Most of us have one, and its often just filled with frozen vegies and icecream, meats and bread. The freezer is a lifesaver when it comes to food and making life that little bit easier.

So heres something for everyone to think about. Lets take it up a notch. What can we put in that freezer to save time and money? BULK FOODS. Meats, casseroles, last night leftovers. All frozen ready for a quick saving meal on one of those hard, long, tiresome days.

Firstly, buy meat in bulk. A side of lamb costs arouns $30. Pull it apart, rebag and freeze. To buy it all seperately it would cost 2 - 3 times that much. What a waste of our hard earned money!
Make up a big pot of soup. Then freeze in littler containers. A big pot can make a fair bit. Also great if a family member falls sick, you can take out a container and pop over.
Make a big casserole. Again freeze it. Make up an extra large dinner and freeze it. The ideas are endless.

Freezing Properly

THis is very important. A lot of people dont freeze things properly and it can make you very sick and can endanger the lives of your little ones.

You need to cool the food before freezing. How do we do this? NOT ON THE BENCH! It needs to be put straight in the fridge and when its cold then put into the freezer. Things should never be cooled on the bench because it brings the food to room temperature and bacteria breeds. Cooling it in the fridge before freezing stops it icing up in the freezer, which ruins the taste and texture of the foods when you re heat it.

Wrapping Properly

A lot of people just pop it in a container, foil or bag without knowing how it should be done correctly.

If your freezing in a container you would like to reheat in, make sure its oven or microwave safe. Plastic or glad bags need to be freezer safe. Some aren't and this will ice up the food and make it taste yuck.
Acidic foods like tomatoes should not be wrapped in alaminium foil. The acid reacts with the foil and makes the food taste yuck.

Keeping It Frozen

Always put frozen meat products at the back of the lowest shelf. This is the coldest part of the freezer and will make the meat stay frozen. Doors of freezers are useless for this as the freezer is opened and closed so much that the temperature varies a lot. The door is best for vegies and things like that.

Date It

Even if you think it wont be frozen for long you should always mark it with the date you froze it. This will prevent things going off then being used, causing food poisoning.

How Long Can It Stay Frozen?

Meats - 1-3 months
Combination dishes (spaghetti bolognaise, stir fry etc) - 3 months
Breads - Up to 6 months