My frozen food dilemma...

[CowboyCO]

We have tons of freezer space, but here is my dilemma. During the school year, we are on the go after school and it's hard to plan ahead to thaw out meat from the freezer. We often end up ignoring the frozen stuff or just using ground beef only because it cooks up fast. (Or picking up a Papa Murphy's to throw in the oven...)

I could use some suggestions for faster ways to thaw chicken, pork chops, etc. We always package for 4 people before freezing. I hate thawing in the Microwave because it is uneven and sometimes cooks the edges.

Now that our boys are getting bigger, it may be that we'll have to get really organized and plan out the week's meals in advance and get them out of the freezer days ahead of time... We've tried it in the past, but when something comes up, a meal gets skipped and sometimes the meat ends up spoiling before use

 

[goofyboyzmom]

Welcome to my world!!! I hope you get some good tips that I can steal.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

The only thing I can suggest is freezing the meat in a single layer. Then it will usually thaw in 24 hours in the fridg. Each evening, pull out the meat for the next night. If something happens and you skip a meal, the meat will keep for the following night. Sometimes I have thawed chicken breasts in a sink of barely warm water (keep changing out the water as it gets cold), but the safety gurus would probably frown on that.

I also like casseroles that can go right from the freezer to the oven, but they tend to take at least an hour to cook.

 

[HayGan]

You really should consider looking into more crock pot recipes. They are quick and easy to prepare and ready for everyone when everyone gets home in the evening. Plus there are many dishes that you can throw the meat in frozen (takes an extra hour or two to cook)

There are really great crock-pot recipes all over the net as well as some great cookbooks. I found a Betty Crocker cookbook in the check-out lane of my grocey store for less than $5. It is by far the most used cookbook in my house!

 

[CowboyCO]

You really should consider looking into more crock pot recipes. They are quick and easy to prepare and ready for everyone when everyone gets home in the evening. Plus there are many dishes that you can throw the meat in frozen (takes an extra hour or two to cook)

There are really great crock-pot recipes all over the net as well as some great cookbooks. I found a Betty Crocker cookbook in the check-out lane of my grocey store for less than $5. It is by far the most used cookbook in my house!

Oooh -- I like that. My crockPot doesn't get used much except when I get a hankering to make stew.. I'll look into it and see what I can come up with for recipes!

 

[TinkWink]

I am also a big fan of the crockpot!

Another option you have is to precook the meat. Set aside one Saturday a month to cook up some ground beef for tacos, make some meatballs, broil/grill chicken breasts and slice, and cook a pork loin to shred. I love having cooked meat in my freezer - then I just have to make the starch/side dish!

DisneyCowgirl, thawing in water is a great idea! I just wouldn't use water that is warm at all - instead, use cold/cool water and change it as it warms up. I buy fish that is frozen in individual vacuum sealed plastic packages, and it actually says on the package to thaw in water - cold water for 30 minutes. The fish is almost 1" thick and it is almost totally thawed in that amount of time!

Like someone else suggested, freezing in single layers/thin packages would allow you to thaw it faster and the cool/cold water method would probably work very quickly! I did that just last night, and let the fish thaw while I made the rice. It only took 12-15 minutes to bake the fish and dinner was ready in a total of 45 minutes, start - finish!

 

[Kae]

I freeze alot of meat. I use a foodsaver, so I thaw in cold water it does not really take that much time. Not I get home from work a 3 so I do have extra time before dinner to thaw thing. and i hate to thaw in the mircowave.

Kae

 

[StillPinballFamily]

A tip for more quickly thawing meats (or other frozen foods) from my DH - a physicist.

Place the wrapped item(s) you want to thaw on any metal surface - a stove top, even on/in a metal cooking or baking pan. They will thaw in a fraction of the time they'd need to sit out on a countertop. Flip them once or twice during the thawing and try to keep as much surface area of the meat in contact with the metal. Sometimes, we do the waterbath idea, but usually do the metal thing. Like you - we usually don't have good luck thawing in the microwave!

(We plan our menus two weeks in advance -- saves a freakin' fortune! - so usually can move items from the freezer to the fridge a couple of days ahead. But, there are always THOSE days when things don't go as planned and we need to thaw something out quickly.)

Hope this works for you.

 

[unionville]

I always take out frozen meat and place in the fridge to thaw the day before I plan to use. I am a teacher and am trying to get ready for the school year. My son and I prepared 35 freezer meals in about 4 hours and I'll probably do one more round before school starts. My new favorite book is Fix Freeze Feast by Kati Neville and Lindsay Tkacsik. It's based on buying your meat at Sams/Costco and preparing multiple meals. I like it because you don't actually cook the meat or meal until the actual day you use it. This makes the intial prep time quick. I'm hoping this book is going to help us save lots of money as well.

 

[Chicago526]

I find that ground beef can be thawed in the microwave pretty quickly. I actually put it in on high, then as the edges get soft, i peel those parts away and put them in the pan, and continue to defrost the beef, stoping repeatedly to peel more away until the very center is soft. In less than five minutes I've got defrosted ground beef (and very messy hands!). Chicken breasts also defrost quickly in the fridge, if I put them in in the morning they are ready to go for dinner, and they cook up quick, too.

You can also pre-make some meals like chili and pasta sauce and freeze. Put in the fridge to defrost in the morning and then heat up when it's time for dinner. For the pasta sauce, you can boil the pasta for the sauce while the sauce is heating. While all that is on the stove, make a salad and slice up some bread and you've got dinner faster than Rachael Ray can say Yummo!. To go along with the chili, I also make corn bread muffins and freeze those. Those defrost and heat up in the toaster oven while the chili is heating up. Grate some cheddar cheese to top the chili and you're done! You can make both the chili and the tomato sauce easier to defrost by freezing flat in a plastic freezer bag (ziplock or what have you). They also store and stack easier that way.

Also, nothing wrong with the occasional frozen pizza. Goes straight into the oven frozen and they have some really good ones out now. They even have organic ones for those eating healthier. Again, make a salad while the pizza is in the oven and you're good to go!

 

[dawnball]

If you freeze the meat flat in a single layer (even if you repack it later) then you can place it on a metal cookie sheet to defrost. You can even pre-heat the cookie sheet by running it under hot water if you want, but it will defrost very quickly either way. That's the concept those "magic defroster" things work under.

The more metal weight the better in this circumstance - so a heavy pan is better than a very light one.

 

[mskayjay]

I'm Big on crockpotting also. One of my favs is throwing in whatever beef I have to use in the freezer (roasts or steaks) with a bottle of Newman's Own Raspberry Vinagrette. Leave it alone for the day and by dinner time it is to die for!!!! You cannot believe how the raspberry and beef taste together. I would even throw in small potatoes, carrots, etc for the last hour or so. Yummmy!!!!

 

[Aliceacc]

How about making a habit of taking out tomorrow's meat as you finish tonight's dishes? Put it into the fridge and it should be good to go by tomorrow afternoon.

The crockpot doesn't work for me-- I leave at 7 am and ususally don't get home till 4:30. I can never find recipes that require something to cook for quite that long.

Besides, at that hour of the morning, it's enough trying to get breakfast and lunch organized. Dinner would be too much.

 

[Chicago526]

How about making a habit of taking out tomorrow's meat as you finish tonight's dishes? Put it into the fridge and it should be good to go by tomorrow afternoon.

The crockpot doesn't work for me-- I leave at 7 am and ususally don't get home till 4:30. I can never find recipes that require something to cook for quite that long.

Besides, at that hour of the morning, it's enough trying to get breakfast and lunch organized. Dinner would be too much.

They make crockpots with timers now, you can set the start/stop time. I think they even have them where after it stops, it stays on "warm", though in my experiance it takes a while for a crockpot to cool down anyway.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

The best way to defrost meat is to place on the top shelf of your refrigerator the day before when you get home from work. In the AM as you are getting ready, place the meat (secure in freezer bags) in COLD YES COLD water in the sink. Keep it there as long as you can in the AM. When you leave for work, dry the packages and place on the top shelf of the fridge again. Whoever gets home first during the day should replace the meat in cold water in the sink. Your meat should be defrosted to cook for dinner.

 

[teedisney]

I've got to try the metal trick. We struggle with this too.

 

[CowboyCO]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll try the metal trick. I've got huge metal cookie sheets that are very heavy.

We're also just going to have to start planning better.

 

[mskayjay]

Alice my pot doesn't have a timer on it and I leave around the time you do. I have everything ready for the morning including having moved the meat to the fridge the night before. I throw the meat in the pot frozen, dump the dressing on it, set it low and just leave it! When I get home I dump in the veggies, turn up the heat to high and let them cook and thats it! All done!

How about making a habit of taking out tomorrow's meat as you finish tonight's dishes? Put it into the fridge and it should be good to go by tomorrow afternoon.

The crockpot doesn't work for me-- I leave at 7 am and ususally don't get home till 4:30. I can never find recipes that require something to cook for quite that long.

Besides, at that hour of the morning, it's enough trying to get breakfast and lunch organized. Dinner would be too much.

 

[zazu1971]

Things I make in the crock pot that can cook ALL day long only getting better the longer they cook. I actually often make the pot roast the night before, let it cook all evening, put in fridge overnight then I remove any fat in the am and turn it back on to cook for another 12 hours. It only gets better

Roast pork (bbq or apple especially)
Take pork roast and throw in crockpost
toss in a bottle of bbq sauce and some onions
or
1 jar of cinnamon apple sauce, I like to throw in raisins or dried cherries as well
Turn on crock pot... cook all day

Pot Roast
Brown a chuck roast
sear some onions
throw entire contents into crock pot
top with 1 package onion soup mix and about a cup of water
when you get home from work, throw in some carrots
Serve over mashed potatoes (I keep bob evans ones in the fridge for this)- very very yummy

BBQ chicken
Take 1 whole fryer
stick onion into cavity of chicken (sweet onion preferably)
1 bottle fav bbq sauce dumped in
turn on low, cook all day


Hope these very basic recipes help... these are some of my favorite stand bys

 

[Muushka]

I go 'shopping' in my freezer On Sunday night. I put about 3 meals in the refrig. One will be ready to eat by Mon evening!