Friday 10 February 2012

Freeze A Jolly Good Fellow!

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Just a couple of pictures of the snowmen and snowballs made by the children at the school where I worked last Monday afternoon. It was a village school I had not visited before and I had a great time there.

DSCF3187bags of food

And two pictures of freezer contents. What’s in your freezer? In general, there are 5 sorts of things in my freezer

  1. meals I have prepared and frozen
  2. goods purchased ready frozen [peas, ice-cream etc.]
  3. leftovers ready to make other meals
  4. random stuff [icepacks for medical emergencies, icecube trays]
  5. goods purchased fresh and then frozen

Category 1 is well organised, and labelled properly with dates. Category 2 is the same – although I often decant bags of peas into more manageable lock’n’lock boxes. But there is always at least one stray frozen pea rolling around whenever I defrost my freezer! Category 3 is one area I am working hard on at the minute – being more disciplined about labelling, and avoiding the temptation to put it in the freezer intending to go back later and sort it. In the past I admit I have stared at a cold box of brown goop and even after it is thawed I cannot recognise the contents! Liz has a ‘charnel box’ for bones destined for soup, and I have a crusts box which is useful. Category 4 speaks for itself. Some people freeze candles and tights [in the belief it promotes their longevity] El on Superscrimpers even freezes her Credit Card in a box of water, to deter spending! If your freezer is only half full, you should fill up the gaps with someting [anything- screwed up newspaper, bags of icecubes, teabags*…]Category 5 is the one in the news at the minute.

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Sainsburys have said they are going to drop the message “Freeze on the Day of Purchase” labelling, as they think it is leading people to waste food.

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Confession - I have never taken any notice of this anyway!

My theory is that if the pie was in the chilled section in the store, and I bring it home [Monday] and put it straight in my fridge, then into the freezer a day or so later [Wednesday], then my goods will have been frozen no sooner than those of the woman who bought the adjacent pie on the Wednesday and froze it the same day. I know they say there may be ‘slight deterioration in favour or quality’ if you delay.

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The BBC Good Food Website has a useful article on freezing here

*You can use teabags straight from the freezer into the pot, honest!

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But despite my apparently cavalier attitude to informative labelling, I am applauding Sainsbury's for showing common sense on this one.

4 comments:

  1. I heard this about Sainsbury's aswell - and my thoughts were much the same as yours about when it is taken off the shelf. It's a bit like people who go to buy their ' fresh' veg on Christmas Eve- they don't realise it's been sat in a warehouse for ages before it ever hits the shelves. They could have just bought it the week before, stored it somewhere cool and saved themselves the hassle!

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  2. I'm in the odd position of trying to empty my freezer right now! Wwe are working our way through lovely Summer fruits and vegetables, aiming to have it empty by April!

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  3. My freezer's as rubbish as the rest of the place!

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  4. WOW I'm really impressed with your very well organised freezer. I was much better with the upright one I had than this chest freezer I now have, its a case of open the lid and hope there is a space. I am getting better with the label side of things after having a few interesting dishes of UFO's. I try my best not to waste anything, its just like opening the bin and emptying in your purse. Sell by and freeze on the day dates are a bit of a pain and I take no notice. We haven't been poisoned yet!

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