What foods do you freeze?

Eenymeeny

Lots of good ideas there, thanks for the original question and a lot of reminders and suggestions.
Re- the mash, I watch out for reduced price mash and carrot/swede crush in the chiller cabinets. It can also be frozen and nuked in the micro from frozen within about 5 mins. A useful side dish to divide between OH and myself. Incidentally, a lot smaller portion than we used to have when I made my own!;)
Prepared veg is often reduced there too. I just pop it into the freezer as it is and it's very handy for adding to soups and stews.

Pollycat

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Lots of good ideas there, thanks for the original question and a lot of reminders and suggestions.
Re- the mash, I watch out for reduced price mash and carrot/swede crush in the chiller cabinets. It can also be frozen and nuked in the micro from frozen within about 5 mins. A useful side dish to divide between OH and myself. Incidentally, a lot smaller portion than we used to have when I made my own!;)
Prepared veg is often reduced there too. I just pop it into the freezer as it is and it's very handy for adding to soups and stews.

I also cook & freeze leftover carrot, swede, cauliflower & cabbage.
I add it to the mash topping for shepherds pie, it bulks up your '5 a day'.
I buy reduced potatoes, carrots,, parsnips, turnip, swede & boil, mash &.freeze.

Sunshine78

Thank you so much everyone for all your responses!

Wow I honestly had no idea so much could be frozen! I dread to think of how much I have thrown away over the years!

One of the things I probably waste the most of is potatoes tbh especially the smaller new potatoes, would I cook them through and freeze them after cooling, then just put them in the microwave to reheat?

Tia (again)!

Linda32

Hi, regarding potatoes, I would look at storage first. If you have somewhere dark and cool that would be best.

Next is to try one Next time you cook some, pop one in the freezer then take out in the morning, let it defrost and re-heat one in the microwave and perhaps one in the oven, just see how that one turns out.

Another option is, do you look on the Grocery Challenge thread stuck at the top of page one? If so, in there is the Complete Cooking Collection or something like that. Click on this and scroll down lots of times you will see a heading - Potatoes, with links to various thread on the subject.

If in doubt about anything, try step two as a experiment. If you would previously have binned something then you've nothing to loose.

Redleela

We freeze as much as possible. A few things that I think haven't been mentioned:

1) Freeze left over chillies then grate the frozen chilli into a dish when needed;
2) freeze root ginger and grate from frozen into dishes,
3) freeze left over tomato paste (the tinned type) in ice cube trays & decant into a freezer bag. Then add to dishes as needed,
4) freeze left over wine in ice cube trays (doesn't happen in our house ).

PasturesNew

paddy's_mum wrote: »

I've even been known to freeze over-ripe bananas ready for a cake on my next baking day. They come out of the freezer looking brown and wet but I think that just helps the colour of the final bake.

I've a single black banana I froze 2-3 months ago, I threw it into a plastic takeaway box (for speed/ease). Going through the freezer now, eating everything instead of just storing it ... and I stared at that and thought "hmm... must get round to making that cake that I fooled myself into thinking I'd make with it .... but not today"

Mayflower10cat

I'll cook up a huge batch of dried, pre-soaked pulses & beans incl. chick peas and freeze small batches ready to go straight into dishes. Fried mushrooms or onions freeze well, too. I keep asparagus stalks for soup. Lots of strange bits of leftovers in my freezer, trick is label it well!!

System

Has anyone frozen successfully yogurt or fromage frais? I bought some for my Grandson last week and he didnt eat it. I had him today and he didnt want it. The sell by date will be up by the time i have him again.

I dont mind eating food close to the sell by date myself (or a bit over) but wouldnt dream of giving it to my Grandson and dont want to throw it away.

bagby

I freeze tinned kidney beans, chickpeas, sweet corn and tomatoes if I don't need to use the full tin. I also freeze sliced chorizo, pepperoni, etc. Freeze everything but must remember to label the items.

CAZBEAR

Hi, I freeze yogurts and eat as 'ice cream' ( for low fat treats)and I happened to be reading my Dairy book of home cookery last night where it does say you can freeze and defrost yogurt....
I would try it and see what happens with the fromage- frais !!