Category Archives: freezing

Frugal Me Fridays~ The Stand Alone Freezer

04 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by in freezer, freezing, Frugal Me Fridays, Uncategorized

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It’s been quite awhile since I did a Frugal Me Fridays post.

Between health stuff and outright laziness, I have not been keeping up with this blog like I should.

I have talked in the past about buying in bulk to save money and on freezing fruit for the same.

You need a place for that and if you want to really put stuff up, you are most likely going to need a freezer.

An upright usually costs more upfront, but it is more cost efficient to run. I find an upright to be easier when it comes to finding things.

You don’t need to buy new. Lots of times you can look in the want ads and find one. Other good places are garage sales and auctions.

Some stores have room dedicated to appliances that have been dinged or returned without the box for whatever reason. These can be a real bargain.

Even if you live in an apartment, you can have a freezer. If you have an extra bedroom(or room in yours) you can get a bigger one.  Even a small freezer can save money in the long run.

I have a smaller upright. It is 4 cubic feet so not tiny, but not full size. I can fit a lot of meat and veggies in it.

If you have a lot of leftovers, freeze them for another time. My husband’s grandmother used to grill a lot of meat at a time and freeze some of it for other meals.

I like to keep the broth from when I roast chicken. I freeze it and I have chicken broth when I need it.

When bananas are on sale cause they are turning brown, I buy them for the freezer. Great for smoothies or bread. My town’s store used to give their brown bananas away free. Those were they days. I always had bananas in the freezer.

Basically if you think of it, you can freeze it. There are guidelines like freezing yeast dough means adding more yeast before freezing because some will die off. But, otherwise go for it.

Enjoy your Friday!

 

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Homemade Applesauce

12 Sunday Sep 2010

Posted by in apples, applesauce, canning, freezing, homemade applesauce

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Making your own applesauce is a cinch. If you are lucky enough to have your own apple tree or have someone give you some, you really should try making it yourself.
If you have enough, you can can it or even freeze it. Or just make small amounts and store it in the refrigerator.

You will need a dutch oven or large saucepan.
If you are making a large batch get some canning jars and flats with rings or freezer containers ready.
If canning, get out your water bath canner or pressure canner.
You will also need a food processor, hand held blender, or potato masher.

Ingredients:

Apples- 3 pounds will make just over 1 quart of sauce

water or bottled apple juice-1 to 2 cups, depending on how many apples you have

Sugar to taste- optional

Peel, core, and chop the apples.
Put in the cooking pan.
Add enough water or juice to the apples so that the apples won’t burn.
Cover the pan and turn on the heat.
Stir frequently.
When the liquid and apples come to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour.
The apples will be very soft.
Stir frequently.

Now, you can get out your potato masher and mash them into sauce by hand. If the apples are soft enough, this is very simple.
You can also use a hand held blender or puree them in a food processor.
When all the apples are sauced, put them back into the pan.
Now, taste them and add some sugar to your liking. Just add a few tablespoons at a time and cook the sugar in.
Taste and if needed add a little more sugar.
When it is as sweet as you want, bring back to a simmer and cook to desired consistency.
Remove from heat and put in jar to can, freezer containers to freeze, or store in the refrigerator.

If canning, process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes- both for pints and quarts.
You can also pressure can it for 15 minutes under 5 pounds pressure.

Going Bananas!

08 Saturday May 2010

Posted by in baking with bananas, bananas, freezing, mashing bananas

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Bananas are great for baking.

They make everything really moist.

Most times when you buy bananas, they are either under-ripe or overripe.

When, they are just right, they are good for eating fresh and for making banana cream pie.

When they are overripe is when they are perfect for baking things like banana cookies, banana bread, and banana cake.

I love buying them when they sell big bags of overripe bananas really cheap. I can also get them free from my town grocery when they are pretty brown.

If there are too many to use at one time, stick some in the freezer.
Put the unpeeled bananas in a bag and freeze them for later baking.
When you need some, just take out what you want, thaw and mash for your favorite recipes.
Just snip off the end of the banana and squish out the banana.
The thawed bananas mash easier than fresh bananas.

Some tips on mashing bananas.
If you have an old potato masher, that is great. It works so much better than trying to use a fork.
Another option is to stick them in a blender or food processor.

If bananas are not mashed really well, hunks of banana can settle to the bottom of whatever you are baking and it doesn’t really bake right.
It will test done, but when you slice it you will have a rim of banana along the bottom crust.