Freezing Meals

My MIL makes wonderful lasagna roll-ups. It's really easy to do--just spread the noodles out and spread a layer of cheese mix and then the meat sauce (and cheese sprinkles if you want) over the noodle and roll it up. Then you can place as many pieces as you want in a small tupperware and sauce with tomato sauce or remaining meat sauce. I wouldn't cook it in advance because the small pieces cook quickly and you have to thaw it anyway. Just take out however many rolls you want and then bake at 350 until warm. Congratulations!

Yep, definitely cook it first, allow to cool then portion it out. You could place it in smaller size containers, place a layer of foil over it then put the lid on the wrap the whole thing in foil or stick in a freezer bag.

If you have a food saver you could pop the portions in the food saver bags and vacuum seal them. If you have one and it doesn't allow you to adjust so things don't get crushed I would place it in a smaller gladware type container then put in the food saver bag and vacuum seal.

It heats up easier/faster if you think to pop in the fridge the night before and let it thaw. I reheated everything on a lower heating power in the microwave.

I made up lots of food when I was pregnant with #2 because all of our family was 2 hours away and I had to have a repeat c-section. I made lasagna, meatloaf, shepherd's pie, pot pie, enchiladas, baked spaghetti, and I can't remember what else!

I have often used lasagna as a freezer meal for friends of mine in need. Due to births or surgeries. I have never cooked it first. Ovboiusly the noodles and meat are cooked, but I just assemble it then freeze it. Once it is ready to be eaten you finish cooking it.

To make smaller portions I use disposable loaf pans. That way you can take out 1 loaf pan or 5. Depending on how many you want to serve.

You can heat it straight from frozen or thawed in the refridgerator.

Freezing meals is a great idea. I wish more families planned ahead for their nutritional success and went the "fast food route" less often.

Make the lasagna - cook it - then put it into serving size freezer containers. PLEASE do not use the microwave to reheat. http://www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards.htm
We use reusable freezer containers for all our storage. PLEASE think of the environment and the world you want your baby to live in when choosing the packaging.

I used to make an entire roast beef dinner with all the fixings - then separate it into individual sized containers and freeze.

Almost anything can be frozen, be creative. Casseroles, stews, chilis and soups are perfect for what you need. Cook everything first, then store it.

B.
Family Success Coach

I have a good friend who make lasagna up in foil bread loaf container. They are just right serving size for two people. You could bake them in the loaf pans and the cool them and wrap them in plastic wrap and foil or put them into freezer bags.

I love making double servings and freezing. My newest favorite is chicken alfredo. I brown several chicken breast, slice it, then add a jar of alfredo sauce. Our favorite right now is Barilla Red-pepper Alfredo. It has a great taste. I add some extra milk and then cook it for 5 minute. I serve it over noodles. I always have plenty for at least one to two more meals so I freeze it.

I love the glad freezer containers.. they work well and are cheap and microwave reheatable. we use them for everything. I cook more portions than we eat for every meal so we have left overs and put a serving portion in the containers and we buy the square size containers. I think they are 3 cup size.
When you reheat red sauces and high fat foods like cheese you don't want to cook them on high or let them boil as these types of foods like spaghetti, lasagna, and other sauce items tend to ruin the reheatable dishes with microwave damage. I also open the lid but leave it loose on top of the container so the food doesn't get dried out plus keeps stuff from splattering all over the microwave.
These containers are pretty sturdy and dishwasher safe. They will crack if you drop them out of the freezer with frozen foods in them but any plastic container will do that when frozen.

some people don't like to use plastic containers in the microwave, you can use them for freezer bowls and dump the food into a glass container for the microwave if you don't want to cook in the plastic containers. Containers work great as food pops out of them easier than using baggies or foil. You find the containers in Walmart and other grocery stores and are usually in packs of 4 or more and think they were less than 3.00 last time I bought them. They stack well and are a perfect size to freeze single portions. I freeze just about anything, mainly spaghetti, leftover meat from the grill like a hamburger patty, pork chop, steak, mac n cheese if we have any left, veggies, and just about anything that is left over. My husband works 2nd shift so isn't home for dinner and will grab those containers for his dinner at work so we are pretty much making our own tv dinners from our leftovers. We also have fend for yourself nights at last once a week and everyone picks what they want to eat from those frozen leftovers so they don't stay in our freezer longer than a few weeks.

I almost never cook the casseroles first, or lasagne either. I wrap them about 3 times in plastic wrap (1) and tin foil (2). I thaw them out the night before then cook them as usual. I have never had an issue with doing it this way just make sure you make them in small enough dishes that you aren't making too huge a meal. If I was going to cook first, I think I would do it the same way, defrost overnight and cook on low temp.

You can freeze just about anything, If you want to do small serving place in a container that is for freezers, save yourself some sauce though for reheating as the sauce seems to be eaten up by the foods, You can microwave when you want just add more sauce to it. Meats that are raw I always saran wrap it first then put in a freezer bag just for more protection against freezer burn.

You have great advice here - my only suggestion would be if you have to heat it in the microwave - or anything that has already been cooked - make sure to use the 50% power setting. (Sometimes it’s just called the reheat button) If your food has already been cooked, placing it in the microwave on full power is just cooking it more. You want to gently heat the food and doing this on 50% power can be done.

if you want to freeze individual servings then you should cook it first. When we do this we cook it, cool it, cut it and then wrap each piece in wax paper. Then we put a few pieces (maybe 6??) into a gallon size freezer bag and freeze. When you reheat you can either it thaw it overnight or just put it frozen into the microwave and thaw. It takes great each time and I've never had a problem!