How to Freeze Make-Ahead Meals

Freezing meals ahead of time makes for quick and simple meal options.

Freezing make-ahead meals is a great way to have healthy and nutritious meals on hand that can be heated and served in a short amount of time. The preparation for many meals can be done on a day that is convenient using recipes of your choice and frozen that day to be used in the future. Make-ahead meals are great when preparing for the arrival of a new baby, for days that will be spent late at work or for days when your family is under the weather and wants a quick meal.

Things You'll Need

• Recipes
• Disposable tins
• Storage containers
• Foil
• Cookie sheets
• Storage bags
• Freezer

Instructions

1. Choose the meals that you want to make ahead of time. The best meals to freeze are pasta dishes, soups and casseroles. You can freeze food for sides as well like vegetables.

2. Purchase the necessary ingredients for the meals. If you choose recipes that all have similar ingredients you may be able to buy in larger quantities and save money.

3. Prepare meals according to your recipes. When you reheat the food you will be cooking it more so leave things such as noodles, beans or vegetables slightly undercooked. This will help keep the right consistancy for the food when you decide to use it. Vegetables that will accompany the main dishes should be cut, cleaned and blanched for two to three minutes.

4. Let food cool completely before you start the process of freezing the food. The added steam that could potentially be trapped inside the freezer containers could compromise the quality of the meals.

5. Transfer cooled food to appropriate containers. Soups and pasta freeze well in plastic storage containers, and casseroles freeze well in disposable tins. If you are freezing foods like vegetables you can place them on a cookie sheet, freeze them, and then transfer them to a storage bag that can be kept in the freezer. Pre-freezing prevents food from sticking together so you don't have to use the whole bag at once. You can take what you want and put the bag back in the freezer for a later date.

Tips & Warnings

• Meals that were made ahead and frozen are best if they are thawed for a short amount of time before cooking. Soups can be reheated frozen but pasta is best if left at room temperature for two to three hours before cooking it.

References

• Food For My Family- Food Storage