You know you’re going to have a long busy day tomorrow and the last thing you’re going to want is to slave in the kitchen fixing a meal that takes a while to prepare and cook.

Oh, but you just remembered you have frozen casseroles in the freezer. Shew! Boy that’s a relief. All you have to do is thaw and bake.

I don’t know about you, but I love the above scenario on a really busy day. On that note, lately, I’ve had a few requests to do a post with some of my favorite dishes that freeze well.

Below I’m sharing my recipes for a scrumptious lasagna, some mouth-watering enchiladas, and couple of other delicious dishes, all of which I have personally frozen, thawed and cooked to our satisfaction.

So, without further ado, the recipes you’ve been waiting for:

1. World’s Best Lasagna

(adapted slightly from All Recipes)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbls white sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tbls salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 24 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven, cook ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned.
2. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water.
3. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, 1 tbls salt and pepper.
4. Simmer, covered for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes.
6. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water.
7. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, and 1/2 tsp salt.
8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
9. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch baking dish.
10. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce.
11. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture.
12. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese.
13. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
14. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
15. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
16. Bake covered in preheated over for 30 minutes.
17. Remove foil, and bake an additional 30 minutes.
18. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 10-12

2. African Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• Small amount oil
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• Dash worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 (16 oz) can tomatoes
• 1 (16 oz) can cream corn
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 (3 1/2 oz) can ripe olives and juice
• 6-8 oz shell macaroni, cooked
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Saute’ chopped onion, bell pepper, and garlic in small amount of oil until clear.
2. Remove from pan, saute’ ground beef and add chili powder, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
3. Add sauteed seasonings, tomatoes, corn and tomato sauce.
4. Add olives and olive juice.
5. Taste to adjust salt.
6. Add macaroni which has been cooked in salt water as directed on package.
7. Add oregano.
8. Place in 9X13 inch casserole.
9. Refrigerate 6-8 hours to allow flavors to blend.
10. One hour before serving, slice cheese on top.
11. Bake at 350˚ for 1 hour.

(If glass dish is used, remove from refrigeration sooner and bake at 325˚.)

Serves 8-10

3. Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Monterey jack cheese
• 2 large cans chicken
• 1 (16 oz) sour cream
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 10 flour tortillas
• 1/2 stick margarine
• 1/2 cup onions
• 1 small can chopped green chili peppers
• 2 large cream cheese blocks
• Garlic salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In skillet saute chicken & onions in margarine (season to taste w/ garlic salt & pepper).
2. Melt cream cheese in with chicken & onions after sauting.
3. In separate bowl mix soups, sour cream, & chili peppers together.
4. In large casserole put a small layer of soup on bottom of pan.
5. Then put chicken mixture in tortillas and place them in casserole.
6. Pour the rest of the soup mixture on top of tortillas and sprinke cheese on top.
7. Bake a 350 degrees for 30 min.

Serves 8-10

4. Santa Fe Soup

The only one of these recipes I cook before freezing is the Santa Fe Soup. All I do on the soup is thaw and re-warm it. I find by freezing the others prior to baking, they taste freshly cooked. Be sure to label your frozen dishes well to make cooking day quicker and easier also.

Well, there you have it, a few of my favorite recipes that freeze well. I hope you enjoy them.

If you have a link to a recipe you’ve found that freezes well, please leave the link in the comments section. I’d love to try yours also.

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Posted on June 9th, 2009 in Food and Entertaining | 5 Comments

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5 Comments

• Nicki at Domestic Cents says:

  June 9, 2009 at 7:26 am

  Great ideas! Thanks for sharing them with us
  Nicki at Domestic Cents’s last blog post..Homemade Frozen Waffles

  Reply
• jamie says:

  June 9, 2009 at 9:11 am

  i. adore. you. thank you so very much! i’ll be printing these immediately! enjoy this tuesday!

  Reply
• abbie says:

  June 9, 2009 at 5:26 pm

  I really like the chicken enchilada one. It looks really easy. I have a “dressed-up one” from Epicurious (I think it is stacked chicken enchiladas with salsa verde and cheese from the Jun2007 issue) but I am going to try this one next.
  I once thought of a business preparing frozen meals for moms-to-be, so that after their new one arrives, they have a freezer stocked with easy meals for the rest of the family. Just another purpose for those frozen meals.
  Great post, thanks, Abbie

  abbie’s last blog post..Reclaiming the Basement - Week 2 Update!

  Reply
• Jenn @ Beautiful Calling says:

  June 9, 2009 at 8:21 pm

  I’ll have to try the lasagna. I’ved tried one or two but was never happy with how they turned out from the freezer. If I made and baked them that day they were amazing though.

  All too often the “Eek! Dinner?” days happen and these types of things are certainly a lifesaver! Thanks for sharing

  Jenn @ Beautiful Calling’s last blog post..Set for a Sizzling Summer 1.0

  Reply
• Fine Food says:

  March 10, 2010 at 2:12 pm

  thanks for that

  Reply

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