We're getting ready to gear up for the upcoming maple season here in Michigan which means many long hours in the woods boiling down sap. Anyone have any quick and easy casserole dishes I might be stick in the freezer. It gets pretty hard to swallow those PB&J sandwiches after six weeks.

-- LYNETTE HENSON (BECKERL@JUD.STATE.MI.US), February 15, 2001

Answers

Check out the following web page. http://www.cbt.net/dedwards/casserolerecipes.htm Vicki

-- Vicki Jerkins (djerkins@cris.com), February 15, 2001.

Thanks Vicki - I got on the website. Have you tried any of the recipies? My biggest concern is that they not taste like they've been frozen - you know that watery-mushy taste.

-- Lynette Henson (Beckerl@jud.state.mi.us), February 15, 2001.

My personal favorite (and my mother, hubby,sister...........) Simple chicken or turkey pot pie: The trick is not to use potato or rice, as they don't freeze well. 1)Lots of chicken 2) fresh or frozen veggies 3) canned or homemade biscuts 4) lots of gravy. A)Dump 1,2 and 4 in a cassarole bake to a boil and put 3)biscuts on top till done. Transfer 1 or 2 servings to a microwave save container, and freeze. I personally, would be happy to trade dinner for syrup if you were near by!

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.net), February 15, 2001.

Sounds easy enough to me - - I guess I never thought about not adding potatoes - - Hmmm.

Come on over - - I'd love to do some bartering if you live nearby!! It's always nice to be able to meet fellow Countrysiders!

-- Lynette Henson (beckerl@jud.state.mi.us), February 16, 2001.

The computer ate my response the first time, so I'll try this again! I started doing once-a-month cooking last year and I love it. I put in one weekend's worth of work and have enough freezer meals to last 1-2 months. Here is the website that got me started:

http://members.aol.com/OAMCLoop/

I do use rice in some of my dishes, the secret is to undercook it before freezing. That way it finishes cooking when you reheat it and it isn't mushy. The same thing goes for pasta dishes, in fact when I make lasagne for the freezer I don't even cook the noodles before freezing the dish.

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), February 16, 2001.

Thanks Sherri. I have actually thought about trying the 30 day meal thing but haven't known anyone that's actually done it - - So, it's worth it huh? Did you purchase a book for reference? I have been in a couple of different websites but not the one you listed - - I'll have to try and find some time this afternoon.

-- Lynette Henson (beckerl@jud.state.mi.us), February 16, 2001.

I did buy the book "Frozen Assets", but there's really nothing in the book that's not on the website. I would advise you to start out small, the first time I tried it I did way too much and got overwhelmed. Also, if you're using any new recipes try a test batch first to make sure you like it. No sense in making a big batch of something if no one's going to eat it.

Cooking this way doesn't always save time, but there are other benefits. For example, we used to eat a lot of Stouffer's frozen lasagne. Just microwave it for 12 minutes and dinner is ready. Now we eat Lazy Lasagne from the Frozen Assets cookbook. I have to bake it for 45 minutes, but we're not eating all those chemical additives that the processed food has. The cost is less too.

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), February 16, 2001.

Lynette,

There is an actual book titled "once-a-month cooking" that I've tried all of the receipes in, and they are real winners. I was able to check the book out at the library. Try the mexican strogenoff, it's a real treat, and so are the chicken calzones. It has useful shopping lists, and a practical order of preperation to see you smoothly from speggetti sauce to the final receipe in the freezer. I'd strongly suggest borrowing it from your library, through inter- library loan if needed.

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), February 20, 2001.

Thank you for this post. I have requested both books from our library and am excited to try this method out. We both work away from the farm during the day and we are usually too tired to cook anything fancy when we get home. This method may bring us back to good home(made) cooked meals and break our terrible habbit of fast food. Thank you!

-- Trisha-MN (tank@linkup.net), February 20, 2001.