Christmas in July 2019 - Day Twenty-Seven

I moved on to Family Favorites and Family Traditions over the last two days and completely skipped over the topic that should have come before them, What Freezes Well?  There's been a lot of discussion in our Christmas group about baking cookies and appetizers and prepping meals for those evenings when you're rushing out to a school or church or other function.  Pre-planning can take a lot of stress out of the holiday season and your freezer can be your best friend.

One of the best gifts we received each year we were in Rhode Island was a tin of cookies from Sophia's riding instructor.  She baked an incredible variety - at least ten different cookies - and they were delicious.  Her secret was to have several baking weekends and freeze the cookies.  Then when it was time to present the tins, she just had to defrost the cookies and make up the selections.

I don't freeze a lot of prepped meals during the holidays because I think some of the best meals you can freeze are casseroles and one pan dishes like lasagne, other pasta combinations, macaroni and cheese, and things like enchiladas and unfortunately, my family are not casserole-eaters.  Can you imagine?  I have to go to a potluck to get my casserole fix!  However, if I was going to prep and freeze meals, those would be exactly what I would be freezing since many can be cooked from frozen.

The other great freezer tip is to prep ingredients and place them in Ziploc bags and then tip them into your slow cooker.  I've never tried it but I have several friends who do a mass assembly and have a month's worth of meals ready to go.  Here's a couple of great sites if you're interested in doing that:

31 CrockPot Freezer Meals for Busy Weeknights

Taste of Home's 65 Slow Cooker Freezer Meals

Do you prep meals and freeze them so they are handy for those evenings when your schedule is a little hectic?