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!
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.
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.
cupcakes!
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!)
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
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.
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.
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 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.
"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
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!
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!
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!
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!