Freezer Tip - Pasta!

You all gotta know that I am just dyin to get a freezer cooking session under my belt, but short of losing the power for a week where everything MUST be used or tossed, I just don't see that happening in my near future.

Trust me, I am NOT complaining about the amount of food in the freezers, just the lack of space which is inhibiting me from giving this freezer cooking a try.

So I have to make do.

And I've discovered the art of freezing cooked pasta.

Yes, indeed.

What a HUGE time saver this is for me! See, for whatever reason, it takes a good 20 minutes to get my water to a boil (at least!) and then the 10 minutes or so of cooking. JUST FOR THE PASTA. Plus it makes the kitchen pretty dang hot and steamy, and in case you've forgotten, I live in PARADISE, where it's hot and steamy already.

Heh. I've got to tell you, this is Brilliant. With a capital B! Huge thank you to Jackie for sharing this tip over and over on her site!!

Cook up your pasta. Ahhh, what the heck, cook up a double or triple batch if you'd like!



Drain in a strainer and run a little bit of olive oil over the top. Now, don't be like Hubby and drown the stuff, you just want a LIGHT coating to keep it from sticking too badly.


Once it's cooled, place in large ziploc bags and lay flat (hey, don't stuff it in there, try to do meal portions, ok??) in the freezer to freeze.

**Close your eyes and visualize a ziptop ziploc bag full of pasta, will ya? I seem to have misplaced the picture!**


When ready to use, just take the bag out in the morning, toss in your box to thaw in the fridge and heat up in a bit of hot water OR just toss in the microwave with a little water in the bowl (do not heat in plastic bag, that's just WRONG!) ...

I think this is one of those things that needs to be kept in the freezer for a QUICK fix!

Looking to link up with these great blog parties: Made Famous By, What's Cooking Wednesday, Its a Party!, Show and Tell, Recipe Swap, Works For Me Wednesday, What's New Wednesday, Sugar and Spice, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Wednesday Whatsits, Homemade By You, Lil Luna Link Party, Ultimate Recipe Swap, What's Cooking Thursday, Show Your Stuff, Taste This Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday, Somewhat Simple, Frugal Fridays, Food on Friday, Anything Goes, Dwell on Fridays, Friday Foodfight, Foodie Friday, Simple Living Foodie Friday, Inspirations, Weekend Wander, Simply Delicious Saturday, Weekly Roundup, Feature Yourself Saturday, Not Bad Sunday, Potluck Party, Sunday Showcase, Savory Sunday, Sundae Scoop, Mop It Up Monday, Mangia Monday, Creative Monday, Melt In Your Mouth Monday, Show Me What You Got, Menu Plan & Blog Hop, Made By You Monday, Muffin Monday, Hunk of Meat Monday, Meatless Monday, Marvelous Mess, Mix and Mingle, Menu Planning, Making It Cuter, Motivated Monday, Whats In The Gunny Sack, Makin You Crave Monday, Tempt My Tummy, Made From Scratch, Tasty Tidbits, Tuesday At The Table, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesday Timeout, Handmade Tuesday, 2 Maids a Baking, Tuesday Kitchen Tips, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Frugal Tip Tuesday, Tuesday Talent Show,

Comments

  1. UnknownWednesday, May 16, 2012

    Brilliant! I had NO idea that you could do this. I always make wayyyy to much pasta and end up tossing it. I had no clue that you could freeze it! I can't wait to try this! Thanks for sharing! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownWednesday, May 16, 2012

      I know .... and I always hated to toss it but NOW we can freeze it! Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. Accidentally WonderfulWednesday, May 16, 2012

    So smart! I have never tried to freeze pasta... But why not? Any clue if you can freeze unused/unbaked canned dough?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownWednesday, May 16, 2012

      Not so sure about the canned dough stuff ... I'd definitly google it before trying :) Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. Mary Sullivan FrasierWednesday, May 16, 2012

    Fantastic! Never knew you could freeze pasta. I'm like you and hate to toss it out. Thanks for sharing such a great tip! ~Mary

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nicole@Show Off Friday Blog HopFriday, May 18, 2012

    That's a nifty trick. I love my pasta!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dwell on JoyFriday, May 18, 2012

    I am so happy to read this is possible too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. DiannaFriday, May 18, 2012

    Wow, I never knew you could do this. Does the texture suffer when you eat it later?

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousSaturday, May 19, 2012

    So cool! Thank you for the photos. We are experiencing hot weather already and it is only May. Great help!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Diane BalchSaturday, May 19, 2012

    This is kinda of like in the restaurant when they quick dip the cooked pasta in boiling water.

    ReplyDelete
  9. JennTuesday, May 22, 2012

    Great idea--I never thought to do this, but I'll definitely have to try it. Thanks for linking up at Thrifty Thursday!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anna @ Feminine AdventuresTuesday, May 22, 2012

    Cool idea! I've frozen pasta in dishes, but dont' do it by itself.

    Oh, I just had this light-bulb moment a couple weeks ago (and you may already do it) but putting the lid on the water makes it come to a boil *much* faster.

    Thanks for linking up at Thrifty Thursday!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Julie EWednesday, May 23, 2012

    Your post was a top 4 viewed link this week! Thanks for sharing at Wednesday Whatsits.
    http://whitelightsonwednesday.blogspot.com/2012/05/wednesday-whatsits-10.html

    ReplyDelete

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