Fill Your Money Box » Avoid food waste

Can you freeze roast chicken?

mitz — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:22:58 +0000

roast chicken

We all know we can freeze raw chicken in all its shapes and forms, but can we freeze a roast chicken? You know the cooked roast chicken you might buy from the supermarket. Well I freeze them whole and just pull one out of the freezer when I need it. Its an absolute lifesaver when you are scratching your head wondering what to cook for dinner.

I personally wouldn’t leave a cooked roast chicken in the freezer for more than a month. But if it has just been in the freezer for a few weeks, when defrosted properly it can taste as fresh as the day you bought it.

How to defrost a whole roast chicken?

This is very important. You must defrost the roast chicken in the fridge. If you defrost it in the microwave or try to rush it and use hot water, you will ruin the chicken. The best way to get a tender, fresh chikcken is to give it at least 4 hours to defrost in the fridge. Sometimes more. This will make your roast chicken tasty and visitors would not even know it had been frozen.

If you do try to rush this process it makes the roast chicken dry and stringy and sometimes even tasting like it is full of water.

Can you freeze broken up roast chicken?

You can freeze broken up roast chicken slices or pieces however this does make the chicken a bit dryer. It seems to taste better if you freeze a whole roast chicken and then when it is defrosted you can break it up. Of course I still freeze broken up roast chicken and use it for chicken and mayo sandwiches. That way it still tastes great. Another thing I use it for is cheesy noodles with chicken for the kids or even chicken soup.

What can you do with roast chicken that has been frozen?

Defrost your chicken whole in the fridge and cut it into pieces and have chicken and salad on a plate.
Break it up for sandwiches. Chicken and mayo, chicken and salad, etc..
Use the leftovers for chicken soup.
Make chicken and pasta bake.
Make chicken tacos.
Chicken, cheese, and onion toasted sandwiches.

What do you do with your roast chicken? Got any good ideas?

Can I freeze a leftover sandwich?

mitz — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:54:21 +0000

I love freezing food because I can. I never have a problem with freezer space as I have 3 large chest freezers and 2 fridge freezers. Excessive I know, but I am in the food industry. This alone has made me aware of food wastage levels and I will do all I can to avoid this and that includes freezing sandwiches.Most people are familiar with what they can and can’t freeze, however have you ever thought about freezing a sandwich? Well believe it or not, I do it all the time. Admittedly I usually only freeze sandwiches for toasting at a later date, but I have also tried fresh sandwiches.

What sandwiches can you freeze to use for toasted sandwiches?

Freezing a sandwich to be stored away to be later defrosted and toasted is my favorite way to save food…When you have leftover ham, sliced meat, or chicken floating around in the fridge simply put it in a sandwich and freeze it.

Ham and cheese sandwich: This sandwich is great to freeze, defrost, and then toast at a later date. Just add a little butter to the outside and bob’s your uncle. If you want to add tomato to this toasted sandwich, I usually do this just before toasting.

Chicken and Cheese sandwich: The same applies for this sandwich. It turns out fantastic. You can even already have mayo or onion on it. You will not know the difference between a freshly made toasted sandwich and a previously frozen one.

What fresh sandwiches can you freeze for lunches?

Who hasn’t made a sandwich with frozen bread, wrapped it up, then eaten for lunch? I know I have. But have you made a sandwich, froze it, defrosted it a week later, and then had it for lunch? Confusing or crazy? No not really. You can freeze basic sandwiches easily. Jam, vegemite, peanut butter, jelly, cheese, ham, are all fine to freeze, however there are some rules.

• Always keep the sandwich simple.

• Always wrap the sandwich securely in plastic wrap.

• Always freeze same day fresh bread.

• Let the sandwich defrost at its own pace. Using a microwave is not recommended as you may over heat the sandwich and make it rubbery.

Sometimes it’s handy to just pull a readymade sandwich out of the freezer for the kids lunches.

You should not freeze these sandwiches:

• Freezing fresh chicken sandwiches for toasting is fine, but not for a fresh sandwich. Chicken gets dry. If it is sliced or processed chicken it should be fine.

• Do not freeze salad items such as tomato and lettuce in a sandwich because when it is defrosted they will make the sandwich soggy.

Tips for defrosting a sandwich

• Do not use the microwave unless you are toasting the sandwich. However make sure you do not over defrost the sandwich because it will still get rubbery even though you are toasting it.

• When you remove a sandwich from the freezer and your plastic wrap is icy, and it is a non-toasted sandwich, rewrap it before packing it for lunch.

Make banana muffins with your rotten bananas!

mitz — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:35:00 +0000

Don’t throw out your old bananas! You can freeze them to make smoothies with or make banana muffins with your rotten bananas!

Banana Muffins

2 cups Self raising flour

2 large bananas (ripened) 3 small

1/2 cup brown sugar (less if you like)

1 egg

1/3 cup butter, melted( if unsalted add 1/4 tsp salt)

A few drops of Vanilla

Preheat oven to 400F or 180C. Add dry ingredients together. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Mix the eggs, bananas, and butter; add to dry ingredients, stirring only until the all ingredients are combined. Spoon into well-greased muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes.

I usually touch the top of the muffin to see if it is ready. If it is it will spring back.
The less you stir the mixture the softer the muffin
You can add choc chips, walnuts, or coconut to the mixture.
I like throwing nuts on the top for decoration.

You can use other fruits besides the bananas but they may not have as much liquid and you will have to add a bit of milk to compensate.

For example I would use two apples sliced up and maybe a 1/4 of a cup of milk. I would also add some cinamon and walnuts… Yummm

What food and drink can you freeze to save money

mitz — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:37:00 +0000

Knowing what foods you can and can’t freeze can save you a huge amount of money. People waste food everyday by waiting until it is spoiled and then throwing it out. Most foods can be saved by freezing them before they go off!

Sliced Meat: Any sliced meats like ham, salami, chicken, etc can be frozen in small portions to use on sandwiches when needed.

Chicken: Break the roast chicken up, getting all the meat from the bone and freeze for sandwiches or maybe another meal. Store in an airtight container.

Toasted sandwiches: With the letover ham I make toasted ham and cheese sandwiches and freeze them. Now all the kids have to do is unwrap them and cook in a toasted sandwich machine.

Cakes/ Muffins / Buscuits: I freeze any cake, muffins, and most busicuts and when you bring them out to eat they still taste the same. This is handy when your family can’t eat the entire cake you have baked. Just simply wrap up the leftovers and bring them out when needed. We usually heat cake up in the microwave and add some fresh cream for a quick desert.

Cooked Rice / Noodles / mashed potato: Freeze any of these in an artight bag. I use a clip lock plastic bag with the air pushed out and flattened out for easy defrosting. It is really handy to pull out something to add to a meal that is almost ready for you to eat.

Premade meals: I usually have some simple meals that you just heat and eat for the kids to grab. Meals like spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne, cheesy noodles, curry and rice, and more..

Bread: I buy bread in bulk because you can get it for $1.00 a loaf, whereas the smaller corner store sells it for $3.00.

Potato chips: There are always leftover potato chips that go to waste. I freeze potato chips in clip lock bags and pull them out and put them in my kids school lunches. It is also cheaper to buy one big pack rather than the smaller individual packs.

Leftover softdrink / cordial: My kids are forever leaving half a cup cordial or soft drink around. It used to really annoy me, however now I make them an icey pole with it. Same with orange juice, coke, lemonade etc… Some people also make ice blocks for drinks. As long as it is just for yourselves, there is no chance of spreading germs.

Fruit: Bananas were continually going bad at my house until I decided to throw an entire bunch into the freezer. Now I pull a banana out and make an icey banana smoothy with it. I cook apples and freeze them or I just make an Apple Tea cake with them. You can put any fruit into a cake. You should experiment.. You can also make fruit smoothies and freeze into icy poles.. The kids love that!

Tomatoes: I usually freeze these to use in spaghetti sauce. Some people blanch them and peal the skin, however I don’t bother as I am going to wizz it up later.

Sandwiches: You can freeze ready made sandwiches for your kids lunches. I usually freeze vegemite, peanut butter, ham and cheese, chicken and cheese, chicken and mayo, and more…. Anything that doesn’t contain a salad item like tomato or lettuce.