Wednesday, May 14, 2008

WFMW: Freezer Cooking

I've done another post on how Freezer Cooking works for me, but after that first foray into putting many casseroles in the freezer at once I learned a lesson. A lesson that I've now figured out how to resolve and that I'll share with you. When I put 5 casseroles in the freezer at once, I did so in my normal dishes. That meant that a few days later when I needed a dish because I hadn't run the dishwasher, almost all of mine were in the freezer! That's no good!!! I actually had to take a dish from the dishwasher & hand wash it so I could make supper that night!

I know, the obvious solution is to use foil pans, but I'm trying to be budget girl too, and don't want to spend that money. Learning from my mistake, I decided to line my dish in foil before making the casserole, then wrap it up tight and freeze it. Once it is frozen I can simply remove the casserole from the dish, wrap it one more time for good measure, and stack it in the freezer. Wash my dish, and it's available for the next round of cooking. When it's time to make my casserole, I simply place it back in the dish to thaw. Clean up is a snap too!

This tip might seem obvious to you, but I learned the hard way. If you need help with something else, head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.

3 comments:

Becky said...

If I make things like casseroles to freeze, I usually freeze them in ziplock bags, then after it thaws you can put it in the casserole dish to cook. Also putting it in a bag, you can freeze it flat if space is an issue in your freezer.

Kerri said...

Great tip! Here is something to save the foil. You usually do not have to line the pan. Just spray it with Pam, and freeze. The next day, run warm water over the bottom and it will fall out like an ice cube. Then you can put it in a ziplock bag if that will fit.

I like the ziplock bags better, because they can be reused.

Loving Our Homeschool said...

I was just telling my friend the other day about freezing casseroles and that I had one foil pan but didn't want to buy more. She suggested the very same thing you did. Glad to hear that it does work well!

I might try that tip that Kerri left here in your comments as well...spraying the pan with Pam and freezing.

Thanks for sharing!

Heather