Saving the contents of a partially opened can; and other tips to use freezing certain condiments, spices and even garlic.
This one is really easy. Once you have opened a large jar of a product, usually it goes into the refrigerator, and sometimes spoils if you do not use it quickly enough. This applies to most canned goods, or other things that may only be used a certain amount of the time.
Why waste opening another jar, or buying more of that item? Get out your ice cube trays! This is a great solution if you are saving something like pizza sauce, tomato sauce, broth, salsa, barbecue sauce and many other items. Even cheese dip seems to work as well. We've tested most possibilities over the years and the only poor outcome was potatoes; mashed or cubed.
This also works really well with garlic. If you are like me; you may like fresh garlic, but it's a pain to peel, chop, and sometimes goes bad if you leave it in the refrigerator too long.
For each liquid item, fill up the ice cube trays about 2/3 full (each "cube"). put in the freezer and when frozen, pop out and put in a ziplock bag and keep it in the freezer. Use as many cubes as you like, it's the perfect portion size and no chance of waste.
The garlic trick is to peel and wash the garlic, toss it into the blender with some water and then pour it into the ice cube trays. it's a wonderful way to have fresh garlic around at all times. Only one warning with the garlic, please make sure you put your frozen garlic cubes in a good container to prevent the garlic odor from mingling with the other foods. I don't recommend ziplock (odor still got out into the rest of the freezer). Now I use a glass jar, which seems to be working just fine.
All those left over sauces and broths can be frozen as well, with the exception of flour-thickened gravy.
I believe over the last 15 years that I have been using this technique it has worked with all items with those exceptions: gravy, potatoes. Everything else comes out just fine. So easy to reach for the proper amount without opening a new can.
By Bella Swan from Forks, WA
I purchased a set of 4 trays for $1 at my local discount store and have used them for all sorts of non-ice items. Cubes thaw faster than blocks of food in larger sizes, and store easily in zipper freezer bags.
Experts say that the best way to SLASH your grocery bill is to eliminate the waste-stop throwing things out! Here is my way of salvaging the tablespoon of corn or green beans that is not enough to eat but I can't bear to throw out.
I really think that the introduction of Clip Lock bags (Freezer Use) are the next best invention since sliced bread! I usually go over the top and make too much of a particular meal/soup sauce (all the kids have now left home and sadly I still cook for 6 rather than 2!).
If a leftover food is good for a soup, wrap it, write on it what it is, and freeze it. Some things will need to be chopped fine before use, but add a lot of flavor.
When making pizza, there always seems to be more sauce than we need, so I freeze leftovers in ice cube trays and take out one or two when needed. These are great for a quick tortilla pizza night. Just use tortilla shells instead of pizza dough.
When you cook a chicken and have leftovers to put in the freezer, store the chunks of chicken in broth to keep it from drying out. Your chicken will be nice and moist when you need it for casseroles, etc. By Katz
When TV dinners were on sale, I purchased a number of them. We used these dinners when we were in a hurry rather than eating fast food. When done, I washed and saved the "plate".
If you put a plastic bag into a square container then freeze your leftovers in that, you can take out the bag, label it, and store it in your freezer. Square frozen bags take up less room and are easier to stack.
When preparing soups or anything with leftovers to be frozen for later use, I save the excess in ziploc freezer bags. When the food is cooled enough for freezing, lay the bags flat in a baking pan until they are frozen.
I find that when I make a soup with pasta in it, the pasta gets very soft when trying to serve the soup as a leftover. When I have a lot of leftover soup, I will now put it directly into a casserole dish and freeze it.
Sometimes a recipe calls for broth and you purchase a larger amount than needed. To avoid waste, you can pour the leftover amount into ice cube trays or a plastic container and freeze.
Baggies are essential in your kitchen. When bringing home those large frozen meat "specials" divide them into meal portions as soon as you get home instead of putting the whole package of meat in the freezer.
This little 8 ounce container has really come in handy for me. Being flexible, rectangular shape and having a lid make it the perfect container for me to use for freezing turnip salad in a serving size for the two of us.