Great tips on Freezing Apples

http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/09/how-to-use-bruised-and-shriveled-apples.html

Pizza Dough (Freezer-Friendly)

Pizza Dough
Yield: enough dough for 2 medium pizzas or 4 calzones

Ingredients: 
½ cup warm water
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1½ tsp. salt
1¼ cup water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions: 
Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup.  Sprinkle the yeast over the top.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour and salt, mixing briefly to blend.  Measure the room temperature water into the measuring cup with the yeast-water mixture.  With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water mixture as well as the olive oil.  Mix until a cohesive dough is formed.  Switch to the dough hook.  Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.

Press down the dough to deflate it.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface.  Divide the dough into two equal pieces.  Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball.  (If freezing the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze at this point.)  Cover with a damp cloth.  Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes.

To bake, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 500˚ F for at least 30 minutes.  Transfer the dough to your shaping surface, lightly sprinkled with cornmeal.  Shape the dough with lightly floured hands.  Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil.  Top as desired.  Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes.

TO FREEZE:

If you don’t plan on using your dough immediately, freeze it.  To do this, mix up the dough as usual and let it rise as normal.  After dividing the dough into two equal portions, wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and store inside a freezer-safe bag, and transfer to the freezer immediately.  (Reuse these bags to avoid being wasteful!)  The double layer is important here.  Even after the dough is moved to the freezer, it will continue to rise a bit before the rise is completely suspended.  It always, always pops through the plastic wrap so the extra layer of protection is needed to prevent exposure.

Freeze the dough until it is ready to be used.   The day you plan to use the dough, transfer it to the refrigerator in the morning to thaw in time for dinner that evening.  (If using the dough for lunch, transfer to the refrigerator the night before.)   The dough that has been frozen tastes every bit as good as fresh, so it is incredibly convenient to have available for a quick, throw-together meal.

I’ve had many questions pertaining to the need to freeze the dough if you plan to use it the very next day.  It seems logical that you could simply refrigerate it immediately after the rise and use it the following day.  However, I have tried this and it didn’t go well.  The refrigerator is not cold enough to stop the rise quickly and the result is an over-risen, crazy puffy monster dough.  My solution?  I still use the freezer initially to completely stop the rise, and then I transfer the dough to the refrigerator until it is ready to be used.  (I think another solution would be to use less yeast in the dough initially, but I don’t feel super comfortable altering recipes and changing amounts of yeast, so this is my preferred method.)

3 cheese Manicotti -freezer meal

Three Cheese Manicotti

Filling Ingredients (gallon bag)

2 cups cottage cheese

1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese

Add:  1 ½ teaspoons Italian Seasoning

¼ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Remaining Ingredients:

1-8oz. package manicotti

½ cup mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Jar or can of favorite marinara sauce (I use the $1 can Hunts marinara)

Cooking spray

Directions:  Combine filling ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag and knead until thoroughly mixed. Clip a small corner, about 1/2”, of the bag and proceed to fill manicotti according to tray size.

2-8×8 pans:  Spread ¼ cup sauce into each pan if making 2-8×8 pans Pipe ½ of your cheese filling into each tray of manicotti.  Top each pan with ¼ cup mozzarella and 1/8 Parmesan cheese (half of bag)

1-9×13 pan:  Spread about ½ cup of marinara on bottom of pan.  Pipe all cheese into both trays.  Pour about 1 ½ cups of marinara on top.  Spread with ½ cup mozzarella cheese and ¼ Parmesan cheese

**Cover manicotti shells entirely with marinara sauce.

Label foil and spray with cooking spray to prevent cheese from sticking.  Cover pan(s) completely.

Baking Day: Thaw completely for 24 hours. Bake covered at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until shells are tender. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.