done in 60 - 80 minutes if they are cooked in a flat container. You could also try using a slow cooker, without the freezing. I found mine makes my life much easier, and there are tones of recipes out there that are almost as easy as throwing a frozen casserole in the oven. You would be amazed how good, a few cheap steaks or pork chops can taste when stuck in a crock pot with salt and pepper, a can of tomato or mushroom or onion soup, plus sliced onion and water. It would only take you maybe 3 to 4 minutes to put it on. Turn it on low and forget about it for 5 to 6 hours. Good luck, and take care.
I have this book and it shows you exactly how to do it (as many regular recipes won't freeze well), as well as how to freeze, reheat...
http://www.amazon.com/Eat-lean-Too-busy-cook/dp/096290607...
There are a lot of other freezer cookbooks as well:
Just a side note, my book says to thaw the meal in the refridgerator, and then bake it around the same temp as you typically would, but add about 30 more minutes (generally speaking of course).
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/103-###-###-####-###-...
If you email me privately I can send you a pdf file of a bunch of freezer recipes, with specific instructions on how to prepare, put in the freezer and then pull out from the freezer to cook.
