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

Homemade convenience foods: dinners in 15 minutes

I don't like to spend a lot of time on daily food preparation, so I'm always looking for simple recipes and cooking methods. The idea of homemade convenience foods seemed very interesting to me - and, as it turned out, it can really make life easier.

Famous chefs it is often advised to regularly make blanks for the future. So, 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 to store sauces and broths in the freezer. So, one Saturday, I stocked up on patience, as well as a set of colorful containers and packaging of plastic bags, and I was going to spend half a day in the kitchen, so that later I could enjoy homemade food without any effort for as long as possible. 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 made them myself before. simple recipe from ground beef, white loaf, eggs and onions. But with freezing at first there were difficulties. Many advise laying cutlets first on cutting board and put them in the freezer with it, and when they harden, put them in a bag. But for some reason, things didn’t work out 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 to the end and then stuck together in a 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 I cover it with another layer of film on top. Already frozen cutlets are very easy to separate from polyethylene, put in a bag and store in it.

I cooked lazy cabbage rolls according to the classic recipe. Having fashioned cutlets from the cabbage-meat mass, I sent them to the freezer, also laying them out 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, blinded small round cutlets from it and, putting 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 came the turn of stuffed peppers. I chose classic with meat. I thought it was one of the most great options homemade semi-finished products - cook very quickly, easy to freeze.

From the remaining minced meat, I prepared a huge pan of bolognese sauce according to Ferran Adria's recipe (true, pork and butter excluded, but added a little red wine), and then, after cooling, spread out into containers and sent to 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, olive oil extra virgin - 150 ml, chopped tomatoes in own juice- 1.6 kg, sugar - 2 g, tomato paste- 12 years old

Cooking. Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Melt the butter. Add minced beef and fry until it changes color, then add the minced pork. Saute 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 saucepan over low heat and pour olive oil into it. Sauté vegetables lightly until tender, about 12 minutes. Add meat to vegetables and mix well. Add chopped tomatoes and puree. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over low heat for an hour and a half.

By the way, you can make it in advance 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 just 15 minutes.

Chicken broth (from the book "Daddy's Girl" by Gwyneth Paltrow)

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

Cooking. Place all ingredients in a large soup pot, pour over cold water(volume 2.8 l) and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Remove foam, then reduce 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 - 6 months.

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

Boiled chicken meat

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

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

Ingredients: 1 large onion (chopped), 2 carrots (chopped), 1 celery stalk (chopped), 1 leek (chopped), 3 garlic cloves, 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.

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

The vegetable broth is very flavorful. I froze it in small bags, like chicken.

Syrniki

I made cheesecakes with dor blue, and from freezing them taste qualities weren't hurt at all. What cannot be said about lazy dumplings, which I often cooked before and once froze as an experiment: they immediately crumbled during cooking.

Results: everything about everything took me about 5 hours, I tried to cook several dishes at the same time. But the end result didn’t just make me happy, it shocked me. The resulting blanks were enough for my husband and I 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 shop semi-finished products not only are they very inferior in quality homemade food, but are also more expensive. Of course, the issue of lack of time can be solved in another way: going to a restaurant, ordering food at home or, in the end, cooking pasta with sausages is a personal matter for everyone, but I found for myself perfect option and maybe it will be useful for someone else.

Homemade convenience foods: dinners in 15 minutes

Famous chefs are often advised to regularly make preparations for the future. So, for example, the legendary Spaniard Ferran Adria recommends always keeping fish, chicken, beef broths, tomato sauce, bolognese and pesto sauces, peas, spinach in the freezer. I use frozen vegetables all the time, but I have never tried to store sauces and broths in the freezer. So, one Saturday, I stocked up on patience, as well as a set of colorful containers and packaging of plastic bags, and I was going to spend half a day in the kitchen, so that later I could enjoy homemade food without any effort for as long as possible. I decided to cook lazy cabbage rolls, hedgehogs with cheese, stuffed peppers, meatballs, bolognese sauce, cheesecakes and broths - vegetable and chicken (and boiled chicken meat at the same time).

Cutlets are the first thing that comes to mind when you think about semi-finished products. I used to cook them for future use according to the simplest recipe of ground beef, white loaf, egg and onion. But with freezing at first there were difficulties. Many advise putting the cutlets first on a cutting board and put them in the freezer with it, and when they harden, put them in a bag. But for some reason, things didn’t work out 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 to the end and then stuck together in a 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 I cover it with another layer of film on top. Already frozen cutlets are very easy to separate from polyethylene, put in a bag and store in it.

For hedgehogs with cheese, I took 1/3 boiled rice and 2/3 ground beef, egg and onion. Having mixed everything into a homogeneous mass, she made small round cutlets out of it and, putting 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 came the turn of stuffed peppers. I chose classic with meat. It seemed to me that this is one of the most beautiful options for homemade semi-finished products - it's very quick to cook, it's easy to freeze.

From the remaining minced meat, I prepared a huge frying pan of bolognese sauce according to the recipe of Ferran Adria (however, I excluded pork and butter, but added a little red wine), and then, having cooled, I laid it out in containers and sent it to 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.

Cooking. Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Melt the butter. Add the minced beef and sauté until it changes color, then add the minced pork. Saute 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 saucepan over low heat and pour olive oil into it. Sauté vegetables lightly until tender, about 12 minutes. Add meat to vegetables and mix well. Add chopped tomatoes and puree. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over low heat for an hour and a half.

By the way, homemade pasta can also be made for future use and frozen, 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 just 15 minutes.

Chicken broth (from the book "Daddy's Girl" by Gwyneth Paltrow)

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

Cooking. Place all ingredients in a large soup pot, cover with cold water (2.8 L) and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Remove foam, then reduce 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 - 6 months.

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

Boiled chicken meat

I took the chicken meat off the bones and, dividing it into portions and putting it in containers, also froze it. It can be added to salads, soups, vegetable stews, or, lightly fried, mixed with mushroom, garlic and cream sauce.

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

The vegetable broth is very flavorful. I froze it in small bags, like chicken.

Syrniki

I made cheesecakes with dor blue, and their taste did not suffer from 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: everything about everything took me about 5 hours, I tried to cook several dishes at the same time. But the end result didn’t just make me happy, it shocked me. The resulting blanks were enough for my husband and I for almost three weeks. All this time, we spent a minimum of time 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 homemade food, but also more expensive. Of course, the issue of lack of time can be solved in another way: going to a restaurant, ordering food at home, or, in the end, cooking pasta with sausages is a personal matter for everyone, but I found the perfect option for myself, and perhaps it will turn out to be useful to someone else.

You can freeze not only dumplings and cutlets, but also pies, stuffed pancakes and even soup broths. Below you will find 10 original dishes suitable for freezing. But before moving on to 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 drops occur, the products thaw slightly and freeze 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 taste leaves them along with moisture. Lettuce leaves lose texture, and raw potatoes acquires an unpleasant aftertaste.

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

Defrost should be in the reverse order: take the dish out of the freezer, put it on a tray and send it to the refrigerator for 10-12 hours. Slow thawing allows food to absorb the moisture lost during freezing. This way the flavor is preserved. But, if there is no time, you can use the defrost function in the microwave.

Vacuum bags, plastic and glass trays are used to store food in the freezer. Zip-lock bags are handy when you don't have to maintain the shape of the dish: they save a lot of space in the freezer. Plastic containers can be taken with you to work, they are convenient to heat up lunch in the microwave, and glass trays are ideal for cooking in the oven, since you do not need to shift the dish from dish to dish.

DebbieR/Flickr.com

Muffins belong to sweet pastries, but if you use ham and cheese as a filling instead of chocolate and fruits, you can get hearty mini-buns for breakfast. They take little time to prepare, and once frozen and reheated, they are just as delicious as they are piping hot.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

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

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

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

Julia Frost/Flickr.com

In the morning you can get right amount buns, warm up 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 allowance fiber and protein, contains a lot of necessary substances and helps control appetite. If you are too lazy to bother with cooking porridge in the morning, there is a solution - frozen oatmeal cups with various fillings (fruits, nuts, dried fruits, etc.).

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour in cereals and mix thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low and cook the porridge for 5-7 minutes until thickened. Stir constantly. Remove the oatmeal from the heat, add a piece of butter and a spoonful of honey, mix well. Let it cool down a bit.

Grease the cake mold vegetable oil and spread the porridge into cells. Sprinkle some topping 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 cling film. This will save a lot of space in the freezer.

Remove the right amount of cups from the freezer the night before for a healthy and tasty breakfast in the morning. Just warm up the porridge in the microwave. Add milk if necessary.

Barbara Krawcowicz/Flickr.com

Frozen stuffed peppers help out almost the same as dumplings or dumplings. If you know it's going to be a busy day and there won't be time for cooking, take the peppers out of the freezer the day before. They will thaw overnight in the refrigerator, you just have to put them in the oven.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

Wash the peppers, cut off the tops to make "cups", the inner cavity from the seeds. Cut off "hats" can be crumbled and used in the filling.

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

In this form, 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 and the preparation is easy.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

Wash potatoes and cut into cubes. If he is young, you can not even peel. Pour paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper into a bowl with potato cubes, pour in olive oil. Mix everything thoroughly. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet parchment paper, and send for 45-60 minutes in the oven, heated to 200 ºС. At the same time, stir the potatoes about halfway through cooking.

While it's cooking, make an omelet. To do this, break the eggs into a bowl and lightly beat them with a whisk. Melt the butter in a frying pan and gently pour in the eggs. Remove the omelet from the stove a couple of minutes before the readiness, the eggs should remain slightly runny.

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

budgetbytes.com

From this amount of ingredients, you will get six office lunches. Store them in the freezer, and when you need to, take a container with you, heat it up in the microwave and enjoy excellent rustic potatoes.

Scott/Flickr.com

Short pasta in the form of corrugated tubules with diagonally cut edges is called penne. From them and ground beef you can cook delicious casserole, which will help out if you do not have time with dinner. You can take it to work for lunch.

Ingredients:

1 kg of ground 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 Italian herb mixture
½ teaspoon coarsely ground red pepper (flakes);
salt and black pepper to taste.

Cooking

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 down.

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

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

Thrivinghomeblog.com

The container must be used necessarily glass, so that, having taken the casserole from the freezer, it can be immediately sent to the oven. Bake should be at a temperature of 190 ºС. Moreover, if you send the casserole to the oven straight from the freezer, then the cooking time will be 2–2.5 hours. Therefore, it is better to pre-defrost the dish in the microwave or in a natural way, on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

Nikki G/Flickr.com

Taquitos is a dish mexican food, representing corn tortillas with stuffing. This recipe is a salvation in case everyone is hungry, but there is no time and nothing to cook from. In just 15 minutes you will have a dinner on the table that is not 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 of cumin;
vegetable oil for frying and greasing.

Cooking

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

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

Spread the chicken and cheese mixture over the tortillas. Add some salsa verde. Read about how to cook it at home. Roll the tortillas into a roll.

Preheat the oven to 220 ºС. Line a baking sheet with foil and drizzle with vegetable oil. Arrange the rolls on it so that the edges are at the bottom and they do not touch each other. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

happymoneysaver.com

When the taquitos are baked and cooled, put them in a zip-lock freezer bag and put them in the freezer. In the situation “everyone is hungry, but there is no time and nothing to cook from,” put the rolls on a baking sheet again, lightly sprinkle with vegetable oil and heat 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 lunch or dinner. When there is no time to fry the patties, take them out of 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.

Cooking

Rinse the meat, dry it and cut into small pieces about 3-5 cm long. Cornflakes chop in a blender. Mix flour and paprika in a separate bowl. Also beat the eggs separately.

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

When the nuggets are cool, place them in an airtight container. plastic bag and put it in the freezer. Frozen food packages are useful to label. Specify the name of the dish and the date of preparation.

Julia Frost/Flickr.com

Meatballs are a dish Italian cuisine, which is minced meat balls. They look like meatballs and meatballs, but neither. It is customary to stew meatballs, boil meatballs 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 by the stove. It's tasty and satisfying. Meatballs can be eaten independent dish or serve with a side dish.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

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

Julie Magro/Flickr.com

Form balls with a diameter of about 5 cm from the resulting minced meat. Put them in a container, wrap it in foil and freeze. Meatballs should be baked at a temperature of 180 ºС for 20-30 minutes.

Ragout with chicken and vegetables - preparation for a multicooker

Thehumbledhomemaker.com

Significantly simplifies life: put the products, press the button and go about your business. And if, in addition, you freeze the blanks, where all the ingredients have already been washed and cut, then the time savings become even more tangible.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

Rinse the chicken and cut into strips. Wash the peppers, de-seed and chop. Peel and chop the onion and garlic.

Take a zip-lock bag and fill it with all the ingredients, including honey and Apple vinegar. Release the air from the bag as much as possible. Freeze. When necessary, defrost the bag, pour its contents into a slow cooker and simmer the stew for 3-6 hours. You can do all the manipulations in the morning, so that in the evening, after coming home from work, you can enjoy a delicious dinner.

N i c o l a/Flickr.com

Guests on the doorstep, and in the refrigerator a rolling ball? In such a case, it is good to have a pizza blank. We removed the foil and cling film, and after 15 minutes on your table tasty treat. Pizza dough, of course, can be bought at the store. But homemade tastes better.

Ingredients

For test:

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

Filling option:

chicken fillet;
salami;
olives.

Cooking

AT hot water dissolve a spoonful of honey, then add yeast there and let stand for 5-7 minutes. Pour in olive oil, add salt and seasonings, if you decide to use them. Mix well. Gradually add flour gradually 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 size.

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

Remove the future pizza from the oven, let it cool slightly and grease with sauce. It can be anything, such as alfredo, barbecue or just ketchup with mayonnaise. Put the stuffing 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 with cling film, and then with foil and send to freeze. When the guests arrive, put the pizza in the oven for 15 minutes. It is only necessary that the filling is baked and the cheese melts.

Enjoy your meal!

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 recipes, a little theory.

You need to know how to freeze and defrost food. The colder the dish before sending it to the freezer, the better. If the products 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.

DebbieR/Flickr.com

Muffins are sweet pastries, but if you use ham and cheese as a filling instead of chocolate and fruits, you can get hearty mini-buns for breakfast. They take little time to prepare, and once frozen and reheated, they are just as delicious as they are piping hot.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

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

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

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

Julia Frost/Flickr.com

In the morning you can get the right amount of buns, heat them up in the microwave and get a quick, satisfying, and most importantly, delicious 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 necessary substances and helps control appetite. If you are too lazy to bother with cooking porridge in the morning, there is a solution - frozen oatmeal cups with various fillings (fruits, nuts, dried fruits, etc.).

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add oatmeal and mix thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low and cook the porridge for 5-7 minutes until thickened. Stir constantly. Remove the oatmeal from the heat, add a piece of butter and a spoonful of honey, mix well. Let it cool down a bit.

Lubricate the cake mold with vegetable oil and spread the porridge in the cells. Sprinkle some topping on top of each serving. It can be diced bananas, raspberries, raisins, coconut flakes - whatever you like to eat oatmeal with.

Wrap the form with cling film and freeze. When the cups are well set, remove them from the mold and wrap them individually in cling film. This will save a lot of space in the freezer.

Remove the right amount of cups from the freezer the night before for a healthy and tasty breakfast in the morning. Just warm up the porridge in the microwave. Add milk if necessary.

Barbara Krawcowicz/Flickr.com

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

Wash the peppers, cut off the tops to make "cups", the inner cavity from the seeds. Cut off "hats" can be crumbled and used in the filling.

In this form, 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 and the preparation is easy.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

Wash potatoes and cut into cubes. If he is young, you can not even peel. Pour paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper into a bowl with potato cubes, pour in olive oil. Mix everything thoroughly. Place the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 45-60 minutes in an oven preheated to 200 ºС. At the same time, stir the potatoes about halfway through cooking.

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

budgetbytes.com

Scott/Flickr.com

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

Ingredients:

1 kg of ground 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 Italian herb mixture
½ teaspoon coarsely ground red pepper (flakes);
salt and black pepper to taste.

Cooking

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 down.

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

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

Thrivinghomeblog.com

Nikki G/Flickr.com

Taquitos are a Mexican dish that is stuffed corn tortillas. This recipe is a salvation in case everyone is hungry, but there is no time and nothing to cook from. In just 15 minutes you will have a dinner on the table that is not 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 of cumin;
vegetable oil for frying and greasing.

Cooking

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 works well for 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 ready-made ones. In the latter case, first send the tortillas for 1-2 minutes in the microwave so that they are soft and do not break when rolled up.

Spread the chicken and cheese mixture over the tortillas. Add some salsa verde. Read about how to cook it at home. Roll the tortillas into a roll.

happymoneysaver.com

Arnaud Dessein/Flickr.com

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

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

When the nuggets have cooled, put them in an airtight plastic bag and put it in the freezer. Frozen food packages are useful to label. Specify 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 look like meatballs and meatballs, but neither. It is customary to stew meatballs, boil meatballs 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 by the stove. It's tasty and satisfying. Meatballs can be eaten on their own or served with a side dish.

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

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

Julie Magro/Flickr.com

Form balls with a diameter of about 5 cm from the resulting minced meat. Put them in a container, wrap it in foil and freeze. Meatballs should be baked at a temperature of 180 ºС for 20-30 minutes.

Ragout with chicken and vegetables - preparation for a multicooker

Thehumbledhomemaker.com

Ingredients:

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

Cooking

Rinse the chicken and cut into strips. Wash the peppers, de-seed and chop. Peel and chop the onion and garlic.

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

N i c o l a/Flickr.com

Guests on the doorstep, and in the refrigerator a rolling ball? In such a case, it is good to have a pizza blank. We removed 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 test:

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

Filling option:

chicken fillet;
salami;
olives.

Cooking

Dissolve a spoonful of honey in hot water, then add yeast there and let stand for 5-7 minutes. Pour in olive oil, add salt and seasonings, if you decide to use them. Mix well. Gradually add flour gradually 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 size.

Enjoy your meal!

Write in the comments what foods and dishes you freeze.

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

But the art of spending is not enough, but to feed fully, you need to learn. At the same time, after all, 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.

Significantly save time will help blanks prepared for the future at least for a month. Let's see how best to do this.

Cooking semi-finished products

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

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

Make lazy cabbage rolls or classic stuffed peppers.

Hedgehogs can also be cooked 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 leftover minced meat, prepare a bolognese sauce that can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to six months.

In a saucepan (which is on a slightly over medium heat), put the butter (225 g).
Add chopped beef (about 1.2 kg) there and fry until the color changes.
Add minced pork (350 g), salt and pepper and fry for 15 minutes.
Chop onions (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 the fried meat and minced meat to them. Then - tomatoes (150 g) and tomato paste (12 g). If not enough, salt and pepper and stir in sugar (2 g). And cook for about an hour and a half.

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

In terms of saving very profitable option can become a liver. It is inexpensive, and you can cook pancakes, naval pasta, dumplings or pancakes from it.

Chicken broth and meat preparations

Preparations for a month can also be made from soups. Boil chicken or any other meat by adding a large number of water. The broths should be rich. Divide them into 5-6 parts and send them to the freezer. Add water as needed and use for cooking.

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

From meat, you can cook dishes for a month. Buy pork and four chickens.

Cut off the wings and legs of the bird. Get eight pieces. This stock is enough to cook two lunches and dinner.
Cut off the white meat. Divide the fillet in half. Make chops. Usually 16 pieces are obtained from this quantity. Freeze them.
Now cut off the rest of the meat and put it on the minced meat, adding the pork. Divide into four parts: three large and one small.
For larger ones, add rice and vegetables. From them you can make meatballs, as well as cabbage rolls. Freeze.
In the third big piece add chopped bread, as well as grated potatoes. Stick cutlets and put in the freezer.
Boil the remaining chicken bones. Use the remaining pieces of meat to cook pasta in a naval way. And pour the broth into containers (take ordinary glasses, usually 6-7 of them come out). Send to the freezer, and then use to make soups.

Homemade semi-finished products are perfectly stored for a month and in which case they can be quickly prepared. And they taste better, they are prepared according to your preferences, you know what they are made of, they do not contain harmful impurities. And yes, the cost savings are significant.

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 put in the freezer, and then used for cooking.

Dill, green onion 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 the future. Then you can simply open a jar of borscht or hodgepodge and cook a full-fledged first course.

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