{"id":2136,"date":"2016-11-06T18:00:06","date_gmt":"2016-11-06T23:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noelfigart.com\/blog\/?p=2136"},"modified":"2016-11-04T17:57:47","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:57:47","slug":"freeze-ahead-recipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/2016\/11\/06\/freeze-ahead-recipes\/","title":{"rendered":"Freeze Ahead Recipes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/110416_2154_FreezeAhead1.jpg\" width=\"364\" height=\"206\" align=\"left\" \/>I&#8217;m a new grandmother, have done a Grandma Thing, and made up a bunch of food for my daughter and her new family. These are all recipes she is familiar with me serving, but I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever made any of these specific dishes with her, so I wrote this up. After doing so, I realized that maybe putting it where it can be found easily online might not be a bad idea.<\/p>\n<p>Really, almost anything that can be cooked in a crock pot can be frozen ahead to be cooked. These are all pretty easy. Conceivably you could freeze up a recipe while cooking another, and slowly stock your freezer that way, if you wanted to. Certainly for those who don&#8217;t have a whole hour at a time to spare, that&#8217;s a decent way to sneak up on freezer cooking.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/110416_2154_FreezeAhead2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We have also found that these freeze-ahead meals are a good choice if you know anyone who might need some help (illness, new baby, bereavement \u2013 anytime you might bring someone food) because they can go in the freezer for a later time. If you do that, make sure you know if they have a slow cooker! I also strongly recommend writing the cooking instructions clearly on the bag.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\n<h1>Beef Stew<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>1 lb. stew beef, diced<\/li>\n<li>4 medium potatoes, diced<\/li>\n<li>4 large carrots, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 medium onion, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 Tbsp. garlic, minced<\/li>\n<li>1 Tbsp. beef base<\/li>\n<li>2 t each: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme (Yes, I went there)<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd c. red wine<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Put in a gallon bag. Squeeze the air out. Freeze flat.<\/p>\n<p>To cook, thaw overnight. Put in slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours. (Can go longer)<\/p>\n<h1>Chicken Vegetable Stew<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>1 lb. chicken, diced<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd lb. frozen vegetables (don&#8217;t knock it. This is cheap and easy)<\/li>\n<li>1 medium onion, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 Tbsp. garlic, minced<\/li>\n<li>1 Tbsp. chicken base<\/li>\n<li>1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes<\/li>\n<li>2 tsp sage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Put in a gallon bag. Squeeze the air out. Freeze flat.<\/p>\n<p>To cook, thaw overnight. Put in slow cooker with about 1 qt. water, and cook on low 6-8 hours. (Can go longer)<\/p>\n<h1>Curry<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>1 lb. chicken, diced<\/li>\n<li>2 medium potatoes, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 c. plain yogurt<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 c. raisins, ground<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 c. cashews, ground<\/li>\n<li>1 c. peaches, mango, or apricots<\/li>\n<li>1 15 oz can coconut milk<\/li>\n<li>1 large onions<\/li>\n<li>3T garlic<\/li>\n<li>3T sliced fresh ginger (Powered is also fine)<\/li>\n<li>4 T curry powder<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd can tomato paste<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Warning, a slight pain in the ass. But oh so very good.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Put in a gallon bag. Squeeze the air out. Freeze flat.<\/p>\n<p>To cook, thaw overnight. Put in slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours. (Can go longer) Serve over rice.<\/p>\n<h1>Fifteen Bean Soup<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>1 lb. Italian sausage, molded into balls, <em>or<\/em> 1 lb. browned and drained hamburger.<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd lb. mixed beans, cooked. (They sell 13-16 bean mixtures all over the place)<\/li>\n<li>1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes<\/li>\n<li>1 medium onion, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 T garlic, minced<\/li>\n<li>1 T Chili powder<\/li>\n<li>2 t cumin<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Put in a gallon bag. Squeeze the air out. Freeze flat.<\/p>\n<p>To cook, thaw overnight. Put in slow cooker with about 1 qt. water, and cook on low 6-8 hours. (Can go longer)<\/p>\n<h1>Spaghetti Sauce<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>1 lb. Italian sausage, molded into balls, <em>or<\/em> 1 lb. browned and drained hamburger.<\/li>\n<li>1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes<\/li>\n<li>1 medium onion, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 T garlic, minced<\/li>\n<li>1 T dried oregano<\/li>\n<li>1 T dried basil<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Optional<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 tsp red pepper flakes<\/li>\n<li>1 red pepper, diced. (Yes, I did this to sneak in veggies\u2026. Don&#8217;t look at me like that. Spaghetti sauce is a great way to do it, and you&#8217;ll try it, too)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Put in a gallon bag. Squeeze the air out. Freeze flat.<\/p>\n<p>To cook, thaw overnight. Put in slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours. (Can go longer) Serve over pasta. Or eat a damn bowl of it, why not?<\/p>\n<h1>Taco Stew<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>1 lb. browned and drained hamburger.<\/li>\n<li>1 medium onion, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 T garlic, minced<\/li>\n<li>1 15 oz. can black beans <em>or<\/em> \u00bd c. dry black beans, cooked.<\/li>\n<li>1 15 oz can corn<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd small can tomato paste<\/li>\n<li>1 T taco seasoning <em>or <\/em>1 T chili powder<\/li>\n<li>2 t cumin<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Put in a gallon bag. Squeeze the air out. Freeze flat.<\/p>\n<p>To cook, thaw overnight. Put in slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours. (Can go longer). Serve over tortilla chips. Good with shredded cheese, salsa and sour cream.<\/p>\n<h1>White Chili<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li>1 lb. chicken, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 medium onion, diced<\/li>\n<li>1 Tbsp. garlic, minced<\/li>\n<li>1 Tbsp. Chicken base<\/li>\n<li>1 small can diced green chili peppers<\/li>\n<li>2 cans white beans <em>or<\/em> 1 c. dry white beans, cooked.<\/li>\n<li>1 T cumin<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Put in a gallon bag. Squeeze the air out. Freeze flat.<\/p>\n<p>To cook, thaw overnight. Put in slow cooker with about 1 qt. water, and cook on low 6-8 hours. (Can go longer)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m a new grandmother, have done a Grandma Thing, and made up a bunch of food for my daughter and her new family. These are all recipes she is familiar with me serving, but I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever made any of these specific dishes with her, so I wrote this up. After doing so, &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/2016\/11\/06\/freeze-ahead-recipes\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Freeze Ahead Recipes&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2136"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2138,"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136\/revisions\/2138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelfigart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}