Warming frozen foods...

[BeckyRae]

I was just wondering how other ppl warm/defrost frozen foods. I give my bird frozen veggie mix and also beans that ive cooked and frozen into sheets to break off and feed to her. What I do is put some into her bowl and run hot water over them until they are thawed and ready to be eaten. The beans get quite mushy and i've been planning on making a diffrent dish for her that would need to be frozen like the beans. This recipe would have cooked sweet potatoes in it and I dont see it holding up to the hot water trick. Is there a better way?

[peeker]

I use a Foodsaver. That way I can cook waaay too much and freeze portions in advance. I just drop the frozen package into hot water and let it sit. If I am short on time I open the package and put foods in a corning ware container in the microwave and use the defrost setting.

[Mela]

Don't you just love your food saver?? I use mine all the time for everything.
Otherwise I just pop in the microwave for a min or 2
Mela

[BeckyRae]

Ive never heard of a food saver, but ill check into it and thanks for the replies!

[peeker]

Here's the info on the Tilia Foodsaver. There are several different styles. I like to have one that seals the vacuum bags but also has the spot to use a tube for the containers. A large canister keeps chopped veggies fresh in the fridge real well. I got mine at Costco and got a pretty good deal on it so shop around. Walmart sells them, ebay too.
http://www.foodsaver.com/

[Beaks]

I just put some in a ziplock bag and put it in hot tap water until it thaws.

John

[Monica]

I'm not really too sure about the oven, though I like to heat the food up by putting it in a pan with shallow water, or in a pan that has a drainer inside and putting about 1-2 inches of water beneath that and warming it up. The food looses no vitamens or anything that it had and can be eaten that way as well!

[Monica]

It's called steaming veggies... better than boiling! lol

As far as microwave goes, not good for cooking, may not always be good for thawing, but usually good for heating things up (though it can also dry food out). Just a downside to it...