Are there days when there is no time or desire to stand at the stove? Prepare for them ahead of time!

If you have looked at something interesting on our website, but are not sure that you have enough time for it, reconsider your attitude to the kitchen! We do not encourage you to leave the stove and take up cross-stitching or soap making. We want to teach you how to save your time and use it more rationally by freezing ready meals.

What can be stored in the freezer

We have already written about the fact that fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, tomatoes for pizza and much more can be frozen for the winter, and the fact that it is a huge success during the season of preparations suggests that there are always useful preparations in the freezers of our readers. !

But did you know that you can freeze not only vegetable products, semi-finished products, dumplings and dumplings? It is much more economical in terms of time to freeze ready-to-eat dishes that only need to be reheated and served. For heating, it is best to use a microwave - one of the most household appliances in the house.

Grab these basic recipes and start experimenting with your favorite snacks!

How to freeze chicken

Every third housewife thinks about whether it is possible to freeze fried chicken, but only every fifth decides to experiment! In fact, chicken cooked in the oven or according to the principle of tapaka chicken tolerates freezing well and practically does not lose any taste or texture quality.

After defrosting, the chicken completely retains its shape, the skin remains in the same place, the color does not change. Checked! If you are afraid, try freezing a small piece, such as a wing or a leg!

You can cook chicken on a free day, and it is much more convenient to bake several carcasses at once, this will save time, since you will have to wash the dishes and the oven once. Cool the finished chicken well at room temperature, then wrap it with cling film so that less air gets into the package, and send the snack to the refrigerator. With an unexpected visit of guests or just when there is no desire to cook, reheat, cook for a side dish and enjoy!

Cutlets and meatballs - a quick dinner

When preparing cutlets, meatballs or other minced meat dishes for lunch, cook them in double volume. In terms of time costs, you will lose practically nothing, well, maybe an extra half hour will be spent on frying cutlets. But then, when there is no time to cook dinner, these blanks will definitely help you out.

Cutlets look no less appetizing fresh

Meat cutlets for freezing are best cooled and wrapped in a film for 2-4 pieces. Meatballs can be frozen directly in tomato sauce by placing them in a portioned plastic container that can withstand both low and high temperatures. You can also freeze fried pieces of meat in sauce and without, chops, including lazy, stuffed peppers and cabbage rolls.

Freezing dumplings and dumplings

Now a little about how to properly freeze dumplings and dumplings. Dough products intended for cooking are best frozen raw. Always arrange dumplings in a single layer on a dish, trays or heavy cardboard.

You can cook homemade dumplings not only on the stove, but also in a slow cooker. This will save a lot of time. It is also convenient to use them for instant soup or for hot appetizers in portioned pots.

Dumplings in dumplings should be laid in one layer

Soup preparations

In order not to waste time preparing frying for soup, make several blanks at once. Fry onions, carrots, mushrooms, other vegetables that you like to add to broths and freeze them all in small portions in plastic bags or plastic cups. Glasses will then need to be wrapped with a film to prevent air from entering.

With the same success, you can freeze broths, which, for example, remain after boiling meat or chicken for salad. Plastic bottles and containers are suitable for this purpose.

The broth can be frozen in bags

Basis for pilaf and julienne

If you fry meat in pieces, onions and grated carrots, and then freeze this mixture, then it will take a few minutes to cook pilaf. You will only need to defrost the base, heat the meat and vegetables in a cauldron, add washed rice there, pour boiling water and wait until the dish is cooked!

For a quick julienne, prepare mushrooms with onions. You can also add fried chicken or boiled mussels here. At the right time, heat everything in the microwave and act according to one of the. By the way, fried mushrooms can be added to potatoes or rice.

How to freeze a cake

Many desserts tolerate freezing, but honey cake has the best performance, which can even be prepared from ready-made cakes sold in stores. The main thing is to use an oil-based cream for the layer, not sour cream. The cake (or pieces thereof) should be wrapped in cling film before being placed in the freezer, and it must be thawed in the refrigerator, taking it out a few hours before use.

The cake can be served with coffee made from frozen cubes. Just brew a fragrant drink in a higher concentration, and then pour boiling water over it. But it’s better, of course, not to be lazy, but to cook fresh!

The cake can be frozen whole or in portions.

Ready-made pancakes with and without filling, fried and baked pies and pies, pizza, biscuits without filling, bread perfectly tolerate freezing. You can still endlessly list dishes that easily withstand freezing and do not lose their properties.

We are confident that our readers, being enthusiastic women, will not be afraid of experiments, try new things and share their tips with us and other housewives in the comments.

If you ask me which kitchen appliances I find the most useful, I will no doubt name you a freezer. I don't know of another machine that works as hard, does its job quietly, and saves me a lot of time and money in the process.

Some people underestimate and underuse their freezers. They store semi-finished products, ice cream and the like in them. If you are one of those people, let your freezer help you save time, money and effort.

It doesn't matter if you are a happy owner of a free-standing freezer, or combined with a refrigerator. Any freezer can be used effectively.

Top 6 reasons to use your freezer more efficiently:

1. You will not need to go to the grocery store often, saving time and money

2. Can store products you rarely use, saving money

3. Allows you to store bulk and promotional products, save money

4. Allows you to have food on hand for when you spontaneously decide to cook something, saving time on going to the store

5. You can freeze already prepared food, saving time

6. Allows you to store pastries for breakfast or snacks, saving money and time

Below I will list 50 foods that can be frozen and stored in the freezer. I have frozen all of these foods, and most likely many of these items are still in my freezer. I will not list the foods that you buy frozen, because I assume that you yourself will guess to freeze them. For example, the most common is the freezing of berries, fruits and vegetables. You can learn how to freeze them correctly.

50 foods you can freeze to save money and time

1. Bread. It is better to freeze fresh, whole rolls, and to defrost, pull them out overnight and put them in the refrigerator.

2. Chips, pretzels and crackers. If you bought a lot of packages on sale or on sale, it is quite possible to freeze them. Have you ever tried cold and crispy chips? Try it, you will definitely like it!

3. Cereals. This applies to breakfast cereals, bars and crispy rice sticks.

4. Margarine and butter

5. Buns for hot dogs and hamburgers

6. Chocolate chips and drops

7. Oatmeal

8. Flour. When stored in a cabinet in flour, bugs can start. To avoid this, freeze the flour.

9. Brown sugar

10. Meat. Buy it on sale or in bulk and freeze immediately.

11. Wheat germ, wheat bran, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, etc. Sometimes a recipe calls for an ingredient that you rarely use. Freeze it until the next time you need it.

12. Nuts - almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, mixed nuts, in shell or shelled, chopped, crumbled or whole. Nuts keep well in the freezer, unlike the cupboard, where they acquire a musty smell over time.

13. Fruits and berries. Buy fresh fruits and berries in season when they are cheap and freeze them. They can be used to make pastries, compotes, smoothies, milkshakes, and eat “just like that”. In winter, this is an excellent source of vitamins, and in addition, significant savings for the budget.

14. Vegetables. Cut the bell peppers, onions and carrots into strips and arrange on a board lined with baking paper. After the vegetables are frozen, put them in a ziplock bag. The next time you cook, just pull out a few of these strips and add to the dish. You can freeze a huge number of vegetables - tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, onions, eggplants, fresh beans and peas and many others.

15. Hot pepper. Cut it into small pieces and freeze, and if necessary, take as much as you need. Great idea for those who don't eat spicy food all the time.

16. Soft "Viennese" waffles. I usually make a double batch of waffles and freeze half, lined with baking paper and packed in a ziplock bag. You can defrost waffles in the microwave or toaster if you want to get a crispy crust.

17. Fritters and pancakes. The same as with waffles, a great option for breakfast.

18. Breadcrumbs. I don't cook breaded food too often, so I keep the breadcrumbs in the freezer so they don't spoil from long storage.

19. Yeast. Even if you bake often enough, a small package of live yeast will last you for several weeks. But they only last a few days, so freezing them is a great way to save money.

20. Grated cheese. I used to grate and freeze small pieces of cheese that didn’t eat for several days and lay in the refrigerator. Now I often buy cheese specifically for freezing, especially if there is a discount on it. This is very convenient, because at any time I have cheese on hand, which can be used in baking, when preparing pizza or hot dishes with cheese.

21. Herbs and greens. Often we buy greens in huge bunches, while only a fifth of it is needed for a dish. I grind the greens in a blender with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil, then I lay out the resulting mass in an ice-making mold. I pour the frozen cubes into a zip bag, and then I take one or two cubes and use them in cooking.

22. Cutlets. I cook them from different minced meat and with different additives, then I lay them out on a board covered with baking paper, and after freezing I pour them into a zip bag. So I can get the number of cutlets I need, and not defrost the whole piece of minced meat.

23. Tomato sauce for pizza or spaghetti. I always make a few more servings of tomato sauce than I need and freeze the excess. This way I can save time making this sauce the next time I'm going to make pizza or pasta.

24. Cookie dough. You can freeze the shortbread dough as a whole or in the form of already formed cookies. In the first case, you will need to defrost it and then roll out the cookies and bake them, in the second case, you can send the cookies to the oven directly from the freezer, it just takes 10 minutes more to cook them. True, in the second option, cookies in the freezer will take up a little more space.

25. Cereal bars. Both store-bought and home-made bars freeze perfectly. They keep for quite a long time, and serve as a great snack option.

26. Ready cookies. Also, as with waffles, I always make several batches of cookies at once, and freeze some.

27. Boiled chopped chicken. Whether I'm cooking chicken specifically to freeze cooked meat, or freezing leftovers from dinner, having cooked meat makes life a lot easier. Especially when you need to cook a quick lunch or dinner.

28. Ready beef. Beef takes a long time to cook, so it is very convenient to have roasted or stewed beef ready in the freezer.

29. Soup. It is best to freeze creamy soups such as mushroom or pea soup, because the potatoes in regular soup change their taste and texture when frozen, and become unpalatable. Freeze the soup in individual serving containers so that you can easily reheat it whole if needed.

30. Pizza blank. You can freeze the pizza blank by wrapping it with cling film and putting it in a bag. When you want to make pizza, just thaw the dough and roll it out, and fill the pizza with toppings.

31. Sliced ​​bananas. Slice the bananas, lay them out on a paper-lined board and freeze, and after freezing, pour into a zip-lock bag. This method of freezing allows, if necessary, to get a few pieces of banana without defrosting the entire package. Frozen bananas can be used in baked goods or to make smoothies and milkshakes.

32. Preparation for the pie. Also, as with a pizza blank, freeze the slightly rolled dough, and if necessary, defrost, roll it out slightly and here you are one step closer to the pie.

33. Pancakes with fillings. Perfectly frozen and stored ready-made pancakes stuffed with cottage cheese, meat, chicken, berries. It is best to store them in zip bags, lining each with baking paper so that you can get the right amount.

34. Pies, pasties, belyashi and other baked goods with filling. It can be stored as a semi-finished product, and in finished form. I always freeze baked goods so that I don't have to spend extra time preparing them if necessary.

35. Ready pies and pizzas. Most often, I freeze ready-made pies and pizza if they are left over after dinner or lunch. This way I don't let my food go bad, and I also always have several options for a quick and satisfying snack or breakfast on hand.

36. Oil cream. Cream for cakes and cupcakes freezes perfectly, and when you need it, thaw it at room temperature and re-whip.

37. Bouillon. I always freeze two or three servings of broth when making soup. I put chopped meat in the meat broth. The next time I need to cook soup, I pour boiling water over the bouillon "briquette" and so save at least an hour of my life.

38. Pickled meat. Put the meat and marinade in a bag right after you get home from the grocery store, or the next day, and freeze them together. The night before the picnic, take the bag out of the freezer and put it in the fridge. The next day, you will receive thawed and marinated meat, ready to go to the grill or grill.

39. Trimmings and leftover vegetables for broth. I have a zip bag in the freezer where I put the leftover vegetables that appear during cooking or after dinner. Once enough has accumulated, I make broth out of them.

40. Muffins. Wrap the finished muffins without cream with cling film and put them in a bag, and then in the freezer. So they can be stored for a month and a half. When you want to enjoy, just defrost a couple in the microwave.

41. Cupcakes such as banana or pumpkin muffin, carrot cake.

42. Hot chocolate mix

43. Leftover lasagne or casserole. It is better to freeze in portioned containers so that after defrosting there are no leftovers and extra portions.

44. Manti, dumplings and khinkali, both raw and cooked.

45. Milk. Perfectly freezes milk in soft bags. After defrosting, it is suitable for baking and cooking, such as cereals. You can freeze milk in ice molds and add one cube to tea or coffee.

46. ​​Wholemeal crackers

47. Remains of melted chocolate

48. Preparations for dishes. Cut and put in a bag pieces of chicken, vegetables and add spices. If necessary, pour the mixture into a slow cooker, add rice or pasta and in 45 minutes you will have a wonderful dinner.

49. Blanks for smoothies and milkshakes. Put chopped fruits and berries in a bag, add the same amount of yogurt and freeze. When you want a milkshake, warm the bag a little under running warm water, put everything in a blender, add juice or milk and beat.

What dishes are ready for a long freeze, tells Evgeny Mikhailov, chef of a large Moscow restaurant.

1. Cream soup or broth

Only cream soups and broths from any meat or fish are ready for freezing. But ordinary soups or borscht, which include potatoes, will turn into porridge during the process of freezing and thawing. Both potatoes and cold take all the moisture, which means that such a soup will lose all its beneficial properties.

The easiest way to freeze is cream soup. But before putting it in the freezer, wait until it cools down, pour it into a disposable container or zip bags. Rest assured, this soup can be eaten in a month. The main thing is that you need to defrost it correctly later: not at room temperature, but in the refrigerator at + 4 ... 6 ° FROM.

2. Sauce

You can freeze only those sauces that do not contain cream. The fact is that at sub-zero temperatures, the fat is separated from the protein mass of the cream, and at the exit you will get an unpleasant taste of sour milk, and even the consistency will look ugly. You definitely don't want to serve it.

For example, bolognese sauce can be stored at -18 ° From up to 2-3 months.

3. Salted fish

Salted raw fish cooked at home is easy to freeze if done right. Be sure to pour it abundantly with any vegetable oil. The oil closes the pores and prevents moisture from freezing out. So, the fish then you get almost fresh and juicy. The fish can lie like this for up to six months.

4. Chicken roll and jerky.

Of the meat products, only chicken roll and various kinds of dried products are frozen: basturma, dry sausages. It is better to wrap the chicken roll in cling film immediately after baking and put it in the freezer. Then it can be eaten after 2-3 weeks.

Ordinary fried meat (chicken, pork, beef) will simply crumble after freezing. Not only do you get a dry product after frying, but after freezing, the last moisture that connected the fabric fibers will leave it.

5. Flour products.

Puff pastries, strudels, apple pie (“Pie”) calmly endure sub-zero temperatures due to the fact that they contain dry dough. So, the properties and taste of the product will remain the same. It is better to wrap them in several layers of a plastic bag and put them in the freezer only when they have cooled down. Strudel can lie like this for up to 2 months, pie and puffs - up to a month.

By the way, you can safely freeze the ice cream cake several times. But biscuit and cream cakes should never be left in the freezer.

6. Pancakes

If you think the pancakes need to be frozen, brush them generously with butter immediately after removing them from the pan. This will protect them from breakage after storage in the freezer.

If you are going to freeze pancakes with berry or fruit filling, then add a natural thickener there: starch. Then, after thawing, you will not feel that the taste and external properties of the sweet pancake have changed. Pancakes can be stored for up to 2 weeks.

7. Cheese

Never try to leave sliced ​​cheese in the freezer. It will fall apart and become tasteless.

If you understand that the cheese remains, and there will be no opportunity to eat it, then it is best to grate it and put it in a plastic bag. You can then use such cheese for dressing julienne, pasta, etc. The cheese can be stored frozen for up to a month or two.

8. Kefir

“You can safely put a pack of kefir in the freezer and even store it there for up to a month. Frozen kefir should be put on gauze and allowed to drain. After it drains, you get... sour cream. Eat it calmly for another 5-7 days,” says the chef.

“It is strictly forbidden to freeze mashed potatoes, any kind of salads, meatballs, beef stroganoff, goulash. They will fall apart when frozen, and the salad will turn into inedible porridge, says Evgeny Mikhailov. In general, foods that contain moisture should not be frozen. When frozen, moisture evaporates much faster than when dried. This means that the product will lose all its properties and taste, you will throw it away after defrosting.

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Benefits of frozen meals:

• readiness degree;
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Technology for the production of frozen ready meals

After cooking, the dishes are vacuum-packed and subjected to accelerated cooling. To keep fresh for several months, they are subjected to shock freezing.

Thanks to a well-thought-out cooking technology, frozen ready meals retain their properties for six months or more, subject to the temperature regime recommended by the manufacturer. Freezing and storage of frozen food do not affect the characteristics of ready-made food. It has excellent organoleptic properties.

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It would seem, what could be easier than freezing food? But even here there are myths and misconceptions, as well as nuances and tricks, which we talk about in detail at the training. In this article I will answer the most common questions about freezing.

1. Frozen food is "dead" food - a myth

Freezing is the best way of saving life, invented by nature itself. After all, everything freezes in winter: plants, tubers, seeds, roots, etc. - during the cold season, they are frozen and thawed several times. And at the same time, not only do they not “dead”, but in the spring they begin to grow, bloom and bear fruit!

In order to preserve living plants, their nature, unlike humans, does not boil, pickle, salt, smoke, etc. Nature freezes! All minerals are preserved after freezing. And most vitamins too. It is better to freeze strawberries, raspberries or cherries than to make jam from them. So they will retain more vitamins and be more useful.

2. Frozen foods are not tasty - a myth

With the right choice of products, compliance with all the principles of freezing, packaging and storage, the taste of your food will never fade and, moreover, will not deteriorate. And in some cases it will become even better (for example, when freezing semi-finished products).

To extend the shelf life of products up to 10-12 months, you just need to properly prepare them for storage in the freezer. It is very important not to skip such steps as washing, blanching, drying, cooling and freezing in the freezer. Food packaging also plays an important role in preserving the entire palette of taste of your products and ready meals. It is necessary to pack them carefully and hermetically using special containers for freezing, cling film, strong plastic bags, foil or parchment paper.

And so that frozen foods do not turn into a solid piece of ice, it is very important to completely dry them from moisture, cool them in the refrigerator, if you need to additionally freeze them, and only then completely freeze them. If whole berries are frozen, such as, then they need to be frozen on a board or other flat pallet so that they do not touch each other, and only then pour them into a bag or tray.