Befriend your freezer (and save time as well as money)

Most of us have a freezer these days, but how many of us use it to its full potential?

Well anybody that has their freezer crammed full of ready meals is guilty of wasting money and space, September is harvest time, and for me time to squirrel, even if you don’t grow your own produce you can take advantage of floods of veggies at low prices, before the winter sets in and everything is imported and the prices hiked.   Aldi’s have a range of cheap fruit and veg every week, and local markets will have loads of good offers, buy extra and make up into sauces, jams and pickles!   I’m not going to lie and tell you that no effort is required, because basically, effort is required!!!   I personally feel that the effort is worth it.

Use freezer space wisely, I have seen many recipes for freezer meals that yes are a great idea, but I think you have to be choosey about what is useful and what isn’t, for instance do you really need to fill up the space with cooked rice and pasta? Both rice and pasta are easy to cook and really don’t take that long.   As they are both dry goods, is it not better to have those stored in a cupboard or pantry and use freezer space for things that aren’t as sustainable, like sauces for the pasta and rice, whip up some large batches of your favourite sauces and pack portions in boxes or bags, you can have a meal ready in no time especially if you can be super organised and remember to take them out of the freezer at the start of the day (though you can cheat and defrost them in the microwave if needs be!!)

Here are some of my favourite freezer basics

Bolognaise Sauce             One lot of washing up, lots of meals, keep an eye out for offers on mince and hopefully save money as well as time.

Pasta sauce                        Again less washing up, and a great way to use up a glut of home grown produce, lots of markets will have tomatoes etc at good prices at the moment, take advantage!

Sliced green beans          I do freeze other veg but as we grow these I always have a loads, wash slice and blanch in boiling water for 4 minutes cool quickly and dry, pack them into freezer bags (sucking the air out with a straw as you close the bag)

Soup Starter                       Snatch up any cheap onions, leaks or celery, wash/peel and dice, hey presto ready for freezing, either in individual bags or if you are prepping all three at once , mix them up making up bags of some of each, the thought of making a soup or sauce is less daunting if you have a head start.

Braised Red Cabbage     Well if you are going to the trouble of braising one cabbage, you may as well do two or even three, once cooled the braised cabbage can be packed into boxes or bags (not a good idea to use foil containers here as the vinegar can affect the metal), defrost and heat through as required.

Cheese                                 Always handy to have a stash of cheese in the freezer especially if you happen to have dropped on a great offer or reduction, you can freeze it in a block but mostly I pre-grate mine I add a smidge of cornflour (shake it through in the box or bag – this helps prevent clumping when defrosting) I pack a variety of quantities, so I have grab and go bags for toppings, sauces toasted sandwiches etc.

Crumble topping              Just like the cabbage If you are going to the bother of making one batch, why not make more – multiple batches is still only one lot of washing up, that’s got to make it worth it for a start. No need for any prepping either just make up as normal, put into usable quantities and pop it in the freezer.

When you come in from work and have a meal on the table in less than an hour, you will know that the effort was worth it