Things you didn't know you could freeze

[timealone]

Looking for suggestions/tips on things that can be frozen. I've tried to embrace batch cooking/freezing, but I'm vegetarian and finding it isn't working well for meals with lumps of veg in as they go pretty soggy after being frozen. It is great for lentil/bean dishes though!

On the other hand, it is working quite well for preparing parts of meals, like pizza dough, pasta sauces etc. Bechamel sauce froze really well so I'm doing to double up on the recipe in future when making lasagne. Also had success with sauteed onion/pepper which I can use as the base for several dishes. And today I realised I could freeze unbaked scone dough, which is great as the recipe always makes too much for me and DH to eat!

Any other suggestions for things that can be frozen to save time, even if they are not complete meals?

Egg whites were a revelation for me. When I use an egg yolk with out white I can freeze the whites and collect until have enough for meringue.

Thyme also freezes really well ( I find the soft herbs lose flavour) and can just be thrown in from frozen. So can chillies.

Coriander, fresh coriander. I only found this out because the lovely Pakistani lady on the market mimed it to me (her son translated as well), wrap a bunch in newspaper and then freeze. You can't defrost it and use as a garnish but you can crumble it ready frozen in to curries.

I also freeze milk which seems to surprise some people, but I don't drink it but have it in for other people.

Mashed root veg, potatoes, carrot and swede, parsnips. Freeze in foil containers that can go straight in the oven as, yes, they can go mushy.

Cheese.

Any sort of dough and pastry should freeze quite well, and obviously so do pies.

Thanks, some good tips here!

Jamie Oliver taught me to freeze the ends of any cheese, I grate it and freeze it and it can be used for pasta bakes etc

I also freeze lemons and limes chopped up to have as ice cubes

cheese, milk, ham/cold meats, chopped peppers (don't need to saute)

My friend and I were discussing the size of the portions of chips you get when buying at the fish and chip shop, and I said that I invariably end up throwing 50% of them away. She spreads her excess chips on a chopping board so that they're not touching each other then once they've cooled puts them in the freezer. When they're frozen she puts them in a freezer bag and uses them as oven chips on a future occasion. (I haven't got round to trying this yet, but it sounds an excellent idea.)

Optimist1 My mum does this as our fish & chips shop do massive 'small' portions.

Will try that next time we get chippy. We ask for the small portion and it's still far too much for two greedy adults.

Sandwiches

Butter. I buy kilo packs (cheaper) and divide it into 250g portions for when the baking urge hits me.
If I only need the zest of a lemon, I freeze the juice in silicone cupcake moulds and turn them into a container. Each disk is half a lemon's worth.

One point about freezing milk, told to me on the pre-natal course when speaking about freezing breastmilk.
Freezing in uncontrolled conditions carbonises food and calcium carbonate is another name for.... Chalk!

Any tips on freezing spinach?

see, I think frozen sandwiches are rank.

We freeze all our bread, and then take a loaf out, but somehow when made into sandwiches I think it goes soggy.

But then I also don't like plain sarnies (ham/cheese) but prefer things like cheese tomato and mayo, and they wouldn't freeze anyway

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4382/veggie-shepherds-pie-with-sweet-potato-mash

This recipe taste amazing.

That does look amazing whichseason Do you think I could substitute something for the red wine?

time it's one of my go to recipes. I never use red wine or substitute it for anything except more stock. I did put the wine in once and it was not as nice imo..

cooked rice can be frozen! and it's fine to eat after.

Crisps! Keep leftovers in a freezer bag and take out as you need. They seem to get crispier in the freezer!

Leftovers? What leftovers?! Seriously, crisps is the most surprising one I have heard!

I've made that veggie shepherds pie and it is very good and it freezes well in my experience.

I did chuckle at leftovers . Should have said on the odd occasion that you open a jumbo pack and don't finish them all! Try it!