Freezer Weather

It's the middle of winter and I don't feel like cooking—not even a warming soup or stew. My savior is the freezer. When I decided to make potpie last November with leftover Thanksgiving turkey, I doubled the recipe and prepared a second pie to store in the coffin freezer in my basement. Back in the fall, my husband also made half a dozen batches of pesto (just the basil, garlic and olive oil—no cheese or nuts, which we add when we're ready to use it) to freeze in little plastic containers like the ones pictured above. So this weekend, out came the pie for one dinner and a container of pesto—to toss with pasta, cubes of mozzarella and halved grape tomatoes—for another.

Here are some recipes that are made for freezing. And if you don't feel like making them just now, I don't blame you.

Chicken Potpies (You can make a big pie instead of individual ramekins and top with any pie crust recipe, like this one.)
Basil Pesto
Chicken Chilaquiles