LGBT Parenting

Talk to me about your freezer...

Do you just use the one with your fridge or do you have another one for stock piling food?If you have another unit, do you have a stand up or the box kind with a lid? (sorry my brain is still off )  What made you choose the type you have?How do you store your meat? Do you use zip locks or a freezer sealing system.  If you have an auto sealer, what kind do you have and would you recommend? What kind of foods do you keep on hand for your kiddo's meal wise? Do you make it, buy it or both?  I am asking because we are going to be getting a freezer for the garage in the future.  I do freeze things, but I usually do not have a large on hand supply of meats as I like to eat those as fresh as possible, but DW has been cooking so much and would like to have larger portions on hand for entertaining.At the store today, I bought a few quick things from Trader Joes' for the kiddo's.  Meatless corn dogs, mini pizza's, basically, healthy crap food.  With it being summer we do a ton of entertaining and have kids of all ages over and I want to be able to just have things on hand.  We have PLENTY of fresh fruit and veggies, make most of our own baby food, and popsicles.   I have plenty of freezable tupper wear and would love to be able to freeze small portions.  I have not really frozen casserols too much in the past, so that I am learning.  Are there foods that just don't do well being frozen then defrosted?  I know with fruit and veggies the cellular wall that holds the juices in gets weakened during the freeze and thaw process so those things can get mushy at times if you don't defrost with care, even still, they are kinda mushy.Does anyone make their own chicken tenders?  If so would panko freeze well as a crust? or freeze well in general I guess?  Fish sticks?Anyone freeze burritos or enchilada's?  What other types of simple yummy foods do you freeze for those times you just don't feel like cooking every meal at the stove or grill? (or when the adults are eating something too advanced for young. palates =)If you got through all that thank you! =)  
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Re: Talk to me about your freezer...

  • I've been thinking about this, too.  Keep in mind that I'm sleep deprived, so this might not make sense. 

    1. We don't eat meat, so I'm not sure about that.

    2. We don't have one in the garage yet, but we want one.  We'll buy a normal fridge/freezer so that we can keep excesses beverages and produce as well as our freezer items.

    3.  Soup freezes really well, as well as most sauces and diced veggies (they get sauteed anyway, so it's okay if their cell walls weaken). 

    4. My mom is making these veggie enchiladas and these stuffed shells (minus the turkey), and we'll put them right in the freezer.  I'll let you know how they turn out/thaw!

    5. This post from Annie's Eats might help you- it's all about freezer meals. Oh here's another one, this is tips for stocking your freezer.

    6. Our garden is thriving right now, so soon I'll start cooking and blending veg for Baby R's food in the fall.  

    Good luck!

  • We have a small chest freezer in the garage. A stand-up freezer would be great, just b/c it would be easier to organize and keep organized. I chose a chest because it was cheaper (I paid $159 for it at Lowe's, and the stand-ups started at around $500), and since it is small it will be easier to move when we buy a house or move to a different rental. 

    I just store meat in normal zip-top bags, or the paper they come in from the butcher. No problems so far.

    I've only done one major freezer cooking session so far, to stock the freezer before the babies arrived. I made lots of soups, which have defrosted very well. Muffins did well, the Middle Eastern meat kebabs did well, baked beans and ham pretty good. I read that you shouldn't freeze recipes with coconut milk in them, but the coconut lentil veggie soup I made was delicious. It's fun to go out to the freezer and discover things I'd forgotten. My in-laws are visiting next week and I'm already looking forward to some of the stuff I prepped in anticipation of their visit.

    My only advice is to freeze in single-meal quantities - I overlooked this step, so we've ended up eating the same thing several meals in a row because I have to thaw the whole pan. 

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  • I'm dying to get an extra freezer, but we just don't have the space for it right now. But I love cooking double batches of things to freeze half for another time. I've frozen chicken enchilladas no problem. I also freeze portions of soups and lasagna.

    We also freeze raw chicken breasts, steaks and sausages all the time. We like to buy a bunch when they are on sale, then they are always available when we want to use them. 


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  • We used to have a chest freezer in our garage until it died and I cannot wait to get another one.

    I usually buy meat in bulk because it is cheaper and I can buy it around the store's sales. When I get home I will wrap individual meals in plastic wrap and seal in a ziplock baggie. I label them with the date/contents/amount.

    I will make some food in bulk ahead of time, but mostly soups and sauces in the fall/winter.

    As far as Ky, I like to store bagged veggies, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, corn dogs. I also take leftover pasta sauce and noodles form dinners and make little individual toddler sized portions and freeze. These make a great, quick meal in the evenings.

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  • We have an extra fridge in the garage (it was the one the sellers left in the kitchen, but we got all new appliances.) I like having the fridge for extra drinks, etc. The kids drink soy milk (which has a long shelf life) so we buy 3-4 gallons at a time and keep it down there with juice boxes, beer, fruit/cheese/etc we buy in bulk. In the fridge we keep the freezer bulk stuff (Gogurts for the kids, Uncrustables for camp field trips, frozen veggies when they go on sale, etc.)

    We aren't good about prepping meals in bulk (hell, we aren't good about prepping meals at all), but I do put boneless pork chops/chicken breast in a freezer Ziploc with various marinades and freeze. I throw them in the fridge the night before we want to use them and then put them on the grill. Easy peasy. :)

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  • We have been meaning to get a chest of stand-up second freezer but haven't gotten around to it.  I think it will be a higher priority when we have kid(s).

    Right now we get all of our meat through a meat CSA, so it comes frozen and we get a month's worth at a time.  So mostly, especially at the beginning of the month, our freezer is full of meat.  We also make our own chicken stock and freeze it, cook dried beans and freeze them instead of buying canned, and freeze bread or rolls when we can't finish them in time (with only 2 of us and me on a pretty restricted diet, it is rare we can get through a loaf/package before they stale or mold).  Ditto if we can't finish all of the soup/chili/tomato sauce/braised meat we made before it will go bad, we freeze the extras.  I find most prepared meals freeze very well, especially if they're in some sort of sauce (e.g. lasagna, enchiladas).  Other things in our freezer: pine nuts (they keep better and we don't go through them quickly), fresh ginger root (we can never use one up before it goes bad, so we freeze and use it as needed), and individally-portioned cookies (I make the dough, scoop it out into balls, freeze the balls on a cookie sheet until hard, then dump them all in a ziploc and keep them in the freezer so we can have homemade cookies as desired).

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