Sunday, June 12, 2011

Freezer Meals, Simple and Practical

Here's what we had for dinner tonight. Chicken Pot Pie.
There are lots of ways to do freezer meals. You can spend a whole day making 30 different meals; you can make a 30 batches of one meal and trade with 29 friends. The trading is actually great fun if someone else organizes it. 

I keep it simple. When I have an abundance of something; like leftover chicken in this case; I pick a recipe to use it up, and I make as much as I can with the ingredients that I have. We eat it for dinner, and whatever is left gets divided into freezer bags, labeled and put in the freezer. 

For a tip on how to fit the most meals in your freezer, see this post.

As to the labeling; and organizing - this is important because if you do not keep your freezer meals organized, you will end up forgetting what you have and wasting food. I keep a simple chart taped to the wall next to my stove. I write the name of the recipe, the date I put it in the freezer and any special instructions. I put the same information on the bag label. 
When I use something out of the freezer, I cross it off the list. Easy Peasy.

I mostly use these meals on busy days, but I also check the list periodically to see if there is anything that has been in there for awhile and needs to be eaten up.

As to this recipe, I made up the chicken pot pie filling only, and froze that.
Tonight, I heated it up and poured it over biscuits. You can also put it in a pie crust and bake it. OR you can pour it over sliced bread.

NOTE: I often alter recipes based on what I have available. For example, I used canned mixed vegetables, not frozen. You can use a cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup for your gravy or use broth and thicken it with corn starch or flour. If you are new to cooking from scratch and inventing your own recipes; here is a good substitution chart. I have a printed and laminated one from Betty Crocker that I use as a bookmark in my cookbook. I refer to it often. I'm not saving much if I have to run to the store for one ingredient.

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