Comments on: Nutritious Freezer Meal Carnival

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:45:34 +0000

In general, I don’t believe it is best to keep a freeze meal in the freezer longer than a month or so…but I did find that Pyrex works great for freezing without additional wrapping. It preserves it well.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:14:56 +0000

Thanks for this post. Do you notice that the Pyrex glass containers freeze your meals well, without additonal wrapping of the food? For how long, would you say?

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:05:13 +0000

I freeze my stock and beans in silicone bakeware. I have a pan thats made to make mini square cakes (about 4 oz each) and I freeze in that…then move the frozen cubes into a ziplock bag. You can also just freeze stock in ice trays. Ice cube trays work great for pesto, baby food, and anything you may want in smaller quantities works great for baby food also.

By: Chef Stephanie Petersen (Chef Tess)

Chef Stephanie Petersen (Chef Tess) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:46:26 +0000

http://cheftessbakeresse.blogspot.com/2009/03/french-onion-orange-chicken.html Just wanted to add this link. This one is my favorite as a chef and mom. I have really enjoyed reading your posts! Superb!

By: Rie

Rie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:43:03 +0000

First time here. Googled freezer meals and what a wonderful find! To share something I’ve learned over the years- When you want to freeze cheese….I buy like 15 lb rolls and cut them into approx. 2 lb chunks; put them in bags and freeze them. When I want to use a chunk, I thaw it on the countertop until it is nice and soft and then refigerate it. Then it will slice nicely. If you don’t allow it to get to that soft stage, it will likely be crumbly.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:27:31 +0000

Okay, that makes more sense. Your jars are definitely breaking because of the addition of water. Water/liquids expand more in the freezer thus causing breakage. I simply cook the beans, drain them, cool completely in the fridge in a quart size mason jar (either kerr or ball is fine) and then transfer to the freezer. I do not add anything to the jars beyond the drained beans. Eliminate the water and that should solve your problem!

By: ~M

~M — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:11:03 +0000

I usually use Ball jars and never fill above the freeze line. The smaller mason jars do just fine, but the larger ones break (2 out of 2 times)…so weird. Do you cover your beans with water? Maybe that is my problem; could you explain exactly what you do with the cooked beans? I have been draining the cooking liquid, rinsing in a strainer, filling up jars and adding water. Are Kerr jars superior?

Thank you for answering all of my questions! What a nice surprise to wake up to!

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:24:04 +0000

I have not had problems with homemade beans in my glass jars breaking. I have only had this problem with stock. If you cool your ingredients completely before cooking and leave expanding space, you should not have any problems with them breaking. You may just need some solid canning jars for freezing (such as Kerr). Hope that helps!

By: ~M

~M — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:28:21 +0000

I also have had mason jars full of homemade beans crack on me in the freezer. For some reason, the smaller containers are fine, but the larger containers always crack, even though I leave plenty of headroom. Do you have any recommendations for storing beans?

As you might be able to tell, Lindsay, I’m slowly reading through your archives. One thing that I was wondering whether you had or would consider is making the entire post available as you scroll instead of having to click to read the rest. Thanks for a great read and for your prompt, thoughtful replies!

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:50:16 +0000

I am so glad that you mentioned your jars breaking when you freeze stock! I had the same thing happen with several jars of chicken stock despite leaving plenty of head room. That made me hesitate to try freezing in jars again, even though I am trying to keep away from plastic as much as possible. I am going to try it again, but not with the stock (that was the first thing I tried freezing in jars).

Thanks so much for the tips and recipes. I made the chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight, and all six of us loved them. They will be a regular now!