Without it, we wouldn’t eat as well and life would be a whole lot more stressful.
In addition to my weekend shopping, prepping and cooking sessions where I focus on buying and preparing fresh, in-season produce, my freezer and my pantry are my best friends when it comes to keeping meal time stress-free.
Here is what I normally keep in the freezer:
- Bone-in chicken – I use it to make chicken broth in my slow cooker. I buy organic chicken when it’s on sale and always have some in the freezer. The other day, I came down with a bad cold and was very glad to have chicken to make some broth.
- Chicken broth – I always freeze some of the chicken broth I make to have around for an “emergency” when one of us gets sick. I also use the chicken broth in soups, stews, and sauces.
- Vegetable peels, ends, etc. – I freeze the peels, end pieces, etc. from organic vegetables in a big freezer bag. I use the peels to make vegetable stock as well as bone broth (beef or chicken).
- Pancakes – I make almond flour pancakes every few weeks and always make extra. The leftovers go in the freezer. It’s easy to take a few out for the boys’ breakfast.
- Various homemade freezer meals: beef stew, chickpea stew, kimchi stew, and various vegetable soups are some of our favorite meals from the freezer.
- Leftover rice – it’s very convenient for quick meals.
- Sourdough bread – I buy a good, four ingredient sourdough bread at the farmers market for the boys. They don’t eat a lot of bread, and I always freeze at least 2/3 of it (sliced). We defrost it a few slices at a time over the next couple of weeks.
- Frozen banana slices – I buy organic bananas at Costco and freeze most of them (sliced). I use the frozen banana slices in my green smoothies. When it’s warm out, I also enjoy eating a few slices as a little frozen treat.
- Organic frozen vegetables – peas, asparagus, etc. – great meal savers when I don’t have other veggies around.
Be well,
Andrea
