A freezer is a homesteader’s very good friend. It allows us to preserve our bounty, buy in bulk, make meals ahead of time, and keep a food stash for when times are tough. Many of us have love our freezer so much we have two or more of them. All that freezer space provides us with lots of possibilities!
Here are six reasons why freezing your food is so awesome…
1. It saves us money. Freezing allows us to buy local foods, in season, at the peak of their ripeness/freshness when they are the most affordable. It also allows us to capitalize on good sales (store sales, clearance, etc) and deals (herdshare). We can buy our food when it is cheapest and freshest and simply eat it later.
2. It makes meal planning easier. Take a quickie inventory of what you have in the freezer and then search your bookmarked recipes that incorporate the ingredients you want to use ie “pork” or “ground beef and carrots”. Using what you have makes things easier and it saves money.
3. It reduces food waste. If you know you won’t get around to eating those veggies then spend a a couple minutes chopping them up and freeze them. Add them to casserole, soup, or stir fry at some later date. If you are not in the mood for leftovers don’t chuck them, freeze and eat them in a couple of weeks. If some fruit has started to look sad, freeze it and add it to smoothies.
4. It allows you cook ahead of time. Typically we run short on time on the weekdays. They are jam packed with school, work, kids events, etc. If that is the case you can use the slower pace of the weekend to cook some meals that freeze well and can be reheated for weekday meals. This also works well for work lunches…make them on the weekend, portion them out by day, and freeze. Freezing can give us freedom to cook when we want to and not so much when we don’t want too.
5. It saves time. Shopping from your freezer means less time wandering store isles trying to figure out what to make. It also means you can prep and freeze various ingredients (chopped veggies, shredded chicken, marinated meat) or entire meals when you have more time and utilize them when you have less time.
6. It allows us to eat out of season. Fresh blackberries, sun ripened strawberries, sugar snap peas, spinach, apples, fresh baked bread from the farmer’s market…you name it, we want it. Freeze some of it and extend the season and the flavors.
What do you love to freeze?
I really need to get on top of freezing stuff, you have some truly great points! I love to save money and time and it makes sense to do this for sure!
I froze my last crop for the first time last year, we have slowly started pulling from our freezer. It’s really exciting to know I have what I need right in my freezer.
We always buy meat on markdown and seal it with a food saver for meals. Its great to know there is meat to plan out our meals every week and that we got it a great discount!
Great tips – My fav is to freeze Lasagne in ready-to-eat pieces. That’s a wonderful dinner after a long working day when you don’t have the energy to prepare dinner but want still something homemade.
great advice–we have a stand alone freezer because its easier and you can have things on hand all the time.
I love to freeze cooked greens so that I can drop them into dishes all year long.
cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries….any berry! most
breads freeze well as do berry and apple pies, homemade beef, fish, and veggie broths, etc.