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Today I learned I can freeze food to make it last longer.

If mushrooms, or potatoes, are part of a stew, they do all right when the dish is frozen.

Another thing some of you might not have thought of is drying food. If you really like the idea you might buy a food dehydrator, but it isn't necessary to get started. You can buy some skinny red chili peppers at a farmer's market, string them together with a large needle and twine, and hang in your kitchen to dry. They then can be used for years. (Just rinse the dust off!) Hung up like this, they won't mold, unless perhaps you live in a high humidity area.

Herbs and other things can be dried in a low oven (like 170 degrees).
 
grommet said:
I did not know you could do this. It was very difficult having to go to the grocery so often because food would go bad. I worried about it a lot. What if I could not go in two days when things would need to be replaced? (rhetorical)

Today I was reading the package holding some bread and it said I could freeze it. I put it in a Ziploc bag, though unfortunately not a freezer specific bag, but if this works out, I can buy what I eat in larger amounts and always know I have enough. I did not know this.

There are lots of things that adult aspies can not know but seem obvious to other people. People have been very unkind when I have asked questions about things they though it was silly to not know. They have even accused me of lying about not knowing. So a long time ago I stopped asking.

But aspies can help each other, we can answer each other's questions. Today I learned about freezing food.
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did you know you can get things for free food and something like dish soap if you get a free newspaper or if you buy a newspaper I don't know if you know about this there are coupons if you go to the store look for the thing on the coupon it will either be a large percentage or there are large groups of people in the USA literally live this way never pay for food or for cleaning products or toiletries but you have to get a lot of newspapers.
 
grommet said:
I did not know you could do this. It was very difficult having to go to the grocery so often because food would go bad. I worried about it a lot. What if I could not go in two days when things would need to be replaced? (rhetorical)

Today I was reading the package holding some bread and it said I could freeze it. I put it in a Ziploc bag, though unfortunately not a freezer specific bag, but if this works out, I can buy what I eat in larger amounts and always know I have enough. I did not know this.

There are lots of things that adult aspies can not know but seem obvious to other people. People have been very unkind when I have asked questions about things they though it was silly to not know. They have even accused me of lying about not knowing. So a long time ago I stopped asking.

But aspies can help each other, we can answer each other's questions. Today I learned about freezing food.
Click to expand...
Don't spend money on special freezer bags if you've got any plastic bag or hard plastic container it will work exactly the same leave the bread in the bag you buy it in it's no different, if you want to save money buy fruit and vegetables in season that means the ones that are the cheapest at the moment cook them off (it just means cook them) and freeze them,you pay more for fruit and vegetables that are in season because they have to be mollycoddled in a greenhouse.
 
GadAbout said:
If mushrooms, or potatoes, are part of a stew, they do all right when the dish is frozen.

Another thing some of you might not have thought of is drying food. If you really like the idea you might buy a food dehydrator, but it isn't necessary to get started. You can buy some skinny red chili peppers at a farmer's market, string them together with a large needle and twine, and hang in your kitchen to dry. They then can be used for years. (Just rinse the dust off!) Hung up like this, they won't mold, unless perhaps you live in a high humidity area.

Herbs and other things can be dried in a low oven (like 170 degrees).
Click to expand...

I dry a lot of herbs and all kinds of peppers, too. I lay the peppers on racks in a corner of the kitchen and let them air dry naturally. They cannot touch each other while they dry. One of these days, I'm going to get a food dehydrator so I can make jerky the proper way. It's okay to make it in the oven but the lowest setting on my oven is about 220 degrees F which is really hotter than it should be to dehydrate meats. I also dehydrate tomatoes in the oven and then freeze them. I bet I could dry mushrooms, too, but have never tried. I just buy dried mushrooms at the big Asian food store and rehydrate them as needed for cooking.
 
Mary Terry said:
I freeze bananas when they turn too brown to look appetizing. They make good smoothies because they provide "ice" without diluting the smoothie.

I've never had luck freezing cooked potatoes. Cooked pasta freezes well, though. I make a huge batch of lasagna which I freeze in disposable aluminum containers, just the right size for 2 people for dinner.
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Frozen bananas are also great for banana bread.

I've never had luck with cooked pasta. It always is just mushy after thawing..
 
Varzar said:
Frozen bananas are also great for banana bread.

I've never had luck with cooked pasta. It always is just mushy after thawing..
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You have to cook the pasta very al dente because it will continue to cook when you reheat it. For example, if the box instructions say cook it for 10 minutes, then you need to cook it for only 7 or 8 minutes before freezing so it won't get overcooked when you reheat it.
 
I've known that you can freeze many foods to store them ever since I was a kid. But some foods are not very good when they are frozen. And one food you can't freeze is lettuce. It will get all wilted and slimy if you do.
 
It's a miracle, isn't it? We even freeze bread c: bc it can easily spoil and get hard left too long in the fridge. [and it can easily be eatten, too, so going to the store for another eery couple days, non non~]
 
GadAbout said:
If mushrooms, or potatoes, are part of a stew, they do all right when the dish is frozen.

Another thing some of you might not have thought of is drying food. If you really like the idea you might buy a food dehydrator, but it isn't necessary to get started. You can buy some skinny red chili peppers at a farmer's market, string them together with a large needle and twine, and hang in your kitchen to dry. They then can be used for years. (Just rinse the dust off!) Hung up like this, they won't mold, unless perhaps you live in a high humidity area.

Herbs and other things can be dried in a low oven (like 170 degrees).
Click to expand...

I learned this year that I like plums better dried.
Something I guess about the texture of a fresh plum I don't care for..
But my neighbour had a bumper crop of plums last year, I got about 100lbs.. So, I dried a pile, made jam, sauce, pie filling.. The dried plums I added nothing, no spice, no sugar.. And they were like CANDY!! So good... I probably ate 40lbs of dried plums in 2 months.. Then, alas, they were all gone.. :(
Now I need my own plum tree..
 
Nitro said:
I'm probably going to get scolded for this again, but I rely on my FoodSaver vacuum packaging machine for sealing my food air tight in heat sealed bags before freezing.
It can also force marinade food too.
I just had a two year old steak a few days ago that suffered no freezer burn.
The other advantage is the ability to thaw my meat products in the refrigerator and leave them in it for up to a week with no ill effects because of the lack of air.

It also has the ability to pump down reusable containers made specifically for my machine so it isn't all plastic waste by using it.

For those who will give me grief about the use of the throwaway bags, they can be washed clean and reused.
I don't buy the premade bags either, I buy bulk rolls of the waffled material and make my own.

Do not ever toss a butchered product directly in your freezer in the store wrapping, because the packages are designed to allow air into them.
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Sometimes I'll keep the food in the plastic it's wrapped in but put the whole thing inside a freezer bag. But when I buy a roast, I'll cut it into 3rds or 4ths so I can take out smaller parts for a small meal - even using a 4th roast, it'll still be a meal for 3-4 days. Large packs of chicken is cheaper and I'll break it down into multiple servings.
I also freeze cookies - I can't eat them all before they go stale, so I take out a couple at a time and they're as fresh as when I bought them. (Especially the bakery cookies and sometimes the chocolate chip is hard to find and not all chocolate chip cookies are the same, some have a brown sugar or molasses taste while others don't and I prefer the others so I always have some in the freezer. And you can even eat it partially frozen - just careful not to break your teeth on it. And when my grandkids or kids come they know I have cookies for them. Also freezing them keeps me from eating them all. lol) Yep, my weakness. I love the combination of the sweet breadiness cookie part with the chocolate - better than chocolate alone and better than just a cookie. And I have been known to have a cookie as my dinner. :)
 
Major Tom said:
How are you defrosting them? In the microwave? We just put them right from the freezer into the pot and they retain their consistency. It may depend on the variety of mushrooms though. We mainly do it with enoki mushrooms or shitake.
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It probably works with some kinds and not others. The ones I tried were boletus.
 
Something I do sometimes is buy mini cupcakes (about an inch across). You put the plastic clamshell they come in right into the freezer. Then when you want a dessert, just pull one out. It can be eaten frozen if you like, or you can let it air thaw in about ten minutes at room temperature, since they're so small.
 
Rexi said:
It's a miracle, isn't it? We even freeze bread c: bc it can easily spoil and get hard left too long in the fridge. [and it can easily be eatten, too, so going to the store for another eery couple days, non non~]
Click to expand...

It seems counter-intuitive, but you can rehydrate some breads like French bread and other breads with a hard exterior crust by squirting/misting them with water, or just quickly dunking them under cold water from the faucet, then wrapping them tightly in foil and putting them in a low oven till they get warm and moist. I call it resurrection bread, LOL. It works with stale, hard crusted bread as long as the bread hasn't started getting moldy.
 
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