Stuff you recently discovered that actually freezes really well...

[MindYourUsage]

...or stuff you now freeze that has been a game changer

I'll start:

• Pesto portions. Dolloped in little tin foil parcels
• Ditto cream cheese (only good for cooking with once defrosted tho)
• A Fecking squeeze of fresh lemon 😂 for those poxy recipes that demand it
• Single portions of mashed potato - freezes exceptionally well with double cream and butter. Game changer for single living.

You can also freeze mashed swede, preferably mashed with butter.

Until recently I just used to cook as much swede as I was going to use and then wrap the rest up to use another time. But this involved cutting a wedge off (difficult) and peeling it, cutting it up etc. But then someone told me about the Singing Swede method of cooking a swede whole in the microwave. Great! So easy, but you end up with more swede than you can maybe use at one meal so I freeze portions of it for another time.

@grumpygrapeYou can divide a whole bottle and freeze in 6-7 small jars. Brilliant for loads of recipes.

Egg whites

coconut milk

pizza dough, mozzarella, tomato sauce, portioned out

Just the yolks with nothing added?

I have been freezing individual egg whites in a similar way for years. They can be defrosted and turned in to meringues.

However I have only recently discovered you can do that with egg yolks but the advice I read was that you have to add either a pinch of sugar a d then use them in a sweet recipe, or a pinch of salt and then use them in a savoury recipe. Can't remember why now.

But do you find it is successful without that?

I always froze mashed potato but for some reason ppl at work thought this was weird.

Mine are boring.

Milk, always have a pint in there in case I run out.

Horrible leftovers. If you have leftovers that might stink in the bin when it is hot, I seal them in two bags and put them in there. Then chuck them in the bin the night before the bin men come.

Stops the NDN cat standing outside the bin yowling all night.

Refried beans is my latest one- dollops from the tin into fairycake papers in bun tray, stick in freezer until frozen then plop in a bag and reheat as needed.

I freeze then grate from frozen using a Microplane :-)

@MrsWinslowsSoothingSyrupThis is genius, I’m always throwing leftover herbs away. Do you freeze the stalks as well or just the leaves?

So many good ideas on this thread, I’m delighted to have found it. The only thing I take issue with is the suggestion from someone that a typical slice of cake can reasonably be cut into 4 portions!! As if…

Yes! this is GOLDEN new info. thank you! xx

I'll try again with double cream

Yes, I keep all my nuts for baking in the freezer, as they’re too expensive to allow to go to waste. Things like pine nuts are sometimes on offer and I buy them and stash them in the freezer.

I also bake sourdough bread and that freezes well if there’s a loaf you know you’re not going to finish up very quickly. Because I hate throwing away my discard starter I use it in various recipes (there are loads of great ones) but if I have a lot I freeze that too - and it’s absolutely fine once thawed. In fact you can freeze active starter too; I’ve just never bothered to do that.

Sorry, you may have misinterpreted. I was jokingly suggested that once opened a bottle of wine gets finished.
To be slightly more serious, most wines will 'keep' until the next day to be drunk.
Call me a lush (grumpy grape, you're a lush) but the thought of opening a bottle of wine just to freeze most of it is alien to me 😋🍷

Oh and all my over-ripe bananas just get chucked in the freezer for future banana bread. You just thaw, then unzip them and basically squeeze out the contents into the cake-mix as needed.

Agree with the pesto tip too! Especially since jarred pesto nowadays seems to go mouldy in days even kept in a really cold fridge 🤬

i never thought about freezing lemons/limes. Much cheaper to buy a bag of rather than singles I cut into wedges and open freeE before bagging. Easy to defrost a couple of wedges for salads / recipe incredients, and to add frozen to G&T

Also tomato puree. The only recipe I make where I’d use a full tube or tin is bolognase. If I’m using it for anything else I’ll freeze the leftovers

I do this too.

I find a bottle of white wine (can't drink red any more) will keep nicely in the fridge for a week.

There are some great suggestions on here, which I wouldn’t have thought of.

With lemon/limes we slice them, freeze them on a sheet of greaseproof, then bag them with the paper between slices if organised.

If I am cooking a Mumsnet chicken, I usually take the opportunity to bulk make stuffing and pigs in blankets. Again, greaseproof is good for keeping them apart.

We tend to keep dregs of wine-boxes in the fridge for sauces (as I think they are supposed to stay fresh for about a month), or just open a bottle!

Cream. A big deal when I like to buy it reduced for cooking later on.

Mushrooms. I buy them, break off what I'll use that day, and into the freezer the rest goes.

I slice up my bread loaf the day after I make it and freeze the slices.

Yes grating it with peel on makes no difference to the taste. Just scrub with a brush before freezing if you're worried that it might be dirty.

Could I ask a tangential question about how people are organising all this stuff in their freezers please? I've got a chest freezer and it's like a black hole. I've got very little idea what's lurking in there and one of these days I'm going to put my winter gloves on and sort through it. But how to keep it in a reasonable state?

@marriednotdead

@explanationplease

thank you!