What can I freeze????

[mafibisha]

I use our freezer all the time.

But until recently I did not realize you could freeze left over mashed potatoes. Just put what ever amount in a freezer container, and after thawing heat in a pan with a little butter. I do not use the mirowave for this, as the stove top taste better.

Now I plan to make too much, as I try to get two meals out of every cooking session. So I freeze half of what I make, and use it later when life gets hectic.

One great thing to freeze, and make in LARGE quantities, is spag. sauce. It is my families fast food, thaw in microwave, make fresh pasta and dinner is ready.

Milk is another item to freeze, use about a cup from the plastic jug and freeze. This gives 'headroom' for the frozen milk to expand. When going away I always freeze what ever bit of milk is left, then upon arrival home take it out and in the morning milk without making a store stop.

Most bake goods freeze well, and unbaked cookie dough is terrifiic. Just use as much as you want, fresh cookies every time!

Trying to save and use what we have, so...
Wondered if anyone else freezes milk, and if so, can you freeze an almost full gallon of milk, IF you take out a little first, for it to expand?

 

[Debbie]

Trying to save and use what we have, so...
Wondered if anyone else freezes milk, and if so, can you freeze an almost full gallon of milk, IF you take out a little first, for it to expand?

Well, our milk comes in 1.25L (1 Qt) bags (I know, hard to envision, but it is really cool and usable), and we freeze them with no problem. You want to let the whole thing thaw, though, so that you can mix the butterfat back into the milk, since the liquid thaws at a different pace than the fat. Once shaken, though, you can't really tell that it has been frozen.

So, taking some of the milk out to allow for the freezing-and shaking after-you should have no problems with freezing milk. It will take a long time to defrost, though-especially if you are freezing a gallon at a time.

 

[loonieroonie]

I freeze chopped garlic. I use garlic in a lot of meals and refuse to buy the already processed garlic. So I'll buy a 5 pound bag and peel and chop almost alll of it. Then I'll freeze it in a ziplock bag, really easy to slice off as much as I need without defrosting. I don't know if it changes texture because I only use it in recipes that require the garlic to be cooked. I always hold back 1 or 2 heads of garlic for recipes where I won't be cooking the garlic.

I freeze cream cheese too, but it does change its texture. I froze sour cream once, NOT a good idea.

Tried freezing fresh broccoli once, when I defrosted it it had a really strong scent, gross. Does anyone know how to properly freeze broccoli? Enjoying these tips, Thanks!

 

[luvsJack]

Trying to save and use what we have, so...
Wondered if anyone else freezes milk, and if so, can you freeze an almost full gallon of milk, IF you take out a little first, for it to expand?

When my boys were babies, we lived about 30 miles from the closest grocery store (not even a convenience store close by) so in order to keep milk for the two weeks between grocery shopping I had to freeze milk to keep it fresh. Like a pp said, just pour a bit into another container for use (I would usually just fill their bottle and sippy cup) and then recap and put in the freezer. Let it thaw and shake it up, good as new. The only problem I ever had was when I put it in the freezer without taking any out--big mess!

 

[js]

When I make pancakes, I make 50-70 and freeze them. I don't do anything special to them, just stack them in a gallon-sized freezer bag.
When the kids want them in the morning before school, they just pop apart easily and we put in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.
We also freeze butter, bread and when I was first married, would also freeze OJ (goes too fast in my house now).

I LOVE the idea of the bacon. I am going to try that too.
We have lots of meats in our freezer but we don't cook them before freezing.

 

[ceecee]

There was a book mentioned on this site called something like "don't worry, dinners in the freezer"???? Something like that, I got it from the library and intented to buy it and forgot the exact title, good recipes for the freezer though. My favorites are soup, chili, pasta dishes and meatloaf, make a double recipe and freeze half.
I freeze corn, green beans and tomatoes from the garden for winter use. Easy to do and fast.

 

[loonieroonie]

Want to add another thing I freeze, chicken broth. If I boil a chicken and there is a lot of broth left over I'll freeze it in an ice cube tray. Just pop out what I need when a recipe calls for broth or stock.

 

[mafibisha]

TO THE TOP to coordinate with new thread on freezing milk.

 

[dex08]

One of my favorite kitchen tools is my foodsaver!

Ditto this!! We LOVE our Foodsaver! We buy quite a bit in bulk @ Costco & Sams Club and break down the warehouse packs into smaller sizes that we freeze. Also, I'm not a big cheese eater so when I buy blocks of cheese I cut the blocks down into portions and vacuum seal them. Also really handy for freezing little meals for DH. I used to travel frequently for work for days at a times so I would make meals for him and freeze so he can easily take to work and microwave (not in the bag though - he would take them out of the bag then nuke).

We got our Foodsaver for Christmas one year and then last year DH and I went to see a taping of the Martha Stewart show and they gave everyone in the audience one. We had three until recently when I gave one away as a Christmas gift.

 

[Promomx2]

Has anyone but ham in the freezer? We have lots of regular and salt cured ham left over. And frankly if I have one more ham sandwich, I think I'll scream.

 

[disneyfan007]

We always freeze left over ham with no problem. We have a food saver and just divide up enough in each bag for a dinner for us. If any of the kids are around, we just get out more bags.

 

[js]

Has anyone but ham in the freezer? We have lots of regular and salt cured ham left over. And frankly if I have one more ham sandwich, I think I'll scream.

We had a lot of ham left over after Thanksgiving (had both turkey and ham).
The ham was a spiral ham and was cut in slices.
I froze the ham in tupperware and took out about 2-3 weeks later.
It tasted just fine and we had it for another meal. I also froze the stuffing from Thanksgiving and had it the other day. I added a little extra water (very little) and put it in the oven. It tasted really good.
I also have mashed potatoes that I froze but haven't tried them yet.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

When I have leftover roast or turkey that I don't want to eat for a week, I will make up some gravy and freeze it in the gravy for quick and easy meals later. Pork roast I will shred up and freeze w/ some Diana sauce for easy pull apart pork sandwiches one day.

Also, when I make up a batch of ribs I will pour the sauce that's leftover in the pan and freeze it so the next batch I make I don't have to go through the trouble of making the sauce from scratch!