Freezing Leftovers....

[Guest j_mommy]

Ok so I got a crock pot for xmas and have been cooking up a storm!LOL Made Chilli and veg beef soup..but I have a ton of leftovers.

Do I just put them in a tupewear container and throw them in teh freezer????? Is that ok???? Any other suggestions???

Thanks! Jess

[confused]

Yes but leave room in the cantainer, dont fill all the way or they will explode lol. Or you can send them to me, we never have left overs at this house lol

paula

[Lisa]

And don't forget to label what it is. I can't tell you the times that I thawed out spaghetti sauce and ended up having chilli for dinner.

[Guest j_mommy]

Awesome!!! Thanks you guys!!!

With just me and my little guy we end up with lots of leftovers and I'm trying freezing things b/c I get sick of eating the same thing for a week straight!LOL

[Lisa]

Jess,

Just wanted to add that in my experience, potatoes do no freeze very well. They tend to become grainy after frozen. When I make soup or stews to freeze, I hold out the potatoes and add them when I thaw and re-heat.

[confused]

and date them, in case u forget about them months done the road.

paula

[Phyllis28]

When it makes sense I freeze meals in single servings. Examples are Chili or Spaghetti over rice or rice pasta. I use microwave containers that I find at the Container Store with a pop-up hole. See link below:

Open Original Shared Link

[Sweetfudge]

a lot of times with single servings, i just pour it into a ziploc bag, label it, and stack it in the freezer. less bulk that way.

[WW340]

I make extra and freeze everything. It makes life so much easier.

I use 2 things for freezing. The cheap ziplock storage containers - similar to what is shown on the container store link, but less expensive. You can buy them at walmart in different quanitities and sizes.

I use those for immediate freezing of leftovers, but after I have frozen them, I take them out of the container and vacumn seal them with my foodsaver. This way, I have my containers available again and the vacumn sealing preserves things better.

I also use the ziplock baggies for things appropriate for that. Again, I will often vacumn seal those things with the food saver after it is frozen if I am not going to be using it again soon.

You can use freezer baggies for things like soup if you use a dish to support the bag until the item freezes. Once it is frozen you just lift it out of the dish. I hate tying up too many of my containers in the freezer.

Definitely label and date them. You think it will be obvious what it is, but you will be wrong lol.

I agree with mommagoose that potatoes do not freeze well, so I also do not add potatoes to the entire pot. I freeze the item without the potatoes and add them when I am ready to serve.