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Your freezer is a wonderful thing, and oftentimes, the most underutilized part of your food storage. Things keep for a good, long while in your freezer, and sometimes the simplest things can make your life a lot easier, both inside the kitchen and out.
Interested in some things that you should definitely keep stocked in your freezer? Here are 10 big ones.
For the uninitiated, Trader Joe’s sells some frozen jasmine rice packets. In fact, they produce such perfectly cooked rice in the microwave every single time, that I often wonder why I have a rice maker at all.
This isn’t more cost-effective than doing it yourself by any means, but however you do it, for the sake of ease, keep frozen rice in your freezer. You’ll reach for it over and over again.
Adding fresh garlic and ginger to your meal is time-consuming, laborious work. I would like to personally thank the good people at Dorot Gardens for making our lives easier with these frozen garlic and ginger cubes, and I would also like to thank Target for being, um, inspired by them and selling them there, too.
Making stock is really easy; just simmer bones and some mirepoix (carrots, celery, and onions) for several hours. Once it’s done, it’s incredibly useful, and can last for a long time in the freezer. Don’t let go of a rotisserie chicken without making some stock out of it.
There are few things better, honestly. Frozen veggies are good for just about anything: soups, stews, bakes, skillets, casseroles, and more. Frozen veggies can breathe new life into leftovers and new meals alike.
As an ingredient that works in millions of dishes, this is an easy one to stick in there. Quick breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are always so much easier with ground meat at the ready.
You can leave bread in the freezer for up to six months, which means you’ve got sandwiches for half the year. You can also crumble that stuff up to thicken soups or let it get stale for some bread pudding. You’ll be glad it’s there.
This is another one of those “There are two types of people” situations, but look, there are two types of people. You either like those suckers wet and melty and smudged all over your hands like an animal, or you like them cool, crunchy, and clean, right out of the freezer.
This one is a treat yourself round. The next time you’re looking to kick back with a beer, soda, or any kind of frosty, end-of-the-day type of beverage, do yourself a favor and stick a big mug in the freezer 30 minutes beforehand. You’ll never be happier with any of your choices.
This may be obvious, but make sure there’s an ice pack or two in your freezer. You never know when you’re going to smash your head on the cabinet door or burn your arm on the oven. And this week, I definitely didn’t do both of those things and then proceed to get mad when I didn’t have any ice packs. No sir, no sir.