Best Meals That Freeze Well

[Angelica]

So I've been gluten-free for almost four months and I feel great, but some evenings I come home late and all I want to do is eat something fast (eggs, beans and gluten-free sausages are a favorite dinner of mine), but I often can't because I always cook a "double dinner" in order to have food for lunch, which can take time, and sometimes I am too tired to really do it, but if I don't do it, I won't have a lunch the next day. I am a university professor, so I have a fridge and microwave in my department, so what I am asking for is suggestions of gluten-free meals that freeze well and then heat up easily. I hate salad- I prefer my veggies cooked. I am thinking of cooking on the weekend (like on a Saturday morning) and freezing everything for week-- so what freezes well (besides beans- I do cook batches of lentils and beans already)? Suggestions? Also, I am dairy-free too.

[violentlyserene]

So I've been gluten-free for almost four months and I feel great, but some evenings I come home late and all I want to do is eat something fast (eggs, beans and gluten-free sausages are a favorite dinner of mine), but I often can't because I always cook a "double dinner" in order to have food for lunch, which can take time, and sometimes I am too tired to really do it, but if I don't do it, I won't have a lunch the next day. I am a university professor, so I have a fridge and microwave in my department, so what I am asking for is suggestions of gluten-free meals that freeze well and then heat up easily. I hate salad- I prefer my veggies cooked. I am thinking of cooking on the weekend (like on a Saturday morning) and freezing everything for week-- so what freezes well (besides beans- I do cook batches of lentils and beans already)? Suggestions? Also, I am dairy-free too.

I cook up meatloaf and taco meat for my husband. The meatloaf is generally done in a muffin pan so he can grab one and eat. For me, fajita stuff is always in the freezer, sometimes fried rice, rissotto, refried beans with onions, seasoning, peppers, sometimes chicken all cooked up and then frozen in single serving size chunks (i fold the bag up usually to get the chunks separated).

[cyberprof]

So I've been gluten-free for almost four months and I feel great, but some evenings I come home late and all I want to do is eat something fast (eggs, beans and gluten-free sausages are a favorite dinner of mine), but I often can't because I always cook a "double dinner" in order to have food for lunch, which can take time, and sometimes I am too tired to really do it, but if I don't do it, I won't have a lunch the next day. I am a university professor, so I have a fridge and microwave in my department, so what I am asking for is suggestions of gluten-free meals that freeze well and then heat up easily. I hate salad- I prefer my veggies cooked. I am thinking of cooking on the weekend (like on a Saturday morning) and freezing everything for week-- so what freezes well (besides beans- I do cook batches of lentils and beans already)? Suggestions? Also, I am dairy-free too.

Angelica, this is one of my favorite topics. (I teach at a university too, although part-time as I have a day job in industry.)

The following freeze well: Meatloaf, chili (beef, chicken or vegetarian), stews, soups, jambalaya, chicken curry, lasagna.

I have another idea for you though...slow-cooking using a crock pot. Using your crock-pot will enable you to have a hot meal waiting and enough leftovers to freeze or take for lunch. This site Open Original Shared Link is great because the author's daughter is a celiac, so all the recepies are gluten-free. Plus she doesn't like to "cook before she cooks" so it's a dump-and-go method - morning prep takes only a few minutes. Or you can prep the night before and dump everything in the crockpot before work. And she doesn't use a lot of cream of X soup either (which usually has gluten). She has detailed instructions and hints on the blog.

Let me know if you want specific recipes.

[cap6]

Angelica, this is one of my favorite topics. (I teach at a university too, although part-time as I have a day job in industry.)

The following freeze well: Meatloaf, chili (beef, chicken or vegetarian), stews, soups, jambalaya, chicken curry, lasagna.

I have another idea for you though...slow-cooking using a crock pot. Using your crock-pot will enable you to have a hot meal waiting and enough leftovers to freeze or take for lunch. This site Open Original Shared Link is great because the author's daughter is a celiac, so all the recepies are gluten-free. Plus she doesn't like to "cook before she cooks" so it's a dump-and-go method - morning prep takes only a few minutes. Or you can prep the night before and dump everything in the crockpot before work. And she doesn't use a lot of cream of X soup either (which usually has gluten). She has detailed instructions and hints on the blog.

Let me know if you want specific recipes.

That's a good site. I've made several of her recipes. She has a good sense of humor too.

[pricklypear1971]

I love anything stewy, but not potatoes frozen.

I had great luck cooking biscuits, egg ( scrambled and poured in a cookie cutter mold or just cook and cut), and breakfast patty and making my own egg mcmuffins. They freeze great!

Of course, that was before gluten-free bread...so depends on what you think of that.

I just froze a ton of chicken soup tonight. I love the crock pot.

[lpellegr]

Homemade split pea, lentil, or bean soup. These are best put in the fridge to thaw the night before or even 24 hrs ahead because they're so dense.

Homemade mac and cheese with Tinkyada pasta (only cook the elbows 12 minutes, regardless of what the package says).

Tinkyada lasagna also freezes well if you don't overcook the noodles.

Just about any casserole works - I make chicken tetrazzini (cream sauce) with spaghetti pasta and freeze individual servings and it comes out fine.

The crockpot is a real help, as long as you can plan ahead. And then you freeze individual servings of your crockpot leftovers and voila.

I also make Bob's Red Mill pizza crust on a really big baking sheet (so it's rectangular instead of two round ones), bake the pizza, and cut it into squares, which I wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze. The advantage of the pizza is that a slice or two will thaw by lunchtime and if you have to go somewhere without refrigeration or heating available, the pizza will be thawed and perfectly edible for lunch or dinner if you get it out the night before or that morning.