Saving money with your freezer

Even if you are a savvy, cash-carrying grocery shopper, two budget busters constantly try to sneak up on you: food waste & dining out.

How many times have you cleaned out the refrigerator to find moldy, half-eaten bowls of unidentifiable leftovers lurking in the back corners? And how many times in the past month have you been on the run all day & too busy to prepare lunch at home? Or how many times have in the past month have you worked all day to come home unable to think of a single thing to fix for dinner, sending you and your family driving to a restaurant so you don't have to face the dinner dilemma tonight? The freezer can help reduce these two major budget busters with little additional effort on your part.

Here's how the system works.

Phase 1: every time you cook, decide if you have the ingredients at hand to make a double or triple portion of your meal. If you do, quickly run through your major ingredients to be sure there's no items in there that will not freeze well. If you can, make a double or triple batch & label & freeze the excess.

Phase 2: choose two spread-apart days each week (such as Monday & Thursday) to go through your refrigerator & consume or freeze any foods that are reaching their deadline. Look at everything, not just obvious leftovers. Do you have milk on its way out? Freeze it in an ice cube tray, then pour the cubes into a bag & use for pancakes or other recipes that call for sour milk. Olives that are reaching their lifespan? Perhaps tonight is the night to make that pasta sauce with olives & garlic.

If you use both phases of the operation, within a month you will have a formidable freezer supply. The benefits are enormous. Now, when you're on your way out for an errand day or a busy day at work, you won't have to run through Wendy's drive-through. You can grab a lunch in minutes from your freezer. If you have no conflicting health conditions, a good lunch can always be made from a fruit or veggie, a complex grain-based carb, and a protein source. You also won't be so tempted to dine out when you have no energy for cooking at home.

Many containers will work in the freezer. High quality, zipping plastic bags are a favorite for saving space. Plastic containers are also popular for work lunches. I use both of these types as well as glass jars that I save from salsa, spaghetti sauce, honey, etc. To thaw the food stored in glass jars, I run the gar under lukewarm water, then submerge it in a pan of water & bring to a boil. Never put a cold glass jar in a pan of already boiling water or it will shatter.

If you know you are going to have a busy day, you can always move any container to the refrigerator the night before & it will be ready by dinnertime.

Be sure to label your containers. A simple labeling system is fine, where you mark the container with its contents plus the month/year. You can mark directly on the container or use a label, a piece of masking tape, or anything else that will stick along with a permanent marker.

For more information on freezer-friendly foods, freezer containers, and recipes, check out Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough.

Get Moving: When you cook dinner tonight, make a double-batch of your meal & freeze the excess.

Annoying but necessary disclaimer: All information contained herein express my opinions only and are based on my health status & location. Each person's situation, health, and local laws & ordinances are different. By all means, use your own common sense & don't do anything you see here if someone more important than me (like your doctor, your local police, your own conscience) would disagree. If you're easily persuaded by everything you read, and you think I might cause you to hurt yourself or break the law, quit reading my site, please.