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You could say our freezers are stocked — stocked with booze, ice cream, and let’s not forget our jeans when we want them clean without having to put them through the spin cycle. But that illusive frozen section of the refrigerator is actually useful when it comes to consuming more than just cocktails and dessert. In fact, it’s extremely helpful with prepping and planning out meals in advance. Ahead, find 10 useful tips and tricks for your freezer that make a great case for putting some actual food in there.
Image may be NSFW.
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1. Never Do Weekday Prep Again
Prep slow cooker freezer meals on weekends, or whenever you have a spare minute. That way, you're always ready to make something without needing to factor in extra time for chopping and assembling all the ingredients.
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2. Freeze Individual Slices of Bacon
This might sound like a waste of time, but it's worth it! No one ever uses an entire package of bacon at once, and this way you've always got some emergency porky goodness on hand. Just freeze individual slices of bacon on a lined baking sheet for a few hours. Then carefully fold up the parchment paper so that each piece is folded over another, separated by the parchment. Put the whole thing in a Ziplock, and then, when you need to make a slice or two just grab and cook as you would normally.
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3. Have Breakfasts To Take On The Go
Freezer-friendly breakfasts are one of the best ways to ensure you actually eat something on weekday mornings. You can make any number of things from smoothies to breakfast burritos to muffins.
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4. Make Homemade Emergency TV Dinners
Nowadays when we need a quick meal we turn to takeout. But, if you plan a bit in advance, you can make your own freezer meals. Start defrosting the morning you're going to enjoy, or heat them up in the microwave if you're ever in a pinch.
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5. Speed Up Dinner By Freezing Your Grains
You can whip up a protein or veggie in 10 minutes flat, but it's the grains that tend to slow things down — especially rice. Instead of waiting for your side to cook, and resorting to eating dinner at 8pm, make a big batch of your favorite grains when you've got some extra time. Then freeze individual portions in baggies or Tupperware. Take out the portions you want to use that evening in the morning and stash them in the fridge. They'll be ready to heat up by the time you get home from work.
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6. Freeze Extra Herbs & Veggies
Have leftover veggies and herbs that are almost past their prime? Freeze them! Keep a baggie filled with the extras (you can also add things you would normally throw away like mushroom and parsley stems.) Once the bag is full you can make a seriously delicious vegetable stock (or even throw some chicken in there for even more flavor).
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7. Always Have A Warm & Comforting Dessert 10 Minutes Away
This is probably the best freezer hack out there. Next time you make cookie dough, whip up a double batch. Portion out the cookies on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Next put them into a big Ziplock bag and wait until you have a craving for a just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie. Then simply bake as many as you want, as you normally would, but tack on a few extra minutes to the baking time.
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8. Freeze Those Essentials
This might sound surprising, but essentials that we typically spend a good amount of our food budget on like milk, bread, and nuts are freezer-friendly. Nuts last much longer in the freezer, and it's tough to finish an entire loaf of bread without it getting moldy, but if you freeze it, you can eat at your own pace and pull out a slice to throw in the toaster whenever you need to.
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9. Make Big Batches Of Sauces & Stocks
Pasta sauce and stock are great staple foods to keep around, but if you make a huge batch, you probably won't finish it before it goes bad. Use some when you first cook and then portion out some to freeze for later. Use some tape and a sharpie to write down the date you froze it, and then enjoy whenever!
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10. Ice Cube Trays Aren’t Just For Ice
Ice cube trays don't need to sit unused in your freezer. In fact they come in handy for a number of random ingredients. You can pour in extra coffee so your next batch of cold brew never gets diluted. Or freeze a batch of lemon juice for the next time you need it in a recipe or sauce and don't want to get stuck without fresh fruit on deck. They're also great for small portions of stock to throw into a pan and flavor whatever you're making (no need to open an entire 32-ounce container over one serving of food).
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