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May 20, 2024 16:49:19 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 21:41:39 GMT
Great tips here!
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Post by femalebusiness on Aug 22, 2016 21:49:48 GMT
I freeze all of my hot dogs. They go on sale once a year for Memorial Day or Fourth of July for 99 cents. I buy twelve packages and it lasts me all year.
I also freeze: Tortillas (both kind) Salsa Chilies I just rinse them and put them in a bag whole Bacon Bread Lemon juice in ice cube trays then in bags when frozen Spaghetti sauce Phyllo dough Cooked taco meat, hamburger, pork and chicken Enchiladas Tomatoes diced and bagged All leftovers of veggies, then when I get enough I make veggie soup Cheese in blocks. After it thaws it crumbles and I don't have to shred it.
I'm going to try freezing milk. When we buy a gallon it goes bad before we use it all. I'm going to try splitting the gallon and freezing half. It never occurred to me to do that.
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Post by Jockscrap on Aug 22, 2016 22:17:46 GMT
Just thought of another one. When I was doing a college course a few years ago, and I needed to take a packed lunch which I can't stand making, I used to fill enough fresh rolls for the week with mayo, cheese and ham, wrap them individually in tin foil and freeze. By the time lunch came around they would be defrosted and the rolls were always lovely and fresh.
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Post by Ryann on Aug 23, 2016 0:38:19 GMT
Ugh our new house came with a tiny fridge/freezer and we can't upgrade for a while! I want a chest or upright freezer so badly!! Also helpful for smoothie packets and general Costco goodness. I am also really interested in once a month cooking now that we have a more workable kitchen layout! Anyone have a suggestion? The cheaper the better- makes it easier to make the case to my partner, who is very cheap! If you haven't already, I highly suggest checking out Once a Month Meals. Even if you can't commit to an ongoing monthly subscription, even just one or two months should hopefully allow you enough time to get lots of tips, tricks and recipe suggestions to help you create your own versions of a once a month cook-up.
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Post by ellewood on Aug 23, 2016 0:41:25 GMT
Ugh our new house came with a tiny fridge/freezer and we can't upgrade for a while! I want a chest or upright freezer so badly!! Also helpful for smoothie packets and general Costco goodness. I am also really interested in once a month cooking now that we have a more workable kitchen layout! Anyone have a suggestion? The cheaper the better- makes it easier to make the case to my partner, who is very cheap! If you haven't already, I highly suggest checking out Once a Month Meals. Even if you can't commit to an ongoing monthly subscription, even just one or two months should hopefully allow you enough time to get lots of tips, tricks and recipe suggestions to help you create your own versions of a once a month cook-up. Thanks! I am super interested in that one in particular! I love their whole foods meal option! Like if I pay money for recipes and ta recipe calls for a can of cream of mushroom soup goo, I would scream! Haha! Still working on the boy to get that freezer, though... That's kind of vital to my plan.
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Post by AussieMeg on Aug 23, 2016 0:47:26 GMT
I have tried freezing lemons but was not happy with how they thawed. I'll have to try it again seeing people here have had such success with it.
I freeze chillies and kaffir lime leaves. I do quite a lot of Asian cooking, especially Thai and Vietnamese, so I like to have these ingredients on hand at all times. I have an emergency jar of kaffir lime leaves in the pantry but the fresh/frozen ones are so much better.
I also freeze chopped onions in little containers that fit one whole onion. It's so much easier to grab that out of the freezer when you're in a hurry to cook dinner.
Also chopped bananas to use in smoothies.
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tduby1
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,979
Jun 27, 2014 18:32:45 GMT
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Post by tduby1 on Aug 23, 2016 1:20:41 GMT
I also freeze cooked rice with no issues -- I love having a few bags in the freezer. I sometimes freeze cooked beans (made from dried beans) in 2-cup portions. One bag equals about one can of beans in recipes, but the home-cooked beans are cheaper and have no sodium. Many people freeze cookie dough, but I freeze (mostly around the holidays) baked cookies. A surprising number of cookies freeze really well. You freeze them after baking, but before adding any embellishments such as frosting. A bonus is that any topping (frosting, melted chocolate, etc.) can be applied while the cookie is actually still frozen, and the topping will set up almost immediately. This is (for me) a huge time saver around the holidays, when I make numerous "fancy" cookies to give as gifts. I had not heard of freezing citrus fruit, but I'm going to give it a try. I always buy limes at 3 or 4 for $1, and rarely manage to use them all before they go bad. I had no idea I could freeze the extras! I always freeze cupcakes before decorating for this reason.
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Post by tmarschall on Aug 23, 2016 1:22:55 GMT
I also freeze cooked rice with no issues -- I love having a few bags in the freezer. I sometimes freeze cooked beans (made from dried beans) in 2-cup portions. One bag equals about one can of beans in recipes, but the home-cooked beans are cheaper and have no sodium. Many people freeze cookie dough, but I freeze (mostly around the holidays) baked cookies. A surprising number of cookies freeze really well. You freeze them after baking, but before adding any embellishments such as frosting. A bonus is that any topping (frosting, melted chocolate, etc.) can be applied while the cookie is actually still frozen, and the topping will set up almost immediately. This is (for me) a huge time saver around the holidays, when I make numerous "fancy" cookies to give as gifts. I had not heard of freezing citrus fruit, but I'm going to give it a try. I always buy limes at 3 or 4 for $1, and rarely manage to use them all before they go bad. I had no idea I could freeze the extras! I always freeze cupcakes before decorating for this reason. Cakes and cupcakes, zucchini and banana bread, muffins... and cake batter of all kinds. Milk, esp skim is great too.
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Post by Ryann on Aug 23, 2016 1:27:00 GMT
If you haven't already, I highly suggest checking out Once a Month Meals. Even if you can't commit to an ongoing monthly subscription, even just one or two months should hopefully allow you enough time to get lots of tips, tricks and recipe suggestions to help you create your own versions of a once a month cook-up. Thanks! I am super interested in that one in particular! I love their whole foods meal option! Like if I pay money for recipes and ta recipe calls for a can of cream of mushroom soup goo, I would scream! Haha! Still working on the boy to get that freezer, though... That's kind of vital to my plan. I hear ya! I really want a stand-alone freezer to stick in the garage. We have a side-by-side fridge and the freezer side is long and skinny. I hate it!
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Peamac
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea # 418
Posts: 4,218
Jun 26, 2014 0:09:18 GMT
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Post by Peamac on Aug 23, 2016 1:27:06 GMT
In addition to all of the above, I freeze eggs when I can get them on sale and stock up. I just crack a few eggs (4-6 per container) into small tupperware containers and stir up a little bit. DH likes eggs for breakfast most mornings, so when they're at a good price, I buy as many as I can. I also sometimes make breakfast burritos (9-12 of them) and freeze them. If you wrap them in a paper towel, then in foil, and store in a big ziploc bag, you can microwave them (wrapped in just the paper towel, that's important) for 30-90 seconds and they are just right! In the garage we have a big upright freezer that stores fruit, veggies, cheese/dairy, juice, breads, pie crusts, bread dough, chopped nuts, etc . There's a chest freezer in the sunroom that has the meats, jars of broth, frozen pizza, ice cream tub, and water bottles for DH's lunch. DH hunts and when he can get a deer or elk, it fills the freezer pretty full. May I ask what you put in the burritos? Scrambled eggs, meat (bacon/ham/sausage, whichever I have), cheese, and sometimes onions and/or peppers. Here's a link to the instructions- Freeze-ahead burritos. DH doesn't like the way a lot of things turn out when they're reheated in the microwave, but these turn out perfectly!
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tduby1
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,979
Jun 27, 2014 18:32:45 GMT
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Post by tduby1 on Aug 23, 2016 1:28:09 GMT
I freeze everything... Or at least try once. Before we leave for vacation all my opened breads and dry goods go in the freezer, too, until we get back. We freeze extra egg rolls from Chinese take out and takeout pizza then use the toaster oven to cook. Currently my fridge freezer holds 6-7 bananas waiting to be made into bread (I toss whatever is left at the end of week into freezer), a Tupperware container of unused homemade marinade for chicken, bagels, a frozen Powerade for DH or DS to,use as a lunch ice pack and some processed crap no one is interested in. My big freezer has frozen pumpkin purée from my cousin, a few bags of turkey broth, leftover candy from a candy buffet. It's mostly clean as I need to be able to get 250 cupcakes in their between now and Sept 10.
When I make jams, I also freeze those.
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Post by KikiPea on Aug 23, 2016 1:32:04 GMT
May I ask what you put in the burritos? Scrambled eggs, meat (bacon/ham/sausage, whichever I have), cheese, and sometimes onions and/or peppers. Here's a link to the instructions- Freeze-ahead burritos. DH doesn't like the way a lot of things turn out when they're reheated in the microwave, but these turn out perfectly! Thank you!
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Post by stampinchick on Aug 23, 2016 2:25:32 GMT
BTW, The Kitchen is on Food Network, not HGTV.
I've had success with freezing cooked plain spaghetti. Put it in a plastic bag and stick in the freezer. Take it out, thaw and heat in the microwave and serve with sauce.
I also will sometimes buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat from it. I then measure it out by the cup and freeze it in plastic bags or containers. When a recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked chicken, I take out 2 bags of chicken from the freezer and I'm good to go. I also sometimes will grill or bake chicken breasts and freeze the left overs. For a really quick dinner, I take a chicken breast out of the freezer, defrost in the microwave then slice it onto a salad for a quick dinner.
I love Trader Joe's chicken broth and find that sometimes I have leftover broth in the box. I finally figured out that if I don't need it all I can pour the leftover into a plastic container and freeze it for another time.
Freeze leftover chopped onions or green peppers.
Pomegranate seeds also freeze well. Stock up when they are in season then enjoy all year long. I also freeze whole bags of cranberries.
I love the boneless ham from Aldi that they sell at Christmas and Easter. I bought an extra piece of ham at Easter, baked it, sliced it and wrapped single servings in plastic wrap then placed them in a plastic bag. When I want a slice of ham I just take one of them out the plastic bag and thaw it.
Also keep nuts in the freezer to keep them from getting rancid.
Slice strawberries and peaches, sprinkle with sugar, allow them to sit long enough to form a syrup then put in a plastic container and freeze them.
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schizo319
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,030
Jun 28, 2014 0:26:58 GMT
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Post by schizo319 on Aug 23, 2016 11:57:17 GMT
I freeze bananas (still in the peel) and whole bell peppers. The peppers I buy on sale and just toss them in the freezer whole after washing. When I go to use them, I thaw them on the counter for 15 minutes or so and slice/dice them partially frozen.
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Post by Skypea on Aug 23, 2016 21:10:48 GMT
I do the spaghetti and bag it for 1 or 2 meals. works fine. I also slice chicken breasts into strips and freeze - works out for me to pull a slice out and chop for chicken salad, add into some rice and peas or chop up a few slices into some noodles.
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