this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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Since you're open to frozen, you can cook almost everything. Applebees entire menu almost starts frozen.
There's relatively few things in the culinary world that cannot be frozen. It's like, a really small list. Like, you're not really supposed to freeze bread, it does change it a little. But you can. And you won't notice the difference in french toast or a panini.
Really? I feel like bread keeps pretty well in the freezer!
It comes out stale, but if you toast it it;s fine. Even just reheating it works somewhat
It really depends on the quality of the bread and the loaf packaging. Bread and bread packaging differs greatly across the world. The lighter the bread, the more likely it is too dry out quickly. The packaging needs to prevent it from freezer burn, a high quality bread bag does more then a piece of plastic that's supposed to let the bread air out.
Give it a try, buy a heavier bread and stick it in a good plastic bag. Should last a week easily. Make sure your bread is pre cut as cutting frozen bread is not fun.
It seems pretty limiting from my perspective. Can't use milk or eggs or cheese, and most dipps don't freeze either. Can't use lettuce, most vegetables and fruit become tasteless as soon as their frozen, and bread can only be frozen once or twice before it becomes inedible, and it takes two full days to thaw each time.
Most of my diet is noodles of various kinds, soups, and frozen meals.
What would you suggest? Applebee's doesn't operate in my area, and I've never been to one. What kinds of food would work?
Is this the US we're talking about? And what kinds of foods do you like?
You're right that there is a list of things that cannot be frozen, ingredient-wise. But when you compare the size of the list of things that can be frozen vs cannot be, you will find the "can be" list is many, many times larger. While clearly you will still need some non-frozen things, milk and lettuce are excellent examples, these are the exceptions, not the rule.
You can cook almost everything. If its a food dish (just about), you can make it from 98% non-perishables. So, we're gonna have to narrow it down here unless you just want me to start listing the worlds foods one by one.
I live in Saskatchewan, Canada. I don't need specifics, though it's nice when they are given. I am mostly looking for ideas on what kinds of food would work.
I get what you mean, though. There's certainly a lot of options, and a recipe doesn't do me much good if it uses ingredients that I can't get.
I guess, "what's your favorite recipes that fit this theme?" Might have been a better question. I'm just frustrated that every recipe I find online has things like "fresh garlic" or "whole onion" or even worse "lemon zest" (what do you do with the rest of the lemon? There's not exactly many recipes that use it) so I have to find another that doesn't have anything "fresh" in it.
Personally, I'd go ahead and buy fresh stuff, in fair quantities, and cook it up into finished dishes. Then throw these into some reusable containers for freezing and later reheating. You can do this really well with things like chili, stews, soups, stuff like that. Can cube up fruit and then freeze the cubes for smoothies, and honestly I'd just go ahead and buy pre-frozen vegetables and berries and stuff. That all tends to be fairly decent, though it varies. Uses are whatever you want, they're all versatile. Breakfast omelette, throwing some into a soup you're getting tired of, quick roast to eat as a side, whatever.
And yeah, I feel your pain. Frankly, I usually end up squeezing the lemon into some water, just to not waste it. That's the best I have for that one. lol
Some waste is unavoidable sometimes, onions are a good example. You kinda need em, but if you don't use them periodically they definitely go bad and generate clouds of fruit flies. My best advice for that is advance meal planning, where you're buying for specific dishes you have planned in the next few weeks. Really, this entire approach boils down to advance meal planning, now that I think about it...
I hadn't thought of the fruit thing, so I'll definitely be doing that. I'd imagine that buying a mango or something would be a lot better if I just sliced it and froze the slices. Same with bananas since peeling them after you freeze them is always such a pain.
Yah, advance meal prep is definitely a skill I need to get ahold of, same with meal planning.
I'll look for some frozen veggies next time I go shopping. I usually only buy it when I'm making soup or something, but if I can find some of the non-mixed stuff (only carrots, for example) then that would be great.
The only thing I've encountered that I'll never freeze again is cream cheese.
They sell frozen bread at Walmart (at least garlic bread)
That's not the greatest way to encourage someone.