This may sound un-American, but...

15 years ago

....I do not eat mac and cheese. In fact I've hardly ever eaten it. I must be the only one!

I'm helping my daughter with some meals and it is a favorite at her house. I'm wondering if I can freeze it.

I Googled and found out that I can make it ahead and freeze it but I'm worried that the texture of the cheese sauce will get grainy or seperate. Any words of wisdom?

I'm trying to get some things made ahead and put in the freezer for those after-work nights when I have no energy for cooking. I've frozen a ton of meatballs, soups, and meatloaf. I've also cooked and cubed chicken and breaded some for use in other dishes.

I'm always on the look-out for quick easy and tasty ideas. I have a "thing" about leaving a crock-pot on all day so that isn't an option.

Any and all ideas are appreciated.

Thanks!

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Comments (25)

annie1992
15 years ago
You and me both. I'm not crazy for mac and cheese, or pizza, or chocolate chip cookies either! My girls say I'm not even human, I'm from a parallel universe, LOL.

I've not frozen mac and cheese, so I'm not much help on that, but lasagna freezes well, as does homemade calzones, filling of your choice in homemade bread dough, then baked, kind of a homemade hot pocket.

I do freeze cheese, though, and it's fine. I freeze mozzarella, and the rest of the world freezes pizza, so the next time you make mac and cheese, freeze a little bit and see!

Annie
lindac
15 years ago
Marie Callendar and Stauffers make frozen mac and cheese....so it must work.
From what I know....the more fat the better it will freeze....so add lots of butter!
Linda C
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A very un-american attitude....but still worth discussing.
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I came to terms with this years ago -- I stopped trying to do everything and now just do what I can when I can do it, and I try my best not to bite off more than I can chew (although admittedly it still happens sometimes). Someone wisely told me years ago that the most important tool in the toolbox is the checkbook - and I agree with that wholeheartedly. I work full time and am in grad school - those are more important than my garden and take precedence. If I have to pay to have something done that needs to be done, so be it (I am working as is my husband, and I do realize I am fortunate in this, work is most definitely a blessing). At this point in my life I refuse to spend my precious free time fretting over things that are waiting for me to do. Of course there are seasonal chores, but if they don't get done, so what? What's the worst that's going to happen if I don't clean up the garden in the fall? So I'll have to clean up in the spring. Big deal. My annuals didn't get planted until June. So what. They got in the ground late, but they're fine. So what if you lose some of your seedlings? You can sow more. It took me years to cultivate this attitude, and IT IS FREEING. Now when I work outside it's normally because I *want* to and I enjoy it, not because I *have* to and end up dreading it instead. This post was edited by mxk3 on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 13:26
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In fairness to the USDA's use of "unsafe," "untested," etc. interchangably: Given what we know about bacteria and other pathogenic organisms, I think it's reasonable to assume, by default, that it's not safe to eat wet, cut vegetables that have been left on a shelf at room temperature for months unless there's a darn good reason to believe it is. For many recipes and processes, I believe that we have that reason: someone credible (for this kind of thing, anyway) has done testing and concluded they're safe. That's good enough for me. That someone has been doing it for thirty years and isn't dead yet is not. "Crazy until proven safe" might be a good motto when it comes to canning recipes. We might consider it "proven" that a fruit or vegetable concoction with at least a certain viscosity and acidity processed for a certain amount of time is safe, which is why it's safe to improvise some with pickle recipes even if the USDA doesn't agree. But I don't think anyone has come up with one processing time that's adequate for anything you can think of to pack into a jar and yields edible results. To sumarize and reiterate Petro's response to the confusion about processing times and botulinum spores: You CANNOT kill them in a BWB. (Boiling can destroy the toxin they produce, which only does you any good after you open the jars and right before you eat the contents.) Commercial canners bring foods to 250 degrees for three minutes to kill them. And that means that the internal temperature of the food is actually at that temperature for that length of time, not that the ambient temperature was 250 degrees for three minutes. This means processing times must be based on each food's viscosity and other properties, which determine how long it takes to heat through. Foods with pH less than 4.6 need not be processed at such a high temperature because the acid inhibits botulinum growth and toxin production (it still doesn't kill it). BWB processing is still necessary to pasteurize the food, to kill molds and other bacteria and perhaps to help deactivate botulinum. So the questions we need to ask when deciding whether and how to can something at home are Is the pH low enough to inhibit botulin production? and How long does it take to heat through? Without these answers, the canning process is a crapshoot. If a recipe gives consistent results, the USDA can answer these questions for us. If not, and we want to can a recipe anyway, we must answer these questions ourselves and FOR EACH BATCH. I'm not aware of any way to determine that every point in a batch of jars reached a certain temperature for a certain length of time at home. I do believe we can reliably determine the pH of a batch: with a good pH meter, perhaps like those used by wine or vinegar makers. 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"In recent history (i.e., the past, say, 30 years) the average annual incidence of food-caused boutulism is amazingly low. Of those reported cases a minority are from home-canned foods (most are from restaurants and other food-service organizations). And among those that do come from home-canned foods there are mitigating factors---such as using the food in a mayonaise-based dish, which then sits out at room temperature or in the sun for several hours." Look at the CDC handbook link Petro provided. On average, there were 23 cases per year of foodborne botulism in the US from 1950 to 1996 (and the numbers are pretty consistent, so only considering more recent years doesn't paint a prettier picture). Most of those are from home-canned food: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/files/botulism.pdf. You can figure this out from that report by looking at the number of outbreaks (affecting 2 or more people) caused by home-canned food and the total number of cases (apparently including those from "outbreaks"). 289 outbreaks x 2 = 578 / 1087 = .53. So AT LEAST 53% of foodborne cases are caused by home-canned food. CDC and other sources will say that most of these were caused by "improper canning techniques," but I imagine that they are assuming that if a canning technique allowed the production of botulin, it was improper--how else would they know? Besides, these sources would classify any canning of pumpkin butter as "improper". I could not find any evidence that all or most of these cases involved "mitigating factors". Please provide your sources, gardenlad. My point is this: malonanddonna says "A recipe pressure canned for an adequate amount of time effectively destroys any spores that might be present." I totally agree with this statement. However, in the case of pumpkin butter, we have no way of knowing what amount of time is adequate.
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User
15 years ago
You aren't alone. I never eat mac and cheese either. Never understood the attraction.

Ann
coconut_nj
15 years ago
When I make mac and cheese I almost always freeze some. I make a 9x13 or similar casserole and there are only two of us. I usually take half of it right away and cut that in half and freeze those pieces. Then for the rest of it, it depends if I'm going to eat it for my breakfast and lunch for a few days. If not I might freeze more. I like macaroni and cheese but I really like it with stewed tomatoes poured over the serving. We usually make it with bucatini these days. Sometimes small shells or other pasta. Never elbows though. Not a big fan of them. I just put the pieces in freezer bags, but if you think they'll be there for a while a wrap in plastic before you bag wouldn't hurt.
maid_o_cliff
15 years ago
Nope, no mac and cheese for me! I like the way it looks and smells, however just can't swallow it. I am glad to know I am not the only one. I do love the dreadful blue box one, "oh the shame of it"

Red
arlocat
Original Author
15 years ago
So, I'm not the only one. Who'd have thought?

Linda, not only does their favorite recipe call for a lot of butter but they also add some bacon fat for good measure.

Annie, when you freeze the mozzerella do you double wrap it? That is what I usually do just storing it in the frig and it seems to keep better.

Coconut, if you freeze mac and cheese then I will too. It just might be on tonight's menu and maybe I'll even double the recipe.
annie1992
15 years ago
I shred mozzarella before freezing and thaw in the fridge, it is less crumbly that way. I don't bother to double wrap, I just stick it in a ziplock freezer bag.

Annie
Lars
15 years ago
I'm another one who does not eat mac and cheese - it's way too much dairy for me and bland besides. There are plenty of other pasta dishes with cheese that are so much better and have so much more flavor, like lasagna (as Annie suggested), ravioli, tortellini, etc.

I've frozen ravioli with good results, and so I think that mac and cheese should freeze as well.

Lars
claire_de_luna
15 years ago
Well, I freeze it all the time too, so it's no problem to do that and reheat. One trick I use is to make fresh bread crumbs with cold butter in the food processor, which I also keep in the freezer to pour out of a bag as needed. This is a timely post, as I was just talking about making some freezer food this week for those days neither of us wants to cook! Just cook your pasta slightly underdone, so the extra heating time in the oven doesn't make it mushy.
kframe19
15 years ago
You'd eat my Mac and Cheese.

No one can say no to my Mac and Cheese...
jessicavanderhoff
15 years ago
I am a passionate mac and cheese lover, although I'm often disappointed by it in restaurants. The last time I made it, I froze it and it froze and reheated very well. I have in my notes

Mac and cheese:

Bacon, baked at 440 for 15 min (and then crumbled or cut up, I think, and mixed in with everything else)
half package of cream cheese
box cooked elbow noodles
grated cheese
splash of cream, milk if needed
Bread crumbs sprinkled on top, baked at 450 until bubbly (10 min?)

As you can see, I'm extremely precise with my recipes :-P I'm not sure how the traditional roux mac and cheese freezes-- I haven't tried.
sheshebop
15 years ago
Not like macaroni and cheese...what? I am going to faint! I LOVE it (but mostly just mine) I have only found one restaurant that makes it superbly. I make a cream sauce heavy on the cheese, and the sharper the better.
arlocat
Original Author
15 years ago
Annie, I was rereading your message and I never thought of calzones! I do make Cornish pasties when the weather is cooler but I've never made calzones. We have a great Italian Deli that sells their pizza dough. I bet that would be a great shortcut on a busy night. Very interesting prospect. Thanks.
User
15 years ago
I love mac and cheese but not all all of them. I want interesting pasta shapes and wonderful cheese sauces made from a variety of great cheeses. Baked only until bubbly not dry.

Mac and cheese has many variables .......whats not to love about pasta in cheese sauce?
triciae
15 years ago
We always like mac 'n cheese but like it much better since I started adding marscarpone. It also freezes/reheats better, IMO. The marscarpone keeps the sauce velvety smooth whether you reheat in the micro or oven.

We use Bionaturea's whole wheat chiocciole. I love the shape because there's lots of space for the creamy sauce to wrap around the pasta. Bionatureas's pastas are the best dried I've ever found. It's available at 3 specialty stores here in town but it's also carried by WFs.

We are trying to eat more local but darn this pasta is so good...we've not switched to something that doesn't have to be shipped halfway around the world. :( It is certified organic! :)

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Bionaturae Italian Pasta
User
15 years ago
Apparently I'm in very good company.

I've made mac and cheese every which way, using different shaped pastas, a variety of wonderful cheeses, including mascarpone. Both Moe and Matthew love it. But it just doesn't appeal to me. So since Matt doesn't live at home any more, I don't make it.

I love pasta, but with the exception of lasagna I don't make many pasta dishes that have a creamy cheese sauce. About the only cheese I want on my pasta is a sprinkle of fresh grated Parmesan.
jessicavanderhoff
15 years ago
Well, nobody's perfect :-)
User
15 years ago
As are we all Ann.....
cynic
15 years ago
I'm proud to say I've never bought a "blue box" and never will. I'm not crazy about cheese sauces anyway. Give me melted cheese, not Cheeze Whiz imposters! I do like hotdish, casseroles and the like. Spaghetti, lasagna are great. I'm fine with them having a cream sauce too. But that drippy yellow impersonation of cheese just doesn't do it for me.

Probably the only way I'd eat mac & cheese is well stocked with bacon, sausage, pepperoni and other meats. I'm a carnivore, not a "whiz-ivore".

Now a friend of mine buys blue box all the time... and dumps in a can of tuna. ACK! He says it's a "cheap meal". I say I'm not sure if it's better than sticking a finger down your throat.
lindac
15 years ago
Oh dear! I recommended Lake Guy's recipe for mac and cheese and it's Kframe's!
Maybe we better have a mac and cheese recipe duel!
Linda C
triciae
15 years ago
Don't forget about smoked mac 'n cheese! It's really good.

/t
lorijean44
15 years ago
I was never a fan of mac & cheese, either. So, see? You're in GREAT company, Ann! ;-D
jimtex
15 years ago
I used to eat it once in a while because my wife liked it. Now I turn off cooking shows if they are making it.
User
15 years ago
As are we all Lori!
User
15 years ago
Hey James, Nice to see you here. It has been a while. I've missed you.

Ann

This may sound un-American, but...

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