If you don’t have a freezer yet, now is the time to get one! A freezer is an excellent investment. You can keep your food fresh longer and stock up on bulk purchases. Freezing food will save you money and help you stretch your food farther. But what all can you freeze? Read on for tips on how to save most anything!
Chocolate
Anytime after a major holiday, there’s always a sale on candy. Chocolate freezes very well and doesn’t need any other prep work than to just throw the bag into the freezer! Other candy, not so much. If there are seasonal baking chips you enjoy, stock up on those after the holiday as well. They freeze and unfreeze like a dream!
Bananas
Bananas are really great for baking. Family favorites are banana bread and banana bars, but they are also easy to throw in a smoothie bag. Stick them in your freezer unpeeled and let them turn completely black from the cold. Some people will peel them and then freeze in a plastic bag, but that ends in a defrosted soggy banana, with banana liquids in the bag. Just freeze them whole.
Smoothies
Make smoothie bags from leftover fruits and vegetables. Take cut up fruit and spinach into a bag, keep them easily accessible in your freezer. When you’re ready for a smoothie, just dump your prepared bag into the blender with some apple juice. Voila!
Bulk Items
Buying in bulk is great… unless your family won’t eat all that food before it goes stale. Buying a jumbo bag of pretzels is now risk free! Divide up the pretzels between your pantry and your freezer.
Meat
Buying meat in bulk is always a great way to save money. Separate your meat into smaller freezer bags and label. That way, you’re not committing to preparing ten frozen chicken breasts at one time and can make what you need.
Pizza
Freeze full take and bake pizzas. Big box stores have huge family size pizzas for less than $10 to take home and bake yourself. There’s no need to bake it the same day, just freeze them until you need it! When you’re ready to cook, put it in the oven frozen as the preheat cycle begins, and continue to bake as normal.
Cheese
Cheese freezes fabulously! Shredded, sliced, and string cheese all freeze and defrost without any problems. Buy in bulk, put into individual bags and pull them out as needed. If you want to freeze whole blocks, there is a trick to it de-thawing it. Let the block completely defrost at room temperature on the counter before putting back in the fridge. Grabbing it from the freezer and defrosting in the fridge makes that block a crumbly mess of cheese.
Walk the Frozen Aisle
Anything that’s prepared in the frozen aisle, especially breakfast items, are easy to replicate at home and so much cheaper. Make mini pancakes, waffles, and breakfast burritos and freeze them!
