How often do you make big batches of food to freeze?

Marie5656

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
I went shopping today, and bought ingredients to make slow cooker batches of Chicken Soup and beef stew, to divide up to freeze in single servings.
Just wondering how many of you do that? I usually do chili and the soup. This will be my first time trying beef stew...a friend told me how simple it is to make. I love having home made stuff in the freezer as I like to think it is better for me than the premade, pre packaged frozen items. I also like the convenience of just taking a container out to thaw, and have a fast meal
If you do freeze, what do you make?
 

Yes I do it every few weeks. I buy Chicken, Bacon.. Minced Beef... and make individual portions out of them all.. . With the beef I make Cottage pies with mashed potatoes and veggies .. or bolognese for spaghetti .. and then freeze them... .

I also buy the largest tubs of Butter 1 Kilo , and portion them into 200 gms (1/4 pound) or 250 gms Tubs and freeze them too.. the Largest tubs are way cheaper than the regular size packs of Butter

I also freeze bread..I portion up the bread into half loaves.. or sometimes 5 or 6 slices per pack ..

It's astounding how much money you save by doing this...
 
I fry ground beef or sausage with onions, garlic, mushrooms, celery, etc... and freeze one or two cup portions to use when making things like crack slaw or cauliflower fried rice.

I freeze one cup containers of plain beans to use in other recipes.

Sometimes, I cook a pound of sausage links or bacon and freeze it. The bacon is great for a quick BLT and the sausage links are nice with a couple of toaster waffles for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast.
 

I make double batches of gluten free muffins, American biscuits, cupcake pan gf, low carb cheesecakes and freeze them. Also store bought gf bread since I don't use it often.

Over the past few years I've gotten into canning big batches of soups and like the taste better than frozen. Also canned some pints of chicken that I use for several meals.
 
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Generally about every 10 days to 2 weeks I will cook batches over a day or two. Today I made meatloaf.
Later I will slice it and individually wrap each slice with plastic wrap. They thaw out quickly and good for sandwiches or with potatoes and a vegetable or salad for dinner.
Yesterday I made a pot of roasted cauliflower soup. Tomorrow will be a pot of pasta fagioli.
The soups freeze well in pint or quart containers.
After tomorrow I can take a break for a while. The freezer will have plenty of food.
 
Kika said:
Generally about every 10 days to 2 weeks I will cook batches over a day or two. Today I made meatloaf.
Later I will slice it and individually wrap each slice with plastic wrap. They thaw out quickly and good for sandwiches or with potatoes and a vegetable or salad for dinner.
Yesterday I made a pot of roasted cauliflower soup. Tomorrow will be a pot of pasta fagioli.
The soups freeze well in pint or quart containers.
After tomorrow I can take a break for a while. The freezer will have plenty of food.
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I've made soup a couple of times and froze it.. but my soup containers hold a litre or more, ( over 2 pints).. and I don't need to freeze that much.. is it ok to not fill the container.. ?
 
hollydolly said:
I've made soup a couple of times and froze it.. but my soup containers hold a litre or more, ( over 2 pints).. and I don't need to freeze that much.. is it ok to not fill the container.. ?
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I buy smaller bags, and lie them flat, making sure none seeps out and then lie them flat in a space in the freezer. But, I haven't done that in a long time. Yes, get smaller bags so you can thaw out and heat up only what you want.
 
fancicoffee13 said:
I buy smaller bags, and lie them flat, making sure none seeps out and then lie them flat in a space in the freezer. But, I haven't done that in a long time. Yes, get smaller bags so you can thaw out and heat up only what you want.
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yes I don't like freezing soup in bags.. I know people do it to save space, but I have enough space to take the freezer soup tubs.. but it's difficult to get small ones here.. and I only like to freeze about 1/2 a pint at a time...
 
hollydolly said:
I've made soup a couple of times and froze it.. but my soup containers hold a litre or more, ( over 2 pints).. and I don't need to freeze that much.. is it ok to not fill the container.. ?
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Yes, you can. After its frozen open the container and cover the food with a piece of plastic wrap.
That will avoid ice crystals from forming. It would probably be ok without the plastic wrap, I just don't like to see the ice crystals. For some reason I think they alter the taste of the food.
 
fancicoffee13 said:
Well that is ok, do what suits you. Tubs are an excellent choice also.
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yes but my question is ..I only have 2 pint Soup containers.. I don't want to have to buy smaller ones, and I don't want to freeze 2 pints of soup at a time.. so I was wondering if it's safe to freeze just a 1/2 pint in the 2 pint tub.. and leave all that air and space inside the tub ..:unsure:
 
Remy said:
It's a good idea to do. I have never done this. I don't like to cook. But it would be a good idea to cook, freeze some and have the convenience.
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it makes a huge difference to have something to just take out of the freezer in the morning and have it ready to cook in the evening or the next day, or even to cook from frozen dependant on what it is...

I find I can batch freeze several pounds of chicken thighs, and bacon & gammon in individual packs.. and then cook off all the minced beef, and make the individual shepherds' pies etc.. all in the space of one morning.. very easily.. and then it means I don't have to prepare and cook anything from scratch for several weeks if I choose not to...
 
Kika said:
Yes, you can. After its frozen open the container and cover the food with a piece of plastic wrap.
That will avoid ice crystals from forming. It would probably be ok without the plastic wrap, I just don't like to see the ice crystals. For some reason I think they alter the taste of the food.
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oops sorry, I missed this first time round.. that's great, thanks for that..I'll continue to freeze a little in the bigger pots that I have... (y)
 
Basically only two things in large batches. I make large batches of soup for my husband; a batch will make about 4 containers with 4 bowls in each. The other thing is bran muffins. That makes 2.5 dozen muffins and I prep the dry items for the next batch.

Dinners, I prefer just to make enough for1 meal and 1 meal of leftovers. Sometimes I freeze the second half of the leftovers instead.
Desserts, I just started making a small cake and the rest is frozen as cupcakes.

Recently I made to big a batch of a pasta that ended up frozen into 3 containers. I’m so sick of that dish.

@hollydolly Have you checked the dollar stores for plastic tubs in smaller sizes. If you don’t wait too long to eat your soup, it’ll be fine not being half full in the the 1 litre container.
 
Jules said:
Basically only two things in large batches. I make large batches of soup for my husband; a batch will make about 4 containers with 4 bowls in each. The other thing is bran muffins. That makes 2.5 dozen muffins and I prep the dry items for the next batch.

Dinners, I prefer just to make enough for1 meal and 1 meal of leftovers. Sometimes I freeze the second half of the leftovers instead.
Desserts, I just started making a small cake and the rest is frozen as cupcakes.

Recently I made to big a batch of a pasta that ended up frozen into 3 containers. I’m so sick of that dish.

@hollydolly Have you checked the dollar stores for plastic tubs in smaller sizes. If you don’t wait too long to eat your soup, it’ll be fine not being half full in the the 1 litre container.
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they don't have the smaller ones Jules...but aside from that I don't make enough soup to justify buying more soup containers, so even if I could find more I wouldn't want them..IYSWIM .. In the past I've cooked the soup ( it's usually bacon and lentil ).. and filled the container, but of course that means defrosting all of it when I just want one bowl.. so then I started freezing 1/2 a tub.. but then I wasn't sure if that was safe to do.. hence my question..
 
My niece got me one of these, as she knows I freeze a lot. It is a vacumn sealer. I rarely have used it...as you have to freeze the food first..then take it back out to seal. I do not keep stuff for so long it needs to be preserved in this way. But for people with families who buy more in bulk this may be handy

71HNNlG+1yL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
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