Wednesday, October 26, 2011

An Ode to My Freezer

Tonight's dinner inspiration has come from deep, deep within my deep freeze. That is - let's use up "this" to make room for "that". Its probably twice a year when I actively make an effort to use up what I have in the freezer.

The first time is after Christmas. You are so tied of shopping, and spending money and you just can't take another bite of leftover turkey. You can take those pork chops or lasagna and make a feast, or at least it feels like it.

The second time, is when we close up the cottage for the winter. We'll have some odds and ends that will end up in the freezer. Two or three packages of hot dogs, a lone chicken breast maybe even a piece of salmon.

So this is where we are at today. This morning I spent some quality time Christmas shopping, and this afternoon was in the kitchen prepping the ground turkey for next week's turkey meatballs (now in the freezer) and Pumpkin Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Icing for tomorrow's Halloween party at Scouts. (I found the pumpkin... in the freezer) So, yes, I am the Freezer Queen!

So, what's for dinner tonight?

Cheeseburger, oven fries and salad.

Simple yet important because it will use up many of the hamburger buns brought back from the cottage.

Now, being the reigning queen of the freezer, I've learned a trick or two. One of the best tips I can give is: when using freezer bags to preserve your food, freeze it so it is FLAT. Why? It thaws faster. I use this mostly for ground meats and marinating but also works for things like pumpkin puree. Save what is left from making Pumpkin Muffins in the freezer. Don't let it go to waste. Oh yes - don't forget to label it.

So I send you to go forth and dig to the depths of the freezer, past the shortbread from last Christmas and find a buried treasure.

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