A Surprise in my Freezer

I was getting really hungry. I hadn't eaten since between 7:30 and 9:00 this morning, so my blood sugar was dropping and I could feel it. I decided to see what I could quickly throw together without dirtying too many pans. I opened the freezer and began looking around and found a plastic container containing a nice-sized square of the lasagna that I had made I think in November. I don't even remember saving any of it!

Wow, did I enjoy that! It was good when I first made it and it was equally so now.

I can give you a quick rundown on how I made it if you'd like to try it. I had bought mild Italian sausages from one of our local groceries because I was in the mood for a good sausage sandwich. Unfortunately, these particular sausages had more fennel in them than I like, so I just kept them in the slow cooker until the next day when they literally fell apart if I tried to take one out. I then got my potato masher (the kind with the s-turn bars, not the kind with the square holes) and mashed all of the sausages into small pieces. The casings by this time were pretty much cooked away, so I ended up with a really nice bolognese.

Then I got some ricotta (you could use small curd and dry cottage cheese) and mixed it with an egg and shredded mozzarella. I got the lasagna noodles out and began the layering process. First some sauce on the bottom (not too much meat) topped with DRY lasagna noodles. I topped the noodles with the ricotta mixture followed by the meatsauce. I then repeated the pattern until I reached the top where I spread the remaining sauce adding shredded mozzarella on top of that. I covered it all with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and baked at 350 for an hour. It probably could have used another 15 minutes because some of the noodles were al dente, but it was still edible and as I reheated it, the noodles finished cooking. The plastic wrap kept the tomato sauce from eating through the aluminum while it cooked, which was great because I hate it when it does that. I don't like the idea that I'm eating even a minuscule piece of aluminum.

But, I surely don't remember putting any in a container and freezing it. Nicely done, Wendy. Great little surprise to find on this cold day in January!

Have you ever forgotten you had something edible put away and been very happy when you found it?

Photo credit - this was taken when I took the lasagna out of the oven. It is my photo, my copyright.

String Beans in the Freezer

Fresh string/green beans (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

My daughter brought home a huge bag full of fresh string beans the other day along with the snack tomatoes and peppers. I finally got to them yesterday and ended up with 3 1/2 quarts in the freezer! 

I haven't prepped string beans since I was maybe in Kindergarten, so I'd forgotten just how much fun it was (NOT!). That required cutting off the ends, tossing the bad ones and cutting the lengthy beans into smaller segments. It took me just over an hour to get them trimmed and cut up before I could begin cooking them. 

Now, I say cooking them because I chose not to blanch them. I don't have ice to quickly cool them off, so I just cooked them through and froze them in a cooked state. I also added a bit of ham broth to the pot to add some flavor along with the salt I'd put in. 

Of course, once I was done cooking them, my daughter came home from work with a bag full of regular tomatoes. I guess our vegetable supplies aren't going to fall short this year, for sure!