How to freeze eggplants
How to Freeze Cauliflower
How to Freeze Broccoli
How to freeze pumpkin

We will need:

Freezing container (plastic), - cling film, - scissors.

How to freeze:

1. Wrap each pancake (or two per serving) in film. 2. Place the pancakes in a freezer container. 3. Label the container (name of the dish, freezing date, expiration date).

I am not a technologist myself, so I focus on ready-made algorithms for storing frozen foods. For example, frozen pancakes with cottage cheese, which are sold in a store, can be stored - at a storage temperature no higher than minus (16 ± 1) ºС - 180 days;
- at a storage temperature not higher than minus (12 ± 1) ºС - 90 days;
- at a storage temperature not higher than minus (10 ± 1) ºС - 30 days;
- at a storage temperature not higher than minus (5 ± 1) ºС - 48 hours.
I have an Indesit refrigerator and freezer. The freezer maintains a temperature of 18 degrees, which means I can store pancakes there for almost six months. Naturally, they don’t live there for that long. I try to use all frozen foods (including meat) within a month, which is why I write the date on the lid of the container.
Regarding the loss of beneficial properties. Of course, freezing does not increase vitamins and nutrients. But if you freeze the freshest food possible, do it quickly and in airtight packaging, then losses will be minimized.

You can freeze pancakes with absolutely any filling, they store perfectly and remain just as tasty after defrosting. But you need to pay attention that onions and potatoes become tasteless after defrosting (although some people may like them, but they definitely lose their taste).

I adapted an ice tray for this purpose. Labor and time costs are minimal, and the shape is original.

Preparation:
Pack the minced meat tightly into ice cube trays. The denser, the neater our meatballs will turn out. Remove the remaining minced meat with a wide knife or spatula.
Freeze it.
After 6 hours, remove the pan from the freezer and remove the finished meatballs. To make this easier, you need to lower it into hot water for 10 seconds so that the bottom and walls of the molds are under water, and the top (where the minced meat is) is not covered with water. Then carefully insert a thin knife into the gap between the meatball and the wall of the mold, press down and remove the meatball.
Place the finished meatballs in a freezer bag or container and place them back in the freezer.
All! Now you can put them in soup, in the oven, or in a frying pan.

Ready broth

What are the proportions of water and meat? It is clear that the more meat and less water, the richer the broth. Usually take 1 kilogram of meat per 2-3 liters of water. What kind of meat? Regardless of the meat of which animal is used to cook the broth, it is desirable that it be fresh or chilled. The most delicious broths are made from fresh meat. If frozen meat is used, it cannot be thawed in water or defrosted in the microwave. This greatly deteriorates the quality of the meat. It is optimal to wash the meat with cold water and place in a closed container for 2-3 hours.
The best boiled meat in terms of taste and consistency is obtained from the rump and rump (first-grade meat). If the meat is fatty, then the floating fat should be removed from the surface with a paper towel so that the broth does not acquire an unpleasant taste of lard from prolonged cooking.

How to prepare meat for cooking? The meat must be washed and cleaned of films and tendons. There is no need to chop the meat for the broth.

It is better to cook it in one or two large pieces.

What kind of water should I put the meat in? If the goal is a tasty broth, then the meat should be placed in cold water, then the broth will be strong and rich. On the contrary, if the main goal is tasty meat, then it should be put in boiling water. The broth will be less concentrated, but the meat will remain juicy and tasty.

When to salt? You can add salt to the broth only at the very end of cooking. Salt causes premature release of meat juices, impairs the taste and reduces nutritional value.

Why skim off the foam? Before the water begins to boil, the future broth will become cloudy due to the released meat juice.

When the water begins to boil, this juice will rise to the surface in the form of foam.

If you do not remove it, then after a few minutes the foam will settle in the form of flakes to the bottom of the pan. This foam will not affect the taste of the broth, but it will significantly spoil the appearance - the broth will turn out gray and cloudy. Therefore, the moment the foam rises to the surface must be caught and removed using a slotted spoon or a wooden spoon.

How long to cook meat broth? Beef is cooked for 2-2.5 hours, pork for 2-3 hours, lamb for 1.5 hours. Meat should not be overcooked, as its taste deteriorates sharply. In addition, heat treatment of meat beyond the specified period does not improve the quality of the broth, since very little additional extractive substances are extracted and only the glutin content increases, which does not improve the taste of the broth. In the process of cooking broth, there are two stages: before and after boiling water. Before boiling, you can cover the pan and cook the meat over high heat. As soon as the water with the meat boils, reduce the heat and continue cooking over low heat and without a lid.

What can you add to the broth? There are two culinary tricks to make the broth look more appetizing and the meat more tasty. At the end of cooking the broth, you can add a little clean onion peel or peeled and halved carrots. This will give the broth a bright and beautiful golden hue.
When cooking meat, you can add a tablespoon of vinegar and lemon juice to the pan. Such a low concentration will not affect the taste of the broth itself, but will make the meat softer and tastier.
If desired, 20-30 minutes before the end of cooking, you can add roots to the broth: onions, carrots, parsley root, celery, etc. But I advise doing this only if the broth will be used immediately after cooking (for example, as a base for soup).

What to do with the broth after cooking? The water will evaporate while the broth is cooking. Therefore, in the end, for 3 liters of water you will get 1.5 liters of broth. It can be diluted again with boiled water to a volume of three liters. Remove the meat and vegetables from the broth, strain the broth through cheesecloth or a hair sieve and pour into a clean pan.

About using, storing and freezing broth.

As a rule, I divide the finished broth into two parts. I use the first part immediately, and pour the second into a liter plastic mayonnaise bucket, label the date and type of broth, and then freeze it. In order to save space in the freezer, I freeze the concentrated broth, without diluting it with water (this can be done immediately before preparing the desired dish). I defrost it either in the microwave or directly in a saucepan over low heat (if I’m making soup). While the broth is defrosting, I have time to peel and chop the carrot potatoes

After defrosting, the broth tastes no different from freshly prepared broth. Having ready-made broth in the freezer greatly simplifies kitchen life: you can always quickly prepare a delicious soup or use it to prepare a second dish.

One week ago, while making soup, I realized that all the ingredients wouldn’t fit into the pan. And since the two of us couldn’t eat a lot of soup, I poured part of the pot into a plastic bucket. What was drained turned out to be: rich broth with meat + freshly thrown chopped potatoes. Then I added fried onions and carrots and froze it all together. Today we had very little time to prepare lunch. I remembered about the preparation. I diluted the defrosted semi-finished product with water and added cabbage. Alya, in just 10 minutes of cooking, the soup is ready. And just like freshly brewed. So you can add whatever you want to such a preparation, according to the recipe for what should happen.

How long can broth be stored frozen?

Answer: at a temperature of -18 (home freezer) for up to 6 months. But I usually use it 1-2 months in advance, since we eat soups often.

Summer greens grown under the sun are tastier and healthier than winter greens grown in greenhouses under lamps.

It is very convenient to freeze greens into cubes. Unlike the “bundle” freezing method, before freezing into cubes you need to tinker a little, but after that you don’t need to do anything.
For example, when preparing soup, you can take a cube and, without defrosting, throw it into boiling water - a summer aroma and taste is guaranteed.

Everything you need to freeze greens
Parsley - 1 bunch
Dill - 1 bunch
Green onion - 1 bunch
Water - ½ cup
Form for freezing ice. Silicone is best, but “Soviet” plastic is also suitable. If there is no mold, you can use inserts from a box of chocolates.
The proportions and composition of greens may differ for each housewife. You can freeze each type of greens separately, or you can, as I prefer to do, make assorted greens.
Preparation:
First, put the kettle on the fire.
While the kettle is boiling, wash and chop the greens. The smaller the better.
Mix different types of greens in one bowl.
Transfer the greens to a colander and pour boiling water over them. Let the water drain immediately. The greens should be cooked for a few seconds for one simple reason - this will make it easier to press them into cubes.
Under the influence of boiling water, the leaves will become soft and the volume will decrease by 3-4 times.
This means that you can fit 3-4 times more greens into the molds than without heat treatment.
Transfer the greens to an ice-freezing tray.
We compact the cubes as much as possible using our fingers. You need to pour water into each cell so that it completely covers the greens. Place the form in the freezer. Once the greens are frozen, you can remove the cubes. If freezing took place in silicone form, then this will be easy to do. If it is in plastic, then the bottom of the mold can be doused with hot water (so that it does not get on the greens themselves) and using a knife (squeeze it into the gap between the wall of the mold and the edge of the cube) remove the cube. Place the green cubes in a separate bag and store at least until next summer. Bon appetit!

The easiest and fastest way is with a bunch. After defrosting, the leaves do not turn into green mush, but retain their structure.

Unlike fresh, thawed parsley leaves are much softer. You can take the bunch out of the freezer, cut off as much parsley as you need with a knife, and hide the rest again.

Parsley recipe for the winter
We will need:
Parsley - 1 bunch
Plastic bag - 1 pc.
Preparation:
Greens cannot be washed after freezing. Therefore, this procedure must be done before freezing - thoroughly rinse the parsley.
Hang the bundle upside down to dry.
Gather the greens into a bunch (tie the cuttings at the base with a thread or tie them with a thin elastic band).
Once the parsley is dry, cut off any excess cuttings.
Place the bundle in a plastic bag and squeeze out the air with your hands. Place the package in the freezer.
Frozen parsley can be stored for a long time - until next summer.
Bon appetit!

this vegetable is cheapest in mid-August.
Frozen pepper
The photo shows already frozen peppers that I took out of the freezer. When frozen, peppers do not lose their shape, do not stick together during freezing, and do not spread out after freezing. I'll tell you how.
How to freeze peppers
We will need:
Bell pepper - required amount
Cutting boards
4 plastic bags
Freezing container
Knife


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Preparation:
Everything is very simple. You need to wash the pepper, trim the stem, remove the core and seeds. It is very important for the quality of future freezing to get rid of water droplets on the surface and inside the pepper.
Therefore, cut the pepper lengthwise and dry it with paper napkins.
Cut the pepper into strips.
I immediately make small strips, which are convenient to add to soup or vegetable stews.
Place the chopped peppers on cutting boards and place in the freezer until completely frozen. Pack the frozen peppers in 2-3 plastic bags and place for storage in a freezer container with a lid. One bag or just a container is not enough, since pepper, even when frozen, has a pronounced odor that can be transferred to other frosts. Why do we need parsley with the smell of pepper? That's all. Now you can take out the pepper as needed and add it to different dishes. For example, frozen peppers make excellent chicken paprikash, vegetable stew with chicken hearts, cold tomato juice soup, pots with meat and vegetables, etc.

In principle, cucumbers can be frozen. However, it is impossible to eat them after this: they become lethargic, watery, tasteless... But the fresh cucumber smell does not disappear anywhere, which means frozen cucumbers can be used. You just need to know how and in what dishes.
For freezing cucumbers, it is advisable to take salad varieties with hard, hard skin. They should be large and long.
Freezing is simple: wrap in cling film and place in a plastic bag or freezer container.
Can be stored for up to 9 months.
Usage: Without defrosting, grate cucumbers on a fine grater to form shavings. These shavings can be added to salads to give them a fresh, cucumber flavor. For example, it goes great in a salad of fresh cabbage, radishes, onions, feta cheese, eggs, avocado, etc.

In summer, zucchini costs pennies and is sold everywhere. But in winter it’s almost impossible to find them, and they cost as much as a Boeing wing. The conclusion is simple - we stock up on zucchini in the summer.

Freezing zucchini

There are several ways to freeze zucchini:
- raw chopped;
- raw, grated;
- heat-treated and pureed.

The method that's right for you depends on what you plan to do with the vegetables after defrosting. If you typically add zucchini to stews or soups, freezing in cubes is the way to go. If you like a variety of zucchini pancakes, it will be more convenient to freeze grated zucchini. If you use this vegetable primarily for baby food, freeze the zucchini as a puree.

Total cooking time - 10 minutes
Cost in August - 1 zucchini - 0.4 $ (2,500 BYR)
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How to freeze zucchini

To freeze zucchini we will need:
Zucchini - 1 pc. It is best to take a young vegetable without seeds. Its skin should be thin. It’s easy to check the age of a zucchini: just run your fingernail along its skin. If marks are easily left on it, then the zucchini is young and suitable for freezing.
Dill - a bunch. You can also use parsley, but for my taste, dill goes better with zucchini than any other greens.
Plastic bag and freezer container.

The first method is freezing in sliced ​​form.

Freezing zucchini is easy. My little trick is freezing vegetables along with chopped herbs. Zucchini absorbs the aroma of dill well, so any dish with them becomes even tastier. In winter, frozen zucchini can be used to prepare vegetable stews and soups.

We will need

Wash the zucchini and dry thoroughly with a paper towel. Cut off the skin. If seeds have already begun to form in the zucchini, remove the inside.

Cut the zucchini into cubes approximately 1.5 x 1.5 cm.

Finely chop the dill and sprinkle it over the zucchini.

Place the chopped zucchini in a bag. I freeze in small portions, for one time only. Remove excess air from each bag if possible and place in a freezer container. In principle, you can do without a container; this will not affect the taste of the zucchini. Containers are needed only to maintain order in the freezer: after all, bags of vegetables take up more space than containers folded in neat rows.

Place in the freezer and forget for several months

The second method is freezing in grated form.

If you often make zucchini pancakes, this method is for you. In addition, this method of freezing greatly saves space in the freezer.

Grate the zucchini on a coarse grater and squeeze out as much liquid as possible using gauze.

Place in freezer bags, flatten and remove air from the bags. Cover tightly and freeze.

The third method is freezing in the form of puree.

If you plan to use zucchini for baby food, the most effective way is to freeze it as a puree. To do this, you need to cook the zucchini (any of your usual methods will do: boiling, steaming or baking in the oven): I boil for 10-15 minutes in salted water.

Then puree the zucchini using an immersion or regular blender, pour into small containers and freeze.

If your portions of complementary foods are still very small, or you add zucchini puree to other vegetables or meat, it is convenient to freeze the puree in containers for freezing ice: put it in molds, put it in the freezer, the frozen cubes can then be put into a bag.

Before I tell you how to properly freeze eggplants, I will tell you how not to do it. The first year I experimented with the freezer, I simply cut the eggplants into cubes and placed them in freezer containers. In my naivety, I thought that freezing would destroy the bitterness that fresh eggplants contain. Nothing like that - the eggplants remained bitter even after freezing. Threw it away.

The second time I decided to be more cunning. Before freezing, I kept the eggplants in salt water for half an hour and only then froze them. Yes, they stopped being bitter. But after defrosting they turned into a gelatinous, unappetizing mass. I couldn’t figure out what to do with this mush and threw it away too.

The conclusion is simple. Before freezing, you need to get rid of not only the bitterness, but also the excess water in the eggplants. I'll tell you how.

Frozen eggplant

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Place the eggplants directly in the peel and with the stalk in a frying pan with a thick bottom and fry over very low heat until soft, first on one side, then on the other. No need to use oil.

The eggplants should bake in their own skin.

This method of processing will relieve them of both bitterness and excess water.

Well-baked eggplants part with it without resistance.

Then I wrap each eggplant in cling film.

After that, I put them in a freezer container and place them in the freezer. This method is very convenient: as needed, you can take out the eggplants one at a time and prepare the desired dish from them.

It is optimal to prepare eggplant caviar from defrosted vegetables. Chop them finely and add them to the tomatoes. The taste will be like a summer dish - with a slight smoky aroma. I made it last time for New Year’s - the salad “disappeared” in five minutes. For some reason, eggplants seem tastier in January than in summer.

With the onset of cold weather, cold soups, okroshka and light puree soups practically disappear from my menu. They are replaced by hot and thick dishes: cabbage soup, borscht, solyanka, rassolniki, etc. I noticed that to prepare most “winter” soups you need to do the same operation: cook meat broth and fry onions and carrots (parsley root, celery or parsnips) in vegetable oil. On average, the soup takes about 2 hours to cook. Of these, it takes one and a half hours to complete these two operations. If you optimize these two processes, then even a very slow housewife will take no more than half an hour to prepare soup. How?

We have already dealt with the preparation of broth, its freezing and storage (using broth prepared for future use gives +1 hour of free time). Now it's time for frying. Everything is simple here - you need to do a lot of it at once so that it is enough for several times.
I calculated that preparing a universal soup dressing in bulk (for six large pots of soup at once, takes 30 minutes), but saves two and a half hours of invaluable time in the near future.

As for me, I'd rather spend those two hours walking with my baby than chopping onions and peeling carrots. And you?

Soup dressing

Total and active cooking time - 30 minutes
Calorie content per 100 g - 236 kcal
Quantity: 6 large pots of soup

How to prepare universal soup dressing and how to store it
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Ingredients:
Onion - 2 pcs.
Carrots - 2 pcs.
Celery root - 1 piece (small or ½ medium)
Bell pepper - 1 pc. (in winter I use pre-frozen and chopped)
Garlic - 4 cloves
Tomato paste - 4 tbsp. (or tomato sauce 6 tbsp.)
Parsley - a bunch,
Dill - bunch
Vegetable oil - 1 cup (you will need a lot)
Salt - 3 tbsp.

Preparation:

1. Peel the carrots (4 minutes).
2. Pour 1/3 cup of vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat over low heat (1 minute).

3. Peel the onion, chop finely and fry in vegetable oil (4 minutes).

All frying is done without a lid over low heat.
4. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Add to the onion and mix. Fry. (4 minutes).

5. Three carrots on a coarse grater and add to the frying pan

Add another 1/3 cup of oil and fry, stirring occasionally (5 minutes).
6. Peel the celery and grate it on a coarse grater.

Add celery and the remaining oil to the frying pan, stir and fry (5 minutes).

7. Peel the pepper, remove the seeds and stem. Cut into cubes.

Add together with tomato paste to the frying pan, mix and fry (3 minutes).

8. Add finely chopped greens, mix, salt and fry (2 minutes).

Add salt to taste, and then the same amount twice more. It takes me 3 tablespoons of salt. It’s okay that the dressing will be over-salted - it will only be stored better, and the future soup does not need to be re-salted.
All is ready. It took us almost 30 minutes to prepare the soup dressing.

After the dressing has cooled, it can be placed in clean glass jars (mine fits into one liter jar). Fill the centimeter remaining to the edge of the jar with vegetable oil and place the jar in the refrigerator. In this form it will be stored for up to two weeks. If part of the dressing is used, then the top layer in the jar must be coated with oil again.

Usually in cutlet recipes they write something like: mix all the ingredients, form cutlets and fry in a frying pan. But before frying, there are little tricks that will help make the cutlets airy and juicy.

Ingredients:

Minced meat - 1 kg. (pork or pork + beef, or pork + chicken, etc.)

Onion - 2 pcs.

Loaf - 1/4 pcs.

Milk - 100 ml (to soften the loaf)

Firstly, for minced cutlets it is better to take different types of meat. For example, pork and beef, pork and chicken. This will make the cutlets much tastier. The meat should be cleaned of veins and films.

Secondly, it is best to grind the minced meat in a meat grinder not once, but 2-3 times. To make this easier, the meat can be frozen a little beforehand. Owners of powerful modern meat grinders can do without this. The very first piece that falls into the meat grinder should be without films, then all the remaining pieces will be easy to scroll through.

Thirdly, the cutlets will be juicier if you add vegetables (onions, carrots, garlic, zucchini, potatoes, etc.) to the minced meat. It is best not to grind the vegetables in a meat grinder with minced meat, but grind them separately in a blender or grate them on the finest grater. The crumb of white bread soaked in cold milk is added for softness.

Fourthly, to add airiness and saturation with oxygen, the minced meat should be kneaded well with your hands, and when forming a cutlet, toss it from hand to hand several times. To prevent the minced meat from sticking to your hands, you can wet your hands with cold water.

Fifthly, in order to prevent the breading from falling off the cutlets when frying, it is better to put them in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

And yet, in many recipes, eggs are a mandatory component of cutlets. However, it is better to do without them, as they make the cutlets tougher.

That's all the tricks that will help you make minced meat for tasty, juicy and fluffy cutlets.

Spinach is firmly on the list of foods that my family eats quite often. Alas, the season for fresh spinach is quite short, so you have to be content with frozen store-bought spinach, or frozen at home. The second, of course, is preferable, since I know for sure that the frozen green mass is spinach, and not a mixture of dandelions and quinoa.

Frozen spinach
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So how do you freeze spinach at home?

First, you need Spinach - the required amount.
It can be collected from the garden or (as in my case) bought at the market. Spinach leaves should be collected before the flowering period begins (before the flower shoots appear).

Preparation:

We wash the spinach thoroughly, each leaf separately, to get rid of fine sand and dust. This is a rather labor-intensive process, but the result is worth it.

Washed and processed spinach leaves

We cut off the hard cuttings and throw them away. Cut the remaining spinach leaves into strips about 1 cm wide, then place them in a colander, pour boiling water over them and let the excess water drain.

Boiled spinach

Place the spinach directly in a colander in the refrigerator for 1 hour (but not in the freezer!). Only after all the water has drained, press the spinach with your hands and transfer it to a container for freezing or a plastic bag.

I put just enough spinach in the bag to make enough for a serving of soup. This is very convenient: when there is a need, you can quickly defrost a small “bag” and cook soup. I put exactly 100 grams of spinach in small containers (in the first photo) and use their contents in cases where a small amount of spinach is needed. You can store it for a long time, all winter.

I apply the same freezing principle to other greens that I harvest in the summer (parsley, dill, sorrel, etc.)

Frozen spinach can be used to make many delicious dishes, such as spinach soup, mushrooms with spinach, and chicken and spinach cannelloni.

Like

User: | May 5th, 2014 | 3:09 pm

delicious

Vanya: | March 5th, 2014 | 8:24 am

Original!)

Olga: | September 18th, 2013 | 10:16 am

Thanks for the idea and for the site))) The meatballs are frozen. I bought ice molds in the shape of hearts))) It turned out beautiful too! :-)

Anonymous: | November 8th, 2012 | 3:46 pm

po moemu tak bol’she vozni…500 g farsha na raz frikadelek.

Maria: | October 27th, 2012 | 1:28 pm

Everything is simply ingenious!!! Great idea, noted it!

Hilola: | October 27th, 2012 | 11:33 am

Can it be stored in an ice cube tray?

Answer: no, it is not advisable, since the meatballs “on top” will get an “icy burn”. It is better to immediately remove and store in special containers or plastic bags.

Julia: | October 24th, 2012 | 9:23 pm

Super!!! I will definitely do the same. I’ve also gotten used to freezing borscht dressing in small containers (the kind salads are sold in). just throw the contents into the broth with cooked potatoes and cabbage and no more fuss...

Ekaterina: | August 30th, 2012 | 12:15 pm

Cool idea! Thank you! I’m sure my little daughter will really like these meatballs, the main thing is that they are quick and original.

Bater: | June 21st, 2012 | 5:09 pm

Oh, is it possible to make such preparations with onions, garlic and spices? Like little cutlets? Will freezing ruin them?

Answer: I wouldn’t recommend using onions and garlic. Since the meatballs are small and compact only on one side, when other ingredients are added they become more crumbly and can become mushy when boiling or stewing. A way out is to form such cutlets not in ice trays, but in larger molds (for example, for baking small muffins).

Olli: | June 21st, 2012 | 9:26 am

Great idea. I thought about this too, I even wanted to suggest it to you, but I was embarrassed. After all, these myths in cooking can no longer breathe. Battles are fought to the death. And it would be nice to just have an exchange of opinions, well, even if it’s a debate, but it’s correct and evidence-based. There is no insult, no desire to humiliate the interlocutor, and what I “love” most of all is the peremptory nature.

Olli: | June 21st, 2012 | 7:05 am

But what a “public outcry”!
Such small meatballs and such “big” conversations. The recipe turned out to be very helpful. I was just making preparations yesterday. Very simple and easy. I can’t even believe that I got rid of this boredom. I, an unprincipled woman, snatched a new spatula from my husband. Well, I’m such a thief (it’s okay that he once painted a door with my brush for greasing baked goods, but now I have a silicone brush).

Dasha, you are a genius! Thank you.

Answer: I read these “battles” about frozen meat and decided that it was time to write another article on debunking myths. We've already dealt with that, too. Queue for frozen meat.
I'm glad, Vera, that the idea was useful to you!

Anonymous: | June 21st, 2012 | 5:53 dp

cool, so cool, I’ll definitely try to do this when the opportunity arises

Sveta: | June 20th, 2012 | 3:47 pm

Wow! simple, fast, convenient to store! thanks to Svetlana for the idea, and to you for sharing

• - Bread -

  You can save excess bread by putting it in the freezer. This should be done not after a couple of days, when the bread begins to go stale, but immediately on the day of purchase, while the loaf is still fresh. Before freezing, bread should be sliced ​​and wrapped tightly in cling film or placed in a resealable plastic bag, removing as much air as possible. Take the bread out of the freezer several hours before use and leave it to thaw naturally at room temperature. The bread is defrosted directly in a bag or plastic wrap - they are removed after the bread is defrosted.

• - Greenery -

  The freezer is a proven way to extend the life of salad greens like spinach or kale. The greens should be washed, allowed to dry completely, and then cut. Place the prepared greens into zip-lock bags or containers, label them and put them in the freezer. Then all you have to do is thaw it, which will significantly reduce the cooking time.

• - Fat -

  Any fat remaining in the pan after cooking, such as from frying bacon, can be frozen. Let the fat cool slightly, then strain it through a fine sieve and pour into an ice tray. Frozen cubes must be placed in a resealable bag. When you need fat, simply toss a cube into a frying pan or Dutch oven to add extra flavor to sautéed vegetables, meat stews, and many other dishes.

• — Citrus fruits —

  One of the favorite hacks for cooks who often have to deal with grated citrus zest is to freeze lemons and limes in the freezer. It is easier to grate the zest of frozen citrus fruits without touching the white peel, which gives unnecessary bitterness.

• - Meat -

  A couple of pieces of meat in the freezer, put aside in reserve, will never be superfluous. To avoid getting tasteless biomass from a cold preparation, the meat must be properly frozen and then defrosted. In order to reduce the loss of taste, meat should be divided into several small pieces before freezing and each placed in a separate bag. This way, you don't have to defrost the whole piece, and you can take as much meat as you need at any time. This freezing method is also suitable for large quantities of minced meat, which can be divided into several cutlets before freezing.

• — Bouillon cube —

  Homemade bouillon cubes are tastier and certainly healthier than store-bought ones. All you need to prepare it is take 1 kg. various vegetables, except those that have too intense a taste like broccoli and cauliflower, herbs, herbs and garlic to taste, put them in a blender and mix. Transfer the pureed mass to a non-stick frying pan, add 100-200 g. salt and cook the vegetables for about 20 minutes, uncovered, until the water from the vegetables has evaporated. Add butter to frozen cubes just before use.

• — Fragrance oil —

  Butter with herbs can enhance the taste of a dish, so you should always keep it on hand, or rather, in the freezer. In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil and mix it with chopped woody herbs such as oregano, thyme, rosemary. Keep the oil on the heat for about 5 minutes until it absorbs the aroma and begins to bubble. Cool the flavored oil and pour into an ice cube tray. Place the tray in a bag and freeze, and after the cubes are frozen, transfer them to a container. One such cube can make the usual mashed potatoes or steamed beans sound new.

• — Nuts —

  We put a frying pan with seeds or nuts on the fire, got distracted by a phone call and slightly overcooked them - well, it doesn’t happen to anyone. Luckily, nuts and seeds can still be saved. You just need to put them in the freezer, the temperature of which will stop the “roasting” in a matter of seconds, keeping everything under the shell intact.

Hello, dear friends!

Every housewife has ice molds at her disposal, which are most often used for their intended purpose. Ice cubes are added for cooling to your favorite drinks and cocktails, improving their taste and creating a pleasant clink in the glasses.

It turns out that such a useful device can be successfully used for numerous preparations, which can then be conveniently used in preparing delicious dishes in a minimum amount of time. So, today I’ll tell you about what can be frozen in ice trays.

Original ice

Vary your drinks. One berry or piece of fruit is placed in each compartment of the mold, filled with boiled water and frozen.

Sliced ​​pieces of kiwi, citrus, peach, melon, mango, as well as whole raspberries, strawberries, mulberries, currants, cherries (pitted), blueberries, and blackberries look best in an original ice frame.

Meat cubes

Everyone's favorite meatballs don't have to be round. Square pieces of minced meat look much more piquant. Having semi-finished minced meat products in stock, you can always quickly prepare a delicious dish, especially when time before the arrival of guests or relatives is limited.

You will need half a kilogram of minced meat (combined or one type of meat), a quarter glass of whole milk, the crumb of a quarter of a loaf, spicy seasonings for cutlets (to taste) and a little salt. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and fill the ice trays with the mixture. This amount of minced meat fits into three standard forms.

The meat preparation should be placed as tightly as possible so that the finished meatballs are smooth and whole. The remaining minced meat is removed from above using a spatula or wooden spatula. Ice cubes are frozen for about 7 hours, after which they are removed from the mold and placed in tight plastic bags with a zipper. In this form, minced meat can be stored for several months. There is no need to defrost the cubes before adding them to soup, broth or boiling water.

Tomato ice

It is not necessary to use tomato paste or open a can of juice to prepare borscht, cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers and zucchini. Frozen tomato puree with a small amount of bell pepper is perfect for these dishes. Preparing tomatoes in the form of puree will take a minimum amount of time, unlike rolling the juice into jars.

Remove the seeds from the washed sweet peppers, divide them into several parts, cut the tomato fruits in half, and remove the place where the stalk attaches. Place vegetables in a food processor and puree. Pour the resulting liquid slurry into standard ice molds, freeze, and then remove and transfer to plastic bags for long-term storage.

Tomatoes can be stored in the freezer for up to 8 months. Added to hot dishes at the end of cooking. For every 300 grams of tomatoes, take one medium sweet pepper. You can also freeze pure tomato ice.

Cubes of spicy herbs with garlic

There are several ways to freeze greens. This recipe allows you to quickly prepare delicious spicy seasonings for almost any dish. Basil, coriander, parsley, arugula (you can take all the herbs in a mixture or freeze each type separately) are washed in running water, excess moisture is allowed to drain, the rough parts of the plants are removed, finely chopped, mixed with crushed or pressed garlic, add a little olive oil oils and mix thoroughly.

The proportions for seasoning are arbitrary. The prepared green mass is compacted tightly using a teaspoon or coffee spoon into each compartment of the ice mold. Frozen cubes are stored in a plastic bag. At the end of cooking the soup or stewing the meat, add 1-3 cubes to the pan without defrosting. The amazing aroma of garlic and herbs improves the taste of any dish.

Of course, that's not all, What can you freeze in ice cube trays?, but these freezing recipes, amazing in their simplicity, help experienced housewives to always cook deliciously and quickly, pampering guests at home and loved ones. Bon appetit! See you!

Sometimes you have a great opportunity to buy a good piece of fresh meat. There may be too much of this meat to prepare one dish. Therefore, housewives often turn the meat into minced meat and try to freeze it. Read this article about how to do this correctly so as not to lose taste and save time on defrosting.

Minced meat suitable for freezing is the one that was prepared on the same day. That is, it should be fresh, without a rotten smell.

It is better not to freeze minced meat purchased at the store at all. If, however, such a need exists, then check its expiration date.

There is an opinion that it is best to freeze only minced meat, without any additives in the form of onions or bread soaked in milk. It is worth approaching this issue wisely, because frozen cutlets are sold in the store with all the additives. Of course, if it is possible to freeze minced meat without fillers, then it is better to do so.

Minced meat without additives behaves better when defrosted. In addition, a dish prepared from defrosted minced meat with the addition of fresh onions and spices will be much tastier, but you should not exclude the possibility of freezing minced meat with impurities.

How to freeze minced meat: methods

Freezing minced meat in bags

Freezing minced meat in one large piece is extremely inconvenient. To defrost a small part later, you will need to sweat, because a piece that has set in the cold is practically impossible to cut.

To avoid this, you can freeze the minced meat in bags for exactly one serving. To do this, approximately 200-300 grams of minced meat are plucked from a large piece, rolled into balls and frozen in the freezer. If necessary, take out one or two balls and use them in cooking.

However, it is worth noting that minced meat frozen in this way takes quite a long time to defrost, in order to speed up the process as much as possible, the minced meat is flattened before freezing.

To do this, the minced meat is placed in a bag. The minced meat in the bag is pressed with the palm of your hand so that a thin layer is formed, no more than 2 centimeters thick. To further achieve the fastest defrosting of the workpiece, you can use a rolling pin. A thin layer of minced meat defrosts 2 times faster.

How to freeze minced meat in portions

If, in the future, you may need very small pieces of minced meat, then press the finished layer into pieces with a knife or thin stick. In the future, it is very convenient to break such minced meat into separate slices and use only the required amount of minced meat in a dish.

You can learn more about this method by watching the video from the Nestlé channel. Healthy choice!” - Minced meat that is not afraid of frost!

How to freeze minced meat in molds

Another way to freeze minced meat is to freeze it in ice cube trays. To do this, line the container with cling film, and place a small amount of minced meat in each well. Cover the top of the mold with the remaining film and send the workpiece to the freezer compartment of the refrigerator.

See the video from the Morning-Inter channel - How to properly freeze minced meat

An original modernization of the above method is the freezing of minced meat in silicone molds of various themes. For example, minced meat for Valentine's Day can be frozen in the shape of hearts. And so that the desired appearance is not lost before frying the molding minced meat, the frozen figures should first be immersed in boiling water.

How long does minced meat last in the freezer?

Undoubtedly, storing frozen minced meat in the freezer is very convenient, but we should not forget about the shelf life of this product. Thus, minced meat that is packed as tightly as possible can be stored in the freezer for up to 4 months, while minced meat that has periodic contact with fresh air is stored for no more than 2-3 months.

It is important to periodically inspect frozen pieces of minced meat. And use the workpiece in a timely manner, preventing it from weathering.