Tips

Here's some extra tips to help you easily freeze meals so they taste great & save space in your freezer!

* Whenever you make a dinner, double the recipe and freeze half. It takes little extra effort to cook the same thing twice. You can easily freeze the 2nd meal for a later date and it'll save you time in the kitchen! I do this all the time with meatballs, meatloaf, lasagna, taco meat, BBQ meat, even extra rotisserie chicken to add to a meal later. Etc, etc.

* Freeze meals in the proper portions you or your family will eat. For example, my family only eats 1/2 a meatloaf in one meal. So when I make meatloaf, I double the recipe and then cut each loaf in half. I freeze 3 halves in separate freezer bags, and we eat the 4th for dinner that night. Then I don't have to make meatloaf again for a few months! This is also great for helping with portion control.

* Use gallon freezer bags instead of pans. Casseroles and soups both work great when frozen in a bag! Just thaw and lay in a pan when ready to bake or reheat.

* Lay bags flat in the freezer until they freeze - then they will store easily and take up less space in your friend's freezers. If you don't have a free flat space, use a cookie sheet to create a flat space.

* Splurge on good freezer bags. I'm a store-brand lover... but store brand freezer bags tend to rip easily in our experience. Splurge on ziploc, or food saver bags if you plan to fill a bag with soup or casserole. Ziploc also doesn't leave your food with a plasticy taste.

* If not using a freezer bag, wrap your meal in plastic wrap before wrapping it in foil. Foil is hard to get off a frozen meal, it tends to tear easily and leave pieces in your food without plastic wrap protection. The double wrap will also help keep food tasting fresh.

* If you need to use a pan, consider lining your pan with wax paper or parchment paper, then filling with the meal. Freeze, and then "pop" the meal out of the pan. This frees up your pan, and saves space in the freezer. Since your meal is now shaped like the pan, you can easily slip it back in when you're ready for it to thaw. (Thanks Breanna!)

* Most meals freeze well for up to 6 months in the average family freezer. If the recipe includes milk, it should only be frozen for up to 3 months.