Freezer space is at a premium, especially if you just have your kitchen freezer and refrigerator. Everything that we put in our freezers should have reason and purpose and be as compact as possible so we can put what we really want to in there. Like Ice Cream! Your freezer is like any tool, and it is often underused because it has random mystery items in it that are old and sometimes look like we froze last winters snowballs. It is time to change that. Its time to start to let your freezer work for you and make life so much easier.
If you do only one thing to start changing how you use your freezer, these projects will change your life!
Just pick one, give it a try and move on to another :) By getting each item on sale, you will save money! By putting each item in a flattened quart or gallon zip top bag you will save space! By chopping or cutting in big batches you will save time gathering, doing dishes and shopping. You will also save brain power and stress. Knowing you have what you need to quickly gather and put together dinner, makes life amazingly easy.
It is important to know what you can freeze and how to freeze foods safely, before you get started. But once you do, with one project at a time, we create a great resource to gather easy meals and get dinner on the table fast!
Things I regularly big batch prep:In flat Quart sized zip bags:
- Chicken breast - Raw cubed, sliced or fillets in 1 pound portions
- Cooked shredded chicken in 1 pound portions
- Chicken & Beef Stock
- Browned and seasoned hamburger in 1 pound portions
- Raw hamburger in 1 pound portions
- Beef - raw cubed or sliced (when I find roast or steak on sale) in 1 pound portions
- Cooked Meatballs
- Cooked shredded pork roast in 1 pound portions
- Cooked sausage crumbles, Italian or Breakfast sausage in half pound portions
- Bacon, cooked & chopped ready for recipes. (sometimes)
- Chopped green bell peppers, and sometimes colored ones too if I find them on sale.
- Chopped onions and celery
- Chopped and blanched carrots, broccoli, potato dices, corn, green beans, peas, shredded cabbage (only 30 sec for chopped cabbage and peas)
- Fruit - washed/peeled/hulled and/or cut -strawberries, blackberries, blue berries, peaches, pineapple, cantaloupe and grapes (fruit are best if eaten slightly frozen or in cooked recipes)
- Cooked ingredients such as plain white or brown rice, black/white beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, barley, quinoa, mullet, wheat berries, lentils, cooked rolled oats etc. (many of these can be cooked in a rice cooker or crock pot to make it easier)
- Warm and serve side dishes such as spaghetti sauce, Mexican rice, cilantro lime rice, borasho beans, baked beans, homemade chile, lots of potato side dishes etc.
- Some meal supper starters fit in quart size bags.
- Left overs! I also freeze single portion left overs in quart size freezer bags (or smaller portioned things in snack baggies put into a quart freezer bag). This could be a cup or two of soup, spaghetti sauce a casserole or even plain noodles or rice. Remember to date and label and remove as much air as possible and freeze flat. This makes it easy to store, and mix and match leftovers. Just remember to bring a bowl in your lunch box :)
In flat gallon zip bags:- Most meal supper starters fit in gallon sized freezer bags, froze flat to save space
- Pre-formed and seasoned hamburger patties
- Whole cut up chickens or leg quarters, pork chops, steak, roasts, rebagged and froze flat when possible to save space.
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