Freezer Friendly Recipes & Freezing Tips

Yesterday Cambria shared a family recipe for African peanut stew, a celebratory dish made with beef, spices, and rich peanut butter. The classic side dish for this meal — and indeed, nearly any meal throughout much of eastern Africa — is sukuma wiki, braised greens with a very apt meaning to their name! Do you know what sukuma wiki means? A meal in Kenya, with ugali, chapati, a meat stew, and sukuma wiki.

A family recipe is important, even if we don’t remember all the parts, because each attempt at its re-creation keeps us connected to the people who helped shape us. It happens each time we do that intimate, life-sustaining cooking and eating thing, especially when we do it from a place of memory.

You know it’s a good day when your future father-in-law arrives at your house with a brown paper sack full of ripe Elberta peaches, straight off a farm in rural Georgia. And while it’s not the first of the sweet fruit I’ve enjoyed this year, it is certainly the most. So many, in fact, I had to ask Twitter what to do with them! Besides the obvious—to eat them one-by-one until my tummy ached—I actually didn’t get too many responses.

Summertime! Is there anything better than a cool, creamy popsicle on a scorching hot afternoon? Or for that matter, a scorching hot morning? These fruity yogurt pops can serve as both breakfast and afternoon snack, a fact to which I can personally attest. I recommend having a batch in your freezer at all times. I love how the fresh strawberry flavor mingles with the tanginess of the yogurt in these popsicles. It’s a perfect balance.

Want an easier, quicker take on the classic ice cream cake? One that will take you only about 10 minutes to put together? This is it. But be warned: The last slice may disappear from the dessert table in even less time than it takes to make this easy, creamy, chocolatey frozen Oreo cake. Ice cream cakes are an adored element of summer birthday parties — a magnificent American creation of cake, ice cream, and icing. Does it get any more glorious? I don’t think so!

Several years ago, tipped off by my sister, I tried a magical little kitchen trick for the first time. I froze chunks of raw banana, then buzzed them in my food processor. Suddenly, out of nowhere, these gritty frozen pieces of fruit turned into ice cream. One-ingredient banana ice cream — it’s kind of magic, isn’t it? Have you ever tried it? If you haven’t — well, it’s a holiday weekend, and what better time to try something new?

Need a new, easy way to stay cool this summer, and stay in touch with your inner child? Look to the end of the rainbow for this pot-of-gold recipe! These ice cream sandwiches will make you do the happy dance and perhaps give you leprechaun-spotting powers too. As a kid, my brother and I referred to Lucky Charms as “Saturday morning cartoon cereal.

I recently made my first strawberry rhubarb pie of the season and served with it an ice cream made from scraps in the fridge. I had an open container of sour cream, the dregs of a pint of yogurt, a lemon on its last legs, but no eggs. The resulting tangy sour cream ice cream was, like many kitchen inventions, a happy accident because along the way I discovered the perfect ice cream flavor for pie. Pies, especially fruit-based ones, ask for something creamy, not too sweet, with a bit of tang.

So, it’s getting hot out, and you (or maybe your kids) are craving something cold. But ice cream and popsicles aren’t exactly a mid-day snack. You know what is, though? Yogurt! Here’s a simple, easy way to make frozen yogurt pops with almost no work whatsoever. Kare at The Hazel Bloom shows us how to make frozen yogurt pops with nothing more than individually-sized yogurt cups and sticks. Pop a stick in, freeze, and ta-da — a nice frozen yogurt pop to lick on a hot day.

Oh, hello there! Were you just thinking you’d like a bite of cheesecake without the bother of water baths or a hot kitchen? One that would, perhaps, win you friends and earn you accolades at backyard picnics this summer? Why, me too! Great minds really do think alike. While you could theoretically start the ice cream for this pie on Saturday morning and serve it that evening, it’s better and easier to think of this as a two-day affair.

This recipe delivers on nearly every expectation of a great weeknight recipe. It cooks in one pot, calls for just five ingredients, and makes for very good leftovers. It’s simple and delicious and perfect for the change of weather. Here’s a recipe that takes 30 minutes to make — a recipe that you can stretch for a few nights if need be, or freeze so you’ve got another meal waiting in the wings.

Never have a failed pot of rice again.

Lentil soup has a lot going for it. You can make a big pot of it in about thirty minutes, which will then last all week. One bowl is hearty and filling enough to last you to the next meal, but it’s also one of the healthiest dishes you can put on the table. And if you think of lentil soup as bland and boring, it’s time to get cozy with the spice cupboard. The truth is that I, myself, was among those who always thought of lentil soup as bland and boring. And mushy.

Dreading the appetizer prep for your next party? Why not plan ahead for your next gathering and stock up your freezer? These apps make it easy to pull together a stellar spread in a hurry without skimping on the homemade touches.

These days it happens more often than not: you find yourself hosting a dinner party where at least one guest has a dietary restriction. I’ve gotten used to this. I once fed a group of ten actors for a week: one vegan, two vegetarians, one allergic to nuts, one lactose intolerant and one with a wheat allergy, so I know I can usually roll with pretty much any cooking challenge.

If you told me last week I’d be this excited about a vegan, gluten-free, raw brownie, I’d have called you crazy. But here I am, talking about a brownie that tastes totally decadent, while actually being pretty good for you. It might be the perfect guilt-free treat.It all starts with raw walnuts pulverized in a food processor. The nuts become a fluffy, moist powder to which raw cacao powder and a little salt are added.

There are very few foods that feed a large crowd with little effort. Tacos may be the simplest option for feeding a lot of people, and today we are bringing you one of our favorite taco stuffings: barbacoa beef, tender and full of rich, complex flavors. Yes, did you know you can make that tasty stuff you buy at Chipotle in your own kitchen — and in your slow cooker, no less? I have a serious thing for barbacoa.

My love for the twice-baked potato knows no bounds. I mean, we’re basically talking about mashed potatoes mixed with cheese and other good things, stuffed inside a potato skin, and baked until crispy. How could that be bad? Answer: it can’t. I’ll eat these any old time and with all manner of fillings. But if you’re headed to a Super Bowl Party next week, this bacon-cheddar version is a guaranteed hit. I love a few strips of really smoky thick-cut bacon for this recipe.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it is un-possible to pass by one of Milk Bar’s four New York locations or read one of Pastry Chef Christina Tosi’s recipes online and not feel an immediate sugar craving. Just opening this cookbook gave me a sugar rush. Within these pages, Tosi breaks down how she makes all her now-famous recipes. Crack pie is here. Compost cookies are here. Her cakes and tarts and magic-seeming garnishes: yup, all here.

Lunch or dinner, they're the perfect little "hot pockets" (ahem!) of cheese and veggies. Here's how to make them.

Do you remember Pop-Ice? Or Otter Pops? Growing up, these plastic tube popsicles were synonymous with summer. They were practically everywhere, cheap and filled with extreme sugar content. Just the mere thought of them conjures thoughts of cracking their icy form and making them slushy enough to eat. Well, now you can make your own tubes of icy goodness, and since they are homemade, you can skip the extra sugar (if you want!) and make them out of juice or even iced tea.

Try it once to see how you like it!