Frozen In Time

Some days you wake up and find that, like your mother and her mother before her, you are turning into your mother.  Now this can be a bad thing (in my case I apologize profusely for excessive puns) or a good thing.  One positive that I inherited from my mother (and she from my grandmother) is the need to freeze food.  Seriously, just drop by my mom’s home and ask to see in the freezer, you will be in awe of the mass amount of edibles.  Thankfully the propensity to freeze has its benefits and isn’t just a symptom of hoarding.

There are many benefits to freezing food:

• It makes cooking dinner a snap.  By doubling up when cooking your favorite dish and freezing half you save yourself time in the future.  The next time you are slammed just defrost a meal.  Voila!  Home cooked and hot.
• Tomatoes and Strawberries in the dead of winter.  That’s right fresh fruit and vegetables whenever you want them.  By freezing these items at the peak of freshness you can enjoy them all year round.
• Helps with cost cutting.  Ground Turkey on sale at the grocery store?  Stock up!  You can freeze some for later when prices are not quite as consumer friendly.  Additionally, it can help prevent food from being wasted.
• Allows you to plan ahead.  Have a big get together coming up?  By freezing you can space out food preparation so that things can get completed without the last minute stress.

So set time aside to do some cooking and take advantage of your freezer!  Freezing can be tricky.  To learn more about to successfully freeze food check out the USDA site on freezing and food safety.  Oh, and FYI my Rosemary Split Pea Soup freezes beautifully!