I'm getting ready for relatives to arrive in about a week. I'm thinking about cooking ahead of time and freezing as much as possible. I'm considering lasagne, meatballs, and maybe beef soup with rivels. Any hints on freezing these foods? Do I freeze the lasagne before or after baking? How long does it need to cook to reheat? What temp? Should I make the meatballs and freeze them before cooking and should I put them on a cookie sheet to freeze before bagging them so they don't all stick together? Should I make the soup and freeze it and make the rivels when I reheat it? ANy suggestions would be appreciated?

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), July 12, 2001

Answers

Hi Cindy, I do most of my cooking in large batches and put them in the freezer. What I do with lasagne, mac and cheese and that kind of casserole is to partially cook it (about half the regular cooking time), cool it completely and freeze. You can line the casserole dish with aluminum foil or use a freezer to oven dish. To re-heat you can thaw the dish in the frig overnight, then cook the rest of the regular amount of time. When I make meatballs, I do just what you mentioned; freeze them separately on a cookie sheet then bag so you can remove as many or a few as you want.

Another dish that works well to make ahead is Shepard's Pie or how about a good chicken casserole like chicken and broccoli? Chili freezes really good, too. I don't usually freeze my vegetable soups because they tend to be mushy when reheated. I usually cook all casseroles at 350 degrees.

Don't forget dessert. Make up a big batch of chocolate chip cookies, drop them by teaspoons onto the cookie sheet but don't bake them (yet). Freeze and remove from pan to a plastic bag. When you want cookies, remove the amount you want, allow them to come to room temperature and bake as normal.

Enjoy your company and don't sweat the small stuff.

-- Trevilians (Trevilians@mediaone.net), July 12, 2001.

Clip cuponds for Dennies and hold a raffel? No, feed them what you want but make a special desseret, in this case "Better than sex dessert, which consist of butterscotch pudding with 4 drops of maple extract per serving and drained fruit cocktail, served in individual cups with whipped cream, chilled.

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), July 12, 2001.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll make the meatballs and freeze them and make the soup and put it in the frig. Hopefully one night my guests will take us out! I'm also going to make a fancy dessert ahead of time - Pina Colada Cheescake. If anyone would like the recipe, let me know. I also have a recipe for Better than Sex Cake that uses chocolate and vanilla pudding, cream cheese, cool whip, and toffee. Delicious!

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), July 13, 2001.