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.

I meant banana and yogurt, obviously 😂

We’ve had a large chest freezer since we moved into our first house. We bulk buy a lot of stuff, batch cook, and used to do a lot of Pick Your Own. Soon bought extra baskets for the freezer so instead of just the two pathetic hanging baskets the freezers had 3 levels of 3 baskets. Group foods together, raw meat, vegetables, home made ‘ready’ meals, and have a list.

You have to be organised but I am 😊

Bought our first made to measure baskets from a company called Hamster Baskets (they’re still around, just Google) who advertised through Lakeland Plastics (now just known as Lakeland). Heavens that will be over 45 years ago….. 😮

I remove the largest stalks of most herbs and the stalks of the coriander I chop and freeze separately as I need it for Nigella's fearfreefish stew which I often cook.

It's so useful knowing I have pretty much every herb in the freezer for last minute meal ideas.

Put the ice cream mars bars at the very bottom.

People searching through for the bars will churn through all the stuff in between on a regular basis, bringing different items to the top which can then be used.

Genius 😂

Thank you both so much. I know I should get organised with baskets and a list. But I also know deep down I'm more of a Mars bars type of person so yes - genius!

We freeze eggs, milk, cheese, butter, onions and all sorts of fruits. Yoghurts into ice pops for the children when they were little.

When we have too many potatoes we make cheese and bacon potato skins and freeze them. Only take 5 minutes in the air fryer next time. Also home made Chinese chicken balls.
Mash potato like op says but definitely needs cream in it. Red wine for cooking. Pizza dough. Lemon and lime slices. Also does coulis. Oh and stock from joints of meat we cook. I would say yorkies but we never have left over yorkies 🤣

all left overs get frozen.

Freezer wise we run four freezer and have a 5th if we require it.
Three uprights, one chest and one counter top(the emergency one) everything goes in either zip bags, ice cube bags or take away tubs.

I don’t freeze chillies as I either dehydrate or ferment them into sauces.

I’ve been doing this for years never had a problem.

I prefer cooking with ginger finely chopped rather than grated as then you get a little hit of ginger in some mouthfuls. Personal preference! Anyway freezing it is the way forward as I don’t know how you’d get through a whole supermarket bag before it goes off.

Is it double cream? I found single cream didn't freeze well

In the freezer instead of the bin tonight thanks to @Sminty2 !

But if this ruins my next Batch Bolognese I will find you!! 😂

Chippy chips

Ooh this is interesting. I've only ever heard of people chopping them, putting them in water and freezing them in ice cube trays. It's good to know you can freeze them as they are! I end up throwing away what I don't use.

I’ve never tried using Gruyère, only parmigiana, pecorino etc., as they are hard and salty. It’s worth a try though, please let me know how it turns out.

Sliced lemons, so they can go straight into your gin.

Coconut milk in ice cube trays

Cooked rice, for emergency fried rice.

I've never added anything to them.

My apologies @5foot5 to answer your question more fully,they seem to work fine used to enrich sauces,pastry,biscuits,or for egg fried rice.
I've got loads to use at the moment because I recently made a double batch of Swiss Meringue Buttercream for a big celebration cake which took up 10 eggs! When I get around to it I'm going to try to make a Lemon Meringue filling.I'll get back to you &let you know how it turned out of this thread is still going by then!

Incidentally,Swiss Meringue Buttercream freezes really well too.

Aww please don't rush your garlic , let it take its time .😀.

I freeze ginger, garlic, chillies, lemon & lime wedges , hummus, cooked rice, wraps, .
I batch cook a lot so there is always single portions of curry , stew , sweet & sour , stir fry bases .

When I am feeling organised I make a huge batch of sandwiches (ham, cheese, egg mayo) and portion them up for packed lunches. They defrost by lunchtime for the kids and don't go soggy.

This is genius 🤯

I also make and freeze sandwiches for lunch. But I'm intrigued by the egg mayo - ice always been told cooked eggs go rubbery and mayo separates when it defrosts.

I'm going to have to try it now!

You can also do this with the ends of their yakkers if you don't mind your kitchen smelling like a damp yak

OMG. I think I love you. I adore swede but can't cut a swede up due to painful hands so have gone without 😩

Yes double cream freezes brilliantly. I’ve added it both while still frozen and after defrosting and it worked great.

I’ve also frozen single cream but out of poor planning ie forgetting to take it out the freezer in time, I’ve actually used it whole still frozen (cut along the side of the plastic container with a sharp knife, tossed it into the pan on top of other ingredients as it’s usually being put into a sauce, and scraping the rest of the bits out with a dessert spoon) I think using it while still frozen rather than defrosting might actually make a difference.

I’ve done the same with reduced fat single cream and once it wasn’t fully defrosted it worked equally well.

I have a medium size chest freezer, not a really huge one. I bought plastic storage boxes to sit in the base of the freezer - I've got 3 that sit side by side and are a near perfect fit for the base of the freezer. Left side for bags; frozen veg, chips. Middle is boxed foods; fish, pies. Right side is for meat. I bought a reasonably priced vacuum sealer from Amazon so anything in containers, like mince, can be taken out of the plastic and vacuum sealed, saving space. Everything can be neatly lined up/stacked in the correct space.

I got rid of those wire baskets that come with the freezer and slide across the top, they just get in the way.

Simple but effective.