How many of you freeze food before hand?

I am having Christmas Day - and with a 5 month old I want to try cooking little at a time.

My aunt always freezes her lasagna, baked ziti, and meatballs - and they are always delicious. I have never really frozen anything before.

Should I wait until last minute - or does freezing it beforehand still give it the same taste?

Re: How many of you freeze food before hand?

I think freezing it woul be fine, Id cook it & then let it complety cool off then freeze it , besides lasagana is always better the next day , LOL

Message edited 9/1/2009 12:48:08 PM.

Re: How many of you freeze food before hand?

Go ahead and freeze certain things if you want / need to. I often cook plenty of things on the weekend and freeze for future dinners. Spaghetti sauce, for example, actually tastes better after it's been frozen, I think (flavors sit together longer).

Plenty of things freeze really well. I'm not sure I'd freeze anything with pasta / noodles in it, though, b/c the pasta might get mushy.

Re: How many of you freeze food before hand?

Re: How many of you freeze food before hand?

Chicken & eggplant parmigan, meatballs, and soups freeze well. I'm not sure about the pasta dishes.

Re: How many of you freeze food before hand?

Posted by Diana1215

Posted by Kara

Go ahead and freeze certain things if you want / need to. I often cook plenty of things on the weekend and freeze for future dinners. Spaghetti sauce, for example, actually tastes better after it's been frozen, I think (flavors sit together longer).

Plenty of things freeze really well. I'm not sure I'd freeze anything with pasta / noodles in it, though, b/c the pasta might get mushy.

My aunt said that she takes it out. Defrosts it - then cooks it. Then takes it out and warms it the day of the holiday. I never ever could tell that everything was frozen beforehand. She said she keeps trays of lasagna and ziti in her fridge! Wish I could get my hands on one of those right now!

Re: How many of you freeze food before hand?

Re: How many of you freeze food before hand?

I personally don't think meatballs or lasagna freeze well -

But w/ a 5 month old I say they're damn luck you're feeding them at all !!! -

Make your sauce and meatballs ahead of time and freeze those, I'd wait to put the lasagna together until the night before though - you don't want watery lasagna - No matter WHEN you do the cooking, it's still a lot of work and you don't want it to be ruined -

Re: How many of you freeze food before hand?

I have frozen lasagna before and it turns out fine. I do bake for at least 30 min without the top layer of cheese. I let it cool, cover with freezer wrap and then aluminum foil. I let it thaw in the fridge overnight, add the final layer of cheese and then bake.

I bake it bc I put eggs in the ricotta and just don't want to chance just freezing the raw eggs. It could be OK i guess. Besides, lasagna tastes better the day after when it has had a chance to set.