The Great Freezer Experiment Begins

Today I start on a long-term experiment in food management. I have a deep freezer, and I'm going to follow some of the Pinterest ideas for keeping food long-term rather than wasting it. For instance, tomato paste. What if the recipe calls for 2 T.? What do you do with the rest of the 6 oz can? Cut it into rounds, stick them in an extra ice cube tray, freeze them, then pop them into a labeled freezer bag. Voila! No more waste. Bonus: The cubes are perfect for popping into a stew or other emergency recipe.

Yesterday I found three gallon bags of saved items I can't use because of the size of the bag. One giant bag of beef stock doesn't do any good if I only need 2 cups. Two cups in quart bags, labeled and frozen flat for easy storage. I did this for chicken stock and that was pure joy. The recipe was twice as good with homemade stock and it wasn't a massive amount of salt.

Same goes for the giant bag of frozen watermelon. Good idea done wrong. That needs to be saved in freezer pops. Any remaining will go in ice cube trays to go in my protein shakes. Watermelon protein shakes in winter? Yes!

The third was the biggest waste. One of my favorite "Tupperware" 2 quart containers holding soup, in the freezer. I love to eat, but I am not eating 2 quarts at a time. Defrosted and saved in a silicon muffin tin. Today, I'll pop those hockey pucks of goodness out and save them in a labeled bag. Now I'll have soup anytime I want, in the amount I want, whether it's a mug, a bowl, or a whole pot for friends. Oh, and I get my 2-quart container back.

Lee Plumb