I was just reading this article about how a full freezer uses less energy than an empty one because it has less space to cool. That's a nice bonus for my sister/roommate Angie and me who always have a packed freezer. We have lots of frozen stuff for other "saving" reasons:
1. We both stock up on fresh meats when they go on sale. For example, right now, I have a $16 pork tenderloin that I got for $5 when it went on sale the other week for $1.99/lb. Angie has a London broil that she got when it was buy one, get one free. (We ate the other one the week she bought them.) When we want to eat these things, we won't have to pay full price or have to set our craving aside while waiting until they go on sale again. We already have them in stock!
2. We also take advantage of frozen food deals in the same way. We stash away our favorite ice cream, frozen vegetables, frozen waffles, and frozen dinners.
3. I mention frozen dinners, but they are mostly Angie's since I don't care much for them -- the manufactured kind that is. However, we both freeze leftovers of food we have made. A lot of meals we make (i.e. spaghetti sauce, soups, casseroles, and more) can be frozen and taste pretty good when reheated. It works out well because we don't have to keep eating the same leftovers day after day, and when we need a quick meal, we've got something good just minutes from being ready to eat. (That saves us from eating out when we are too tired or hungry to cook or are short on time.)
4. Sometimes we will even prepare something especially for the freezer to have on hand for a quick bite. Most recently, we have discovered that English muffin pizzas freeze really well. We buy English muffins when they are on sale and use pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and our favorite topping(s) to make little pizzas. These make great snacks or quick meals at home or lunch for work. I have access to a toaster oven at my office, so I just freeze mine uncooked. Angie only has a microwave at work, so she discovered that baking, freezing, and then microwaving them at work is pretty good. We package two pizzas (one muffin split in half) in aluminum foil and freeze them. Mine came out to $0.38 per pizza. (2 packages of English muffins (6 count): $3.05; 1 can of pizza sauce: $1.32; 1 package of mozzarella cheese: $3.47; 1 can of mushrooms: $1.23.) Not bad for a yummy lunch that my coworkers covet!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Filling the Freezer
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Here's a comment from Mom:
Another freezer tip. If you have a large freezer and not enough food to fill it, fill plastic milk jugs or other plastic containers with water. The frozen containers will help to reduce the operating expense. If there is a power outage, food in the freezer will remain frozen longer, but do NOT open the freezer to check on it. Ice cream won't hold as long as other food that was frozen solid before the power went out. As you add more food to the freezer, just remove the frozen water containers and, of course, don't empty the jugs down the drain....water plants or whatever.
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