There were several questions about freezing in the last 24 hours…so I thought I’d post a quick tip sheet for freezing meals.   

• Casseroles that are prepared with raw beef or chicken that has been previously frozen should be cooked before refreezing.  Rule of thumb…if you defrost raw beef, chicken or pork ~ you must cook it before you refreeze it. 
• a casserole that has been prepared with uncooked pasta or rice needs to be cooked before freezing. I make spaghetti casseroles all the time and freeze them.  My favorite is the chicken spaghetti with queso featured in our slow cooker cookbook. 
• Potatoes are ‘iffy’.  Raw potatoes can be hit and miss when frozen in a casserole.  Cooked potatoes fare better.  I am actually going to make our beef and potato bake this week and see how it freezes after baking…I’ll let you know!  Since it uses rehydrated potatoes…I am curious to see the difference in freezing. 
• Our Cheesecakes do not freeze well at all…the cream cheese gets to soft. 
• Our other pies freeze very well…so I always bake at least 4 at a time ~ one to serve and 3 to save and share later!
• Our cookie mixes make GREAT freezer items…especially as we come into the ‘cookie’ season.  Make extra batches of your favorite HG cookie mixes and freeze the cookie dough in balls. Just place the dough balls on a cookie sheet and cover with wax or foil.  Let freeze for about an hour or more.  Then put the hardened cookie balls in a freezer bag and label with name and baking temp/time.  Now you can have homemade cookies in an instant no matter how busy you are…whether you are entertaining guests, kids or just for yourself!
• Our soups all freeze very well…and make great individual servings for lunch at the office 

Hope this helps with some of the questions posted…let me know if you wanted to know specifically about certain recipes or HG products.  

The following is a general list of items that do not freeze well:

· Raw salad vegetables
· Raw eggs in their shells or hard-boiled eggs (egg whites and/or yolks freeze well out of the shell)
·Raw potatoes or boiled white potatoes
·Cottage cheese
·Jello
·Icing made with egg whites, boiled frostings, or cakes with cream fillings
·Instant rice (regular rice can be frozen)

God Bless and Keep you!Tami

Are you one of thousands who would love to be able to cook but are intimidated by words like … sauté, julienne or even boil? Or maybe the words slow cooker, sauté pan or chef’s knife require a trip to the dictionary! Then this is the place for you! Look here for easy to learn tips for cooking great meals that taste like Grandma made them, but are not as hard to make as she made them look! This will be a great place to send college students out on their own for the first time … or young couples ready to turn their kitchen into a place that is producing meals instead of refrigerating take out meals.

Whatever you want to know … we can answer it! Just post a question and let’s watch as other members of the HG family write in with ideas, tips and simple suggestions to get cookin’ with ease! In addition, I and members of our Cooking Team will offer answers and solutions as well. Tami