Meal building blocks for the freezer

Reeni_2

I have to say thank you for this thread. I haven't read it all but just looking through a coupld of pages I have so many useful ideas! I have two freezers so I plan on keeping part cooked blocks in one and the basics in the other. That shoud work out (hopefully) to be a smooth flow of items from the shops to one freezer and then to the other!

purpleivy

thriftlady wrote: »

I don't do much batch cooking for the freezer, but I do have what I call 'building blocks' of meals stashed in there.



Breadcrumbs and cubes -to save all my hm breadcrusts going to waste. Crumbs for coating fishckes, hm nuggets, hm fishfingers, treacle tart, bread pudding, breadcrumb cookies, in muffins, frying with garlic in olive oil to serve with pasta. Cubes for croutons with our weekend lunchtime soup. or fried up with butter and sugar and served with cream for a quick and sticky pud, or in other old-fashioned puddings.

Spill the beans.. What are breadcrumb cookies?

purpleivy

Mrs_Flittersnoop wrote: »

I find the Panasonic bread dough programme makes too much for one pizza (we're usually a two person household) and so I freeze half in a block ready to thaw and roll and top with (pre-frozen) pizza toppings too. Quick and easy especially if you have also got frozen grated cheese too, instant margarita pizza.

Great ideas, Thriftlady! I only wish I had room in my freezer for more 'building blocks', am bulllying DH into clearing out the garage so I can have another freezer out there, but not having much luck, so far :rolleyes: :mad:

Mrs F x

I get a whole salami from LIDL and slice it. Bag up portions big enough for 2 pizzas and freeze. Also when I open jar/can of anchovies I do the same, as the remainder would otherwise go off in the fridge. Salami useful for emergency sandwiches too. slices can be prised apart and thaw quickly.

HockeyDuo8083

If sausages are ever on a BOGOF then I like to chop them up into chunks and then freeze in a bag. This means I can just take them out add cook into pasta sauce etc. I find that becasue I chop them into 1/4" chunks they defrost quicker and cook quicker.

purpleivy

purpleivy wrote: »

Spill the beans.. What are breadcrumb cookies?

I just googled this....sounds good to me, will have to have a go.

bigsmoke

ooooh - i've just made plans to defrost our freezer at the weekend so will definitely be returning to this thread for tips!

i particularly like idea of freezing herbs, the pots we buy don't seem to last very long...

thanks for all the ideas, if i think of any of my own i'll be back!

reedyreedy

I am amazed at all these wonderful suggestions and would love to try them all, but need some advice on buying a freezer.

I'm guessing an upright one is easier to use than a chest freezer, but can you fit more in a chest? Any outlets that sell bargain freezers - new ones seem so expensive!

Do people recommend buying second hand - I have heard all sorts of stories of problems after fridges have been moved/tilted etc, are freezers the same? I have access to a small van, but there's no way I could fit even a small freezer upright in it, it would have to lay down. Is this really bad?

Thanks for all your help!

purpleivy

You just have to leave them upright for 24hrs before switching on, if they have been on their side. Some fridges and freezers have a re-set button. Fortunately we discovered this before panicking and getting a new fridge!

I prefer the chest freezer, as it doesn't need defrosting as often and when it has to be done I find it easier as there aren't loads of pipes that the ice builds up round.

Freezers seem to come up relatively regularly on Freecycle round here,

Churchmouse

purpleivy wrote: »

I just googled this....sounds good to me, will have to have a go.

and the link is.......:rotfl: You should know better than not provide a link:p

purpleivy

Churchmouse wrote: »

and the link is.......:rotfl: You should know better than not provide a link:p

Well I haven't tried a recipe yet, just type 'breadcrumb cookies' into search engine and some will appear. If I try one, I'll let you know if it works.