Living like an Ant in a Grasshopper world

Frugal Food: How Long Will Food Keep in the Freezer?

July 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

This is post #3 in the Frugal Food: Freezer series. Be sure to check out post #1 “Frugal Food: Foods You Can’t Freeze” and post #2 “Frugal Foods: How to Package Food for the Freezer“.

Frozen vegetables

While storing food longer than the times listed in the guide below won’t affect food safety it will affect taste, nutrients and texture of the foods so it’s recommended that you label all foods in your freezer with the name of the item and the date it was placed into the freezer.

I personally prefer and upright style freezer as it’s easier to organize and find things and there’s less chance that items will get buried at the bottom of the freezer never to been seen for years. Remember, it’s not frugal to freeze food if you leave it in there so long that’s inedible!

Fruits and Vegetables 1 year
Butter, salted 1 year
Butter, unsalted 3 months
Cheese 3months
Milk up to 6 weeks
Margarine 6 months
Egg, whites 3 months
Egg, yolks mixed with 1/2tsp salt per yolk 3 months
Fish, uncooked 2 months
Shellfish 2 to 4 months
Beef, uncooked, roast 6 to 12 months
Beef, uncooked, steak 6 to 12 months
Beef, uncooked, ground 3 months
Lamb, uncooked 6 to 9 months
Pork, uncooked, roast or chops 3 to 6 months
Poultry, uncooked, pieces 6 months
Poultry, uncooked, whole 1 year
Beans, Lentils or Rice, cooked 3 to 6 months
Casseroles 3 months
Cooked meats 2 months
Soups and Stews 4 months
Breads, yeast, baked or unbaked 8 months
Cakes, Cookies, Sweet Breads, Muffins 4 months
Pastry Crust, unbaked 2 months
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Frugal Food: How to Package Food for the Freezer

July 16, 2009 By 1 Comment

This is post #2 in the Frugal Food: Freezer series. Be sure to check out post #1 “Frugal Food: Foods You Can’t Freeze“.

Plastic freezer containers
Wrapping and packaging foods for the freezer can seem intimidating at the beginning. Should you use butcher paper? Zippered freezer bags, or plastic storage containers? Which packaging should I use for which foods? How much food can I freeze at once?

First a few quick freezing tips:

  • Make sure the freezer is set at 0F or -18C or lower.
  • If you plan to freeze a lot of food at the same time turn the thermometre of the freezer to it’s coldest setting for the day before.
  • Don’t try to freeze to much at once. Try to freeze no more than 3lbs (1.5kg) of food per cubic-foot capacity of your freezer within a 24 hour period.
  • Freeze in usable quantities. If you have a household of 2 people it doesn’t make sense to freeze a container with enough to feed 8 people. Think about how you’ll use things before you freeze them and package accordingly.
  • Make sure you use only vaporproof/moistureproof packaging that is designed for use in the freezer. Packaging should be able to withstand freezing and thawing without breaking or cracking. If you choose glass containers make sure they are freezer-proof.
  • Square container take up less space and stack better than round containers.

There are two types of packaging for freezing foods: rigid (best for foods like soups, stews, casseroles, etc.) and flexible (best for firmer foods like fruits, vegetables, meats, etc.). Either type should be vaporproof, leakproof, durable and able to withstand freezing temperatures.

Packaging meat & fish for the freezer: While you can freeze meat and fish in their grocery store wrappings for short term freezing (up to 1 month) meat and fish are best wrapped in butcher paper to freeze. I probably should take a bunch of photos of the process of wrapping meat but I’m not one to reinvent the wheel if I don’t have to LOL. Here’s a great tutorial on wrapping meat for the freezer with nice illustrations.

Next we’ll talk about how long foods can be kept in the freezer before they start losing flavour, nutritional value and texture.

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Frugal Food: Foods You Can't Freeze

July 15, 2009 By 2 Comments

Freezer filled with foodOver the next few weeks Frugal Family Life will be doing a series on using your freezer to store food and save money.

I figured I’d start with a post on what not to freeze. For many years I was pretty much afraid to freeze anything that wasn’t actually bought in the frozen food aisle of the grocery store because I wasn’t sure what was safe to freeze and what wasn’t.

Over the years I’ve learned that there’s really not much you can’t freeze and I can honestly say that my upright freezer is the best investment I’ve ever made. It’s paid for itself several times over in savings over the years enabling me to take advantage of sales, freeze fresh produce (some that I’d grown myself) and allowed me to batch cook meals that could be reheated quickly on busy nights. I’d give up a lot before I’d give up my freezer!

So here’s a list of what you can’t freeze and why.

  • Cooked egg whites – they become rubbery and just unappealing. (Good news though. Uncooked egg whites freeze well!)
  • Mayonnaise – it separates when it thaws.
  • Sour Cream – it separates and becomes watery. (You can still use it if it’s well stirred into a recipe though. It won’t hurt you.)
  • Potatoes – they go dark and can be mushy. (I have seen mashed potato and scalloped potato recipes turn out fine after freezing though. Again – it’s not that it’s unsafe, more that it’s unappetizing.)
  • Crisp fruits and vegetables such as melon, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, etc. – they get really soggy and limp and not appetizing at all.

That’s it. Not all foods freeze and thaw with great results but pretty much anything you can think of can be frozen. Now it’s just a matter of defrosting your freezer, taking out the shrunken ice cubes and the freezer burned fish your Uncle Todd caught on that fishing trip 4 summers ago and start using that freezer to save money and plan great meals!

Next we’ll talk about how to wrap foods to keep them safe from freezer burn and odors.

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How Green Are You?

April 2, 2009 By 1 Comment
Water

Water

Earth Day is April 22 and I’ll be featuring some ideas on how to live a more frugal, more environmentally friendly life. Sometimes it’s the small actions that can make the biggest difference.

  • Turn if off. Is your TV turned off? Guess again. Even when turned off most electronics use power. To save energy (and money!) unplug electronics when not in use or plug into a power bar and turn the bar off.
  • Adust the temperature on your thermostat. Adjusting the temperature just 4 degrees will save you money and reduce wasted energy. Adjust as you leave the house for the day or better yet install a programmable thermostat to adjust the temperature automatically based on the time of day.
  • Recycle aluminum cans. Recycling cans only uses 5% of the energy needed to manufacture an aluminum can from scratch!
  • Wash clothing with cold water. About 90% of the energy used to wash clothes goes to heating the water. Look for laundry detergents designed for cold water washes.
  • Hang your clothes to dry. For those of you, like me, who can’t hang laundry on a line to dry (I live in an apartment building) you can still use drying racks or hang clothes on hangers on the shower rod. I take most of our clothing out of the washer, hang on hangers and hang them on the shower rod and the clothes are dry within hours. Just be careful not to overcrowd them. Works like a charm :)
  • Say No! to bottled water. Invest $30 and buy a Brita filter water pitcher. Not only will you save money on bottled water purchases but you’ll stop hundreds of plastic bottles from hitting landfills and reduce the energy used recycling plastic – not to mention the toxis released.

These are just a few of the quick and easy small ways we can reduce our environmental impact while saving some money along the way. Makes cents to me.

What small actions have you taken to be a little greener?

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Frugal Kids – Host a Used Skate Exchange

October 26, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Growing up in rural Nova Scotia, Canada I learned to skate almost as early as I learned to walk. Skating was a daily activity on local ponds, lakes and the arena in town.

Each year the parents at our school would organize a “used skate exchange” day. Everyone brought in last year’s skates, which were now too small, and found skates just the right size.

Volunteers coordinated tables by size so it was easy to find where to drop off your old skates and find your “new” skates.

At the same time there would usually be a bake sale, hot chocolate or cider to buy and at times even a craft sale.

Not only was it a great way to get new skates without having to buy new it was a great way to raise funds for school projects.

These days we’re often too quick to throw out the old and buy new. This year why not organize a skate exchange instead? This could work great for schools, community centers, churches, etc.

What are you waiting for?

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