Hi!
I happen to have a degree in Culinary arts and can help you out on this.
There are a few things to remember,
Meats can almost always be precooked and frozen. Meatloaf and meatballs are great examples of this. Roast chicken and grilled chicken also work really well. Lots of restaurants cook off large amounts of chicken and dice and freeze for later use in soups or chicken salad.
Soups usually freeze well. Cream soups from vegetable purees freeze really well. Creamy soups thickened with flour, however, do not as fare well the starches seperate when thawed. So any kind of Veggie soup or broth based soup is almost guaranteed to freeze nicely.
Potatoes do not freeze well. They become mealy and watery when they are thawed. They can be used in small amounts in soups but that is about it.
Pasta can be used in Lasagnas and casseroles. Just under cook it a little and it will be perfectly cooked when you reaheat it.
Fully cooked baked goods can be frozen for several months if they are fully wrapped. Bread and pizza dough can be made ahead and frozen. We just pull it out in the a.m. and leave it in the fridge until we get home. We have fresh pizza dough and just roll it out and top it with our favorite toppings. It is really cheap too.
Basically almost anything will freeze except a few starches and cooked seafood. So just make double batches for a few weeks and freeze half.
You will have to play a little on cooking times. Oh, and don’t thaw things outside of the fridge. Nasty foodbourne germs thrive on the thawed portion of the food while the inside is still frozen.
Sorry this is so long but I hope it helped. :)
Oh, don’t be afraid of making mistakes when cooking I have seen really great chefs burn bacon and scorch soup. Take a class and have fun!!!! ;D
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