freezer

A variety of foods freeze well, which can contribute to home economy and eating a SOLE food diet in several ways:

• If you can purchase a chest freezer to boost your freezer space, you will be able to freeze a large amount of food and reduce the number of shopping trips you make, saving on fossil fuel in the process.
• You can also stock up on produce when it is in season and less expensive: freezing retains much of the nutritional content of produce.
• You can buy sustainably raised meats, poultry, and fish in large quantities at the time when they are processed and in the cuts you prefer.

Freezing of course involves the use of many containers. I am averse to single-use plastic products (freezer bags, plastic wrap, etc.) but the fact of the matter is that plastic really does provide the most airtight containers. I have found that Ball makes excellent reusable plastic freezer containers in multiple sizes. There are also a variety of glass containers that can be frozen, some of which can go from freezer to fridge to oven. I'm eventually going to start replacing my plastic containers with these!

If you are truly organized, you can keep a running inventory of the freezer contents on a white board or a piece of paper tacked up next to it. Add items as you add them to the freezer, cross off those you remove.

baked goods

Whether homemade or not, baked goods actually keep better in the freezer than in the fridge.

• Buy extra loaves of sandwich bread, English muffins, etc. to cut down on grocery store runs. When you're ready to use them, thaw overnight in the fridge.
• When you bake muffins, freeze the leftovers, then thaw them overnight before eating the next morning. A few minutes in a 200 F oven will warm them up nicely. You can also thaw the day you want to eat them if you're not averse to microwaves: wrap 1 frozen muffin in a paper towel, microwave on 50% power for approximately 1 m.
• When you make drop cookies, use a 1 oz scoop or a rounded T of dough to place remaining raw dough on a cookie sheet. Freeze until solid, then store in an airtight container in the freezer. Thaw 20-30 m before baking.
• Rolled cookies can likewise be frozen raw on a cookie sheet, then stored between layers of wax paper in airtight containers. Thaw 20-30 m before baking.
• Baked cookies (drop, bar, rolled) also freeze well in airtight containers. I like to make several dozen to use for school lunches, defrosting just as many as I need overnight in an airtight container.

fruits

The major drawback to freezing produce is that the cell walls of plants are very thin, so when the water in the fruit or vegetable freezes, they tend to burst. The result is a mushy texture when the produce is thawed.

For fruit, the goal then is to use it in a way that texture is less important: once they've been frozen, you may no longer have perfect blueberries to eat with your morning cereal, but if you use them for baking, the texture is less important. Frozen bananas, melons, stone fruits, and berries make great smoothies and sorbets. Frozen berries make for great summer snacking straight from the freezer - our kids demolished 10 lbs of blueberries that way this summer, so I didn't even need to make popsicles for them!

I have been experimenting with various fruits and berries in the freezer, and here is what I've found:

• Apples are not a good candidate for freezing: if you find yourself with too many, make applesauce, which can be frozen but will be watery when thawed. The color of the sauce may turn very dark, in which case it is still good for baking.
• Bananas are one of those luxury items we allow ourselves - they are in no way local to Michigan, but I do buy organic when I can. We all like them just when they are turning from green to yellow - spotted brown skins are not tolerated: "too ripe!" If it looks as though we're headed in that direction, I pop the bananas in the freezer, skin and all. There the ripening process is halted, although the skins turn a hideous black-brown. If I accumulate 2-3 in the freezer, it's time to make banana bread. For use in baking, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. The liquid that accumulates can be saved and added to the batter if more fluid is needed.
• Berries freeze exceptionally well. Wash gently and pat dry with clean kitchen towels, being careful not to press down on them (bad for the berries AND the towels!). Spread in a single layer on a sheetpan and freeze solid - this will prevent them from clumping together and allow you to scoop out just the amount you need. When frozen, transfer to airtight containers.
• Melons are so full of water that they really turn to mush in the freezer, but they make excellent juices and sorbets in this form. If you freeze them when they are very ripe (on the verge of being rotten!), you barely need to add any sweetener.
• Pears, like apples, are not good for freezing. Make pear sauce and freeze that if the color is irrelevant, for example if you will use it for baking.
• Stone fruits (cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums...) also freeze well for baking, smoothie, and sorbet uses. You can freeze them whole or pitted and sliced. The skins slip off easily when they begin to thaw.

meats, poultry & fish

Buying sustainably raised meats and poultry is easier when you have a freezer - you can buy anywhere from 1/8 to 1/2 of a steer, hog, or lamb and easily store it for up to a year, when it will be harvest time again. Some farmers offer a variety pack, where you can get, CSA style, a selection of cuts every week or month. Once you taste grassfed meat and pastured poultry, you will never want to return to conventional animal proteins - not only is there evidence that they are more healthful, they taste better, and the farming practices, as well as the harvesting processes, are infinitely more humane and better for the environment. Yes, they are more costly in most cases, but if you can eat a few more vegetarian meals a week and cut back on animal protein, you will realize that your food budget is hardly impacted.

Fish and seafood can also be bought in large quantities and frozen. Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program is the best resource I know for making sure that you purchase the most sustainable, ocean- and earth-friendly varieties. (And for you technophiles - they have a cell phone application!)

Animal proteins are best defrosted in the coldest part of your fridge, overnight for smaller cuts, to 2-3 days for larger roasts and whole chickens. In a time crunch, you can thaw smaller cuts of meat and fish wrapped in plastic and submerged in cold water in a bowl on the countertop, but this does require the use of plastic wrap or bags and several changes of water, not a great use of natural resources. For food safety reasons, I don't recommend this method unless your food can defrost within 30-60 m. The texture of the item may also be compromised, as quick thawing tends to burst the cell walls more easily.

soup ingredients

When I need to make a fancier dinner, I will make the stock or broth I need from fresh ingredients - whole onions, carrots, celery, plus herbs, spices, and the appropriate meat or bones as necessary. But for everyday use, I tend to "rethink, reduce, reuse, and recycle:"

• in one freezer container, I keep onion, carrot and celery tops and tails, carrot peelings, and celery leaves that I save from other dishes; onion skins can also be saved, but they tend to make the broth dark brown;
• in a second are parsley stems, thyme stems, and oregano stems;
• in separate containers I keep chicken bones (yes, even from cooked birds, as long as the meat has been cut and not gnawed off the bone), beef, pork, or lamb bones (same rule applies!), and fish bones, along with shrimp shells and tails, and the tiny muscles from the side of scallops.

When my soup veggie container is full, I make stock or broth and freeze it. You will need to experiment a bit with balancing the flavors of "recycled" broth - you want to aim for approximately 50% onion, 25% carrot, and 25% celery. Too many onions and the liquid may be bitter; too many carrots and it will be too sweet, etc. but these amounts are just that - approximate.

vegetables

As with fruits, you will retain a lot of nutritional value but lose a certain amount of texture with frozen vegetables. If you were raised on frozen vegetables, you may not notice a difference, but once you are used to fresh ones, the change is quite obvious. If you live in a place such as California, you can have fresh, seasonal, local vegetables year round. If you are intent on eating locally in areas that have 4 distinct seasons, freezing is an essential means of preserving vegetables when they are in season for use when they are not available. You may not be strictly eating seasonally, but you will still be eating locally. For the sake of your energy bill and the environment, it's best to chill the vegetables after processing and before freezing - the shocking process can take care of this, or you can put them in the fridge to achieve this with the veggies that are not blanched and shocked.

• Green vegetables, corn, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower should be pre-prepped, blanched and shocked, then patted or gently squeezed dry and frozen in a single layer on a sheet pan. Once frozen, they can be stored in airtight containers. This will keep them from clumping together and allow you to use just the amount you need.
• Most types of cabbage tends to get entirely too watery after being frozen, but most leafy greens do pretty well when processed in this way. They tend to get a little darker in color, though.
• Onions, garlic, carrots, celery and bell peppers can be chopped or minced and frozen raw on a sheetpan, then transferred to an airtight container for use in soups, stews, chilis, and sauces, but be aware that they will lose some texture in the freezing/thawing process.
• Some potatoes freeze well, while others fare less well. Baking potatoes, such as russets, can be grated and frozen for use as hash browns or soups, but they tend to discolor slightly. Waxy potatoes such as Yukon golds and red-skin potatoes can be frozen in chunks or slices, but they tend to become much more gluey when used in purees or mashed potato dishes after being frozen.
• Summer and winter squashes freeze well from the raw state: again, grate or cube them and freeze on a sheet pan, then transfer to an airtight container. Once frozen, they are better suited to baking and mashing purposes where texture is less important. They would not roast, broil, saute or grill too well at this point.
• Legumes can be frozen in their cooking liquid, but like many other plant foods, they will be mushier when thawed - fine for soups, stews, etc. but not for dishes where you want their shape intact.

leftovers and starters

We tend to use leftovers for packing lunches, so it's rare to find them in the freezer. However, if we do have leftovers, extra soup, pasta sauce, stew, lasagna, and some other casseroles freeze nicely for quick weeknight dinners. Cool them to room temperature in an ice water bath, then refrigerate them overnight before freezing - this will save on your energy bill, keep all your food safe, and do the environment a favor. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat or bake as necessary. Remember that these items may be waterier and may require a bit longer to cook in order to get rid of the extra liquid.

Starters are the basic building blocks of cooking from scratch - they are the "convenience foods" of the home cook. Make a large batch of rice, beans, pasta sauce, etc. to have on hand for weekday meals that require them. These will last up to a week in the refrigerator, but it's nice to have some extra put by in the freezer for those weeks when you don't have time to batch cook. Remember to cool to room temperature in a water bath, then in the fridge overnight before freezing: better for food safety, energy bills, and the enviroment. Be aware that some will lose texture in the freezing process.