What semi-finished products can be prepared at home for freezing. Homemade semi-finished products

Homemade convenience foods: dinners in 15 minutes

I don't like to spend a lot of time preparing food every day, so I'm always looking for simple recipes and cooking methods. The idea of homemade semi-finished products seemed very interesting to me - and, as it turns out, it can really make life easier.

Famous Chefs It is often advised to regularly make preparations for future use. For example, the legendary Spaniard Ferran Adria recommends always keeping freezer fish, chicken, beef broths, tomato sauce, Bolognese and pesto sauces, peas, spinach. I use frozen vegetables all the time, but I have never tried storing sauces and broths in the freezer. So, one Saturday, I armed myself with patience, as well as a set of colorful containers and a pack of plastic bags, and decided to spend half a day in the kitchen so that I could then enjoy home-cooked food for as long as possible without any effort. I decided to cook lazy cabbage rolls, hedgehogs with cheese, stuffed peppers, cutlets, Bolognese sauce, cheesecakes and broths - vegetable and chicken (and at the same time boiled chicken meat).

Cutlets are the first thing that comes to mind when you think about semi-finished products. I’ve prepared them for future use myself before. simple recipe from ground beef, white loaf, eggs and onions. But at first there were difficulties with freezing. Many people advise placing the cutlets first on cutting board and put them in the freezer together, and when they harden, put them in a bag. But for some reason things weren’t going well for me: either the cutlets froze tightly to the board, even though it was sprinkled with flour, or they didn’t have time to freeze completely and then stuck together in the bag. As a result, I came up with a method that turned out to be very convenient for me: I put the cutlets on a plate covered with cling film or a bag so that there is free space between them, and then cover it with another layer of film on top. Already frozen cutlets are very easy to separate from polyethylene, put into a bag and store in it.

I prepared lazy cabbage rolls according to the classic recipe. Having fashioned cutlets from the cabbage-meat mixture, I put them in the freezer, also placing them on plates covered with cling film.

For hedgehogs with cheese I took 1/3 boiled rice and 2/3 ground beef, egg and onion. Mixing everything in homogeneous mass, molded it into small round cutlets and, placing a piece of cheese in the middle, pinched the edges well, like a pie, and then gave the cutlet the shape of a ball. I froze the hedgehogs using the same “technology”.

Next it was the turn of the stuffed peppers. I chose the classic one with meat. I thought this was one of the most great options homemade semi-finished products - very quick to prepare and easy to freeze.

From the remaining minced meat I made a huge pan of bolognese sauce according to Ferran Adria's recipe (though pork and butter I excluded it, but added a little red wine), and then, after cooling, put it in containers and put it in the freezer.

Bolognese sauce (from the book " Family dinner. Cooking at home with Ferran Adria")

(can be stored for 5 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer)

Ingredients (for 2.5 kg): butter - 225 g, chopped beef - 1.2 kg, minced pork- 350 g, onion - 500 g, celery - 150 g, carrots - 400 g, olive oil extra virgin - 150 ml, chopped tomatoes in own juice– 1.6 kg, sugar – 2 g, tomato paste- 12 years

Preparation. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter. Add minced beef and fry until it changes color, then add the minced pork. Fry for a few more minutes, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mince is golden brown. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, celery and carrots. Place another pan over low heat and pour olive oil into it. Lightly sauté the vegetables until softened, about 12 minutes. Add meat to vegetables and mix everything together well. Add chopped tomatoes and puree. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over low heat for one and a half hours.

By the way, you can make it for future use and freeze it. homemade pasta, as, for example, advises Valentino Bontempi. Then your homemade spaghetti and Bolognese sauce can be taken out of the refrigerator at any time and cooked in literally 15 minutes.

Chicken Soup (from Gwyneth Paltrow's Daddy's Girl)

Ingredients: 1 chicken carcass, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 Bay leaf, 2 celery stalks (chopped), 1 large head onions(chopped), 2 carrots (chopped), 3 sprigs thyme, 1 teaspoon coarse salt

Preparation. Place all ingredients in a large soup pot, pour cold water(2.8 L volume) and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Skim off the foam, then reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 1.5 hours. Cool the broth, then strain and pour into freezer containers. The broth is stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, in the freezer for 6 months.

I took some more water, but the broth still turned out quite strong. When it cooled down, I divided it into 4 portions (about 1 liter each) and froze it in plastic bags - not very aesthetically pleasing, but convenient.

Boiled chicken meat

I removed the chicken meat from the bones and, dividing it into portions and placing it in containers, also froze it. It can be added to salads, soups, vegetable stew or, after lightly frying, mix with a sauce of champignons, garlic and cream.

Vegetable broth (from Gwyneth Paltrow's book "Daddy's Girl")

Ingredients: 1 large onion (chopped), 2 carrots (chopped), 1 stalk of celery (chopped), 1 leek (chopped), 3 cloves of garlic, crushed with the flat side of a knife blade, 4 sprigs of parsley, 4 sprigs of thyme , 2 sprigs of tarragon, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon of coarse salt, 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns, 2.8 liters of cold water.

Preparation. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Let cool and strain into a clean container. This broth can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, in the freezer for 6 months.

The vegetable broth was very flavorful. I froze it in small bags, just like the chicken one.

Syrniki

I made cheesecakes with dor blue, and from freezing them taste qualities were not harmed in any way. What can't be said about lazy dumplings, which I often cooked before and once froze as an experiment: they immediately crumbled during cooking.

Results: it took me about 5 hours to do everything, I tried to cook several dishes at the same time. But the end result didn’t just please me—it shocked me. The resulting preparations lasted me and my husband for almost three weeks. All this time we spent a minimum of time on cooking, and it seems that we saved a lot of money - after all store-bought semi-finished products not only are they much inferior in quality homemade food, but are also more expensive. Of course, the issue of lack of time can be solved in another way: go to a restaurant, order food at home, or, in the end, cook pasta with sausages - this is a personal matter for everyone, but I found it for myself perfect option, and maybe it will be useful for someone else.

Homemade convenience foods: dinners in 15 minutes

Famous chefs often advise regularly making preparations for future use. For example, the legendary Spaniard Ferran Adria recommends always keeping fish, chicken, beef broth, tomato sauce, Bolognese and pesto sauces, peas, and spinach in the freezer. I use frozen vegetables all the time, but I have never tried storing sauces and broths in the freezer. So, one Saturday, I armed myself with patience, as well as a set of colorful containers and a pack of plastic bags, and decided to spend half a day in the kitchen so that I could then enjoy home-cooked food for as long as possible without any effort. I decided to cook lazy cabbage rolls, hedgehogs with cheese, stuffed peppers, cutlets, Bolognese sauce, cheesecakes and broths - vegetable and chicken (and at the same time boiled chicken meat).

Cutlets are the first thing that comes to mind when you think about semi-finished products. I have cooked them for future use before using the simplest recipe from minced beef, white loaf, eggs and onions. But at first there were difficulties with freezing. Many people advise placing the cutlets first on a cutting board and putting them in the freezer along with it, and when they harden, put them in a bag. But for some reason things weren’t going well for me: either the cutlets froze tightly to the board, even though it was sprinkled with flour, or they didn’t have time to freeze completely and then stuck together in the bag. As a result, I came up with a method that turned out to be very convenient for me: I put the cutlets on a plate covered with cling film or a bag so that there is free space between them, and then cover it with another layer of film on top. Already frozen cutlets are very easy to separate from polyethylene, put into a bag and store in it.

For hedgehogs with cheese, I used 1/3 boiled rice and 2/3 ground beef, an egg and onion. Having mixed everything into a homogeneous mass, she molded it into small round cutlets and, placing a piece of cheese in the middle, pinched the edges well, like a pie, and then gave the cutlet the shape of a ball. I froze the hedgehogs using the same “technology”.

Next it was the turn of the stuffed peppers. I chose the classic one with meat. It seemed to me that this is one of the most excellent options for home-made semi-finished products - it’s very quick to cook and easy to freeze.

From the remaining minced meat, I prepared a huge pan of bolognese sauce according to Ferran Adria's recipe (although I excluded the pork and butter, but added a little red wine), and then, after cooling, put it in containers and put it in the freezer.

Bolognese sauce (from the book “Family Dinner. Cooking at Home with Ferran Adria”)

(can be stored for 5 days in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer)

Ingredients (for 2.5 kg): butter - 225 g, minced beef - 1.2 kg, minced pork - 350 g, onion - 500 g, celery - 150 g, carrots - 400 g, extra virgin olive oil - 150 ml, chopped tomatoes in their own juice - 1.6 kg, sugar - 2 g, tomato paste - 12 g.

Preparation. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter. Add the minced beef and fry until it changes color, then add the minced pork. Fry for a few more minutes, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mince is golden brown. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, celery and carrots. Place another pan over low heat and pour olive oil into it. Lightly sauté the vegetables until softened, about 12 minutes. Add meat to vegetables and mix everything together well. Add chopped tomatoes and puree. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over low heat for one and a half hours.

By the way, you can make homemade pasta for future use and freeze it, as, for example, Valentino Bontempi advises. Then your homemade spaghetti and Bolognese sauce can be taken out of the refrigerator at any time and cooked in literally 15 minutes.

Chicken Soup (from Gwyneth Paltrow's Daddy's Girl)

Ingredients: 1 chicken carcass, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, 2 celery stalks (chopped), 1 large onion (chopped), 2 carrots (chopped), 3 sprigs of thyme, 1 teaspoon coarse salt

Preparation. Place all ingredients in a large soup pot, fill with cold water (2.8 L) and bring broth to a boil over high heat. Skim off the foam, then reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 1.5 hours. Cool the broth, then strain and pour into freezer containers. The broth is stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks, in the freezer for 6 months.

I used a little more water, but the broth was still quite strong. When it cooled down, I divided it into 4 portions (about 1 liter each) and froze it in plastic bags - not very aesthetically pleasing, but convenient.

Boiled chicken meat

I removed the chicken meat from the bones and, dividing it into portions and placing it in containers, also froze it. It can be added to salads, soups, vegetable stews or, lightly fried, mixed with a sauce of champignons, garlic and cream.

Vegetable broth (from Gwyneth Paltrow's book "Daddy's Girl")

The vegetable broth was very flavorful. I froze it in small bags, just like the chicken one.

Syrniki

I made cheesecakes with dor blue, and their taste was not affected by freezing. The same cannot be said about lazy dumplings, which I often cooked before and once froze as an experiment: they immediately crumbled during cooking.

Results: it took me about 5 hours to do everything, I tried to cook several dishes at the same time. But the end result didn’t just please me—it shocked me. The resulting preparations lasted me and my husband for almost three weeks. All this time we spent a minimum of time on cooking, and it seems that we saved a lot of money - after all, store-bought semi-finished products are not only much inferior in quality to home-made food, but they are also more expensive. Of course, the issue of lack of time can be solved in another way: go to a restaurant, order food at home, or, in the end, cook pasta with sausages - this is everyone’s personal choice, but I found the ideal option for myself, and perhaps it will turn out to be useful for someone else.

You can freeze not only dumplings and cutlets, but also pies, stuffed pancakes and even broths for soups. Below you will find 10 original dishes, suitable for freezing. But before moving on to the recipes, a little theory.

In the freezer -18 ºС. At this temperature, the action of microorganisms stops - frozen food for a long time without losing its taste. How much exactly? Considering that we constantly look into the freezer, that is, temperature changes occur, food slightly thaws and freezes again, no more than two months.

Some foods are not suitable for freezing. For example, zucchini, cucumbers and other watery vegetables. After defrosting, almost all the flavor leaves them along with the moisture. Lettuce leaves lose texture and raw potatoes takes on an unpleasant aftertaste.

You need to know how to freeze and defrost food. How colder dish before putting it in the freezer, the better. If the products have been subjected to heat treatment, it is recommended to cool them first room temperature, then keep in the refrigerator and only then freeze.

Thawing should be done in the reverse order: take the dish out of the freezer, place it on a tray and put it in the refrigerator for 10–12 hours. Slow thawing allows food to absorb moisture lost during freezing. This way the taste is preserved as much as possible. But, if you don’t have time, you can use the defrosting function in the microwave.

Vacuum bags, plastic and glass trays are used to store food in the freezer. Bags with zip locks are convenient when it is not necessary to maintain the shape of the dish: they significantly save space in the freezer. Plastic containers can be taken with you to work, they are convenient for heating lunch in the microwave, and glass trays are ideal for cooking in the oven, since there is no need to transfer the dish from dish to dish.

Debbie R/Flickr.com

Muffins belong to sweet pastries, but if you use ham and cheese as filling instead of chocolate and fruit, you can get satisfying mini-buns for breakfast. They take little time to prepare, and after freezing and reheating, they are just as delicious as piping hot.

Ingredients:

3–4 pieces of bread;
3-4 slices of ham;
100 g cheddar or other hard cheese;
8 eggs;
1 glass of milk;
2 teaspoons mustard powder;
1 teaspoon ground pepper;
dried parsley and other spices to taste.

Preparation

Cut the bread and ham into thin strips. Grate the cheese on a coarse grater. Fill the muffin tins about two-thirds full with this filling.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs, milk, mustard powder and pepper. Pour the resulting mixture into the mold. But not to the edges, otherwise the muffins will run away during baking. Sprinkle the top of each cell of the mold dried parsley and other seasonings to your taste.

Preheat the oven to 200 ºС. Bake the muffins for 15–20 minutes. Let them cool and then fold them into Plastic container and put it in the freezer.

Julia Frost/Flickr.com

In the morning you can get required quantity buns, heat in the microwave and get a quick, satisfying, and most importantly, tasty breakfast.

cupcakesandkalechips.com

Ideal for breakfast, nutritious and healthy. It provides about 20% daily value fiber and protein, contains a lot of necessary substances and helps control appetite. If you are too lazy to bother with preparing porridge in the morning, there is a solution - frozen oatmeal cups with various fillings (fruits, nuts, dried fruits, etc.).

Ingredients:

2 cups oatmeal;
3 glasses of milk or water (optional);
1 tablespoon honey;
30 g butter;
a pinch of salt;
fruits, berries, chocolate, nuts, dried fruits and other fillings.

Preparation

In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Pour in cereals and mix thoroughly. Reduce heat to low and simmer porridge for 5–7 minutes until thickened. Stir constantly. Remove the oatmeal from the heat, add a knob of butter and a spoonful of honey, mix well. Let cool slightly.

Grease the muffin tin vegetable oil and put the porridge into cells. Sprinkle some filling on top of each serving. These can be diced bananas, raspberries, raisins, coconut flakes- what you like to eat oatmeal with.

Wrap the shape cling film and freeze. When the cups are well set, remove them from the mold and wrap them individually in film. This will significantly save space in the freezer.

Remove the required number of cups from the freezer the night before to easily have a healthy and delicious breakfast in the morning. Just heat the porridge in the microwave. Add milk if necessary.

Barbara Krawcowicz/Flickr.com

Frozen stuffed peppers work almost as well as dumplings or dumplings. If you know you have a busy day ahead and won't have time to cook, take the peppers out of the freezer the day before. They will thaw overnight in the refrigerator, all you have to do is put them in the oven.

Ingredients:

8 bell peppers;
700 g minced beef;
250 g rice;
250 g tomato sauce;
1 onion;
2 cloves of garlic;
hard cheddar cheese;
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation

Wash the peppers, cut off the tops to create “cups”, the inner cavity from the seeds. The cut caps can be crumbled and used in the filling.

Peel the onion and garlic and chop finely. Combine ground beef (you can use ground turkey instead of ground beef), rice, peppers, onion, garlic and tomato sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the peppers with this. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.

In this form, the peppers can already be frozen. When you need to cook them, defrost and bake in the oven at 180 ºС for 30–40 minutes.

budgetbytes.com

What to take for lunch or? For many this is everyday headache. This recipe will help diversify the contents of your lunchbox. The ingredients are simple, the preparation is easy.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg of potatoes;
500 g salsa sauce;
500 g hard cheese (for example, cheddar);
50 g butter;
9 eggs;
1 tablespoon olive oil;
1 teaspoon paprika;
½ teaspoon garlic powder;
½ teaspoon salt;
black ground pepper taste.

Preparation

Wash the potatoes and cut into cubes. If it is young, you don’t even have to peel it. Add paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the bowl with the potato cubes and add olive oil. Mix everything thoroughly. Place the potatoes in a single layer on a lined baking sheet. parchment paper, and place in the oven for 45–60 minutes, preheated to 200 ºС. Stir the potatoes about halfway through cooking.

While it's cooking, make the omelette. To do this, break the eggs into a bowl and lightly beat them with a whisk. Melt the butter in a frying pan and carefully pour in the eggs. Remove the omelette from the heat a couple of minutes before it’s ready; the eggs should still be a little runny.

Divide the potatoes into containers. Add 2-3 tablespoons of salsa or any other sauce of your choice to each of them. Divide the omelette into portions and sprinkle with grated cheese.

budgetbytes.com

With this amount of ingredients you will get six office lunches. Store them in the freezer, and when necessary, take a container with you, heat them in the microwave and enjoy excellent country-style potatoes.

Scott/Flickr.com

Short pasta in the form of corrugated tubes with diagonally cut edges is called penne. You can also use them to make ground beef. delicious casserole, which will help out if you don’t have time for dinner. You can take it to work for lunch.

Ingredients:

1 kg minced beef;
800 g of tomatoes in their own juice;
500 g penne pasta;
400 g marinara sauce;
400 g ricotta;
400 g mozzarella;
1 large onion;
1 egg;
3 cloves of garlic;
2 teaspoons of Italian herb mixture;
½ teaspoon coarsely ground red pepper (flakes);
salt and black pepper to taste.

Preparation

Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Fry them in olive oil. Then add to them Ground beef. Fry it, stirring constantly, until excess moisture evaporates. When the minced meat is browned, pour the tomatoes in their own juice and marinara sauce into the pan (if you don’t have it on hand, you can use any other tomato sauce). Add spices: Italian mixture, red and black pepper, salt. Simmer for half an hour. After 30 minutes, transfer a third of the sauce from the pan to a separate bowl. Cool.

Also, in a separate bowl, combine the ricotta, grated mozzarella (save some cheese for sprinkling) and eggs. Season with salt, pepper, and whisk until smooth.

Boil the pasta. Rinse them under cold running water. Mix with minced meat and cheese. Place everything in a glass container. Fill with the remaining tomato-meat sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese.

Thrivinghomeblog.com

You must use a glass container so that when you take the casserole out of the freezer, you can immediately put it in the oven. Bake at a temperature of 190 ºС. Moreover, if you put the casserole in the oven straight from the freezer, the cooking time will be 2–2.5 hours. Therefore, it is better to first defrost the dish in the microwave or naturally, on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

Nikki G/Flickr.com

Taquitos is a dish Mexican cuisine, which represents corn tortillas with filling. This recipe is a salvation for those times when everyone is hungry, but there is no time to cook and nothing to cook with. In just 15 minutes you will have dinner on your table no worse than a restaurant one.

Ingredients:

15 corn tortillas;
500 g chicken breast;
250 g cream cheese;
170 g salsa verde sauce;
4 tablespoons chopped cilantro;
2 tablespoons lime juice;
1 teaspoon onion powder;
¼ teaspoon garlic powder;
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder;
¾ teaspoon cumin;
vegetable oil for frying and greasing.

Preparation

Cut the chicken breast into strips and fry in vegetable oil until golden crust. Cream cheese stir in cilantro, lime juice and spices (cumin, onion, garlic powder and chili powder). Since the dish is Mexican, Pepper Jack cheese goes well with taquitos. He has creamy taste with slightly tart notes. But you can use other semi-soft varieties.

You can make your own tortillas or buy them ready-made. In the latter case, first microwave the tortillas for 1-2 minutes so that they are soft and do not break when folded.

Place chicken and cheese mixture on tortillas. Add some salsa verde. Read about how to prepare it at home. Roll the tortillas into a log.

Preheat the oven to 220 ºС. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable oil. Place the rolls on it so that the edges are down and they do not touch each other. Bake for 15–20 minutes.

Happymoneysaver.com

Once the taquitos are baked and cool, place them in a zip-lock freezer bag and place them in the freezer. In a situation where “everyone is hungry, but there is no time to cook and nothing to cook with,” place the rolls again on a baking sheet, lightly sprinkle with vegetable oil and reheat in the oven for 10–15 minutes.

Arnaud Dessein/ Flickr.com

Nuggets are usually associated with fast food, but they can be the basis for a second one for lunch or dinner. When you don't have time to fry the cutlets, remove them from the freezer and reheat the nuggets. As a side dish, you can boil pasta or make mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 ½ kg chicken fillet;
200 g flour;
200 g corn flakes;
5 eggs;
1 tablespoon paprika.

Preparation

Wash the meat, dry it and cut it into small pieces about 3–5 cm long. Cornflakes grind in a blender. Mix flour and paprika in a separate bowl. Also whisk the eggs separately.

Dip each piece of chicken first in flour, then in eggs and finally in cereal. Do this carefully if you want the nuggets to have a real crunch. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the breaded chicken pieces on it. Bake the nuggets in the oven at 180 ºC for 15–20 minutes.

When the nuggets have cooled, place them in an airtight container plastic bag, and put it in the freezer. It is useful to label frozen food packages. Indicate the name of the dish and the date of preparation.

Julia Frost/Flickr.com

Meatballs are a dish Italian cuisine, which are balls of minced meat. They are similar to meatballs and meatballs, but neither. Meatballs are usually stewed, meatballs are boiled in broth, and meatballs are baked in the oven (Italian version) or deep-fried (American version). Meatballs are a great solution for those who don’t have the time or desire to stand at the stove. It's tasty and satisfying. Meatballs can be eaten as independent dish or serve with a side dish.

Ingredients:

1 kg minced beef;
200 g breadcrumbs;
200 g ricotta;
2 eggs;
5 tablespoons of olive oil;
parsley, salt, pepper and other spices to taste.

Preparation

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Ricotta can be replaced thick sour cream, but it is better to use minced beef: pork is too fatty for this dish.

Julie Magro/Flickr.com

Form the resulting minced meat into balls about 5 cm in diameter. Place them in a container, wrap it in foil and freeze. Meatballs should be baked at 180 ºС for 20–30 minutes.

Stew with chicken and vegetables - preparation for multicooker

Thehumbledhomemaker.com

Significantly simplifies life: put in groceries, press a button and go about your business. And if, in addition, you freeze the preparation, where all the ingredients have already been washed and chopped, then the time savings becomes even more noticeable.

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken fillet;
2 bell peppers;
1 onion;
2 cloves of garlic;
1 tablespoon honey;
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar;
1 tablespoon chili powder;
2 teaspoons cumin;
1 teaspoon paprika.

Preparation

Wash the chicken and cut into strips. Also wash the pepper, remove seeds and chop. Peel and chop the onion and garlic.

Take a ziplock bag and add all the ingredients, including honey and Apple vinegar. Release as much air as possible from the bag. Freeze. When needed, defrost the bag, pour its contents into the slow cooker and simmer the stew for 3-6 hours. You can do all the manipulations in the morning so that in the evening, when you come home from work, you can enjoy a delicious dinner.

N i c o l a/Flickr.com

Guests are on the doorstep, and there’s a ball rolling in the refrigerator? For such a case, it’s a good idea to have a pizza preparation. Remove the foil and cling film, and after 15 minutes on your table delicious treat. Pizza dough, of course, can be bought at the store. But homemade tastes better.

Ingredients

For the test:

200 ml hot water;
2–3 cups flour;
2 tablespoons olive oil;
1 tablespoon honey;
1 ½ teaspoons dry yeast;
½ teaspoon salt;
1 teaspoon each of a mixture of Italian herbs and garlic powder (optional).

Filling option:

chicken fillet;
salami;
olives.

Preparation

IN hot water dissolve a spoonful of honey, then add yeast there and let stand for 5-7 minutes. Pour in the olive oil, add salt and seasonings if you decide to use them. Mix well. Carefully gradually add flour and knead the dough. Cover the bowl with the dough with a towel and leave for half an hour. The dough should rise and double in volume.

Roll out the dough. You can make small portioned pizzas (it’s easier to store), or you can make one large circle. Bake the dough without (!) filling at a temperature of 220 ºС for 7–8 minutes.

Remove the future pizza from the oven, let it cool slightly and brush with sauce. It can be anything, such as alfredo, barbecue, or just ketchup and mayonnaise. Place the filling on top. It also depends on your imagination and the products at hand. Don't forget to sprinkle with grated cheese!

Wrap the semi-finished pizza in cling film and then in foil and freeze it. When guests arrive, place the pizza in the oven for 15 minutes. All you need is for the filling to bake and the cheese to melt.

Bon appetit!

Write in the comments what foods and dishes you freeze.

You can freeze not only dumplings and cutlets, but also pies, stuffed pancakes and even broths for soups. Below you will find 10 original dishes suitable for freezing. But before moving on to the recipes, a little theory.

Some foods are not suitable for freezing. For example, zucchini, cucumbers and other watery vegetables. After defrosting, almost all the flavor leaves them along with the moisture. Lettuce leaves lose their texture, and raw potatoes take on an unpleasant aftertaste.

You need to know how to freeze and defrost food. The colder the dish is before going into the freezer, the better. If foods have been heat-treated, it is recommended to first cool them at room temperature, then keep them in the refrigerator and only then freeze them.

Debbie R/Flickr.com

Muffins are a sweet pastry, but if you use ham and cheese as a filling instead of chocolate and fruit, you can get hearty mini-buns for breakfast. They take little time to prepare, and after freezing and reheating, they are just as delicious as piping hot.

Ingredients:

3–4 pieces of bread;
3-4 slices of ham;
100 g cheddar or other hard cheese;
8 eggs;
1 glass of milk;
2 teaspoons mustard powder;
1 teaspoon ground pepper;
dried parsley and other spices to taste.

Preparation

Cut the bread and ham into thin strips. Grate the cheese on a coarse grater. Fill the muffin tins about two-thirds full with this filling.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, milk, mustard powder and pepper. Pour the resulting mixture into the mold. But not to the edges, otherwise the muffins will run away during baking. Sprinkle the top of each cell of the mold with dried parsley and other seasonings to your taste.

Preheat the oven to 200 ºС. Bake the muffins for 15–20 minutes. Let them cool, then put them in a plastic container and put them in the freezer.

Julia Frost/Flickr.com

In the morning you can get the required number of buns, heat them in the microwave and get a quick, satisfying, and most importantly, tasty breakfast.

cupcakesandkalechips.com

Ideal for breakfast, nutritious and healthy. It provides about 20% of the daily value of fiber and protein, contains a lot of essential nutrients and helps control appetite. If you are too lazy to bother with preparing porridge in the morning, there is a solution - frozen oatmeal cups with various fillings (fruits, nuts, dried fruits, etc.).

Ingredients:

2 cups oatmeal;
3 glasses of milk or water (optional);
1 tablespoon honey;
30 g butter;
a pinch of salt;
fruits, berries, chocolate, nuts, dried fruits and other fillings.

Preparation

In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Add oatmeal and mix thoroughly. Reduce heat to low and simmer porridge for 5–7 minutes until thickened. Stir constantly. Remove the oatmeal from the heat, add a knob of butter and a spoonful of honey, mix well. Let cool slightly.

Grease a muffin tin with vegetable oil and place the porridge among the cells. Sprinkle some filling on top of each serving. This could be diced bananas, raspberries, raisins, flaked coconut - whatever you like to eat your oatmeal with.

Wrap the pan in cling film and freeze. When the cups are well set, remove them from the mold and wrap them individually in film. This will significantly save space in the freezer.

Remove the required number of cups from the freezer the night before to easily have a healthy and delicious breakfast in the morning. Just heat the porridge in the microwave. Add milk if necessary.

Barbara Krawcowicz/Flickr.com

Ingredients:

8 bell peppers;
700 g minced beef;
250 g rice;
250 g tomato sauce;
1 onion;
2 cloves of garlic;
hard cheddar cheese;
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation

Wash the peppers, cut off the tops to create “cups”, the inner cavity from the seeds. The cut caps can be crumbled and used in the filling.

In this form, the peppers can already be frozen. When you need to cook them, defrost and bake in the oven at 180 ºС for 30–40 minutes.

budgetbytes.com

What to take for lunch or? For many, this is a daily headache. This recipe will help diversify the contents of your lunchbox. The ingredients are simple, the preparation is easy.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg of potatoes;
500 g salsa sauce;
500 g hard cheese (for example, cheddar);
50 g butter;
9 eggs;
1 tablespoon olive oil;
1 teaspoon paprika;
½ teaspoon garlic powder;
½ teaspoon salt;
ground black pepper to taste.

Preparation

Wash the potatoes and cut into cubes. If it is young, you don’t even have to peel it. Add paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the bowl with the potato cubes and add olive oil. Mix everything thoroughly. Place the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the oven preheated to 200 ºC for 45–60 minutes. Stir the potatoes about halfway through cooking.

Divide the potatoes into containers. Add 2-3 tablespoons of salsa or any other sauce of your choice to each of them. Divide the omelette into portions and sprinkle with grated cheese.

budgetbytes.com

Scott/Flickr.com

Short pasta in the form of corrugated tubes with diagonally cut edges is called penne. You can use them and ground beef to make a delicious casserole, which will help out if you don't have time for dinner. You can take it to work for lunch.

Ingredients:

1 kg minced beef;
800 g of tomatoes in their own juice;
500 g penne pasta;
400 g marinara sauce;
400 g ricotta;
400 g mozzarella;
1 large onion;
1 egg;
3 cloves of garlic;
2 teaspoons of Italian herb mixture;
½ teaspoon coarsely ground red pepper (flakes);
salt and black pepper to taste.

Preparation

Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Fry them in olive oil. Then add ground beef to them. Fry it, stirring constantly, until excess moisture evaporates. When the minced meat is browned, pour the tomatoes in their own juice and marinara sauce into the pan (if you don’t have it on hand, you can use any other tomato sauce). Add spices: Italian mixture, red and black pepper, salt. Simmer for half an hour. After 30 minutes, transfer a third of the sauce from the pan to a separate bowl. Cool.

Also, in a separate bowl, combine the ricotta, grated mozzarella (save some cheese for sprinkling) and eggs. Season with salt, pepper, and whisk until smooth.

Boil the pasta. Rinse them under cold running water. Mix with minced meat and cheese. Place everything in a glass container. Pour in the remaining tomato-meat sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Thrivinghomeblog.com

Nikki G/Flickr.com

Taquitos are a Mexican dish consisting of stuffed corn tortillas. This recipe is a salvation for those times when everyone is hungry, but there is no time to cook and nothing to cook with. In just 15 minutes you will have dinner on your table no worse than a restaurant one.

Ingredients:

15 corn tortillas;
500 g chicken breast;
250 g cream cheese;
170 g salsa verde sauce;
4 tablespoons chopped cilantro;
2 tablespoons lime juice;
1 teaspoon onion powder;
¼ teaspoon garlic powder;
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder;
¾ teaspoon cumin;
vegetable oil for frying and greasing.

Preparation

Cut the chicken breast into strips and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Mix cream cheese with cilantro, lime juice and spices (cumin, onion, garlic powder and chili powder). Since the dish is Mexican, Pepper Jack cheese goes well with taquitos. It has a creamy taste with slightly tart notes. But you can use other semi-soft varieties.

You can make your own tortillas or buy them ready-made. In the latter case, first microwave the tortillas for 1-2 minutes so that they are soft and do not break when folded.

Place chicken and cheese mixture on tortillas. Add some salsa verde. Read about how to prepare it at home. Roll the tortillas into a log.

Preheat the oven to 220 ºС. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable oil. Place the rolls on it so that the edges are down and they do not touch each other. Bake for 15–20 minutes.

Happymoneysaver.com

Arnaud Dessein/ Flickr.com

Ingredients:

1 ½ kg chicken fillet;
200 g flour;
200 g corn flakes;
5 eggs;
1 tablespoon paprika.

Preparation

Rinse the meat, dry it and cut it into small pieces about 3–5 cm long. Grind the corn flakes in a blender. Mix flour and paprika in a separate bowl. Also whisk the eggs separately.

Once the nuggets have cooled, place them in a sealed plastic bag and place it in the freezer. It is useful to label frozen food packages. Indicate the name of the dish and the date of preparation.

Julia Frost/Flickr.com

Meatballs are an Italian dish made from minced meat balls. They are similar to meatballs and meatballs, but neither. Meatballs are usually stewed, meatballs are boiled in broth, and meatballs are baked in the oven (Italian version) or deep-fried (American version). Meatballs are a great solution for those who don’t have the time or desire to stand at the stove. It's tasty and satisfying. Meatballs can be eaten as a separate dish or served with a side dish.

Ingredients:

1 kg minced beef;
200 g breadcrumbs;
200 g ricotta;
2 eggs;
5 tablespoons of olive oil;
parsley, salt, pepper and other spices to taste.

Preparation

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Ricotta can be replaced with thick sour cream, but it is better to use minced beef: pork is too fatty for this dish.

Julie Magro/Flickr.com

Form the resulting minced meat into balls about 5 cm in diameter. Place them in a container, wrap it in foil and freeze. Meatballs should be baked at 180 ºС for 20–30 minutes.

Stew with chicken and vegetables - preparation for multicooker

Thehumbledhomemaker.com

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken fillet;
2 bell peppers;
1 onion;
2 cloves of garlic;
1 tablespoon honey;
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar;
1 tablespoon chili powder;
2 teaspoons cumin;
1 teaspoon paprika.

Preparation

Wash the chicken and cut into strips. Also wash the pepper, remove seeds and chop. Peel and chop the onion and garlic.

Take a ziplock bag and add all the ingredients, including honey and apple cider vinegar. Release as much air as possible from the bag. Freeze. When needed, defrost the bag, pour its contents into the slow cooker and simmer the stew for 3-6 hours. You can do all the manipulations in the morning so that in the evening, when you come home from work, you can enjoy a delicious dinner.

N i c o l a/Flickr.com

Guests are on the doorstep, and there’s a ball rolling in the refrigerator? For such a case, it’s a good idea to have a pizza preparation. Remove the foil and cling film, and after 15 minutes a delicious treat is on your table. Pizza dough, of course, can be bought at the store. But homemade tastes better.

Ingredients

For the test:

200 ml hot water;
2–3 cups flour;
2 tablespoons olive oil;
1 tablespoon honey;
1 ½ teaspoons dry yeast;
½ teaspoon salt;
1 teaspoon each of a mixture of Italian herbs and garlic powder (optional).

Filling option:

chicken fillet;
salami;
olives.

Preparation

Dissolve a spoonful of honey in hot water, then add yeast and let stand for 5-7 minutes. Pour in the olive oil, add salt and seasonings if you decide to use them. Mix well. Carefully gradually add flour and knead the dough. Cover the bowl with the dough with a towel and leave for half an hour. The dough should rise and double in volume.

Roll out the dough. You can make small portioned pizzas (it’s easier to store), or you can make one large circle. Bake the dough without (!) filling at a temperature of 220 ºС for 7–8 minutes.

Bon appetit!

Write in the comments what foods and dishes you freeze.

Food is the most important expense in every family. And a large part of your well-being depends on how much you spend on this every month.

But the art of spending little, but feeding fully, needs to be learned. At the same time, each of the housewives does not want to spend the whole day in the kitchen cooking, but also to do other, no less important things.

Preparations prepared in advance for at least a month will help to save a lot of time. Let's look at how best to do this.

We prepare semi-finished products

Hand-cooked and frozen semi-finished products will allow you to spend less time cooking and save money for at least a month.

You can buy a piece of meat, cook chops from it, and use the rest for minced meat and make dumplings, make cabbage rolls, cutlets, manti.

Make lazy cabbage rolls or classic stuffed peppers.

Hedgehogs can also be prepared easily. To do this, boil the rice. Combine it with minced meat, egg and onion. Form into balls and place in the freezer.

If there is any minced meat left, prepare Bolognese sauce, which can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to six months.

Place butter (225 g) in a saucepan (which is set over medium heat).
Add chopped beef (about 1.2 kg) and fry until the color changes.
Add minced pork (350 g), salt and pepper and fry for 15 minutes.
Chop the onion (half a kilo), carrots (about 400 g) and celery (150 g) and fry in another pan until the vegetables are soft. 12 minutes will be enough.
Then add fried meat and minced meat to them. Then - tomatoes (150 g) and tomato paste (12 g). If not enough, add salt and pepper and stir in sugar (2 g). And cook for about another hour and a half.

By the way, you can cook and freeze the finished pasta. And then it will take only 15 minutes to make a delicious dish.

The savings plans are very profitable option may become a liver. It is inexpensive, and you can make pancakes, navy-style pasta, dumplings or pancakes from it.

Chicken broth and meat preparations

Monthly preparations can also be made from soups. Boil chicken or any other meat, adding a large number of water. The broths should be rich. Divide them into 5-6 parts and put them in the freezer. Add water as needed and use for cooking.

Boil the chicken (one carcass).
Add chopped onion (1 head), grated carrots (2 pieces), bay leaf (one), black pepper (1 small spoonful of peas), salt to the broth.
Cool down ready soup and pour into a container to freeze.
If you boil more meat, then it can also be used later for preparing salads, second and first courses, casseroles or as fillings for pies.

Meat can be used to prepare meals for a month. Buy pork and four chickens.

Cut off the wings and shanks of the bird. You'll get eight pieces each. This stock is enough to prepare two lunches and dinners.
Trim off the white meat. Divide the fillet itself in half. Make the chops. Usually this amount makes 16 pieces. Freeze them.
Now cut off the rest of the meat and mince it, adding pork. Divide into four parts: three large and one small.
For larger ones, add rice and vegetables. You can make meatballs and cabbage rolls from them. Freeze.
On the third big piece add crushed bread and also grated potatoes. Make cutlets and place in the freezer.
Boil the remaining chicken bones. Use the remaining pieces of meat to prepare navy-style pasta. Pour the broth into containers (take regular glasses, usually there are 6-7 of them). Place in the freezer and then use to make soups.

Homemade semi-finished products are perfectly stored for a month and, if necessary, they can be quickly prepared. And they taste better, they are prepared according to your preferences, you know what they are made from, they do not contain harmful impurities. And the cost savings are considerable.

Getting ready for winter

The proverb about the cart in winter is very relevant for thrifty housewives. It is in the summer that you can cook economical blanks.

Vegetables and fruits can simply be placed in the freezer and then used for cooking.

Dill, green onions and parsley can be finely chopped, packaged in bags and frozen.

Preparing for the winter is another way to save on food. You can roll up salads, jams, compotes for future use. Then you can simply open a jar of borscht or solyanka and prepare a full-fledged first course.

As you can see, it is very easy to make economical preparations for a month (or even more). Thus, you will not only be able to make your life easier by saving money, but also quickly prepare delicious dishes for the whole family.