What is needed to have a well stocked freezer?

[lilmomma]

I usually have some corned beef to make New England dinner in my crock pot. I have a pork roast or ribs to throw in the crock pot with bbk sauce or just garlic, s and p. I have chicken that I put in the crock pot with veggies and Italian dressing. Sometimes I have steaks. I usually have some frozen seafood like shrimp, mussels or fish fillets, but I am getting away from those because they get freezer burn too easily. I have bread, frozen spinach, corn, peas. I have frozen berries. I have assorted ice cream pints and novelties. Occasionally, I have frozen pizza or a pot pie. I have frozen leftovers like homemade stuffed cabbage and lasagna.

WHat do you consider "must have on hand" items for the freezer?

[sablemerle]

I stock up based on what's on sale, but generally, frozen vegetables, butter (when on sale I stock up), meats on sale, and a recent addition: pre made empanada dough. I'm not very skilled at making pastry, but even if I were, these are a lifesaver for using up leftovers. Just take whatever meat, potato, veg scraps, etc., season, stuff in an ampanada shell and bake. Homemade hot pockets.

[wontonfm]

butter
various types of fish fillets
shrimp
stock (chicken and/or beef)
frozen peas and corn
bacon (frozen by portion size)
pine nuts
ground meat

WON
http://whatsonmyplate.net

[montrealwaitress]

old bread - for crumbs or bread pudding
homemade veggie stock - in yogurt containers - perfect amount for risotto or soup
vegetable trimmings for future stocks
flax seeds
frozen fruit (for smoothies)
frozen yogurt
homemade ginger/garlic paste
homemade cookie dough
lots of ice - for the bourbon
vodka
gin

right now i also have some bean soup and some lentil burgers that i made and froze.

we live in the city and don't have room for a deep freezer. i try not to imagine all the things i'd keep frozen on hand if i did!

[Mike In Concan]

Barley, Spelt berries, fish fillets, whole chicken, bone in chicken thighs, bag thighs, wings, bag shrimp, cut and packaged beef tender loin, hot dogs, pork ring sausage, pork short ribs, pork loin, Hatch chilis, corned beef brisket and at least one duck.

[ultimatepotato]

I live in a shared house - 4 adults, 1 average sized fridge with a 3-drawer freezer at the bottom. Not a lot of storage space, but I take up most of one of the drawers. What I have now:

Chricken breasts
Prawns
Peas
Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Yoghurt
Four cheese ravioli
Shu mai dumplings

If I had space I'd like to always have a couple of litres of stock, a lot of ice, a bottle of Finlandia, some ice blocks (popsicles), frozen berries for smoothies and tipsy berry desserts, lemon juice frozen in cubes, a couple of pizzas, a roasting joint, some of the amazing enchiladas I made last year and havn't been able to replicate since, sweetcorn, breadcrumbs and herbs.

[RealMenJulienne]

I have a small city apartment so my freezer is also pretty small right now. I'm not as stocked up as I would like to be. I have:

Chicken bones and trimmings for stock
At least one whole chicken
At least one whole pork shoulder
At least one rack of spare ribs
Steaks or other expensive meats bought on sale
Parboiled potatoes for hash browns
Peas
Totino's Party pizzas - the premium $1 meal
Vodka

A related question: is it good to keep spices in the freezer? Will this preserve their flavor longer?

[hill food]

wow RMJ you are good at space planning. I'd skip stowing the spices there, my bet is you're just asking for rehydration/ice crystal formation and that's valuable real estate, I'd just buy in smaller amounts if it's something you're not going to use by the boatload. hey it's already dessicated what is gone happen other than get damp or turn into dust (and if it's sitting around that long I doubt there's much that would preserve it)

[RealMenJulienne]

Thanks, that makes sense. Would you say the same for spices in the refridgerator?

[hill food]

yeah but just cause I don't see the point, Mom does that with paprika (paprika?) but she's worried about bugs. yet all the likely greeny ones get a pass. I say screw it and let 'em be dry and warm and just use them - USE THEM (granted there are things older than me in her cabinet) although I do suppose there are some odd things out there, I'd guess the basics really don't need anything special unless they're fresh.

dang, just re-read my last response I have done gone all hillbilly shee-it. I was once erudite and learned.

[hill food]

ice cubes

[MellieMag]

Okay, I admit, I do keep extra ice in the freezer. I have these star shaped ice trays that I love so I keep extra bags on hand.Vodka tonics need lots of ice and I eat most of the ice out of them.

[MellieMag]

I feel a bit ashamed because my frozen stuff doesn't sound as fancy as most of you. Did someone discuss freezer size and how often you grocery shop? Right now, we have two deep freezes, and three fridges. Well, my niece has her own huge fridge in the little house she lives in here with us.We mostly fill them with our home grown produce, extra bread and buns( in the summer I always try to have burgers and buns ready) and meat. Sometimes we buy a hog, other times we hit the local grocery when they half-price the meat. We do pick up groceries,fresh items and milk. but mostly we can cook and eat for a while on what we have at hand. Got another 50 lbs. of potatoes today. I used to buy potatoes in 100 lb. bags but not seen that offered for years. Just recently our local grocery has been selling 50 lbs. of potatoes for $9.99.Not going to pass that up. If my son was still with us, I would have bought twice that.

[tastesgoodwhatisit]

Well, it depends on how much freezer space I have.

With ample space, it's

Raw Ingredients:

various broths and stocks (chicken, pork, beef, veggie, bean)
vegetables (corn, peas, beans, edamame, spinach)
berries
various cuts of chicken, beef, pork and lamb
juice concentrates
a bag of mixed seafood
sausages
bacon
nuts
various cooked beans, lentils and chickpeas

Pre-prepared stuff

Spaghetti sauce
Stews that freeze well
Pureed vegetables for soup
Roasted red peppers
Pesto (minus the cheese)
Dumplings, perogies and/or ravioli
mochi
Ice cream bars
vodka
berbere sauce and thai curry paste
pre-cooked chicken breasts and beef shanks

Plus my stash of meat bits and tomato skins being saved for stock, and random baggies of reserved fat.

[jeanmarieok]

Homemade red sauce, and eggplant red pepper sauce
Blueberries
english muffins
chili, soups and stews * I freeze in quarts, perfect size for us)
chicken wing tips (I save them for stock)
crushed tomatoes from last summer
150 calorie ice cream sandwiches

[ErnieD]

In addition to whatever proteins were on sale and needed to be stashed (I almost always have ground beef, chicken breast, and steak):

Pesto
Curry paste-I buy whole cans and freeze the leftovers
Chipotles in adobe-see above

Homemade broth/stock
Scraps for homemade broth/stock
Beans-I prefer dried to canned, so whenever I need a particular kind of bean and am out of it in the freezer, I cook a full pound and freeze in can-sized portions for easy use in recipes
Frozen peas
Frozen okra-not a huge fan personally but my husband loves it

[applehome]

A generator.

[sunshine842]

*dang* I was going to say electricty. Beat me to it.

[iluvcookies]

Perfect answer :)

[MellieMag]

That's the best thing to have. During the ice storm that clobbered our house, I wasn't concerned about the food since it was below zero most of the time. But after one of the tornadoes, we had packed things in ice and not opened the freezers and were on the verge of losing things before the power came back.

[iluvcookies]

In my house...
Ice Cream. This is non-negotiable.
Meat/chicken/sausage for at least 5 dinners. I don't have a huge freezer so I don't stock up too much, but I always try to have a variety of options.
Steamer bags of frozen veggies--quick and easy on a weeknight
Golden's cheese blintzes, these are a great late night snack
Frozen wontons, either homemade or from the Chinese market
Stouffer's mac and cheese and tater tots... for emergency comfort food

[sedimental]

I also have most of what has been already posted. My goal is to have enough in there to be able to make a great dinner, really quickly, without having to ever "run to the store" for that *one* missing item. I also have things packaged in small quantities (for 2).

So, I have plenty of bread products, veggies, sauces, meats, grains, beans, herbs, spice mixes and many items that I spend time creating on weekends (duxelle's, chili sauce, salsa verde, BBQ sauce)......... and a few processed items like burrito's, ice cream, hash browns.

[Woodfireguy]

I was reading this thread and thought of the rolling stones song Mother’s Little Helper.

Things are different today
I hear every mother say
Cooking fresh food for my husband just a drag
So she buys an instant cake and she buys a frozen steak
And goes running for the shelter of her mothers little helper
And to helper her on her way get her through her busy day.

[gordeaux]

Roasted green chile
A few frozen pizzas when they are on super sale
Ravioli from the Italian market down the street.
Smoked Chicken halves (freeze beautifully when vacuum sealed)
Boneless skinless chicken thighs

Whatever steaks went on sale for an insane price that I bought 30 lbs of. I have an atrocious amount of boneless restaurant cut top sirloins - choice grade, 1.5 in thick - 2.99 lb. HAD TO STOCK UP.

I generally let the sales dictate what stocks my freezer. I love finding the short dated items that are clearanced out.

[woodleyparkhound]

Large ziplocks full of frozen berries from Costco. (Don't pack the ziplocks too full, and spread the bags out horizontally in the freezer. This way, you can remove a handful of frozen berries at a time. If you place them in the freezer zip-side up, you have to defrost them all at once.)

[MinkeyMonkey]

Oh, I get it, snap of a section of berry clump rather than fighting a giant clump with a knife and wind up at the ER like a friend of mine did with hamburger meat!

Brilliant!

I haven't frozen berries yet. My raspberries take up tons of my yard but are wild and don't produce enough to freeze. Our friends have invited us to go berry collecting with them (choke cherries, currants and raspberries) so I'll remember this technique.

Thanks!

[sunshine842]

even easier -- spread the fresh berries on a cookie sheet (single layer) and freeze.

THEN put them into a ziploc - then you can scoop out exactly what you need for today.

[MellieMag]

We have two deep freezes (had 3 but one quit on us). Right now we are letting ours get really low and digging out things that have been buried for too long and need to be disposed of. We usually have our own veggies as the primary item. And we've bought a hog a couple of times.

[TatyanaG]

I *always* have bread, bagels, croissants, blueberry whole wheat waffles, chicken stock, bacon, chopped herbs, broccoli, Alexia fries, ice cream.

[escondido123]

Chicken broth, peas, corn, vanilla ice cream, old bread, leftover tomato or other sauce,nuts, chicken backs, onion, carrot bits etc to make broth. Nothing else is constant and I don't freeze "new" meat, always buy it fresh.

[odkaty]

pesto, assorted greens (kale, mustard, chard, beet tops, collards, etc), bread, beans (pre-cook & freeze), butter, chili peppers (everything from jalapenos to red savina), corn and other vegetables, various tomato sauces, tamales and ice cream.

I'm always stuffing single-serving containers of leftovers into the freezer for easy lunches.

[hohokam]

my constants:
beef stock
poultry stock
bones for making stock
a whole chicken
grains and flours
roasted green chile
frozen corn