Casseroles and/or Dishes that freeze well

[Anita]

I'm having hand surgery next week and probably won't want to do a lot of chopping/cooking. I'm trying to make things ahead of time to put in the freezer. Unfortunately, a lot of what I made this week ended up in my belly instead of the freezer. OOPS!

 

Do you have any wonderful casserole recipes or other dishes that freeze well for eating later? Hopefully nothing too complicated. I'm also trying to get a ton of other things done (cleaning, expenses into Quicken for taxes, errands, hair appointment, etc.) prior to surgery next Friday.

 

I welcome any and all suggestions!

[praxisproject]

I'm a big fan of pulled pork from the slow cooker (doesn't seem to change the texture).

 

I freeze it in single meal portions, and just the meat, so I can mix it with a meal-serve of veggies also from the freezer, to get different meal combos

 

Some good frozen veggies are: bags of frozen stir fry veggies (no prep required), spaghetti squash, cauliflower mash.

[Anita]

I made pulled pork! I just need to pop it in the freezer. I think it freezes really well. I was wondering about freezing mashed cauliflower and spaghetti squash, as those are the carbs I often like to eat. Do they hold up well in the freezer? I'm totally making a TON of mashed cauliflower this weekend. I love it.

 

I also made the Well Fed Chocolate Chili and added quite a few veggies. Putting the rest of both in the freezer now so I'll stop eating it! haha

[praxisproject]

I make my cauliflower plain and freeze it plain and it holds up very well. If you want to add ghee or anything, I'd add it after you heat it up again.

 

If I know I'm making spaghetti squash to freeze, I undercook it just slightly, so it's not too squishy when reheated. But I also freeze leftovers and they're already fully cooked and just fine with pulled pork  

 

If there's anything that's hard to open (like a can or jar), measure or pour one-handed, you might want to freeze it in cubes and put in a freezer bucket with no lid, so you can just grab and drop later.

 

Might also be worth checking your freezer containers, if you can open them one-handed (I can with some of mine, but not other ones).

[Anita]

Thank you! I had thought about opening jars, etc., but I didn't consider freezing the contents. You're a genius! Every day I think of one more thing I might not be able to do for a bit! Yikes! We use our hands all the time! Thanks so much for the information. I'm going to put a lot more things in the freezer this weekend!