Foods to freeze

having grab and go meals have been so helpful for me. First of all, less food prep on a daily basis but just as importantly so nice to have everything pre-weighed/measured so I can't add "just a little more" to portions

various flavors braised pork tenderloin (balsamic vinegar, chipotle)

various soups/stews:  currently in my rotation is a chicken/lentil stew, a peanut chicken/sweet potato stew and a chicken soup with coconut milk

meat balls in individual portions with some sauce and parmesan 

braised cabbage/apple/sausage

instant pot pho --- besides the broth/meat I also add a small amount of soba noodles (I'm generally carb adverse so this is small serving)  It defrosts beautifully

I also freeze small portions of pasta sauce just to be able to pull out as needed.  Otherwise we tend to have pasta sauce go bad because we don't go thru it all that fast. 

They aren't recipes, but a spiral cut ham portioned out in the freezer reheats well in the microwave, as do Italian sausages cooked on the grill and frozen.

I freeze a lot of other meat when it's on sale, but not precooked.

I've actually frozen precooked meat with pretty good success.  I had bbq'd some strip steaks and had left overs and they froze really well.  Same with a whole cooked chicken from Cost****ut up before freezing).  This week I have shredded pork in pre portioned servings (3oz for me, 6 oz for mom).   The tricky part is reheating to not dry it out :)

Yeah, it's not the freezing part, but how good it tastes reheated. I've thought about cooking something halfway, maybe three-quarters, then freezing and complete cooking later. I just haven't bothered trying yet.

The steaks were very good and still medium - not well done.  The only way to know would be to try it some time but I totally understand about "how good it tastes reheated" because I hate ham that has been frozen and/or heated.  The texture changes and I won't eat it.

sigh  It's been a long day and I'm tired.  I read this topic as "Fools to freeze" and was going to offer up my Sister in Law then my excitement faded as I realized it was foods, not fools.  Oh well.

Lol! Thanks I needed that! I'm an insomniac and it's been a long night.... :)

We cook a bunch on one day.  Package it up and freeze in proportioned packets.  Then on the day we eat we just grab a pack to thaw and will fix the "with it" fresh.  Like if we want crack slaw we thaw the meat and cook the slaw fresh to go with it.  In the freezer we have precooked ground turkey, meat ball, meat loaf, steak strips, cut up rotisserie chicken and turkey patties. 

My favorites are:

Meatballs - I bag 3 up per snack bag

Mini cheese balls

Taco Pie - Cut into slices and bagged

Crustless quiche - Cut into portions and bagged

Mock chicken parm - I just freeze them in the 4 oz. ramekins

Ricotta bake - cooked in my mini meatloaf pan

Mini meatloafs

Then I bag them all up individually and freeze.  I take 2 weeks worth of breakfasts and lunches to work so I'm not tempted by anything else.  I usually cook at least a months worth of food at a time.  Takes all day on a weekend.  But totally worth it!!

cooked pinto beans freeze great - you can cook a whole pot, and freeze in "meal" sized portions in ziplock bags.  I pull them out to serve with chicken or pork with salsa.  They taste great, but can end up a little bit more mashed than when freshly cooked.