Talk to me about freezers please.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I'm looking to use the freezer a bit more efficiently, not so much by freezing things I've cooked, but by having things in there that will be useful towards producing meals fairly quickly.

So my first question is, other than peas, edameme and sweetcorn, are there any other vegetables which one can buy frozen and which are edible, ie not mush?

And my second question is, if I wanted to cook up a load of dried chickpeas and freeze them in small portions, how would I go about doing this? And would they need to be defrosted before using?

Thank you. :)

If there are any other freezer tips you think I should know, that would be good too!

Anybody?

Uncooked scones and cheese straws freeze beautifully!!! I find they make more of a tasty "meal" out of a soup, especially handy for little ones too...

Frozen onion is useful too if you are in a hurry and want to whip up something very quickly!

Oh and frozen crushed garlic...though not quite as strong as the real thing.

I batch cook and freeze all manner of chick peas and pulses very successfully. The texture doesn't seem to be affected at all perhaps with the exception of butter beans which seem softer.

Chick peas just get taken straight from the freezer and popped into whatever we are making if its stock based but I do defrost if making falafel or a dry dish.

I'm about to buy my first stand alone freezer for us after it dawned upon me that each month I probably throw away enough food to feed us for an extra week.

Stuck in a freezer wrangle with DP though who is adamant that upright is the only option whilst I hanker after the casual 'just lob it in the freezer' aspect of the more cavernous chest freezer.

I freeze a lot - chopped chili in olive oil, chopped coriander leaf, home made pasta sauce etc, as well as 'ready meals' - just bulk cooked for postpartum meals. I find if it is something I will oven re-heat, I leave veg/beans/chick peas etc slightly under.

After fruit picking, I prep things into 'smoothie bags' or 'baking bags' so I know I have what I need for easy recipes!

I use frozen chopped onion, frozen sliced pepper and frozen garlic all the time.
I also like frozen chopped butternut squash and also have had frozen roasting vegetables.
Frozen casserole mix is an easy base for stews during the winter and means I can sling it in the slow cooker before I go to work.

Excellent. Thanks all.

Frozen butternut squash sounds great, but none of our local supermarkets have it.

I freeze chopped herbs and also buy the frozen garlic, ginger and chilli.

Not fond of frozen peppers or onions tbh - I find them a bit slimy.

Does anybody use frozen cauliflower or cabbage or anything? Is it awful?

I like frozen spinach, for adding to curries, and I don't find the green beans too bad either.
I've used the broccoli to make soup which was ok, wouldn't buy it again though.

Yes, I use lots of frozen spinach - I forgot about that!

I don't like broccoli anyway, so imagine that frozen would be dreadful.

Will try green beans - I assume they'd be okay chucked into a curry, if nothing else?

Yes, I think most things are ok chucked in a curry!
As for the chickpeas, I open freeze them on a tray and then bag them so they are separate and you can just use as many as you need.

Green beans work well if frozen slightly undercooked. I find all cooked beans/lentils work well.
I've just seen frozen mushrooms in the supermarket (just moved overseas though - not in UK). I can't imagine that would work but I'm sort of intrigued to try!
I've also seen frozen okra (in UK - turkish shop) but not tried it. I reckon they'd be good in stews, though
Ah,if only I had a big freezer!

I once bought frozen mushrooms, they were squashy and disgusting.
I sometimes buy the peppers for DD, I don't like them anyway.

The green beans you can buy from the supermarket would be frozen raw, yep?

Frozen mushrooms - ugh. Though I suspect that is what a lot of restaurants use tbh. I imagine they would be very watery.

You could always buy in season veg like courgettes or celery, chop them and freeze them in ziplock bags.

I freeze carrots for soups.

Ooh there's an idea - I could freeze portions of chopped onion, carrot and celery mixed, for soup bases. :)