Do you end up throwing away a lot of food at the end of the week? You’re not alone. An estimated 30-40 % of all food in the US is thrown in the trash. SO wasteful. But there are a few simple things you can do to save food.
The first is to meal plan based first on what you already have at home. And only buy what you need.
The second is to know what you can freeze and use later.
One thing we do in our home is to freeze our leftovers. (Cooked chicken, leftover lasagna, etc) and reheat them when we need a quick meal.
A quick tip: walk down the freezer aisle. If it’s frozen at the store you can do it at home. But there are a few things to add.
But there are also lots of foods you can freeze at home.
Butter - it does not change texture and often you can use frozen (pie crust!)
Pizza crust- you can whip one up and freeze. Thaws like a dream. This is the recipe I use.
Shredded cheese- shred and sprinkle on a cookie sheet, then once frozen transfer to a container.
Chopped onions- if you’re going to use onions in cooking you can chop and freeze
Bell pepper- cut into strips and freeze. Some people blanch, I personally do not and I freeze bell pepper frequently.
Celery- again, chop and freeze. I use this for beef stew. Amazing even when frozen.
Berries- we have multiple blueberry bushes and grapevines. I just wash and freeze. Strawberries are the same. (I even freeze them whole with the greens still on if I am going to make them into smoothies.)
Zucchini- I chop for stir fry or shred for baked goods
Bananas- peel them and freeze for smoothies and baking (not just banana bread. You can add them to almost any cake, muffin or bread recipe to make them extra moist).
Herbs- I freeze basil, thyme, sage, etc. I just chop them and put them in a container
Tomatoes- just chop and freeze
Potatoes- I recently saw a blogger talk about not freezing potatoes. Um…. there is an entire freezer section at the store dedicated to frozen french fries??? Just peel and blanch. It sounds like a lot of work, but I can do an entire 10-pound bag of potatoes in about 20 minutes.
Baking supplies- flour, yeast, cocoa. All freezable.
Baked goods- muffins, cakes, cookies, doughnuts. If I made them I wrap in aluminum foil or place them in a plastic bag. Or both. If they’re store-bought I place them directly in the freezer in the package they came in.
Bread- buns, whole loaves, tortillas. I place them in the freezer directly in their package.
Pancakes and waffles- on the weekends my husband makes a HUGE batch of pancakes. I freeze what’s leftover and heat them up on busy mornings.
Cooked rice and quinoa- yup. You can freeze that. Then put them in a ziploc bag and flatten. Empty the contents frozen into a pan and place in the oven.
Soup- I freeze chicken soup, chili, butternut squash soup. I let cool and place in a plastic container (I reuse yogurt, butter and ice cream containers). When it’s time to reheat I run a little water over it and then pop them in my Instant Pot or crockpot.
Lunchmeat- I just throw it in the freezer in the container from the store.
