Freeze your Food so Nothing is Wasted

I am a fan of freezing food, fresh food, and leftovers…. toss them in the freezer.  Learn which foods to freeze and how this can save you money and time. Freeze your Food so Nothing is wasted.

If you look in my freezer, you may ask, what in the world do you have in all those little containers or bags? Let me explain.   Those little containers have a little of this and a little of that, which I use in my cooking.   Freeze your food, so nothing goes to waste. 

Freeze your Fruit

Lemons– I’ve got lemon slices frozen in my freezer. Sometimes I have to buy a bag of lemons, when I only need one lemon.  When I have too many lemons on hand, I cut lemons into half and then into slices and place them in a zip lock to freeze flat. When I want to drink water with a lemon, I take a ½ slice frozen and insert it into my water.  

Lemons add great nutrients and electrolytes to your water, so I just add a slice to my water daily. Other times I squeeze the juice out of the lemon and freeze to make lemonade in the future.  Or sometimes I grate the peeling and freeze and then I have lemon peels to add to dishes. “Your future self will Thank you.”

There are frozen blueberries, cranberries, avocados, bananas, and pineapple in my freezer. If you have extra Blueberries you are not gone eat? Wash, and freeze.  Is your avocado going bad if you don’t do something soon?  Peel and deseed, put in a bag or container, and freeze.  Too much Pineapple to eat? Then Freeze. Are bananas going bad, or too many bananas? Freeze Bananas with the peel on or off. 

I will then add all of these great fruits to smoothies.  We try to eat smoothies once a week.   I use the Avocados in Avocado brownies too.   The pineapple, I will add to a pizza, and the blueberries I will put on hot cereals.  I have used cranberries in smoothies or boiled with water, cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange slices, and honey to make a tea.   Use blueberries or bananas frozen to make banana and blueberry muffins or bread.

Freeze your Veggies

Onions- If you only need a half of an onion. Cut up the rest of the onion and freeze for a future dish.  

Garlic- I had too much garlic on hand, so I chopped it all in a chopper, spread it out in a zip lock, and scored an inch-by-inch section to pop out to add to dishes that call for garlic.

I have frozen shredded carrots to add to smoothies, soups, or muffins. You can purchase shredded carrots.

Freeze any extra spinach you won’t eat in the bag or container.  Next time you make a smoothie, eggs, or a soup calling for spinach add it to your meal.  This is a great way to add nutrients to your meals.

Tomato sauce or paste you won’t be using completely- put them in a container and use them another time.   This happens when I have a 15-ounce can and I only need 8 ounces. 

Salsa- extras without opening another bag of chips?  Put extra salsa in your freezer and add it to your chili the next time you make it.

I always buy three red peppers. I use one fresh, cut the others in strips, and freeze them for future foods that need peppers.  

Open a can of beans and can’t use it up, freeze it.  Then I add it to soups or a future dish that calls for beans.

Herbs- I chop fresh basil with oil and freeze it for future meals.

Tomatoes– My summer tomato crop is mostly frozen for future meals. If you purchased too many cherry tomatoes, throw them in the freezer and roast frozen to include in a future dish. 

Freeze Dairy

If you have extra cream, milk, or buttermilk freeze it.  Keep in mind the quality won’t be 100% the same but it can be used in either pancakes, soup, or pudding.  Sometimes you just buy too much or you won’t be home and you don’t want it to spoil.   I just made chocolate pudding with frozen milk.   Here is the recipe for Chocolate pudding.

I only use ½ cup of cream for my pesto pasta, so this works perfectly for me if I freeze the rest of my cream in ½ cup containers for future use.  Pesto Pasta Recipe. I also buy butter and shredded cheese on sale and freeze it.

Freezing Meats

I usually cook my shredded chicken for Shawarma or enchiladas in a crockpot and have way too much.  I freeze them in containers to eat for future meals.  Just remember to take it out and place it in the fridge 24 hours ahead.  

I have opened a can of chicken to use in quesadillas and don’t use the whole can so I freeze the rest to pop in soup or another quesadilla night.  I drain off the broth and freeze chicken broth to add to the soups.   Any extra bone broth from chicken can be frozen for future soups.

I freeze cooked Hamburger or sausage when I cook a whole pound and only need half of it.  The frozen cooked meat makes it easy to throw in chili or lasagna, soup, or spaghetti.

Leftover soups and hotdishes are perfect to freeze to eat at a future meal so you don’t get sick of them.

Freezing Bread

I rarely have a loaf of sourdough bread sitting on my counter.  Most of my bread is kept in the freezer and we take out pieces when we need them for meals.   We either toast them or microwave them to get to the right temp or take them out a few meals before we need them.

I also freeze pizza crust, pita bread, or naan bread for future use.

I hope I inspired you to use your freezer for your food so you won’t waste anything.  Everything can be used if you freeze it within the proper time. Freeze your food so nothing is wasted.

Tips to Freeze Your Food

• Freeze your food in small containers or a ziplock.
• Label food items with contents and dates.   (Or you may think your lemon juice is chicken broth.)
• First in, first out rule so you don’t neglect the older frozen supply.
• Check your freezer once a month to see which foods need to be used up.
• Plan your grocery menu with the contents of what is in your freezer.
• Check the dates and if it has been over 3 months- make a plan to use it up.
• Keep foods in the same area in the freezer.  Keep all veggies together, etc. 

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