Recipe(tried): Tips for thawing make ahead meals -

Hi Cassie - first of all, how great of you to do these make ahead meals for your friend - I know how much those will be appreciated.

I've done a lot of this, and most things come out pretty good. I've found that cream-based things, and things with potatoes (whole or cut up) don't come out real great, the potatoes get kind of "mealy" and funky textured. Cream based things can separate when re-heated.

That said, if I have a whole frozen casserole that has been frozen in a glass baking dish, I usually turn the oven on and immediately put the casserole in and let it come up to temperature right from the beginning - it's not such a shock as putting a frozen glass dish into a pre-heated oven. And many frozen things do very well being thawed and re-heated in microwaves - things like marina sauces, or soups do well that way.

If your casseroles have been frozen in metal or those disposable foil pans, then there's no problem putting them right into a pre-heated oven. Just know that if a non-frozen casserole needs to be cooked for 30 minutes, you'll have to adjust the frozen times to longer to allow for thawing then heating back up. Usually, I find that casseroles that are completely baked first before freezing do better than putting them in uncooked. That way you really don't have to cook them as well as thaw them - just have to bring them up to eating temps.

I would say that things like meatloafs are great frozen, but I haven't had great luck with beef stew - don't care for the texture of the vegetables when they thaw out.

I got a recipe here (ManyHats Chicken and Noodle recipe) that I made double and put in the freezer, and it came out just as good as fresh.

Best of luck and hope your friend will do well.

If you have any more specific questions, don't hesitate to post again.

June