My name is Karen and I’ve never met a freezer I didn’t like.
It wouldn’t matter how big it was. I’d fill it.
Freezers are to me, what closets are to Paris Hilton. And an undetermined portion of the American Armed Forces.
So in honour of my love of the freezer and all things freezable I have for you a short list of …
5 Things You Never Thought of Freezing!
Donuts!
Leftover Soup (French Onion in this case)
Wool Sweaters
Plastic bags of milk!
Leftover Yorkshire Pudding
Now you might be thinking? Why? Why, Karen would I freeze these things. Well I’ll tell you …
Donuts – If you buy a box of Krispy Kremes you have 2 options. Eat them all while wearing elastic pants before they go stale or eat a reasonable amount and throw the stale ones out. Lose, lose. Freeze em to keep the donuts fresh and your pants fitting.
Soup – I always say I’m going to preserve my soups but I’m terrified of botulism, plus I don’t own a pressure cooker. So make huge batches of your favourite homemade soup when the vegetables are in season and then freeze it into individual portions. It’s basic brilliance.
Sweaters – The minute you see one of those tiny moths flying around your closet, put your wool sweaters in a plastic bag and freeze them for 72 hours. It’ll kill moth the eggs and larvae.
Milk – Milk doesn’t seem to go on sale all that often, but when it does you can freeze the extra. Yes. You really can! Just remove the frozen bag, let it thaw in the fridge and give it a good shake before drinking. Don’t forget about chocolate milk!
Yorkshire Pudding – I always think I’ve got my sh*t together whenever I make a roast beef dinner. All goes well until the last 10 minutes when EVERYTHING has to be done at the same time. Mashing the potatoes, making the gravy, cutting the roast, sobering up the Betty. Making a double batch of Yorkshire Pudding means you have an entire batch to freeze, thusly eliminating that one pain in the butt step the next time you make a roast. Just defrost them. They freeze PERFECTLY. And seriously … who wants to eat a roast beef dinner without Yorkshire Pudding? It’d be like eating pea soup without vinegar. How gauche.
Now if you’ll excuse me … I have to go take something out of the freezer.
Yes. Yes I am late. Late to respond to this Post. When I learned I was a breech birth,
there was a real ‘click.’
Freezing: chopped onions. Every so often I chop–can even do in cuisinart a bunch of onions. If I were a little smarter I would do this wearing goggles. Can use swim goggles. Chop onions, put in ziplock. flatten, freeze. I do abt 1 onion p bag. And need a chopped onion? here it is a t the ready.
Also, ginger. It, of course, lasts frozen, and is super easy to grate while frozen.
💜
Yep, ginger is always in my freezer, never in my fridge. :)~ karen!
Overnight I made slow cooker barbeque beans using a hambone from, of course , the freezer. Half of the beans are now in the freezer for another day.
Nice! I’ve been wanting to make baked beans in my smoker ever since going to Memphis last summer. Maybe this fall. :) ~ karen!
So glad we are on the same page, Karen! Glad to verify that I can freeze doughnuts as there was a special at my local with a free dozen if you spent $25. Of course all the chocolate ones were gone but regular glaze is good, too. Plus I’ve used Alton Brown’s chocolate glaze recipe before & it is very tasty. The sweaters were a new one to me, though. Thanks!
This was the perfect post for me. I LOVE to freeze stuff. Come to my house and my bread is ALWAYS frozen. makes my husband crazy :-) anyway, I always buy bell peppers on sale, slice them, lay them on baking sheet and freeze. They come out great for cooking with but I would not recommend if you are going to eat raw. eww
My favourite thing to freeze (after Easter creme eggs): Yoghurt! If they are getting close to the best before date, pop them in the freezer. Bingo ~ frozen yoghurt!
“Sobering up the Betty” ?? Is that your Mum ? Because that sound like my Mum, three sheets to the wind while my Sunday roast is about to go tits up at the last moment.
Yup! Betty’s my mom. In truth, she generally doesn’t drink unless she’s the one making the dinner. In which case she never actually gets to eating the dinner. ~ karen
I always freeze my flour, rice and other dry goods for a while before putting them in my pantry. I used to get those little pantry moths in my flour a lot, but no more.
Freezer junkie here too. I even have inventory posted inside the freezer because “waste not, want not.”
Lemon/Lime juice (with or without simple syrup for easy to assemble -ades or addition to recipes)
Citrus zest, because lemons and limes are expensive, darnit, and I don’t always have them around.
Pancakes, waffles, muffins. (Can’t believe I never thought about doughnuts–I just ate two so they wouldn’t go stale!)
I second the ginger root.
And separate canned chiles in adobo. Because you can’t possibly cook with more than one at a time. Freeze adobo sauce in ice cube trays and the peppers on a sheet tray, then transfer to a baggy.
I love to freeze individual tupperware containers of homemade soup in just the right amount to reheat for dinner – so much better than store bought frozen dinners!
Do people really have that much trouble with moths? I wear tons and tons of wool, and I’ve never had problems (that I know of – I destroy lots of clothes for other reasons, maybe I never noticed the moth holes!)
Heh. I didn’t think moths were a problem either. Until I pulled out one of my boyfriend’s cashmere sweaters last winter and … it had holes in it. I threw every wool sweater he had in the freezer for a few days and I’ve been good ever since. Well … I personally haven’t been good … but I haven’t seen any moths.
I always keep my bread in the freezer and I freeze pesto in small batches in the little plastic containers I get hummus in. It defrosts pretty easily or you can speed it up in the microwave by doing a few minutes at a time. But I don’t use the plastic in the microwave. I put it in glass with a cover.
Pancakes! Freeze ’em and reheat later. Then you don’t need to be mixing up a new batch of batter all the time.
http://www.auntjemima.com/aj_recipes/preparationsTips/#freezePancakes
Uh…over-ripe bananas for banana bread. BUT! Do not try to cadge extra freezer space by perching them on the aforementioned big-ass icemaker. They fall in, and eventually the ice maker starts spitting out little chunks of –ewww– with the ice.
(Very impressive for guests!)
cupcakes!
Seriously…i never thought about freezing donuts…someone told me about freezing bread… tried it…never got to eating it…Also…i am from the caribbean…now living in Canada… and we make a kinda soup name Callaloo… And after freezing…and eating after a few days it tastes more delicious…I guess it gives the ingredients time to ….i doh kno…soak in…blend in…
I can’t even BEGIN to imagine what’s in a soup that’s called Callaloo! Most soups, stews, chilis etc. taste better after they’ve rested a few days don’t they? Give the ingredients time to blend and mellow, like you say. Hmm. Now I want chili.
Could we have a Yorkshire pudding/roast dinner post? It looks like I’m not the only who’s never had that (and the drooling started the minute I saw the picture…I definitely need to eat that).
That just happens to be exactly what I’m having for dinner tonight. Prime rib, mashed potatoes, yorkshire pudding, fresh peas, beets with balsamic vinegar, acorn squash (from the garden) with nutmeg and maple syrup. No pics. Sorry. We eat this once a month or so, so I’ll try to post it next time. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go and eat!
I would like to add:
Leftover pasta sauce (make a double batch!)
Big blocks of cheese (cut them up in to reasonable portions)
Homemade chicken broth
Homemade pizza dough (make a double batch)
Thanks, Karen!
My freezer is full of ironing-in-waiting and garlic. Break the bulb into cloves, freeze in a zip lock bag, and when you are ready to use it the skin peels right off and it dices into lovely little bits before thawing.
garlic! what a great idea! I’m always losing garlic….
I like to freeze tomato paste in ice cube trays, then once it’s frozen I put it in a baggie. There is always too much tomato paste in a can… Then you have the perfect recipe-sized amount in a frozen little hunk…
frozen cookie dough … ohhh … ohhh … oooooh …
My fav freezer trick is to freeze things on a tray lined with a silpat then transferring to a bag once frozen: berries, sliced peppers, shredded chard, cut but not cooked bacon, individual cookie dough servings (upside: prevents me from eating a whole batch, downside: frozen cookie dough taste good and is in bite-sized pieces).
The yorkshire pudding recipe sounds suspiciously like popovers to me (minus the roast fat) – they always impress my guests with that “puffed up” appearance, and they’re EASY
They’re really hard to describe. The middle is kind of dense and … I don’t want to say wet but … kindda damp or something.
another fun thing to freeze…. damp stuff from the laundry that needs ironing!
It’ll keep it damp til your ready to iron:
*wrap in plastic & throw in the fridge if you’re not going to drag out the ironing board til later in the day, or freeze (so won’t eventually mold in the fridge…don’t ask me how I know!) if you won’t get to ironing til later in the year.
Yorkshire pudding… yum!
I also make a bit extra of everything and then freeze 2 portions for the Mr. and me. My favourites are chili, ragu and yes, soup (great when you are sick and you just zap yourself a remedy).
Freezing desserts is also great. Why leave a whole cake around to tempt you?
I cut portions and freeze them. Great for midnight snacks – don’t knock frozen chocolate cake until you’ve tried it!
Love the milk freezing idea. Do you think it would work with half ‘n’ half (coffee cream?). I hate waking up to find I don’t have any for my coffee!
Ok y’all, am I the only one who doesn’t know what Yorkshire Pudding is?
I gather from the “y’all”, you’re not from around these parts! :) Yorkshire pudding isn’t really a pudding at all. In fact it’s hard to describe. Kind of a cross between a bun and overcooked custard I guess. The ingredients are flour, eggs, salt, and milk. You mix it up and then cook it in roast fat in the oven at a very high temperature either in a big souffle dish or individual muffin cups like the one I’ve shown. They’re crisp(ish) on the outside and a little more dense in the middle. You dip or cover them in gravy. Yum!
Popovers! Yorkshire Pudding is really just popover batter with a bit of the beef drippings added to each muffin cup or casserole, depending on how you want to make it…
I make Popovers (without the drippings, sub butter) on Sunday mornings, and serve ’em with obscene amounts of butter and strawberry preserves oooooooYUM!
Question: How do you get the crispy-ness back once you’ve taken them out of the freezer? Toaster oven? Doesn’t the microwave make ’em go all mushy-rubbery?
BTW: My favorite weird thing to freeze – ginger root straight from the store. Makes it so much easier to grate.
Ree…. as in TPW Ree???
Ree – I re-heat the Yorkshire Puddings in the oven for a few minutes at 350. I don’t even put them on a cookie sheet, just throw them straight in on the racks. They come out perfectly! Nice and crispy (because of ya know … the grease) on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. OMG. I love them.
The sweater tip is new to me..I can’t wear much wool, but good to know!
These are great ideas! One freezing tip I’ve done in the past is when I have a little bit of wax left in a candle holder, and no wick left to burn, I’ll freeze the holder and the excess wax pops right out. It’s super easy and you have no chance of burning yourself while trying to melt the leftover wax…
As a knitter, i have been told that to truly kill moths in wool (us knitters suffer with moth larvae in our precious yarn stashes as well as garments) you have to freeze, thaw, re-freeze. The first freezing kills the larvae but doesn’t kill any eggs that might be there, they’ll lie dormant. The thaw will allow the eggs to hatch, and the second freeze will kill any remaining larvae.
Thanksfully i haven’t had to do this with any of my woollen things yet. Mmmmm, moth larvae. What a treat.
Hi Karen, love your work!
Cheese can freeze too!
Buy in bulk, grate and freeze.
This is what they do in pizza shops,so Im told,
makes it easier to sprinkle.And saves money!!
I freeze all leftovers too, but usually end up throwing them out 6 (or 12 months) later when I defrost the freezer!
My favourite thing to freeze is make breadcrumbs from crusts (which my kids won’t eat) and freee, then you have instant topping for fish pie, cauliflower cheese, whatever! I even sneak in a slice of wholegrain in the crumbs!
What is this fish pie you speak of?
Hi Karen! Muffins freeze wonderfully! The big giant ones, put each in a sandwich ziploc bag and toss it in. When you want one, just toss it in the microwave (crack open the ziploc) for 30-45 seconds and voilla – freshly “baked” muffins!
I find that freezing soup in zip lock bags is awesome – they seem stronger then normal freezer bags, and you can open them a little bit while they are defrosting in the microwave so they dont explode (not fun to clean up). Plus, they dont take up as much room in my tiny freezer as tupperware. Genius.
Freezing donuts?? GENIUS.
“can I be you when I grow up?” :)
Curry’s are ace to freeze too! Even left over home made pasta sauce! Yum
Oh I know! I freeze almost allll leftovers, other than stuff that has potatoes in it. (they go weird) But I didn’t think to make double batches of soup to freeze until a few years ago for some reason. And who ever would have thought to freeze donuts? The lady who sells the Krispy Kremes gave me that tip when I said I wasn’t sure I could eat a whole box of donuts!
I’ve never had a Krispy Kreme, but I do like to freeze choc chip cookies with a generous smear of vanilla ice-cream! Ommm nom nom nom……
Man, she saw you coming! I’m surprised you didn’t walk out with several boxes.
I bought a fancy new fridge a couple of years back, bidding a fond adieu to the old trooper I’d had for 20 years. The new one’s black and sexy, with ice and water in the door…French doors! Finally, opening the fridge wouldn’t completely block traffic to the dining room…
But alas– The freezer can hold a pound of hamburger, a box of popsicles, a loaf of bread… and the big-ass icemaker. We don’t even USE ice. No bulk freezing for me. :(
Why can’t we test drive major appliances before we buy them??!
Heh! I have a small freezer too. Luckily I have a mudroom right off my kitchen, so I keep a small upright (not chest) freezer in there. It’s the love of my life.
Power to the frozen soup. I would surely die without it.
I read a thing once about freezing pricy designer jeans instead of washing them. Apparently you spot clean them & stick them in the freezer.
never tried it because I don’t wear jeans very often.
Really? That fascinates me! What do you wear? I almost exclusively wear jeans. I got so excited I almost exploded when I found out that mixing denim shirts and denim jeans is in Vogue this season. Do you wear dresses? I also like those, because it’s so easy to get dressed. Swooosh over your head and you’re done.
Yeah I am a swooshy dress girl. (I was one of those little kids who was always lifting thier dress over thier head at inappropriate moments.) Even when it is really cold I just layer on my black bamboo tights which are super warm + jackets.
I just don’t find jeans comfortable the fabric makes me want to die. I love those trashy denim leggings though (I belive they’re calling them jeggings *gag*) they’re very comfy with a tunic top.
bamboo leggings? where do you get them?
I am in Australia so you might even just want to type bamboo leggings into google & see what pops up.
I buy mine from David Jones (Aussie department store) the brand is ambra
Be weary of the Canadian Tuxedo look! ;)
Ohh the Canadian Tuxedo, as long as you’re not rockin a pushbroom mustache you’re doin ok
Hello Karen I have been amazed at these things! Great job, Also if you want some other stuff to freeze, freeze gum then try to eat it!
Thank you!
Carson
P.S. Is that you in your picture if it is you are cute!Also e-mail me at [email protected]