Let's Talk Cooking for the Freezer....

[Dee]

How many of you cook ahead and put it in the freezer?  Either leftovers or plan ahead foods?

 

Yesterday and today boneless pork ribs were $1.48 lb.  Limit 10 lbs.  I bought the full amount with the idea of cooking meat for the freezer.  They look so good I'd go back today and get another 10 lbs. but with the price of gas and the store being 20 miles away I decided against it.  That's one bad thing about living in the country.

 

Anyway, below is the whole 10 lbs. ready to go.  Half the meat has been put in the crockpot with seasonings and onion soup mix.  The other 1/2 is seasoned and being boiled.  When cooked I'll put a bar-b-que sauce on them and in the oven at 250 for 1/2 hour-an hour. They are so tender and good!

 

I'll cool them and then wrap individually in plastic wrap, freeze and then put them all in a big Baggie and into the freezer.  

 

I also bought 5 lbs. of Italian sausage and 5 dozen eggs.  I'll brown the sausage and add the eggs to scramble the whole mix.  Pack flat, in individual servings, in sandwich bags and freeze.  

 

It saves so much time later when I'm not in the mood to cook AND, it makes DH a happy man to have food to cook when I'm not around for a meal.

 

I'd love some ideas on what you do to plan and freeze ahead.

 

P.S.  I just took the boiled, bar-b-que sauce ribs from the oven.  I'll give DH one as his meat for lunch and look at all that will go in the freezer. 

[Mother]

That looks SO good.  I was going to have DD pick up ten pounds for us from our Fareway but they needed it more than we did for their freezer.  She got us 10 pounds of chicken thighs for $.99 a # instead.    

[snapshotmiki]

I grill about 10 # of pork steaks and  also deer sausage at the same time. Then divide it into  quarters  and  freeze  for  breakfast. 

When I bake a ham, I package  and freeze some sliced and the rest in small amounts for  seasoning  beans. 

Also sometimes  make a small  casserole  or dessert  extra and freeze  with baking  instructions. 

[Jeepers]

Oh my. That looks so darn good! I have a feeling I'm going to be haunting the kitchen forums a lot.

 

They delivered a freezer to the Indy house last Friday. It's funny that most of you say you need to get your freezers cleared out and here I don't have a single thing in mine. 

 

I bought a child proof strap thing to put on it so the door won't 'accidently' come open. I need to figure it out first before I use it. I had planned for it to go under that shelf but it is too tall by a couple of inches. And I'm hoping it has locking wheels because as it is, I can pull it across the garage floor by the handle. The delivery was good but the set up was non existent. Suppose I'll have to read the instructions. 

 

     

[Dee]

That's a beauty Jeeper's.  Congratulations!  I got a new one recently too, don't know if I posted it here or not, BUT it's sure been fun filling it as I go along.

[Jeepers]

Thanks. It's my first upright. It's a 20 cf. It was on sale at Home Depot so it actually cost less than the 18 cf. 

 

I didn't see yours. Repost? 

 

I know Becca_Anne got a new one a month or so back too. 

 

Next time I go over I plan on doing some cooking for it. 

 

That place is turning out to be a pretty decent BOL.  

[Dee]

Like yours Jeepers, mine is a 20 cu. ft.  I chose from 16 cu. ft. or 20 and, of course, I took the 20.   It's a Frigidaire and I love it..  

[Jeepers]

That's beautiful Dee. I will strive to fill mine up too. I'm glad you posted that and that you like it. Gives me a little more confidence. 

 

You know what though. Mine is a Frigidaire too. It has the little green light at the bottom too but it didn't show up in the picture. I think we have the exact same freezer!  LOL

 

Does yours have locking wheels? My freezer is pretty mobile right now. 

[Annarchy]

Oh, my, such organization!  I’ve run out of room…..
 

 

Mine…. It’s a Kenmore we bought used from his friend.  We have to keep locked.  Avalanches happen regularly…. But that’s a good thing, IMHO. 

 

His sherbet kinda is shoved in there too…. Lol. 
 

Oh, look, I have room to go shopping for more meat in TX…

[Annarchy]

Dee, how do you keep the milk from bursting the container?  Milk has made such a mess when I try to freeze it.

 

Our refrigerator freezer has, mostly quick meals, re-heat & eat packages, sandwich meats & MIL’s vac sealed mini meals, on a dedicated shelf, that I take to her each month.

 

It is at least as full as the upright freezer.  

[Annarchy]

I have always cooked too much for 2 people.  
 

Growing up, I learned to cook for 4 boys, an older sister and my parents, it has been extremely hard to judge, just how much for two, DH & I.  99% of my meals have “ leftovers “.  I usually refrigerate them, then, the next morning, vac seal them for the frig freezer.
 

 Then when I go to TX, he has a good variety of meals to choose from.  Or, at night, since he stays up all night, usually till after 4-5am, he can find a quick nukeable ‘snack’ whenever he chooses.  Everything from pizza, tamales, enchiladas, beans, rice, corn beef and cabbage, stroganoff, various grilled sausage links, or other grilled meats, mashed potatoes, other veggies, all in single packages. Even waffles & pancakes for the toaster.  

[Jeepers]

Woo-Hoo Annarchy! That's what I'm talkin' about. I want one stuffed to the gills. I always loved Kenmore products. I had a sewing machine that lasted over 40 years. It just got too heavy to lug around. I have a pretty decent size freezer on the fridge in the house. The 'plan' is to keep the big one filled and rotate meals from it into the fridge freezer and eat from it. Like what you are doing. In the picture on the shelf beside the freezer, are boxes of divided trays I can use to make home made TV type dinners.  I want quick meals for one person. 

 

I had planned to get some hot dogs and bologna to store in there but I didn't have any more room in the Jeep to take over the Food Saver to store them in. I don't eat them often so I want to store them for longer term storage in the F.S. bags. Go ahead and laugh. I know I'm a rookie.  

 

I thought about cooking up some stuff over here and taking it over there in coolers But that's probably to long of a drive. 6 hours. I'm just getting too anxious. More rookie mistakes probably.

 

I'm curious about the milk too. I wondered about freezing small bottles of orange juice too. Just fill them 3/4 full?  

 

 

[Mother]

I have three freezers. An old but still working well Ammana 21 cf upright, a Westinghouse 16 cf upright, and a small chest type.  Plus the various sized freezers on three refrigerators. They all start out being neatly organized and end up crammed here and there with this or that.  All for two people .  I am working towards using what is in them and hope to down size.  I will say that some of them contain dry products like flour, grain, nuts, dried fruit and etc. 

 

I cook specifically to have left overs for the freezers, doubling or tripling a recipe.  Sometimes, when I am feeling up to it, I do batch cooking.  Soups, cooked meat, and etc.  I also like to freeze meals ahead to cook later. These are especially easy to do.  I put the raw meat (sometimes already frozen ones), chopped vegetables, seasonings, marinades, and whatever a recipe calls for into sealed bags.  I get them out the day before and allow to thaw in the refrigerator and they are ready to cook the next day.  I often do crock pot meals this way so I can just dump them in, turn them on and forget them until meal times.  
 

This is also a great way to make sheet pan meals ahead. Those I often use still frozen and just dump them on a sheet pan.  They do pour better if the pieces are individually frozen ahead in sheet pans and then bagged in mixes as they don’t stick together then.  I also make smoothie packs that way putting chopped fruits, veggies, and other freezables in single layers on sheet pans and then mixed into bags. Some of these I make using boughten frozen fruit and veggies some I chop and freeze myself, like apples or pears or cucumbers (yes you can freeze cucumber chunks for smoothies. I like them frozen with mint, pineapple, and frozen peas)   I put the liquid I’m using (coconut or other alternative milk, juice, or just water) into my blender, add the pack of frozen mix, and blend for an almost instant smoothie.  Sometimes I make the smoothies ahead and freeze them in ‘smoothie’ zip lock bags. I get them at Amazon and love them for grab and go smoothies. They come with a straw but do have to be thawed some before you can drink them. The bags can also be used for puréed soups you reheat in the microwave.
 

I make breakfasts for the freezer too. I cook a big batch of oatmeal or rice and put a serving in a wide mouth pint jar. I layer fruit on top and top it with cooked bacon, ham, or sausage. Sometimes I use nuts and raisins.  I cap and freeze them. They do take up more room in the freezer and I could probably use square plastic containers or bags. I get them out the night before or defrost using the microwave before heating to eat.  I freeze breakfast sandwiches using English muffins, fried eggs, meat and cheese and wrap individually and I do muffin pan meals where I line muffin tins with ground meat, fill the center with veggies like cauliflower and pour a beaten egg mixture over the top. Sometimes I cook it before freezing and freeze them on sheet pans before sealing in bags. Sometimes  I freeze it raw right in the tins.  When they are frozen I pop them out of the tins and store in bags.  When I’m ready to bake then I put them back into the tins, allow to thaw and then bake. 
 

Those are just a few ways I use my freezers but I’m always looking for more that save time and especially energy yet still have healthy meals.   This is a great thread.
 

 

[euphrasyne]

To freeze milk or any liquid you just pour a bit out of the container before freezing it.  It gives it room to expand.  

[Dee]

I thought it was the same freezer Jeepers.  It's why I told you it was a Frigidaire.  Cool!!!

 

Mine is only organized because it's new Annarchy.  My other I defrosted and reorganized before beginning on the new one.  Give me time, sadly the organization won't last.  Like Mother we have a 3rd freezer, over 60 years old.  After emptying it DH and I moved it from the old house, where my in-laws lived right next door, next to the new house.  We don't need it yet, so I told DH not to plug it in until then.  Truthfully a poor time then to see if it still works after moving it from its 60-year-old spot.  Oh well, we'll see.  As to the milk I usually pour some out, but someone told me, or I read somewhere that some cartons have an indented circle on the sides that expands when the milk freezes.  I put these in a Dutch oven to catch the mess in case it wasn't true, but it worked fine.  Good to know.  I also do the same as you with leftovers or cook ahead food.  The old freezer, not the OLD, in the house has all the ready-made meals in it.  That way DH can get what he wants.  The other stuff will be in the garage.  DH doesn't do steps well, so I don't put his food there, UNLESS, I want to hide it from him.  

 

Some of the things I freeze seem weird, but they work great.  Yeast, I freeze, and it'll work up to 2 years past the date.  Maybe longer but I tried a 3 year past date once and it didn't work.  Doesn't mean all won't work but I haven't tried again.  Nuts, all kinds of nuts, including sunflower seeds.  They are so expensive that when I find a sale I stock up.  They all taste like fresh even after thawing.  Butter, again, when it's on sale I stock up.  I leave it in the packaging and have had it past the 2-year mark on the box.  I use it in baking as well as putting in out on the counter.  Not just for a day but until its used up, which takes a while around here.  Of course, as you can see by the picture, I freeze flour.  Anywhere from a few days or until I have to move it for something else.  It keeps it from getting buggy.  Flour will also last a year or two past it's date.  Chocolate chips, the same way.  In the freezer they'll be good for 3 years or so.  

 

There are so many things you can freeze for later.  I CANNOT imagine life w/o my freezers.  I hope I never have to learn!

 

[Jeepers]

I have seen those indented circles on milk cartons and I have seen them bulged out when water was frozen in the jug. It never dawned on me that that is what it was for.    I haven't noticed lately if the newer jugs still have the circles or not.  

 

Freezing fruit/veg for smoothies sounds great too. I know a lot of people freeze bananas. I guess they freeze great. I'll have to check out those bags too. My freezer here at the house is just on the side by side refrigerator and very small. It mostly holds bread. That seems to be what I run out of the most.

 

Mother, I love your freezer planning. I always cook more to have leftovers too. I'm not really a picky eater and I can eat the same thing 3-4 days in a row. Mainly to keep from throwing it away. I can eat on a pot of chili for that long and a few days later miss it when it's gone.    But having a freezer will sure help.  I want to experiment with cabbage. I love it boiled in bacon grease but usually don't want to take the time to do it just for me. It would be nice to have some frozen and ready to eat anytime I want it. Like in the middle of the night. 

 

I think my biggest issue will be learning about thawing times. I'm not good about planning ahead what I want to eat. And about how long to cook something that is frozen.  And a power outage...

[Littlesister]

I have a very large chest freezer and 2 freezers on my 2 fridges. All are crammed full again. I have made casseroles and put in plastic freezer containers and froze them for dinners. Works great. Right now, my freezers are crammed full of meat and some veggies. GS has an area in the fridge freezer out in garage for his special foods. It is the reason I want to get an upright freezer but have to wait till the rest of the construction mess is out of garage and then getting it cleaned up again. A 20 cubic ft. fridge would work great for me and for GS. I do have 80 lbs. of flour in the fridge in garage. I want to get them in the freezer but no room at this time. So, they will be fine in fridge for now. Once I get GS situated in a bedroom, I will start back on the canning. Hopefully that will be soon. I need to get meat out to make my soups and the Roma tomatoes are just starting to a point that they will soon be turning red. So canning season will more than likely start up strong in about 2 or 3 weeks. Once I get that meat out and used up, I will start back on freezing meals again. Need to get the freezers emptied again, defrosted and ready for individual meals and more meat. I have a bad feeling that meat next year as well as some other things are going to be harder to get. Be what it may, I hope to be ready for whatever happens next year.

[Annarchy]

Speaking of freezers, I have a story….

 

A friend of DH’s had a big refrigerator, asking $250 for it.  DH said OK.  
42” W

83” H

26” D + 2” for the handles.

 

So, I measured & measured… removed my cooking equipment from the top of our frig.  Then, DH suggested putting it in the shed.  So… I spent a day, clearing a place in the shed… things were stuffed everywhere…. Yikes!

And the day came to get it.  His kid brought a box truck and off they went.  2 hours later, they showed up.  DH’s voice was gravely, so was his boy’s voice.

 

It took 4 grown men to put it on its side in the truck!  Weighing over 500 lbs.!  We recalculated the dimensions. To get it into the house or shed, sideways, was plausible, only if we removed doors & molding, but, to stand it upright, the arch would have sliced the ceiling or the rafters in the shed, not accounting for the fact, there was now only 2 people to move it!  
 

So, we sold it, still in the truck, to his boy, for $150.  The kid got home, &  had some neighbor men help him get it into his garage.  Then, he looked the brand/mfg up on line…….   $14,000!!!!!!!!!  Not a bad investment for $150!  Lol.  But, he has 4 young ones & her brothers living with them, sooo, God willing it will serve them well.  We just did not have the room for something that big.  

[Annarchy]

3 hours ago, Jeepers said:

I think my biggest issue will be learning about thawing times.

Jeepers, no worries.  I usually fill one of my large bowls with hot water and drop my vac seal bag in.  Check it after 5-10 minutes, dump & refill with hot water, if it still needs to defrost, like chicken …. 
 

Or, poke a hole in the vac sealed bag & nuke it a bit…. Just need to watch it to make sure it doesn’t explode.   BTDT!  Boom & a mess…..  

 

Wet things, I will generally refrig or freeze before sealing with the vac sealer. Saves a plethora of messes.

[Darlene]

On 7/12/2022 at 11:09 AM, Dee said:

  Yeast, I freeze, and it'll work up to 2 years past the date.  Maybe longer but I tried a 3 year past date once and it didn't work.  Doesn't mean all won't work but I haven't tried again.  

That’s really interesting Dee. I’ve frozen 1lb pigs of yeast for over 10 years and mine was still good. Makes me wonder what the difference is/was. 

[euphrasyne]

I also freeze bags of yeast.  Vacuum sealed for years and still good.  I let it come to room temp and store it in mason jars when it thaws out.  Sometimes I increase the amount used on old yeast, but it still works.  

[Dee]

Probably just something I did wrong Darlene.  I don't know what a pig of yeast is.  I have jars of Red Star right now but I've also frozen the Fleishman's 3 packets you buy.

 

That's good to know euphrasyne.  I don't thaw it before I use it, but it might proof quicker if I did.

[Jeepers]

Good idea about letting yeast come to room temperature. I know it likes lukewarm so it makes sense. 

[Annarchy]

I generally mix my frozen yeast, (now, 20 years in the freezer.), into just a bit of warm flour, and add a bit of cooler/barely warm water, let it sit, before adding the rest of the ingredients. It has never failed to rise, it comes alive and starts bubbling.  Sometimes with a vengeance!  Especially, if I add salt or sugar to the mixture…

[Dee]

Twenty years in the freezer????  Wow, that's cool and good to know.