Cook Smart: Prep Once Cook Twice - using your freezer to advantage.

In the interest of more GRACEful living in 2016 I will be bringing you a series of posts which share some of my CookSmart strategies which make it easier to get home cooked meals on the table on a regular basis.

It's almost as easy to prep 2 meals in a marinade as it is to prep one. Tonight I'm making Five Spice Coconut Chicken for dinner, but I purchased double ingredients and I prepared a second batch at the same time as the first. An added benefit of this method is that before the meat freezes, then again as it defrosts it is also marinating so you get very flavorful results.

Label 2 one gallon freezer bags.

Add marinade ingredients to each bag, smoosh the bags to mix, then add chicken to each bag.

Turn the bag over on itself and press out any excess air, then seal.  I place one in a shallow container in my refrigerator, and the second I spread out flat & freeze for a future meal.
I find that things defrost more quickly when they're frozen flat this way, because they are thinner. I also measured my 9x13 baking dish and found that it's max capacity is 1 liquid gallon. So Anything I can freeze in a one gallon bag, ought to fit into a 9x13 casserole dish for baking, this opens up all kinds of possibilities for freezer meals.

Also See: The Case For Making Meal Planning A Priority
Preparing Casseroles for the Freezer
Recipes which work well with this method:
No Leftovers Fice-Spice Chicken
Easy Picnic Chicken

Cut Down on Cross Contamination

Great tips for your kitchen from America's Test Kitchen. I already do a number of these, but I still learned some things. When I pound chicken breasts I put them inside a freezer grade zip-loc bag, this way I prevent any splatter from getting on surrounding items.

 

Get Glasses Un-Stuck

I've heard that you shouldn't stack glasses (or glass bowls) while they are wet, because that makes it more likely that they will be stuck together next time you want to use them (something about the water creating a seal.) Here's a tip from America's Test Kitchen for how to safely un-stick glass vessels that have stuck together.

 

Time Saving Pasta Tip

Here's a great time-saving tip for pasta for salads & packed lunches. A full pound of pasta makes far too much pasta salad for my family of three, but when I cook the pasta I cook the entire pound. I pour the pasta into a colander and rinse with cold water until the pasta is room temp then I make half of the pasta into salad. The second half I store in a zip-lock bag in the refrigerator. The pasta keeps in the fridge this way for a week or more. This enables me to make a quick pasta salad, a different flavor if desired, later in the week or the following weekend.

I've also found having cooked pasta in the fridge terribly handy for packed lunches. You can quickly mix up a single serving of pasta with salad dressing, or some frozen veggies and diced cold cuts, or make a quick homemade mac & cheese by whipping up a cream sauce in a skillet with a bit of cream and shredded cheese.

Pasta Mix-in Ideas - Mix and match:
salad dressing (creamy or vinegar based)
shredded (or cubed) cheese (consider Parmesan)
diced or finely sliced cold cuts (salami & ham are favorites)
frozen/canned corn
frozen green peas
grated carrots
snap peas
halved grape tomtoes
fresh herbs such as basil
cubed avocado
cheese sauce

Kitchen Tip: Food Processor Cleanup

I recently got a new food processor, my old one was a floor model I bought when I worked in housewares 18+ years ago. My new one is such a pleasure to work with, but some things never change. A lot of food splatters up into the lid of the processor and while my new one is much easier to clean than my old one, I still dread cleaning the lid, bits of food get up inside the feed tubes so that makes 3 pieces to clean. Blech!

So here is a quick tip that will save you from having to wash the lid at ALL.
Cover the lid of your processor with plastic wrap, then put the lid on and do your processing (for the old twist style lid, place the plastic wrap over the open top of the workbowl & then put the lid on.) Now you can process your ingredients
Here is all the food that would have been flung up on my lid. Instead of having to wash the lid, I just removed the plastic and put my lid away still clean.

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Preparing Casseroles for the Freezer

Casseroles are one of those things that it is just as easy to make 2 as 1. So I like to make a double batch and fix one casserole for that night, and put a second into the freezer. It's a great way to plan ahead for a busy day. There was a time I had so many casseroles in my freezer that sometimes didn't have a pan to bake a cake in (because they were all in the freezer with casseroles frozen in them.) So here is a handy solution to that problem.

Last night I multiplied the recipe by 1 1/2 so that I would have enough for 2 generous 9"x9" casseroles. I have a small family and a husband who travels a lot, so the 9x9 size works better for us than a standard 9"x13" casserole.

Baking dishes: Be sure your baking dish is one that can go safely from the freezer to the oven. Some materials will shatter from thermal shock if they go from being very cold into a hot oven. For this reason I use Pyrex when I freeze casseroles.

Prepare your casserole filling.

Line the baking dish for the casserole you want to freeze with 2 layers of Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil. You need 2 layers so you will be sure to be able to get the casserole out of the pan. The first layer only needs to be as large as the pan and actually you can use plastic wrap, or parchment paper, or even wax paper for this layer. The second layer needs to be foil and you want to leave enough extra that you will be able to fold the ends over on top to seal up the casserole in the foil.

Fill your lined dish with the filling, fold the foil over the top and place in the freezer until frozen solid.

When your casserole is frozen thru, remove the frozen casserole from the dish - if you used a layer of parchment, wax paper, or plastic wrap or anything that is not oven safe - remove and discard that layer. You now have a frozen casserole that can be wrapped and returned to the freezer - while you are free to use the pan for other things.

A 9"x9" casserole will fit into a gallon size freezer bag, I like to label the freezer bag with the contents, the date, and any baking instructions. A Sharpie marker will not bleed in the freezer. If your casserole is too large to fit into a freezer bag - wrap it tightly with more foil or plastic wrap.

When it is time to prepare the casserole, remove it from the freezer bag. Place the foil-lined casserole back into the original dish and place it in the refrigerator to defrost for at least 24 hours, then top and bake. You may need to adjust your baking time a little longer depending on how cold it was when it went into the oven. I often let the casserole sit out on the counter for 20-40 minutes in order to take the chill off before baking.

A note about toppings.... Crispy toppings should be left off the casserole before freezing, and added just before baking. Cheese also does not freeze well. A good rule of thumb is, if the cheese is mixed into the casserole filling it will do fine, but if a casserole calls for cheese on the top, leave it off before freezing and add fresh cheese when you bake the casserole.
Chicken Divan Recipe

I hope you find this helpful!