Tomorrow is my cooking day and I need help. One of the recipes I plan to make is Chicken Pot Pie. It calls for cooked chicken, chopped and then cooked veggies (including potatoes). Over that you pour a gravy and then put a pastry (the store bought kind). Next it says to put in the oven and bake. I'm not sure how long as I don't have the recipe in front of me but I'm guessing long enough to cook the pastry. Should I do the oven part and then freeze or freeze it without cooking the pastry. HELP!

By Feona on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 07:13 am:

Hi,

Can you freeze potatos?

By Barbara on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 08:36 am:

I would assemble everything but the pastry and then seal that into a heavy duty ziploc bag...and freeze. then when I want to cook it I would thaw it out pour it into my baking dish and then place the pastry on top. I try and do most of my baking on the actual day we will eat the dish. Plus it would be easier to store a bag of the gravy mix than a casserole dish with a pastry on top!~ I think this makes it taste fresher and less like eating warmed up casserole!

Feona yes you can freeze potatos if they are cooked before you place them in the freezer. They may darken slightly but not enough to make a difference.

By Anonymous on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 11:49 am:

so what you making? besides chicken pot pie? your secret valentine.

By Catherin on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 12:13 pm:

Paula what are you all cooking today? I want to try once a month cooking but have decided to wait until after I move. With packing and such I don't think I will have much time for it. Right now I am working on making a list of what I want to make so I could use some suggestions. Once I move I am going to try to get some tomato plants growing and I will have a small yard so I may be able to have a small garden too! I need to start looking at gardening sites to see what else I can grow in pots. I would like to do a little herb garden in my kitchen but I am not sure about how much room we will have so we will see how that goes. I really want to grow dill as I love it. I think chives would be pretty and easy to do and I LOVE chives. Do you do gardening I could sure use a bit of help from someone who has done it. I hope you have fun today.

By Paulas on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 01:32 pm:

Thanks Barbara! So, I cut the carrots, onions (yuck-I'll leave them out!), potatoes and other stuff, put it in a bag with the gravy and chicken and freeze? Thanks.
Catherin and SV: I'm making
honey garlic wings
lasagne
spaghetti sauce
chicken pot pie
chicken casserole
china boy hash
sweet and sour meatballs
pizza
parmesan chicken fingers
beef stew
cauliflower soup
and two others I can't think of right now.
I thought of 14 things and made 2 of each. I did my shopping and it costs $180 with a couple of other things like dd's school snacks and milk. I'll still need to buy milk and fruit this month but am hoping to spend no more than $70 doing that so I'll have cut our grocery bill from over $500 to $250/month.

I don't do much gardening Catherin but I think Barbara does.

By Catherin on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 01:40 pm:

sounds yummy paula...I really need to plan for this. I think the end of February will be my first attempt. How did you plan the menu? just picked what you like? I think the lasagna is a great idea. You could make it freeze it in a dish you can put in the oven take it out to thaw then throw it in. Can you freeze things like that in an aluminum pan? That's great about your bill being cut so much I think I will start with making enough for 3 meals a week as that is how many days I work then I will up it to five days a week. Then I can cook only on weekends and dh doesn't have to cook on his days off either. The reason I asked about aluminum pans is that things like stew and soups and such can be frozen in freezer bags but lasagna would be a tough one.

By Catherin on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 01:45 pm:

Oh paula would you share some recipes? cauliflower soup
chicken pot pie
chicken casserole
china boy hash
sweet and sour meatballs
pizza
parmesan chicken fingers
honey garlic wings

I think I would also make shake and bake teriyaki chicken wings, meatloaf, chicken soup, meat and veggie stir fry, the fixing for chicken veggie pie (i like meals in pie crusts)

If I make double this this would be enough for 25 week days. Can you suggest other things I could make? Also can you cook perogies and freeze them?

By Paulas on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 04:03 pm:

I've made perogies but not cooked them. I cook them when I eat them.
I'll write the recipes out for you later, I'm in the middle of baking today.

By Paulas on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 04:06 pm:

Barbara...I need your help again. I got this recipe from one of the sites you listed:
Easiest Beef Stew
10-12 servings
Make 4 of this recipe, but divide into five portions.
1½ lb. beef cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
4 medium potatoes, cubed
2 turnips or rutabagas, peeled and chopped small
3 c. green beans
salt, pepper to taste
2 c. stewed tomatoes
2 c. peas
Put beef cubes in crock pot or large Dutch oven. Cover with onion, carrots, potatoes, turnips or rutabagas, green beans. Season with salt, pepper. Pour tomatoes over ingredients. Bake 300 F. for 3½ hours or overnight. Add water if needed. Approximately ½ hour before end of baking time, add undrained peas.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do I do all this and then freeze it??????

By Paulas on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 04:08 pm:

Catherin...I have tons of casserole dishes so I'm just going to freeze the lasagne right in those but I'm sure you could freeze the aluminium pans. You would have to be careful though at first. I would recommend putting them into your fridge freezer first so that you have a flat surface and then once frozen transfer to your main freezer. Otherwise, they could spill.

By Barbara on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 05:21 pm:

yep cook it all together then divide it into meal size portions and freeze it!

If it turns out that you have odd size servings-- I double one recipe and it makes 16 servings I divide it into 2 meal size portions then take the other two and freeze them in lunch size servings then todd has two ready to take to work meals...they also work when he goes away to school for a week he just takes them along and keeps them in the refrigerator at the hotel and then heats them up at night!
I make my lasagna in several; glass casseroles I have when they are frozen solid I pop them out wrap them in plastic then in heavy duty foil and label them clearly. when I am ready to bake I unwrap them while they are frozen and pop them in the pan of choice...this frees up my good pans and also takes less room in the freezer!

By Paulas on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 05:33 pm:

Barbara...I can't thank you enough. DH is laughing at me b/c I keep coming back to the computer to see if you have answered my questions yet.
I'll cook the beef stew overnight tonight and put in bags in the morning then I'll be all done!
I think I'll make a few loaves tonight while I'm in the mood for those last minute baked goods that I might need. So far, I had one extra things of cauliflower soup and an extra meal of meatballs.

By Annette_Acer on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 05:33 pm:

Wow these are great idea's I might even start doing this as if I get into uni it will help with having all the meals done.

By Catherin on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 06:00 pm:

Thanks about the recipes Paula. If you have to write them out how about I just email you my address and you could mail them to me? along with any others you may have and I could share some of my favorite recipes. Whatcha think?

By Vicki on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 10:13 pm:

I did OAMC just one time and to be honest, I don't know why I haven't done it again. You are going to LOVE having all those meals in your freezer. Something that I do do alot though is double or triple cook things. If we are having lasagna for dinner, I will double or triple the recipe and have one that night and then make one or two for the freezer. That might be something for those of you that have limited freezer space to do. Also, we are not the best at eating leftovers, so if we have enough of something leftover for another meal, I just pop it in the freezer that night after dinner. Like one day this week I made a batch of beef stew...we had at least half of it left, so I froze the leftovers and in a couple of weeks we will have it again for dinner. We eat the leftovers that way now. LOL You are putting me in the mood to do it again! Good luck tomorrow! It will be a long day, but the rewards are great!!!

By Bea on Saturday, January 5, 2002 - 10:37 pm:

By Paulas on Sunday, January 6, 2002 - 06:31 pm:

Sounds yummy Bea! I'll add that to next months list.

I'm done...finally! I am very tired but will be happy for the next 30 days not having to wonder what to make for dinner!

By Anonymous on Sunday, January 6, 2002 - 07:58 pm:

hey paula if you are going to email catherine the recipes would you mind sharing them with me too? i am always looking for new recipes. these ones would be great.

honey garlic wings
lasagne
spaghetti sauce
chicken pot pie
pizza
parmesan chicken fingers

i would sure appreciate these recipes if you have the time. i don't each red meat that much hamburger is YUCKY! and i can't imagine liking cauliflower soup. yup you guessed it i am a picky eater but these others sound good. tia!

your secret mom-you have my email right?

By Paulas on Sunday, January 6, 2002 - 11:44 pm:

Hey SV...My daughter would never dream of eating cauliflower if I put it on her plate but she loves this stuff. There is cheddar cheese and milk in it. It's yummy.