Tuesday's Tip: Freeze it up right

Tuesday’s Tip:  Freeze it up right

Our family is big into leftovers, and for this I am thankful (I know plenty of families where leftovers do not go over well).  Why, just the other night, my day was busier than anticipated, and it came to the 5 o’clock hour and I hadn’t a spare minute to prepare a dinner.  Instead of ordering carry-out, I peered into my freezer, found a storage container of leftover lasagna, and in less time than it would take to order carry-out, a healthful meal was on its way to the table.  I added some frozen green beans, cut up some pear and sliced some bread and voila—dinner was served.

Often times when I am making a soup, stew or what we call in our family a “one dish wonder,” I intentionally make a double recipe.  I then take a gallon size freezer storage bag and label it for future use, and pop the extra portion of the dish into the freezer. 

When it comes time to thaw large storage bags, I’ve resorted to numerous methods, none of which have worked particularly well.  Since storage bags are large and square, I usually resort to taking a large pan or dish to place it on in the fridge while it thaws.  However, if I need to cook the frozen item quickly, the size and shape of the item can be cumbersome.

Enter today’s Tuesday’s Tip from my friend Camille:  When you freeze something in a large storage bag, place the item inside either a bowl or other dish that will “mould” the storage bag into a round shape.  Then, when you need to cook your frozen meal, you can easily fit the frozen item into a pot or bowl.  This is a lot, lot easier than my prior method:  try to somehow make a square dish fit into a circular pot.  Just like square pegs in a round hole, it just doesn’t work.

SPC

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