Everytime that I teach a class, people ask me this question. What do I freeze? Cincinnatti Coupons has been kind enough to write up a guest post for your guys about that very question. Enjoy!
I freeze:
- Milk
- Creamer
- Cheese (i grate and put into a hefty one zip bag)
- Butter
- Cereal
- Homemade cookie dough
- Film (I know, who has a 8 mm camera, right? My mother in law!)
The one thing I wish I could master is freezing potatoes. I HATE buying french fries when I can make them. I’ve tried to freeze them several ways and have not had any success. So, if you know how to properly do this, let me know! I would be forever grateful!!!!
And a few items the fans freeze:
- Bread
- Yogurt
- lunchmeat
The biggest question was how do you freeze milk? Well, I find it easier to freeze half gallons. I pour about a cup out (use for eggs the next morning!) and place in my deep freezer. When I am thawing it out, I’ll set it on the counter for a few hours. Once it becomes to turn “icy” I place it in the fridge and shake it up every so often. I only use the frozen milk for cooking. My hubby is VERY picky about his milk and can’t stand the thought of drinking frozen milk.
So the next time you see the milk marked down, to $.49 at Kroger on Manager’s Special, it’s worth a shot!
Freezing items is a way to contribute to your stockpile. When Meijer had the free creamer a few weeks ago, I stocked up and was able to do so because I freeze the creamer. So now I have at least a 3 month supply and it won’t go bad by sitting in the refrigerator.
If you are looking to start freezing more items, be sure to check out Craigslist and garage sales. I bought my deep freeze 2 years ago at a garage sale for $25!
If there are other items that you freeze, let us know. We’d love to hear about them!
Here is a great article from the NY Times on foods you can freeze:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/dining/06mini.html?_r=2&hpw
Thanks so much Elizabeth!
i just don’t think potatoes freeze…the get mealy and it is just a texture thing
I have never personally tried it. I wonder if they could be mashed if it is a texture thing. Has anyone tried that? Rene
Besides the stuff mentioned already I freeze brown rice, nuts, seeds (sunflower, chia, flax), the crumbled bits of various cereals I use to either bread something with or blend up and use as part of the flour when baking cookies, cookie dough, ginger root, garlic, tortillas, bones etc for soups/broth, extra V8 juice or salsa for soups, banana slices for smoothies, bacon.
I heard you could freeze mashed potatoes better than potatoes but when I did it to a dab of leftovers they turned to almost liquid. But I used it in some potato chowder leftovers.
Also froze homemade enchilada sauce recently and it separates (like gravy does if frozen). Still tasted fine though.
I have heard of people freezing marshmallows but I thought I read somewhere that it actually makes them tougher.
I have heard of freezing unpopped popcorn but just read that it is not a good idea:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1546/does-freezing-unpopped-popcorn-make-it-pop-fuller-and-fresher
Karen, I had never thought of freezing brown rice and nuts. What a great idea when you get stocked up on extra rice and nuts! Now that you mention that about the mashed potatoes, I think I actually did that one time and the same thing happened. Thanks so much for all your tips and feedback! Rene
I freeze tomatoes, green beans, peas, pumpkin, and squash that I have grown in my garden. I use them for soups and chilis. I also freeze uncooked pasta and homemade pasta sauce. Cookies and bread are freezable too.
Hello!
You can freeze potatoes!!! The key is though is you have to cook them first. French Fries: Make your fries and bake them in the oven at 350 until they are done or about done. Season them however you want. (I use seasoned salt and salt) Be sure they are single layered so they will get done evenly. Cool them some then I transfer to another cookie sheet, single layer, and flash freeze in the freezer. When they are frozen, put in a freezer bag and put back in the freezer. When you want to use them, just place on a cookie sheet and re-heat in oven until crispy! Serve and enjoy! I have done this several times and they come out great! Also Taste of Home website and a recipe for Sunday mashed Potatoes. Awesome recipe. I make it and put in smaller foil lined baking dishes (just enough for one meal). When frozen you can take it out of the baking dish wrap completely in more foil and freeze. When your ready to have it for a meal, take out and thaw, then heat in 350 oven until hot!! The main thing to remember with potatoes is they must be cooked or mostly cooked before freezing!!
Hope this helps!!
Ali
I keep my coffee beans in the freezer and grind them straight from the freezer .. delicious and always fresh tasting
Frozen milk turns color while frozen, but when defosted, just shake and go :)
Great info! Thanks!!!
I’ve had great success in freezing mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes! I put them in muffin tins and after they’re frozen, I pop them out and put them all in a freezer bag….I used them to make individual servings of twice baked potatoes….very yummy and they didn’t change color.
I freeze bananas that are too ripe to eat for banana bread. Yummy!
This summer a friend gave us a half-bushel of tomatoes. We just dropped them whole into the blender, pureed them, then froze them in ice-cube trays. After they had completely frozen we transferred them to 1 gal freezer bags. They’re great for home-made pizza sauce and to add to store-bought sauces for a fresh taste.
Also, this might be a “no, duh” item, but we freeze meat and poultry. Recently Ingles had Tyson whole chickens for 79 cents/lb and ground chuck 1.79/lb. We bought five pounds of ground chuck and packaged them into 1lb portions to freeze, and four chickens @ less than $3.40 each!
A word of caution – our deep freeze is used for storage only, and we don’t always open it every week. My husband is a pastor and our home is connected to the church. A month or so ago we had some electrical issues in the church and didn’t know that the power to the deep freeze was effected…we ended up loosing almost $200 worth of food (chicken, beef, the last of the tomatoes, fish, bread, our whole stockpile, pretty much). So even if you don’t need anything from it, check your freezer a few times a week!
Thanks so much for all of your tips! Rene