DIY & Save: 20 Foods That Freeze Surprisingly Well ... and 20 That Don't
- by Diane Rixon (RSS feed) on Sep 15th 2009 12:00PM
- Filed under organization and storage
Freeze foods, save money! Photo: L. Marie, Flickr
Cheese is actually just one of many foods that freeze surprisingly well. So get creative and start using your freezer for more than just meats and casseroles! Here's a handy list for you to keep in mind next time you're shopping:
Fresh whipped cream, butter, milk, cheese, root ginger (grate it as you need it), nuts, grated coconut, homemade pancakes, herbs (e.g. fresh rosemary and basil) and spices, meat or vegetable stock, cooked rice, tomato paste, bread dough, pizza dough, cookies, cakes, pies, sauces, Chinese takeout, vodka (and rum and tequila – the alcohol won't freeze, but the cold keeps them chilled).
Eww, Don't Freeze These!
Salad greens, baked potatoes, raw potatoes, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, parsley, tomatoes, cream sauces, cream cheese (okay in a casserole), meringue, citrus fruits, mayonnaise (but okay in a casserole), egg whites (they turn rubbery), cream and custard pies, cooked pasta (freeze in a sauce instead), gelatin, fried foods, fruit jelly sandwiches.
Get around the do-no-freeze list by knowing food preparation tricks for each of these food. For example, lightly cooked potatoes freeze well even though raw ones don't. Also, pickled vegetables freeze well, too. For example, picked cabbage and celery would keep well where their fresh cousins would turn to stinky mush after freezing.
Check out the Former Fat Guy Blog for a fantastic overview of how to prep fresh foods for freezing!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-15-2009 @ 2:03PM
ben said...
Milk freezes well, not sure if it is organic only because thats all my wife buys, but it has no ill effects when thawed. Not to our knowledge or tastebuds at least. That way, when we see it on sale, we buy a ton & put it in our freezer.
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9-20-2009 @ 12:24PM
Heather in MTL said...
I disagree about the not freezing tomatoes. Yes, don't freeze them if you expect them to be like yummy fresh tomatoes when you thaw them, but DO freeze them if you have an abundance and don't have the time to do a sauce right away. My mom used to pop extra tomatoes from the garden in the freezer in the fall (in a container of some sorts of course). Come mid-winter when she wanted to make a batch of spaghetti sauce, instead of using canned tomatoes, she'd put a pot of boiling water on the stove and take out however many tomatoes she'd need for the sauce, and pop a few at a time in and out of the boiling water. The skins would split but the flesh would stay frozen, and they were super easy to peel for the sauce! Even years later in college, when I followed all of mom's directions to make her sauce, except using canned tomatoes, I have to say nothing compares to the taste of frozen garden-fresh tomatoes in the middle of winter to make a sauce taste wonderful!
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9-20-2009 @ 2:00PM
Tawnia said...
I have to agree, Heather. I freeze tomatoes all the time. I put them in freezer ziplock bags, peels and all, when I take them out the peel slips right off. It is actually easier, and I have stopped canning tomatoes altogether.
9-20-2009 @ 3:09PM
Diane Rixon said...
Thank you Heather and Tawnia! I will definitely follow your advice about freezing tomatoes!
9-25-2009 @ 3:07PM
Charlotte said...
I love the list, but disagree about the celery. If you chop the ribs up into 1 inch pieces you can freezer bag them for later use for making broths, stews and add to other veggies when making a roast.
It always bothered me to lose the whole darn thing when I've purchased it for tuna salad. Now, I have it on hand for those items I listed above.
Happy eating!
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11-09-2009 @ 6:23PM
heather said...
YES!! freeze waffles! I make bisquik waffles, then flash freeze them on sheet pan. I pop the froen waffles off pan and pop into a freezer bag. Mine fit perfectly in my toaster, quick breakfast. And I can just reuse the bag.
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