25 things I routinely freeze that you may or may not have thought about freezing yourself.
Some women have a well organized shoe closet, I have a well organized freezer. My love of food being greater than my love of shoes. And I have some footwear I’m pretty fond of. I can open my freezer door any day and know instantly what’s in there and what I have to choose from. Looking for the tortellini I made 6 months ago, BAM there it is. Sausage? BAM! Everything is stacked and labelled in clear containers.
I freeze everything I possibly can for two reasons. So it doesn’t go bad sitting in my fridge and so if I can always have random ingredients I may not use all of the time on hand. Galangal anyone?
If you’ve ever thrown out a log of goat cheese because it turned on you before you could finish using it … this post is for you.
25 things you might not have known you can freeze. Or maybe you did because let’s face it, you’re pretty clever – but hopefully there’s at least one thing on here you weren’t aware of.
1. Whole Tomatoes
Freeze tomatoes whole. Just stick them in a container or even a plastic bag, skins and all and forget about them. When a recipe calls for tomatoes, you have them. Cut them when they’re partially frozen for easy dicing or let them thaw for more of a whole stewed tomato thing. (they slip right out of their skins when they’ve thawed) Perfect for soups and stews.
2. Garlic – Around February or March even the best stored heads of garlic will start to think about sprouting. If you’ve grown your own garlic the thought of wasting any of it is cause for temper tantrum. O.K., just some tears. At the very least a frown and poking the person nearest to you with a stick.
Stick whole cloves of garlic in the freezer at the beginning of the season so in April, May and June you still have a garlic stash to grab. (you can freeze it any time before it goes soft and dry but the fresher it is when you freeze it the better the quality will be)
3. Pizza Dough – I make a lot of pizza dough as you can imagine. See my backyard pizza oven here as proof. I like to make my dough fresh but always keep at least 4 balls of frozen dough in the freezer in case of a pizza emergency. Like what if Chris Isaak shows up one day and wants pizza and I don’t have any dough made? What the hell then? Honestly.
4. Eggs
I wrote a post a few years ago about how to freeze eggs. But the gist of it is, you just crack the eggs, mix the whites and yolks together like you’re making scrambled eggs and then freeze them. Don’t stir them vigorously though. You don’t want to incorporate any air or bubbles because that’ll make them rubbery and tough. Freeze in food safe containers or in an ice cube tray.
3 Tablespoons of egg mixture = 1 egg.
5. Whipping cream – Whipping cream is a miracle dairy product. You can boil it, scorch it, or freeze it and it isn’t bothered one bit by any of it.
6. Milk – The trick to freezing milk is to let it thaw slowly in the fridge and to give it a shake to break up any bits that have solidified.
7. Coconut Milk
I’ve taken to using 1/2 cup of coconut milk in my Overnight Oatmeal recipe. That means I’m always left with part of a can which I sometimes use and sometimes don’t use during the week. Enter … freezing the coconut milk. It freezes perfectly. I just measure it out into 1/2 cup servings and stick it in the freezer door.
8.Ginger – I was the goon standing for 1/2 an hour picking out the smallest piece of ginger in the produce aisle because I know I’m never going to use a piece the size of a cob of corn. Now I pick whichever is the freshest and store the rest in the freezer.
9. Goat Cheese
Game changer. Goat cheese freezes perfectly. Use whatever you need when you first open it then immediately wrap the rest of it and store it in the freezer.
10. Cooked Pasta – I don’t do this personally but apparently freezing cooked pasta is a thing. I do however freeze cooked lasagnas and other meals that have cooked pasta and they freeze well.
11. Cooked Rice – Ditto for rice. Although I have frozen rice I don’t do it regularly. It does indeed work though.
12. Tomato Paste
Because how often does a recipe call for an entire can? Rarely. Just plop it by the tablespoon on a piece of wax paper and stick it all in the freezer. Once frozen take it off the paper and store it frozen in a baggie.
13. Chocolate – If you buy lots of Halloween candy and are sure to hand out all the stuff you don’t like first, hoarding all the chips and chocolate bars for yourself, you’ll be pleased to know you can freeze all those mini (or maxi) chocolate bars. Chocolate chips too.
14. Chicken Carcasses – My freezer is always filled with carcasses from those pre-cooked grocery store chickens. I buy them when I’m in a rush, eat about half of them and then toss the other half into the freezer. When I have 4 or 5 of them in there I pull them out and make chicken broth. Here’s my chicken broth method and recipe.
15. Wine
I would like to take a moment right now to acknowledge the thought that just went through your head, “WHO has leftover wine to freeze???”. K. Good, now that we got that out of the way I can tell you who has wine leftover. Me. I don’t drink wine. I think it’s pretty gross. There are a select few vintages I like but for the most part I’d rather have a whiskey. Or beer. Or if we’re being honest, a Diet Coke.
If you use wine for cooking, freeze it in an ice cube tray for use in recipes.
If you drink wine but can’t down the whole bottle in a night because you aren’t 20, store the rest of it in the freezer. (don’t do this with an unopened bottle or you could end up with an exploded bottle of wine)
Before your amateur sommelier head explodes you can read all about this method here.
16. Pesto – Make huge batches when the ingredients are in season and freeze them in ice cube trays. When they’re frozen take them out and store them in a baggie or Tupperware bin.
17. Tortillas – I must eat an inordinate amount of Mexican inspired food because I’m always in need of tortillas. But I rarely use a whole package of them. Any unused get stored in the freezer in their original package.
18. Flour, Oatmeal, Grains etc.
O.K. Remember that Overnight Oatmeal I’m so fond of? Well I went to make it a while ago and just about barfed when I saw it was filled with grain weevils. Filled might be an exaggeration. I saw 2. I noticed them before I ate it. I now keep my oatmeal in the freezer. I think the fact that I still eat oatmeal is a testament to my love of oatmeal.
19. Nuts – Nuts have oil and nuts will go rancid. Any nuts I only use occasionally I keep in the freezer.
20. Whole Peppers
Peppers are prolific. One plant will fill a wingback chair with peppers. I just freeze them whole the same way I do tomatoes. (not including the ones I make into Jalapeño poppers.)
21. Cold Cuts (pastrami) – That’s right. I like me some nitrites and nitrates every once in a while. Sometimes a lady just needs to tuck into a pastrami on rye without worrying the world is going to end. But I’m notoriously terrible at knowing how much to ask for at the deli counter so I always end up with too much. Into the freezer it goes until the next time. You’ll have to dry them with a paper towel, otherwise they’re fine.
22. Donuts
Krispy Kremes, Tim Hortons, chocolatae or sugar glazed – it doesn’t matter. If it’s a donut, you can freeze it.
23. Yogurt – This one I don’t do but have planned on doing it for years if that makes any difference. So I can’t comment on how the consistency or texture is after freezing. If you have popsicle molds, just fill them with yogurt, stick a popsicle stick in it and you have an instant frozen yogurt.
24. Bread – You probably already know this one but bread freezes BETTER than it fridges. Keeping bread in the refrigerator will make it dry out and go stale. Keep it in the freezer and it’ll stay fresh.
25. Birthday Cake – Sometimes the urge to eat a birthday cake comes over you even though it isn’t anyone’s birthday. And you only eat 1/2 of it, alone on a Saturday night. Freezing the rest of it accomplishes 2 things. It preserves it perfectly AND it hides the evidence that you bought yourself a random birthday cake to eat alone on a Saturday night.
→Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←
I love pesto! I have a simple pesto recipe (basically basil, garlic, olive oil and Parmesan or Romano cheese) and I freeze it in ice cube trays and then store in baggies. When I have soup or chili, I’ll thaw a cube and smear it over a piece of baguette. Yum! And if I have unexpected guests, I can take a baggie of soup out of the freezer, a couple of basil cubes and bread. I instantly look like the hostess extraordinaire!
You haven’t had any comments for the last few weeks. I see now that I have to click a “see all the posts”? So no comments will show if I don’t comment? That’s too bad. I enjoy seeing the comments from other readers.
No that shouldn’t be the case. I’ll look into it from my end but chances are it has something to do with the browser you are using. Are you using Chrome? You could also need to “clear your cache”. ~ karen!
No, EE. And cache is cleared. Odd…I need to get my son to look at it. Thanks!
I emitted little yips of joy all the way through this post. I always keep chocolate and bread and cake in the freezer. In fact I prefer cake frozen. I am SO going to start freezing whole tomatoes and eggs! Can I also add to the list peeled bananas? If you peel ’em before freezing you don’t have to deal with peeling icky black peel when you’re ready to bake/smoothie.
This is going to change my life. I have frozen bananas but never use them because they gross me out.
I KNOW, right? I can’t remember where I learned this. Heck, could have been Karen. I put them in freezer bags FYI, although I guess plastic containers would work, too.
Likewise. Awesome tip! Thanks.
Hi there, actually I do leave them in the skin and when I want to use them for baking, I just snip off the end and squeeze out the contents like a tube of toothpaste… no extra packaging and little mess!
Thanks, Jan, for the good (packaging) idea!
I knew several of these, sure. Some are awesome and new. Goat cheese? Stoked to try this one.
BUT CAKE? Ohmigod. I never eat cake any more because no one is generally around to help eat it. *heart beats faster, eyes widen in excitement* I am totally making myself cake, like, tomorrow.
I always freeze cake! When my mother was alive, we’d get a bakery sheet cake with butter cream. After the party, I’d cut it into squares and let people take it home. Then I’d take home whatever was left and put it in the freezer for the occasional treat…just one small square at a time!
yes!! this is going to be WAY better for me, than an entire cake over the course of like 5 days which is TOTALLY what I did until my 30’s when I could no longer metabolize a whole cake.
::so excited::
Fantastic list! Lots of new things I had no idea about. Goat cheese? Wine? Now to have a freezer that you can find things in and don’t disappear to the darkest bottom corner never to be found until the “Big Thaw”!
Do you have any suggestions for freezing meat without using plastic? I’m trying to go more environmentally friendly and trying to reduce plastic usage. I don’t want anything to get freezer burn.
L have a look at wax wraps beautiful smell fab env friendly and they work.
Kathryn, do wax wraps work in the freezer?
I don’t think wax wraps should be frozen. The wax needs to be pliable.
Hi Louann. You can use butcher paper but even that can’t be recycled. It can be composted. It won’t protect the food the same way a Foodsaver with plastic bags would but it helps a bit with freezer burn depending on how long you plan to leave stuff in the freezer. ~ karen!
I freeze all my meats in my Foodsaver. Yes, it uses plastic but to cut down on it, I re-use the bags—NOT FOR FOOD. Wash, dry, mark with a big red “X” Marks-a-Lot then use them for storing not food items or even packaged food that will not touch the bag (box of cake mix). Down here we have a big problem with pantry moths. I have also used them to seal up “stuff” before putting in trash can.
I’d rather not use plastic if I can avoid it. It’s so harmful to the environment not to mention what it leaches. I’m trying to go zero waste. Or as much as I can. It also means I buy in season food more and less processed stuff. Karen helps by posting guides on how to make things myself. We have a problem with Weevils here. But most can be defeated by freezing grain and seed items. Thank you all for the responses. I considered butcher paper but i’m not sure if I can get it here. I will do a test at some point and see how wax wraps freeze. I’m most worried about being able to clean them properly as I can’t use hot water or the wax will melt. But I guess if I keep meaty ones for meat it should be ok.
Snapware is glass with airtight plastic tops, washable and reusable forever. Food stored in these lasts twice as long as Tupperware, Rubbermaid or baggies. Snapware stacks neatly in the freezer. I got a huge box of the stuff at Costco in different sizes, tried it out, then went back and bought two more boxes and dumped my plastic stuff.
There are silicone bags, they have the shape of a ziploc bag, and can be frozen or microwaved.
https://www.amazon.com/silicone-ziplock-bags/s?page=2&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asilicone%20ziplock%20bags
Thanks
Silicone reusable bags! https://www.amazon.com/silicone-ziplock-bags/s?page=2&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asilicone%20ziplock%20bags
You must have one heck of a big freezer! 🙂
Take care for children and small animals getting lost inside…
Love the suggestions. Don’t forget the bananas!
Nope. Didn’t forget bananas. 🙂 I just figured most people know that you can freeze bananas. (hopefully they do!) ~ karen!
You can add pineapple to the list. Slice and cut it into pieces. I proved the Dole website wrong.
You can freeze cut melons rather than throw them out and later use them in smoothies or fruit fizzes
I freeze eggs [shelled] whole in small containers. They are just fine for cooking and scrambling etc or baking when whipped a little. When they are frozen I transfer them to penny baggies [which can be washed and reused many times] and place several in a zipper ziploc.
All soups can be frozen, and I think casseroles as well. I am one person cooking for at least six so there’s a lot of freezing going on.
Butter bought on sale can be frozen.
Organic raisins if you buy the big Costco box should be frozen except for what you are using.
Not only can nuts be frozen, they should be frozen.
Cake mixes can be frozen.
Olive oil and maple syrup too can be frozen
I freeze coffee beans bought on sale
Cottage cheese can be frozen to be used later in lasagna
Bread crumbs can be frozen, plain or buttered
All flat breads and all cookies can be frozen
I’m sure there’s more ….
You mention peppers. I make red pepper jelly so when peppers are in season and reasonably price I seed and cut them up in amounts for a recipe so that when I want to make more of the jelly I have the peppers
About the bananas — you can sometimes score a great deal on overripes which are perfect for baking and smoothies. Yes, remove the skin as you say
I often remove the frozen item from the container and put it in a baggie so that I can cram as much as possible into the freezers.
Unrelated: I loved your blog on the Christmas-gift culture in your family.
Thank you for Costco raisin comment. I buy Craisins and they get dry by the end of the bag. I hadn’t thought to freeze.
Hi Toby. Could you please share your red pepper jelly recipe
I had some of the raisins spoil. I co tatted the manufacturer. These had been the best raisins I had ever tasted. Now I freeze what won’t be used soon, keep the rest in The fridge. Toby
I don’t know if this will work. The next time I make this jelly I will use an instant read thermometer to get the right temp. When jams, jellies, honey are too thick I add a small amount of water, and boil them briefly in the microwave. This recipe makes a very attractive very red jelly with a great red pepper flavour.
Thanks Toby. I’ve been looking for a great recipe, and will use this one, implementing your instant read thermometer idea. ❤️
Thanks Toby! ~ karen!
My mom tried a trick for freezing cantaloupe – in lemon-lime soda! Some how the bubbles kept the texture more melon like. We had almost forgotten about it, and one day she thawed it and OMG – “fresh” off-season cantaloupe. We were in the middle of a blizzard, so it was completely unexpected!
Wow! What an incredibly useful post! Seriously this is going to save me a ton of money (on spoiled food) and time (shopping for food that could have been in my freezer). The only thing I ever freeze is bread. As a single girl who likes fresh bread I figured out that if I throw it in the freezer as soon as it comes home, I can just pull out slices as I need them. 20 seconds in the microwave or just pop in the toaster frozen. Total game changer.
26. Pavlova. Yes really. It comes out crunchy on the outside and gooey in the middle – just the way it should be. Decorate after thawing which only takes a minute or two.
Interesting! ~ karen
I literally was just whining on Facebook that I don’t make ice cream at home anymore because I never have heavy cream on hand. And it’s essentially whipping cream, so woohoo freezer!
I’ve bought fresh pasta at the store and frozen it. I have also frozen hot dogs (hey, the kid likes them… sometimes…). I just toss them in there in a ziploc and chisel off one or two dogs as needed. Doesn’t seem to affect that hotdoggy texture.
Freeze them singly on a sheet tray, then you can put in a container & thaw one at a time!
Karen,
Re: the birthday cake. I love you.
Luanne
Waffles freeze well too 🙂 pop in toaster after defrosting and you have crispy goodness.
I’m gonna need a bigger freezer.
I freeze just a majority of these things too. What I never thought about is the containers though! Valu regularly has them on sale for a whole DOLLAR and my freezer is about due for a defrosting, now I’ve got a project for this weekend 🙂
Saving wine…..
https://youtu.be/Uo7dm09HE34
Just saying…
😂😂😂
Karen, a great post. I didn’t know I could freeze half these things and have ended up throwing them out. Thanks so much!
Ha! I knew about the milk, but that comes from growing up in Edmonton and getting milk delivered to the door (still in the 90s!) and having it completely frozen before you get to it by 7am.
I never need to freeze wine ..it’s a food group at our house ! We buy it in a pail.
Along with birthday cake, you can freeze leftover frosting! I always have a little bit left and don’t want it to go to waste, so I put it in a bag and freeze it- emergency frosting!! Sometimes you need to frost a muffin so you can pretend it’s a cupcake. Sometimes you combine several batches so you can frost a pan of brownies. Sometimes you eat it with a spoon while it’s still frozen because your kids are sick and you’ve spent 3 days cooped up inside with them and you need frosting to make it all better. Emergency frosting.
“Emergency frosting” is going right next to the slices of cake, this is SO GREAT.
We also freeze tomato/pasta sauce in an ice cube tray – we never make it through a jar before it goes bad (we don’t eat pasta, but use it for mini pizzas). Now we can just grab a cube each for our pizza and away we go! Seems like a war-era stretch to be saving $2.99 in pizza sauce, but I couldn’t stand tossing the moldy half jar all the time
I discovered the joy of frozen tomatoes last year and still marvel over their convenience. Pick, wash, throw in freezer bags and voila! The skins just slide off when you run water over them right out of the freezer. But cream is a game changer. I’ve got a pint in the fridge right now that is past its expiry date and it’s going straight in the freezer. Same with cheese – if you can freeze goat’s cheese, feta should be fine. So thanks from someone who despises waste.
I grate my ginger before I freeze it and put it in little piles on sticky plastic wrap. Then I just pop a dollop into whatever I’m making.
This is a good idea.
I’ve been freezing pesto and ginger for years and recently added whole washed blueberries to my list. They make a fabulous snack on a hot summer day. And I freeze watermelon chunks-no seeds-for a refreshing doggie snack as well. I have noticed though that my ginger doesn’t always hold up when I need to grate it. How do you (and readers) wrap it up? I’ve used my vac sealer but don’t want to drag it out for a teeny piece of ginger.
Perhaps grate it first?
I freeze my ginger just in a ziplock bag without any issue
We are HUGE fans of frozen grapes ! I have found it helps greatly with hot flashes .
Thanks, found some new ideas to try here. About cooked pasta- I never used to do this, but last year I started. I always cook way too much. My family always asks me whose army I’m expecting whenever I cook pasta and that meant a lot of waste in the past. I started bagging and freezing it, then I pull it out and reheat it in a pot of boiling water. It’s not likely going to be al dente if that’s what you prefer, though.
This reminded me. You can shred cheese and then freeze it.
You can freeze cheddar cheese too…but only if you are going to crumble it into a sauce or on top of a casserole…it won’t slice nicely
Karen, I highly recommend vacumn packing stuff when you freeze it. (You probably know the most advertised brand). I use it all the time, no more freezer burn. That’ll probably extend your list of freezer stuff.
Yeah, but does this happen because you have a self-defrosting freezer? I feel I never had issues with freezer burn until I had a self-defrosting freezer.
The self-defrosting freezers pull all the moisture out of the foods stored within, especially if stored incorrectly. The old manual defrost models don’t do that. Think of the self-defrosting freezers as the old manual defrost freezer with a continuously running defrost cycle. (local farmer told me this)
I chop and freeze herbs and scallions too. Who ever needs all of one of those giant overpriced bundles they force you to get at the store? This works particularly well with dill, chives and scallions. Parsley and basil work better if you make a paste with some oil and then put in ice cube trays till frozen. I also freeze the woody ends from asparagus until I have a bagful and then make a lovely broth. I always have packages of tortillas and pita bread in the freezer. When I use the tortillas I thaw them quickly in the microwave (probably not necessary), and then toast/char them over the burner of the gas stove. Save the rinds from parmesan cheese in the freezer too: they add wonderful umami flavor to soups and stews.
Karen …It is always a pleasure to see you first thing in the morning…I lived on a farm and had a huge garden..I also froze my tomatoes whole but when I needed some I just took them out of the bag and ran them individually under water…Voila…The peel would crack and come right off….Thanks for all your great blogs…
I just read recently an article on freezing avocados too! Slice or dice and freeze on trays first, then put in freezer containers. Mine also last longer if kept in the fridge.
A couple of tips: 1) A customer comment from the Bakers Creek website. The customer grows the tooth shaped little red peppers. He slices off the top and pulls out the seeds and freezes them flat on a cookie sheet and then bags them. When he wants some he pulls out a few and squeezes out the pulp like toothpaste, leaving the skin behind.
2) If you can still buy whole shiitakis, pull the woody stems off and freeze them in a little bag. then drop a few in the pot when making chicken stock. Just a few stems perfume a whole pot.
3) Cranberriies are hard to find out of season so every November I buy several bags and toss them in the freezer. No processing needed and the bag keeps them safe from freezer burn. They taste wonderfully refreshing in a summer smoothy.
I omitted one of the main things — cooked beans. I buy a variety of dried beans, soak and cook them under pressure, and then freeze them in one-cups, when frozen transfer to a penny baggy and freeze. I always have beans to add to soups or casseroles this way — salt free.
I love this idea. I buy dried beans, then don’t make them for years, so they never get soft when I get around to it. This way, I can do it right away, and (I’m sure) I wouldn’t leave them in the freezer for years, because they’d be ready to be cooked.
I also freeze the cooked beans. Be careful to label them. Frozen black beans look just like frozen blueberries. I once made a black bean and banana smoothy. It was surprisingly good, just not what I was expecting.
They Christmas cookies (they don’t last long if you know they’re there calling you) and grass seed (the mice always seem to find it if it’s outside in the garden shed).
I never thought of collecting poultry carcasses in my freezer (that kind of sounds a bit weird) but what a great idea to use for broth! I have chucked out so many of those little grocery store birds I buy when I’m too lazy to cook, what a waste! I’m going to do that from now on. My husband will wonder what I’m up to if he ever looks in our freezer, but who am Ikidding he never will.
I use my freezer a lot, since my husband and I both like to cook, but don’t eat much. Karen, in general, how do you defrost these items? Are they all defrosted the same way? // I freeze veg scrapings (carrot, green beans, celery, etc) and use them to augment veggie bouillon ( and then strain it before using). You get a surprising amount of these if you eat a lot of salads. // I always make chicken stock from the cooked chicken. I freeze my soups/broths into small baggies and then stack them on their side. // Herbs into oil and then ice cube trays. // Frozen grapes are great. // Will try out more of these ideas.
Most of them I defrost in the fridge, but it depends. If I’m in a hurry, the microwave or in a sink of cold water. Things that are O.K. to do so I just set on the counter a couple of hours before dinner. ~ karen!
You can freeze hummus as well! I usually make about 10 cups of the stuff at a time, then freeze in 1-2 cup containers. It changes the texture a bit, it’s not as creamy as fresh, but we like ours a bit chunky anyway and it does taste fresh.
YEA for freezing tomato paste – always have to throw away half the can. Last time I bought the toothpaste tube tomato paste and then promptly lost the box in the closet somewhere. I really wasn’t sure how long it would last that way anyhow. I always freeze my nuts taking only a handful out for oatmeal in morning. I fill freezer bags with fresh citrus juice, lay them flat to freeze then stack them up for storing. Something else I always eat frozen is baby green peas. I got my grandkids hooked also. Fun treat that we eat while watching the tube together. I keep any extra $20 dollar bills under the pea bags so I always have some cold cash on hand. LOL
Havarti cheese freezes very well. Cut with a serrated edge knife when thawed. You can buy that big block in Costco and cut it in thirds. Two in the freezer, one in the fridge.
This is revoluntionary. I had no idea. And I spent several hours last Sunday cleaning out my fridge, and ay yi yi, the ginger.
But really. Who has leftover goat cheese?
Instead of disposable zip bags, use silicone ones! https://www.amazon.com/silicone-ziplock-bags/s?page=2&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asilicone%20ziplock%20bags
OMG, Game changer…wine! So what CAN’T I freeze?
THANK YOU for all of these tips. Some I had heard of and others, not at all. I only wished I had seen this post awhile back I you’re right, the pepper plants multiply like bunnies! We had to throw some out due to mold. Now, I’ll gladly let the hubs know that we can plant one again without any fear of losing out on them as we can freeze them, whole too!! YIPEE!!
My contribution to the list – chipotle peppers in adobo! I puree the whole can, use what I need for the current recipe, then portion out the rest, similar to the idea of tomato paste, usually in 1 tbsp portions. For this and tomato paste, I like to use the Glad Press ‘n Seal, then each individually wrapped 1 or 2 tbsp portion (they look like taffy candies) goes into a larger baggie that is labeled with the contents.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention freezing yogurt with tampons to treat yeast infections.
Hahaha! ~ karen
For 17 years I lived 200 miles from the grocery store so about every four to five weeks my husband and I, (or just one of us) would go to town early in the morning, do a shop, appointments, etc. and back out in the afternoon. Since it was a 400 mile (600 km) round trip, you didn’t do it every day so I bought everything to last that long including at least five to six gallons of milk which always went into the freezer, ditto on the butter, cream cheese, cheese, etc. I have frozen everything you have listed here and then some with great success except for yogurt. Yogurt does not freeze well at all. It is gross. It separates and for some reason, unlike other stuff, it does not go back together again. It’s kind of like Humpty Dumpty. It’s broken and stays broken, which is why I had to learn how to make it because even though we would buy six or eight containers at a time, it usually didn’t last until the next time we went to town.
As an addendum, I used Tupperware Fridge Smart containers in the fridge for all of my vegetables and could nicely keep mushrooms for at least a couple of weeks, peppers for up to five weeks, romaine lettuce for at least four, and so on. Unfortunately, we have been near civilization for the past year now and even though I left a lot of Fridge Smart containers for the new owners of my past home, I still have a massive box of them and no place to use them. If anyone needs some?
Any chocolate in my freezer is guaranteed to spontaneously evaporate. True story 🤔
I’m in love with the idea of poking someone with a stick-just blame it on garlic gone bad, right?
I love these! I knew a couple of them but most of them were new to me (or things I had forgotten.
My contribution: mozzarella freezes well when shredded – I buy a big bulk-size block and shred (grate?) in my food processor with the grating attachment and then freeze it flat on a cookie sheet (or just in a large ziploc if I’m lazy). It works well for individual pizzas straight out of the freezer.
Oh. My. Land. Freezing dollops of tomato paste? Freezing WHOLE TOMATOES?! This is straight-up revolutionary.
Looooove posts about food storage. It’s essential to making my summer garden last the whole year and I have absolutely no idea how to do it! I always end up going back to the grocery store before fall even ends.
You can freeze taco chips or potato chips too. The air in the bag acts like a cushion. Snack, then reseal & freeze. When my mom told me this, I thought she was bonkers until she told me the chips I just ate were frozen ones.
You can freeze taco chips or potato chips too. The air in the bag acts like a cushion. Snack, then reseal & freeze. When my mom told me this, I thought she was bonkers until she told me the chips I just ate were frozen ones.
New to me this year: Tuna fish salad!! it freezes well. Never knew.
Sometimes I buy good tuna salad, one big container (for eating) one little one to freeze.
So wonderful to be able to pull it out of the freezer. And zip: it’s ready to eat soon’s it’s defrosted.
Thank you to whoever turned me on to this!