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


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Jeepers and Annarchy.....here's a picture of a gallon of milk I took out of the freezer this morning.  You can see the one side is really budging.  The other is just bulging in the bottom left of the circle.  The black line shows the level of the milk.  Slick as a whistle. :) 

 

 

milk freezer.jpg

Edited by Dee
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I've seen those big indented circles on the milk jugs but it never dawned on me what it was used for. Pretty awesome!. Must work pretty well judging by that big bulge on the right side. I figured they were on there taking up space where the milk should be. I'm skeptical these days. Even over milk cartons.  <_<

 

I'm scouring the internet and cookbooks getting my freezer list put together. I'm starting with chili. It's fast and easy and I can whip up a vat of it in no time.  I put macaroni in mine so it really stretches it. 

 

 

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I tried answering this yesterday and deleted the whole post.  Thank heavens for Anaarchy who can take care of my stupidity. :) 

 

Yesterday I shredded a huge zucchini and made 4 loaves of bread for the freezer.  Some of the frozen pre-shredded will also be used in making zucchini brownies.  Have you ever made those?  They're good.

 

I'll take individual slices out on a winter night when we have soup or stew, or a variety of other times, even when we just want a light snack sometime.

7-24-22 zucchini shredded.jpg

7-24 zuchinni loaves baked.jpg

7-24-2022 4 loaves ready for freezer.jpg

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Dee, don't feel bad about taking down posts. Someone here, (I won't mention my anyone's name) :hi: deleted an entire thread once. It was a big one too! I think it was the Whatcha you doing today one. Happened in the middle of the night and that someone :hi: actually cried.  She felt so bad because there more posts of other peoples in the thread than of mine hers. Thank goodness for Annarchy indeed!  She really keeps this ship afloat. 

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I have freezer envy! 🤣 

I've been wanting an upright freezer but haven't talked dh into it yet. 😉

We have a small chest freezer which I really don't care for.  It seems that things would be better organized with an upright and easier to store freezer meals,too. Thank you for this informative post. 😀

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Thanks, Jeepers I needed that AND you're right, Annarchy took care of it.  She's GOOD!

 

I've been filling my freezer, for the last 3 or 4 days with zucchini products blessedhomemaker71.  I made 4 loaves of zucchini earlier but now have put in 3 doz. chocolate, peanut butter chip muffins, 2 1/2 doz. zucchini, carrot, walnut muffins, chocolate zucchini brownies and yesterday I baked a zucchini cake.  All are delicious.  All are cut into serving sizes that I can take out and have thawed for a meal.  Or microwave it if I don't plan ahead. :whistling: 

 

This was all, not the bread, from one giant zucchini.  I still have enough to make more things but have decided to freeze the rest.  IF I had hamburger on hand, I'd make up a bunch of meatballs for the freezer but with the price of hamburger I'll wait.

 

We let our renter have the pasture free of rent this summer and he said he'd supply us with beef this fall so I'm hoping for tons of hamburger.  I'd like to be able to tell him that we don't want steaks just hamburger or roasts, but I don't quite know how to do it.  Am hoping an opportunity to just happen to mention it comes along. :laughkick:

 

Anyway, the extra freezer is nice, and I hope you can talk DH into getting another.  I think the chest type is more economical BUT the upright is much nicer for finding what you're looking for.

Edited by Dee
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You can make veggie nuggets with shredded zucchini and use those anywhere you would meatballs.   Just shape them round instead of flat ovals.  

 

You can also use ground chicken or already cooked chicken to make chicken zucchini balls.   I season them with a bit of nutmeg and basil.   They do well in cream and red sauces but brown sauces usually overpower them.  

 

Edited by euphrasyne
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I have to really hide zucchini euphrasyne so DH doesn't know he's eating it.  He's got this thing about it being too worthless to eat. LOL I know, I know but he's such an easy keeper that I don't push on the few things he grumbles about.

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Don’t feel bad, Ladies, I brought the whole site down once!  Talk about panicking!  Yes, and accidentally deleted my share of threads…. :runcirclsmiley2:
 

One zucchini plant, looked like it was going to produce on the new growth, but the ends are already drying….  One tomato plant survived… total of an half a dozen tomatoes from 4 plants.  I always have high expectations when I plant….  :sigh:
 

DH says I need to pick up more meat, when I go back to TX on the 17th.  He says there are spaces we need to refill…. 

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The next time I'm in Indy I want to make a huge pot of chili to put in the freezer. We have always added macaroni to our chili. Sort of like chili mac with beans I suppose. It really stretches it. I'm wondering about the cooked pasta in the freezer and then being thawed and then heated up again.

 

I assume I should go ahead and cook the pasta and add it to the chili as usual. Or should I cook it to al dente and add it? Or not cook it at all?  I know it will be good. I just don't want it to be good and mushy.  

 

Anyone ever freeze macaroni in a soupy mixture? If so was it mushy after thawing and reheating? 

 

We never added shredded cheese to our chili, but I was wondering how it would hold up with a little cheese sprinkled on top and then frozen? Would be pretty.  :buttercup:

 

I'm so new at this freezing thing.  :sigh:

 

 

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Pasta is cheap - at least it used to be - and it stores well in a cupboard (glass jars if possible). I would save the precious realty in your freezer for the more expensive cost/benefit items such as the chili meat! And, I wouldn't put the cheese on the chili in the freezer. Cheese by itself can either be refrigerated or frozen by any purpose you might need. Putting it on the chili before freezing "locks" you into serving your meal in a specified way rather than allowing it to be an ingredient in anything else you may want to make with it.

BTW- a lot of people have been cooking and dehydrating pasta and storing it on the shelf. It heats up quicker when you need it, and uses less water and fuel in a "grid down" situation, or for just cutting overall utility/household expenses.

Also, try to freeze your chili in "serving sizes" so that you don't have to defrost more than you need to use per meal. This will cut down the time you need to wait for the food to thaw and you won't have to worry about re-freezing any leftovers. As a matter of fact, this type of "leftover" is best store in the fridge anyway.

 

 

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I have heard of dehydrating pasta for things like meals in a jar. Also dehydrated beans and rice. 

 

I have individual trays for freezing. A bunch of them. :P  

 

I have the ingredients already bought to make chili and shepherds pie. Except for the hamburger. 

 

I'm a lazy cook. I want to marathon cook and then just Heat N Eat. I'm going for homemade fast food. 

 

I really need a generator because if the power goes off there won't be a lot in my freezer to salvage by canning. :unsure:

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Jeepers, that's why I do so much cooking ahead and freezing.....I too am a lazy cook.  The marathon is the way to go!  The other day our local store had Italian sausage on sale for $2.88 lb.  I bought 8 pounds and cooked it all into sausage patties, put them in the freezer and it will be ready to make a quick breakfast or DH can nuke one anytime he wants one.  They also had 10 lb. tubes of hamburger for $2.88 a pound and I made maybe 5 pounds of hamburger patties and the rest browned ground beef.  Those are all in the freezer and it will make it so easy to throw a Tator Tot casserole, pizza, spaghetti, etc. together with having the mean already cooked.  Yep, I'm a lazy cook.  

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16 hours ago, Dee said:

.I too am a lazy cook.

When I was cooking hamburger for dog food (use about 3# in dog food), I just cooked the whole 5#.  I put about a pound of burger and about a large can of refried beans and taco seasoning in one container.  We are eating that on tortillas now.  Took another pound and another can size of refried beans with chili seasoning and put that in freezer so I can thaw it and add ingredients to slow cooker for chili.  I also use some of a #10 can of refried beans in dog food which is why there was some left over.

I call that half$$$ cooking for freezer.

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Sounds tasty, Miki.

 

I make Mexican beans, in the pressure cooker, about 2-4 times a month.  We have our bowls, then, I strain the beans from the juice, so MIL can have her bean juice, in 1 1/2 cup ziplock bags.  The rest of the smushed beans are frozen in ziplock bags, for refried beans.  Pull out a bag, add a tsp of tomato bullion, a 1/4 cup, (a small handful), of cheddar cheese, fry in a cast iron pan, in til hot, sprinkle a bit mor cheese on top, let it sit to melt, done.  

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I have always resisted buying ground beef in the long tubes.  It just doesn't look as good.  I watched my sister once, cook the whole 10 pound tube, and then can it.  It looked ok, but not notmal.  What do ya'll think?

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I get the 90% 10 lb. tubes from Sam’s, vac seal 3/4 lbs. each and freeze it.  Most cost effective way for us to have burger. I’ve never had it go bad.  Locally, it costs, $3-5/lb. more here. DH is not fond of canned burger.  I’ve forgotten a few pkgs. 5 years later, & it looked, smelled & tasted normal.  IDK, to each their own.  

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5 hours ago, Annarchy said:

DH is not fond of canned burger.

That's one of the reasons I've been finding and posting the zuchinni recipes. I've been looking for way to make canned ground beef more interesting, and I think the meatcakes that are in those recipes would work as meatballs. At least, that is what I am hoping to do. Got to get some wide mouth jars before I get started on that project though.

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14 hours ago, Virginia said:

I have always resisted buying ground beef in the long tubes.  It just doesn't look as good.  I watched my sister once, cook the whole 10 pound tube, and then can it.  It looked ok, but not notmal.  What do Ya'll think?

I'll probably be buying a couple of tubes for freezer cooking because I need some hamburger in bulk. But I've never bought a tube before. There is just something that puts me off about buying meat that I can't see. I'm sure it's fine but I'd like to see it first.   :shrug:

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Canned hamburger can be very soft. I guess that it is okay to use that way if you're making chili, or spaghetti sauce, or such. I don't like it as much for something which needs more "texture" like tacos etc. You can get that texture, but you have to fry it hard in grease in order to do it.

 

As to the tubes: The meat in them is very compressed so when you try to make fresh burgers out of that meat it is still "hard" and somewhat chewy (not juicy) - even if you don't cook it to "well;" not at all like making it out of the tray meat. But, it can be cheaper, so, it is better for canning where the "texture" isn't quite as impt. It is also acceptable for making meatloaf or meatballs. IMO

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