What is best in the freezer?

[snowpine]

Hi, I am getting better with food prep, but also realizing that it is great to have things made-ahead in the freezer to extend storage length (and variety of meals - I am cooking for myself only). Thus, my question: what have you found to be best make-aheads in the freezer? Last week I did chocolate chili; now looking for more ideas. Thanks!

[Susan W]

Soups, stews, curries, homemade sausage patties for breakfasts. Shepherds Pie. There arent many things that dont freeze well. A well stocked freezer is awesome. Oh, stocks freeze well. I always have containers of chicken and beef stocks in my freezer.

[whitjm5]

Chopped onions in a freezer bag. Do 'em all at once so you only have to cry 1x/week.

[ander217]

Meatballs are my favorite food to freeze. I mix a couple of pounds of raw ground meat - usually ground pork and beef, or all beef - add an egg or two, some chopped onions, salt and pepper to taste, a few herbs, and make meatballs. (You can also add chopped spinach or shredded carrots, etc. if you need to get in more veggies.) I bake them at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, cool, freeze individually on a cookie sheet, then bag, label with date, and return to the freezer. They make a great quick meal heated in marinara sauce.

Peppers, hot or mild - I slice or chop them, or leave them whole. Spread on a cookie sheet and freeze individually, then bag them, removing as much air as possible. (Without this step they will all clump together in the bag - doing this allows taking out a few at a time as needed.)They don't need to be blanched first, and should be used frozen, not thawed.

Ratatouille - I make lots of it in mid-summer when my garden is showing off, then pack it in quart bags and freeze.

I also cook several chicken breasts, thighs, or legs, or ground beef patties at a time and freeze the extra for quick meals. I usually wrap each one individually in a sandwich bag, then put all the bags in a large freezer bag.

I try to eat my cooked frozen meats within a couple of months or they begin to lose quality.

We have a large garden and I freeze lots of veggies and berries each year, including okra, greens, green beans, peapods, herbs, asparagus, peppers, onions, garlic scape pesto, basil pesto (minus the parmesan), broccoli, strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, and raspberries,