I was talking to a friend the other day and she mentioned that one of the most impactful things she remembers from early days in my kitchen – was the contents of my Freezer. That was a really interesting thought to consider. I mean she wasn’t wrong because I freeze E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G and maybe more importantly – I thought everyone did ?!?! Come to find out – I guess that isn’t the case – and most people don’t freeze things the way I do?! Maybe there’s a post I need to write? So here goes a post on Freezer storage ides — what’s in my freezer / what’s in your freezer ?
Let me begin by telling you what’s in MY Freezer…. I think I ought to break it down into categories… types of things I freeze.
- Meat or frozen food that is on sale. I buy when items are on sale and then freeze for later. (i.e. Chicken / Beef / Sausages etc.).
- Freezing left overs when we are not going to be able to eat them all reasonably during the week. Generally this occurs when we unexpected go out or have too much food to eat etc.
- Freezing left overs when I cook a double batch or purposefully cook extra to be frozen. I do this when I’m making something that takes a while or is harder to cook – and I’ll make 2X so that I have left overs to short cut the next cook.
- Frozen short cut dinners or portions of dinners (i.e. Frozen Pot Stickers / Kirkland Chicken Chunks for the air fryer / Kirkland everything frozen Cod (yummy!) / Frozen vegetables of every kind etc.)
I’m too embarrassed to show you my actual freezer – so here’s a generic pic of a full freezer. Now I’m wondering – what does YOUR freezer look like?
Meat or frozen food that is on sale:
One of the posts I wrote was about Costco Roasted Chicken. That post is here if you haven’t seen it yet… Basically you buy things that are cheap or on sale – and then freeze them for future use. In the case of the Costco chicken – pull the chicken, break the chicken down into two or three portions. I typically do 3 portions and freeze two portions (in two ziplocks or vacuum storage bags) and eat one portion the night of the purchase.
When you are in the grocery and Raw Chicken is on sale – buy a bunch. Break down the raw meat / package into portions for you / your family – and zip lock / vacuum seal the meat and put it in the freezer. Then next time you need chicken (or whatever meat) you will be pulling it out of your freezer, saving a trip to the grocery and saving a few bucks as you are eating chicken based on sale prices.
This is a budgeting win for everyone. And, if you watch your grocery sales – you will see Chicken is on sale one week, and then beef is on sale the next and then pork is on sale etc. So if you pay attention and buy a bit extra – you will be able to stretch your grocery dollars. I literally thought everyone did this. But come to find out – it’s me and a handful of my frugal friends. 🙂 But maybe now you will do it too?
Left overs – when I cooked more than we can eat in a week:
Sometimes I get over zealous with the planning of food / meals / cooking – especially if I have a lot to make for the blog or there was a great sale at the grocery… And then we end up with 4 meals in the fridge needing to be eaten as left overs or lunches. When I think they are not all going to be eaten I’ll grab some left overs and prepare it for the freezer.
Preparing for the freezer – means – I’ll put it into a zip lock or a vacuum sealed bag or into a Tupperware that is freezer friendly.
Things that I have in the freezer – Pizza dough – we had too many doughs prepared – so I dumped a dough into a zip lock – and we’ll have it another time (thaw in the fridge overnight). Left over pasta and chicken – I’m always making something like that – and when you have more than you will get through – that type of leftover generally freezes well – in a Tupperware.
Soups / stews / cooked crockpot Mexican chicken / slow cooked port carnitas etc. Those all go into the freezer readily. Then I am halfway to another dinner after taking a package out and thawing it !
Left overs – when I cooked more on purpose:
A couple of examples of this – again – Crockpot Mexican Chicken – there’s a ton of flavor in the chicken, it’s already been shredded – and it would make excellent tacos or enchiladas or nachos later – so why not freeze up a portion so that we can have a quick easy dinner next time ? It takes the same amount of time to toss 4 lbs of chicken into the crockpot as it does 2 lbs….
The Pork Carnitas is another great example and this is two fold example. The rub that you make for the carnitas takes a few minutes to mix up – there are a bunch of components. I double up the recipe – and put into the freezer half the rub – so that next time I make it – I can just thaw the rub and get moving quicker on the cook. Secondly – I like to buy a big portion of pork – and after I sear it and slow cook it – I make sure I have more than I need – and purposefully put a container of slow cooked carnitas into the freezer.
Sometimes – if you are going camping – it is really nice to have things like this in the freezer – so you can just pull it out – and toss into the fridge or your cooler – and off you go with half of your meal already prepared. Easy to add a tortilla / some salsa / cheese / onions etc. and have a super good meal while camping.
Soups and stews are another great candidate here. My Chicken Tortilla Soup is ALWAYS in the freezer. That stuff freezes so well and wha-la – you have an excellent meal just by microwaving soup.
Think about the things you cook – and consider what portions of that meal could be readily frozen? Should you purposefully make more – and toss that into the freezer for a future busy day ? Shown below is my homemade enchilada sauce. What if I took this out and a package of roasted Costco Chicken, added some cheese, tortillas and maybe corn / other veg – and whala – I have chicken enchiladas!
Frozen Short Cut Dinners :
These are the pieces / components of dinners that you can buy that help you get dinner more quickly. I’ve always got a bag of pot stickers in my freezer – for in case I need something NOW and don’t want to cook. When I was working – I’d have a couple of the bagged frozen meal kits in the freezer… the birdseye chicken and pasta and vegetables dinner that goes in a pot and is done in 10 minutes, that one…. ! We would eat that fairly often – every other week or so… especially when working late.
Now days I have less processed / frozen food – and more components. Sausages for breakfast / bacon for breakfast (nitrates, I know…) / Corn / Green Beans / Carrots and Peas etc. Homemade enchilada sauce. Frozen ginger (keeps longer than in the fridge) / Frozen Ginger from TJ’s – for when you just need a tiny bit….
You never know when you have a recipe that calls for a package of peas or a tsp of ginger – and you’ll need some….Another favorite is the grilled corn from TJ’s. That’s always nice to add to a southwestern dinner….
Think about the things you eat regularly and consider buying an extra package or a convenience item next time you are at the grocery. Especially if it’s on sale!
Don’t forget to mark up your packages:
Don’t forget to mark up the package and outline what it is that you are freezing. 2 pork chops from 7/20/24 ??? Three boneless chicken breasts from 7/20/24 etc. Or maybe do it by pounds… 1 lb of ground turkey 7/20/24….
It would be a terrible thing to pull something out of your freezer and not know what it is, or worse yet, know when you put it into your freezer / how old it is.
Use the oldest meat / dinner first:
Once your freezer starts to get full – you will need to organize it a bit. (Pot meet Kettle…. haha).
Raw chicken in one section / raw beef in another etc. Then make sure when you pull out something to be eaten you are getting the oldest package – so that you don’t end up with sausages you pull out that are 6 years old. (nah, that never happened twice in my house….).
I just went to pull a few things out of my freezer to show you pictures…and found this ragu I’d made… I guess it was really good… ha. We probably should be eating that soon! (Again – it would be a quick meal if we were busy or going camping! Just boil up some noodles!)
What you probably shouldn’t be freezing :
Cheese and dairy don’t freeze very well. Cheese gets crumbly and milk separates. Items with a lot of mayo wouldn’t do very well. So skip the milk and heavy dairy items.
You did see I froze cream of chicken and rice soup? A little dairy as a percentage of the overall product won’t ruin a food if frozen. If it was creamed spinach or Cream of Something soup – I probably wouldn’t freeze it. But my chicken and rice soup was mostly broth based with some cream or half and half added – so I fully expect it will be delicious when I thaw and reheat it.
Eggs – have never tried to freeze them – can’t imagine doing that.
Items with big water contents – the water will freeze obviously – and then when it thaws the texture of the item would not be the same. Think Cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes etc. Now I would freeze and have frozen roasted tomatoes… Definitely roast the tomatoes if they are in danger of spoiling – and add some EVOO and some herbs and toss in the oven. Freeze the tomatoes once they cool. Then you can add to the preparation of a future meal.
Fried foods also are not going to freeze well. Heck, they don’t even go into the fridge and come out well. (although I hear an air fryer can help refrigerated fried foods… but can’t directly confirm.) But in any case – skip the freezing of fried foods…
So use your judgement as you consider freezing items.
What’s in your Freezer now, and what will be in your freezer soon?
I hope this post helps you think about how to get a leg up on a future meal and / or saves you a few bucks by buying extra and freezing items for future use.
Now I ask you – what is in YOUR Freezer today? What do you suppose will be in your freezer in a month from now ?