Sometimes saving money is as easy as freezing food. Yes, today I want to talk about how to freeze foods to save you money. This is KEY to saving money on groceries.
Do you stock pile any food that requires freezing? Do you know how to freeze food to save you money? Back when I first started couponing, I had no idea how many different foods I could actually freeze just to make it last longer. If you are unsure how to freeze food, I’m here to help.
Here are my top 5 foods to freeze to save you money:
1. Cheese
Don’t judge, but my family loves cheese. I know I have mentioned that before. We love all kinds of cheese and we love it on just about everything. Cheese makes everything taste better, right? RIGHT?! 😉 Well, if your family is of the same mind you can never have enough cheese in the house. I mean, you can only stock up so much cheese before it goes bad, right?
Well, I am happy to report that cheese freezes great! In my experience, the best way to freeze cheese is when it is shredded. If you find a great deal on shredded cheese, simply throw it in the freezer as is. If you buy a big bag of shredded cheese (like from a big box store), I suggest you separate it into smaller freezer bags. Sliced cheese freezes well also. Take the cheese out of the freezer at least an hour before you need it and you’ll be good to go. I do not suggest freezing blocks of cheese. It becomes rather crumbly once it defrosts, which isn’t great if you are wanting to slice it.
2. Eggs
That’s right. We can freeze eggs! Considering how expensive eggs got this year, I wish I would have know ahead of time because I could have bought my eggs for cheap and froze them. There are a few things you need to know before you freeze your eggs.
Do not stick them in the freezer whole. You will be sorely disappointed. In order to freeze your eggs you will need to take them out of their shell. I have seen many take a handful of eggs, whisk them and then pour them into a freezer bags. If you do it this way, make sure you label your bag clearly so you know how many eggs are in each.
Personally, my favorite way to freeze eggs is in ice cube trays. I whisk a dozen eggs at a time. Then I slowly pour the whisked egg into an ice cube tray. Place the tray in the freezer. Once the eggs in the ice cube tray are frozen, simply pop them out and place them in a freezer bag. This is very handy because I can defrost however many eggs I need at one time. Need three eggs for breakfast, take out 3 egg “cubes”. Need 1 egg for muffins, take out 1 egg “cube”. You get the idea.
3. Meat
Probably the item that you will find the most of in my freezer is meat! We have chicken, beef and pork in the freezer and it all freezes great. Every time I go to Sam’s Club or the grocery store, I check the meat “reduced for quick sale”. These are meats that have been reduced in price because they are losing their freshness. Now if you buy meat reduced for quick sale, you have two choices. Cook and eat it or freeze it quickly.
For chicken, I often freeze it as is. Its pretty simple. However, sometimes I’ll throw some chicken in a gallon freezer bag with some sauce and seasoning to make a quick freezer crock pot meal. This is super easy and a real time saver when you need to run out the door and throw dinner in the crock pot at the same time. I do the same thing with pork – sometimes freeze it as is and sometimes freeze it in some marinade or seasonings.
For beef you have a couple of options. I usually buy ground beef by the 10 pound chub because its the cheapest option. Unfortunately, freezing it in that 10 pound form is not practical. I will usually divide the beef into 2-3 pound sections (because that’s how much my family needs for dinner) and place it in a freezer bag to freeze. However, when I’m feeling really ambitious, I will cook a bunch of ground beef BEFORE I freeze it. To do this, just cook up the meat like normal, let it cool and then place it in your freezer bags. When you need ground beef, grab the pre-cooked meat, let it defrost slightly and then crumble it in the pan. All you have to do is warm it up and season it to fit your recipe and you are all set. Talk about easy!
4. Butter or Margarine
Butter freezes great! The grocery had a sale on our favorite spread in the tub so I had to stock up. Luckily, it freezes well. I just throw it in the freezer as is. Once the tub in my fridge is getting low, I simply take the spread from the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge. I wait about a day before I try to use the once frozen butter. You probably don’t need to wait that long, but I would give it a few hours at least. You can freeze butter or margarine sticks, too.
5. Bread and Tortillas
Bread of all types freezes great. My biggest suggestion when freezing bread is to leave it in its original packaging and then place that inside a freezer bag. Bread can get freezer burn if left in the freezer for a while, so the double bagging will ensure your bread does not get burned. You can freeze loaves of bread, but I love freezing hot dog and hamburger buns. I am notorious for buying too many buns when we have a big get-together. I think I err on the side of too much because I know they’ll freeze well if we have any left overs. 😉
I also freeze tortillas! Corn tortillas don’t defrost as well, but I have never had any problems with flour tortillas. They freeze and defrost well and still taste fresh.
If you are curious about freezing other foods, check out my FREE Freezer Cooking Guide. This is a great tool and will answer your basic freezing questions.
Did this help you learn a bit about how to freeze foods?
Obviously, a lot of different foods can be frozen, I just wanted to highlight by top 5 foods to freeze in order to help you save money. What foods do you freeze to help you save money? I’d love to hear from you!
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