copyright ©1999-2004
DigsMagazine.com.

If you're a lot more organized than I am, you can supposedly get a month's worth of frozen meals out of just a weekend of furious cooking. There's a whole school of busy cooks who swear by this method, and if you're interested, a quick web search for "once-a-month cooking" should turn up more info than you ever wanted to know. As I actually like to cook more than once a month, however, I tend to freeze meals whenever I've made a recipe that yields way more than I can reasonably eat before it goes bad.

freeze these...
Bread, scones and muffins: Baked goods tend to freeze well. Once they've cooled down, wrap in foil, then pop in a freezer-friendly plastic baggie. Thaw at room temp. To reheat, pop in a 350F oven until you get that nice fresh-baked smell filling your house (10-15 minutes for a scone, longer for a bread loaf).
Cookie dough: You can mix up your cookie dough and freeze it whole, but I like to shape it into balls, throw the balls onto a tray, and freeze. When the balls are frozen solid, I then toss them into a freezer-proof baggie. Whenever the mood for cookies hits, I just plop out however many cookie dough balls I want, and bake them up according to the recipe. There's no need to thaw the dough balls first.
Tomato sauce: Freeze in 1 or 2-cup portions (smaller portions will thaw quicker). To save freezer space, try ladling cooled sauce into sturdy self-sealing freezer baggies. Press out the excess air, and you'll have nice flat bags that can be efficiently stacked in the freezer. Thaw sauce in the fridge (at least enough to slide out of the bags); reheat on the stove and toss with cooked pasta.
Stock, soup, and stew: Freeze in 1 or 2-cup portions, making sure to leave a little room at the top of the container. To reheat, thaw slightly in the fridge or in cool water, just enough that you can slide the soup into a pot. Reheat on the stove.
Note: if your soup has potatoes in it, it's best to leave those out; they tend to get grossly smushy and darken unattractively when frozen and reheated. Add them when you reheat the soup.
Quiche: Assemble and underbake slightly (you want the filling to be set, but don't bother letting the crust brown). Wrap tightly and freeze. To reheat, just throw it into the oven at the same temperature at which you baked it; reheating time will be about the same as original baking time.
Enchiladas: Prep your enchiladas as if you were going to bake them (in a big pan if you have room in the freezer, or in smaller baking dishes if you prefer), but minus the cheese topping (to avoid dehydration). To reheat, top with cheese and pop the unthawed dish in a 375F oven for around 40-45 minutes. If you don't have much room in your freezer, you can also freeze individual rolled enchiladas by wrapping them in freezer wrap.
Lasagna: Assemble as if you were going to bake, but without the cheese (for the same reason as with the enchiladas). Cover with foil, and wrap the whole thing tightly with freezer wrap. Bake the unthawed lasagna according to the recipe directions (you'll probably find it needs a bit more time).

Sadly, there are some foods that just don't like the ice treatment. Custards, mayonnaise and other eggy sauces don't do well in the freezer; veggies with a high water content (like lettuce and celery) don't hold up so well either, though the change is primarily textural, so if you're planning to use them in a soup, you can give freezing a shot.

Once you have your freezer well stocked, of course, make sure to actually make use of what's in there, so your freezer doesn't turn into a black hole of forgotten foods. Label and date all bags and containers, to help you keep track of what you actually have and how long it's been sitting there. Most foods are good for 3-6 months in the freezer, but basically, you should always use your eyes, nose, and good ol' common sense. If it looks or smells at all dodgy, it's best to chuck it. Food poisoning is no fun.

o

check out these related articles: 
lazy shopper's kitchen essentials

---------------------------> lounge . nourish . host . laze . home.