6) Cheese-Block, grated, sliced, and cream cheese can all be frozen. Thaw in the refrigerator over night. Note- the consistence of cream cheese may be different when thawed, but it is great for baking.
7) Milk and Whipping Cream-Who knew you could freeze milk?!? Well, you can. When your need it, thaw it out in the refrigerator.
8) Breast Milk-You can freeze breast milk in airtight BPA free pouches. Write an expiration date on the pouch. Writing the expiration date instead of the date you froze the breast milk will allow you to know when to use it by instead of having to calculate that date every time. Breast milk will last for 3 months in the freezer and up to a year in a deep freeze.
9) Cooked Rice-Need a time saver? Make your favorite type of rice in advance and freeze in pre-portioned freezer bags for future dinners. Take the frozen rice out of the freezer in the morning and thaw in the refrigerator. Tip: Frozen rice is good for making fried rice.
10) Veggie scraps-Next time you are chopping veggies don’t toss out the scraps that you are not going to eat (the tops of the celery, the ends of the carrots, the outer layer of the onions) freeze them instead. Keep adding to this freezer bag and when it’s full you can make your favorite stock with it.
11) Seafood shells-Just like you can freeze veggie scraps for stocks you can also freeze seafood shells and use them for stocks. Shrimp peels and lobster shells are great to freeze. Keep adding to this freezer bag and when you have accumulated a whole bag full you can make seafood stock. Tip: homemade seafood stock is delicious when used in gumbos, chowders, and cioppino.
12) Stocks and broths-Have you made too much stock, or are you just not ready to use it? Don’t worry; you can freeze it so that it is ready for you when you need it. Tip: always freeze your stocks in an airtight container; glass preferably.
13) Soups, Chili, Cooked Beans, and Casseroles-All of these freeze well and are tremendous time savers. Just think; you could have meals waiting for you on those super busy days when you know that cooking is just not in your schedule. There is no need to eat fast food if your freezer is stocked with a frozen meal that you’ve already prepared.
14) Meatballs-I learned that I could freeze meatballs from my mom, who is an amazing cook. She makes a ton of her meatballs from scratch once a month and then freezes half of them so that she has them ready for later. It only makes sense; if you are going to put forth the effort to make meatballs from scratch, you should make enough for a later date.
15) Pasta sauce-Again, I learned this from my mom. Make a huge pot of pasta sauce, eat some for dinner tonight and then freeze the rest for next time.
16) Pureed Baby Food-When I was making my son Jet all of his baby food I learned quickly to make a bunch at once and then freeze the rest for later. This saved me so much time, energy, and money. Tip: Fresh Baby makes the best baby food freezer trays with a lid. I’ve used other brands but I like Fresh Baby the best. Their trays are BPA free, the food freezes in one once cubes that pop out easy, and the airtight lid keeps freezer burn away. I use these trays to freeze everything in; not just baby food.
17) Bread-Loaves of bread freeze well. You never have to run out of bread if you always have one in your freezer.
18) Pancakes-We love pancakes and it’s awesome to have some ready when you don’t actually have the time in the morning to make a batch. All you need to do is take the frozen pancakes out of the freezer and microwave them for 30-40 seconds and enjoy.
19) Apple sauce-Homemade applesauce is the best, but it can be time consuming to make in small batches. Making a large batch will allow you to have it on hand whenever you want it. Sure you can buy the pre packaged individual servings of applesauce, but have you ever looked at the nutritional facts on the back? Most individually packaged applesauce’s or fruit cups have little to no nutrition in them. It makes me wonder where it all went. So for now, I’ll just make my own.
20) Cookie Dough-Freezing cookie dough allows you to be able to customize your own recipe and have it ready for you when you are craving something sweet. Prepare your dough, roll in to balls, place on a tray, and flash freeze. When the dough has hardened, remove the pre-portioned balls of dough and add to a freezer bag.
21) Fruit Juice-Most seasons our orange tree is so fruitful that we can not eat, juice, or give enough oranges away. Harvesting the fruit when they are ripe and juicing them is a must. Freezing the fresh juice that we will not drink right away insures that we will benefit long after the season is over. Tip: Freeze the juice in airtight glass jars.
22) Fruit-You can use frozen fruit for smoothies, compotes, and pies. I hate having to throw fruit away, so if the fruit is ripe and I know we wont eat it before it goes bad I will freeze. To freeze fruit; wash and let it dry before you freeze it. Fruits that freeze well are- grapes, berries, pears, apples, peaches, pineapple, mangos, and bananas. When freezing apples and pears, peel and slice them first (or any fruit that you do not want the peel on). Tip: frozen bananas and mangos freeze well and will retain their creamy texture when added to smoothies.
23) Citrus-When freezing citrus fruit; wash them, dry them, slice them, and then freeze them. You can add the frozen citrus along with ice cubes to flavor your water. You can also thaw slices as needed for marinades, guacamole, drinks, or taco night.
24) Onions-chop, dice, or slice onions and store in Ziploc freezer bags to use for soups, stews, stir-fry, and fajitas. This is a huge time saver when cooking. Tip: If you are a big fan of fajitas, slicing your onions and peppers and adding them to the same freezer bag will leave you with very little prep later.
25) Pizza dough-Double or triple your favorite pizza dough recipe, proportion it, add the dough to freezer bags and freeze. The frozen dough will last up to 6 weeks in the freezer. When you are ready to make a pizza, thaw the dough at room temperature and then shape into a pizza.
