Freezing food

One of my favorite (and frustrating) things about eating at the pageant, is the lack of time and the use of convenience food.  Now for my guilty secret-I love convenience food.  I love the ease of preparation, I love the taste (weird, I know), and I love the options.  However, I don't love the price or all the garbage that goes into the food.  My favorite are the Bertolli pastas. My favorite flavor is the Roasted Chicken and Linguine. However, in order to feed my family at home I need 2 bags, and at pageant, 2. Imagine this because they are about $9.00 a bag.  That is a lot of money I could be spending at the Berry Patch instead. So, thus my love with freezing meals ahead of time.

There are a couple of tricks involved with freezing pastas.  It is important to pre-cook the food, but cook the pasta 2 minutes less than al dente. So if the instructions on the bag say to cook 7 minutes, really cook 4-5 minutes. This keeps you from getting mush when you re-heat.  I have come up with my own :Nielsonella Pasta in a bag". Hope you like it.

4 skinless chicken breasts, grilled and sliced
Linguine Pasta (cooked 2 minutes less than al dente
1 jar Bertolli Alfredo sauce (about $2-$3 per jar) and I usually use a coupon and keep them in my food storage just for these occasions
fresh vegetables

Cook the chicken and the pasta.  Mix the sauce into the pasta and coat completely. Add the chicken.  Place into freezer zip lock bag and seal. Mark on bag date you prepared, and reheating instructions:

1. empty bag, re-heat on stove top and add fresh vegetables. Heat until hot and bubbly, and serve; or
2. empty bag. Place in oven proof dish and stir in fresh vegetables. Heat in 350 oven until hot and bubbly.

Thats it.  They are that simple.  Now, I do have a recipe for homemade Alfredo sauce that I like much better, but it doesn't freeze as well.  Gets a bit gluey-so I sacrifice the jar of prepared. I love to add cherry tomatoes after it is all heated and ready to place on the table.  My family doesn't like it, though, so I usually just add them to mine.  Hope you all eat well!