What's in your freezer?

[LimeSlice]

Finally I have my spanky new upright freezer. He is my knight in shiny white armour!

So far, there isn't much in there, but that will be changing over the next few weeks.
I am furiously planning all sorts of awesomeness to have on hand and it has prompted me to wonder what other people keep in their freezer(s)...

Are you a frozen-prepared-meals person, or a frozen-staples-for-cooking person?

I love the idea of freezing meals, but TBH, I am not so much a fan of most foods from the freezer, there are only a few thawed cooked meals I think are as good as fresh cooked. So I really love the idea of freezing staples to make cooking dinner quicker, rather than simply nuking and serving meals already cooked.

Thus, my list so far looks like this:
*Pasta dough
*Pre-made filled pastas
*Pizza dough
*Bread and bread rolls
*Mini quiche
*Short, filo, puff pastry
*Stocks
*Cupcakes
*Fish goujons and chicken nuggets
*Good stock of frozen pea/corn/carrot mix, frozen fresh veg when I can get cheap in season.
*Butter and cheese when I can get super cheap on special
*Meatballs and rissoles
*Lasagne and pasta bakes
*Frozen berries
*Ice cream
*Meat frozen in potions


What is in your freezer?

[Rouge]

All that. I freeze yolks and whites too. Coconut milk which I make. Leftover mash for gnocchi or tuna patties. Bacon. And lots o meat. I freeze fresh fruit like berries and banana. And when I grate cheese I freeze that too. And then there's all the baked things. I try and have a batch of bolognaise and a batch of bachemal. And sometimes I'll have shredded chicken for tacos, pulled pork and even spinach and ricotta filling (as I do double batches) I flat pack everything in zip locks for easy defrost.

[Rouge]

Check my liked pages on fb. There's a page called frost bite. She is awesome!

[LimeSlice]

Check my liked pages on fb. There's a page called frost bite. She is awesome!

Ooh! Will do, thank you.

Now you posted your method for the coconut milk somewhere didn't you?

[sangie]

All that plus cookie dough (so easy to take out, cut up and bake). Also pesto which I make from our basil and freeze in ice cube trays. Lemon juice from lemons on my parents tree.

Enjoy your new freezer!

[Phteven]

Bananas that are going over. Peel them. Wrap them and use them in banana bread later.
Same with apples. Peel, steam or stew then use in apple muffins or pies.

[peanutter]

I do a megal cook up every other month. The things that I find reheat well, and which I do are:


* pastabake
* lasagne
* bolognase
* salmon patties (and I keep meaning to do a broader set of bubble and squeak)
* curries (indian and thai)
* stirfry (but only with rice - not noodles ... they don't seem to reheat well)
* stews (but they're hit and miss - I need some tips in this area ...)
* soups
* chilli
* casseroles

that's all I can think of ... I know I'm missing things though ...

[Rouge]

Yes lemon juice is great for dishes and for making cordial in summer! Coconut milk is easy peasy. Just google all the recipes are the same. Once you're done with with milk you can dry out the coconut in the oven and blitz into coconut flour

And can I just say threads like this make me think of my dream of stockpiling. With a food room, filled with shelves and freezers. Ho hum.

[Amy_jellybean]

Subbing for when I do my big El' preggo cook up over xmas before bub arrives!!!!

[~TT40~]

a placenta =P

[MummyNaomi]

Where possible freeze before cooking - eg I freeze my lasagne after I assemble it and cook it after defrosting it, tastes better that way
We freeze lots of home made soups
Spaghetti Sauce
Pies
I also make two weeks of sandwiches or wraps for DHs work lunch for him, he just takes it out to defrost the night before - needs to be freezer friendly filling eg chicken etc

[peanutter]

Veggies prepared and portioned for steaming.

Mincey thing.

Lots and lots of meat.

Breast milk.

Home made yoghurt pops.

[Rouge]

a placenta =P

Or two in my case

[Novella]

I do the same with lasagne make two or three and when assembled but not put in the oven I freeze them so I can defrost and cook and it tastes like fresh!
Lots of leftover portioned meals. I deliberately cook extra each time I do something that freezes well so I can have a lazy night and not cook sometimes while on maternity leave! When Im working I do afternoons and take one with me and defrost the rest for kids and DH

Similar to what you have plus
black bananas
stale bread for the ducks at the park
lots of fish and meat
bread
crumble topping (freezes well)
individually wrapped cupcakes/cake pieces/slices for lunch boxes

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

In my freezer:

Frozen whole chicken x2
Frozen battered fish
Fish fingers
Peas
Chopped onion
Chopped mushroom
Ice Cream (normal and dairy-free)
Pizza
A few freezer ready-meals, about 6 I think
Gammon steaks
Sauce for Pasta a la Norma (just the sauce, not the pasta)
Bolognaise sauce (again, just the sauce, not the pasta)
Quorn mince and chicken pieces
Quiches

Also DH's home-made fishing bait. Yumsters.

Most of the food is either on special at the supermarket (I do one shop a month, then shop locally for bread/milk/fruit and veg for the rest of the month) OR home cooked and frozen.

[chody47]

Subbing cause I want a few more ideas for before this bubs is born!

[Mrs P]

Lots of good ideas here.

Can anyone tell me if crumbed stuff, like homemade crumbed chicken breast or schnitzel defrosts ok? I'd like to make some but scared it would go soggy when defrosted?

Also I had trouble with defrosting some homemade (raw) meatballs, they were quite watery.

Love the idea of frozen 'uncooked' lasagne! I always freeze it in cooked portions and it just never works that well. I'm guessing that doing it in those alfoil trays works best?

Chody hun anymore ideas to share? I suspect we shall be baking/ filling our freezers at the same time