Tip 5: Three steps to freeze anything
It's easy to understand why people shy away from make-ahead meals, baking large batches of muffins, and stocking up on perishables like bread...
Those things requiring freezing which, most people don't do correctly and unfortunately leads to a lot of wasted time and money!
Incorrect freezing can result in a freezer full of frost-bitten waste and freezer bags containing a giant clump of what you think is either the dozen banana nut muffins you baked last month or the turkey meatballs you made last week.
This is avoidable and you can enjoy make-ahead meals if you'll just follow three simple steps:
1. For food you've already cooked, allow the food you want to freeze completely cool to room temperature and then, let it cool further in the fridge, approximately 4-6 hours. For already cold items like chicken breasts you've bought in a bulk package, you can skip this step.
2. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and lay out the food you want to freeze in a single layer so that the food is spaced far enough apart that it doesn't touch. I separate slices of bread but leave burger buns (the top and bottom) whole. Be sure you have a level surface in your freezer so your items don't slice into one another and end up freezing stuck together.
3. Place the jelly roll pan in your freezer overnight. Remove in the morning and place your frozen items into freezer storage bags. Then, return the bag to your freezer properly labeled with it's contents.
Now, when you want one muffin, two slices of bread, six meatballs or just one chicken breast, you can easily pull them out of the freezer bag to thaw on the counter to use that evening.
You can freeze food uncooked or cooked, it's up to you and your personal taste preference.
Those things requiring freezing which, most people don't do correctly and unfortunately leads to a lot of wasted time and money!
Incorrect freezing can result in a freezer full of frost-bitten waste and freezer bags containing a giant clump of what you think is either the dozen banana nut muffins you baked last month or the turkey meatballs you made last week.
This is avoidable and you can enjoy make-ahead meals if you'll just follow three simple steps:
1. For food you've already cooked, allow the food you want to freeze completely cool to room temperature and then, let it cool further in the fridge, approximately 4-6 hours. For already cold items like chicken breasts you've bought in a bulk package, you can skip this step.
2. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and lay out the food you want to freeze in a single layer so that the food is spaced far enough apart that it doesn't touch. I separate slices of bread but leave burger buns (the top and bottom) whole. Be sure you have a level surface in your freezer so your items don't slice into one another and end up freezing stuck together.
3. Place the jelly roll pan in your freezer overnight. Remove in the morning and place your frozen items into freezer storage bags. Then, return the bag to your freezer properly labeled with it's contents.
Now, when you want one muffin, two slices of bread, six meatballs or just one chicken breast, you can easily pull them out of the freezer bag to thaw on the counter to use that evening.
You can freeze food uncooked or cooked, it's up to you and your personal taste preference.
I freeze pretty much everything! Freezing individual things on a cookie sheet is a favorite trick of mine too. Some people think I'm weird for freezing bread and muffins. They have no idea what they're missing!
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