I love my freezer!! It saves me so much time in the kitchen! I am sure a lot of this you have heard before or already do a lot of these… but if there is one or two out there that may find a new tip, then it was all worth it! 🙂 There are also days when even contemplating cooking another failsafe meal (or any meal for that matter) can be over whelming and times like these when I don’t want to be in the kitchen I call my freezer my friend! I am incredibly blessed to be married to a morning person, I am certainly not one myself though I have actually seen the sun rise on a few occasions, lol! Therefore my wonderful hubby gets up with the kids and makes them breakfast and their lunches by the time I surface. My job is to make this as easy as possible for him with things ready to just pop into their lunch boxes without any drama. The other great reason to have a stash in the freezer means you are prepared when a party comes up unexpectedly and have failsafe food on hand to take so your child doesn’t feel left out. With all this in mind, I have jotted down a few things that I do and have found to work really well. I would love to hear your tips too!
- Double your baking and freeze it!
Whether making cupcakes, a cake, donuts or biscuits. Make double (or triple) and freeze it. It is great to have a little stash in the freezer to just pop into lunch boxes on those hectic mornings that you haven’t been able to finish your cuppa and can’t think straight. Cupcakes I wrap up individually in glad wrap so they can go straight into lunch boxes, they will defrost by morning tea time. Cakes I slice before freezing (unless I plan on taking the whole cake out at once), biscuits and donuts I freeze in ziplock bags with go-between separating them so they don’t stick together. Remember to do some more baking before your freezer supplies run out to keep up an endless supply.
Above, my freezer drawer: Along the top, square container has deli chicken,
little blue container has yoghurt drops, zip lock bag of
homemade nuggets, homemade pies, 3 different types of cup cakes.
- When you are cooking dinner always make extra and freeze it. Whether it is a meal for your whole family, just the kids or for the adults.
We usually like to eat with our kids and have what they are having, dinner time together is important. But occasionally I want to cook a special meals for just my husband and I, it’s so nice to just reach into the freezer and re-heat a meal for my kids so I am only cooking one meal that day. Then if possible, I will freeze the extras of our special meal for a night I am just making a kids meal. I will freeze leftovers straight away (if there is meat in the dish, freezing straight away helps to keep the amines level down) in takeaway containers just enough to feed the kids on another night. I label the containers with a whiteboard marker so I can wash it off and re-use the container for another meal. Just be aware of the amine levels in meat the longer you freeze it. If you are very sensitive, no longer than a week.
Freezer meals in takeaway containers, left over white sauce and cashew sauce in
small blue containers Chicken stock in my old baby freezer containers.
- Mass cook-a-thon.
Every now and again I will cook up 3 large lasagne’s or cottage pies. One for dinner that night, and 2 to go in the freezer. The ones I put in the freezer I make in the throw away bbq trays you buy from the supermarket. The great thing about those is they can go straight into the oven once defrosted and you always have a meal on hand for a friend in need, sick or just had a baby without the hassle of getting dishes back.
When I make these, I use 3kg of mince and cook it in a big pot and use my Thermomix to chop all the veggies, garlic and herbs. It is amazing what veggies you can hide from the kids in mince dishes with a Thermomix (love it, insert evil cackle!) Then without cleaning the bowl make the white sauce or mashed potato so you do not waste any of the wonderful flavours and veggies!
- Lunches and re-heat meals.
To have things up your sleeve for lunch time, lunch boxes or lazy weekends is a must! A stash of cooked chicken in the freezer is perfect for this. One way of doing this is the wonderful Deli Chicken. Another way I do it is to cook up large quantities of diced chicken with garlic and rice malt syrup or golden syrup. Once it’s cooked, shred it in the Thermomix on reverse speed 4 for 2 sec. Then freeze in mini zip lock bags. Both this and deli chicken are great to add to sandwiches, omelettes, bread rolls, salads or pasta salads. Also great if you unexpectently have a friend over for lunch.
I have a pie maker, which makes my son very happy! Left over casserole or mince if not to runny or moist is perfect for this. It needs to be made fresh into the pie if you intend to freeze them. I usually take out a few pastry sheet before dinner, then after dinner the pastry will be soft and ready to cut for the pies. They can be cooking in the pie maker while I clean up the kitchen. These make a great weekend lunch.
Home made sausage rolls are a great kids favourite to have in the freezer for quick meals. Also handy if you have a party to go to. Would also work for school lunches if your children have access to a microwave or don’t mind eating them at room temperature.
Pizza dough. Those with a Thermomix really need to try the pizza dough in the Thermomix EDC. It is the best! We love having home made pizzas regularly. One batch makes 5 pizzas (one for each of us) and one garlic bread pizza. I usually always try to make a second batch after making the first and freeze it once I get to the point of cutting it up for the second rise. Place them individually in freezer bags (dated and labelled) so when you are having a pasta dish you can make a garlic pizza to go with it. Once defrosted, roll out, spread with oil, garlic and parsley and pop into the oven for about 10 mins. Slice up and serve with your pasta, perfect!
- Breakfasts
Whenever I make waffles or pancakes I try to make double quantity. One batch seems to disappear way to quickly! With double I have more chance of getting some into the freezer for another breakfast and they defrost well in the microwave.
- Ice cubes
Now I know this seems an obvious one, but those with a Thermomix, keeping at least 2 trays in the freezer at all times makes it easy to whip up a fruit smoothie, sorbet or a fruit delight. It is very handy to have for a dessert, snack or when a tribe of kids from the street come over.
