My friend the freezer

I made dinner before writing this, and I had three burners on my stove going but managed to burn myself on my toaster oven. And now I'm writing about freezing things, but the thing my freezer is missing is an ice maker, which would have been useful tonight. Anyway, on to the topic for today's post.

When I first moved into my apartment in Georgia after graduating from college, everyone told me to use my freezer. But I can't say that I ever really did. Yes, I had stuff I would buy frozen (Bagel Bites were a staple in my life at that time), but I rarely froze things I made. But that's probably because I wasn't cooking.

Now, my freezer is full. Currently, I have two types of muffins, pizza dough, tomato sauce (homemade, by the way), my whole chicken (which reminds me I need to cook it before I pick up another one), chicken broth, cinnamon rolls and cakeballs. I also have some hamburger meat, bread and ice cream in there.

I haven't had a reason to freeze the produce I'm getting, and I'm still a little worried about how that would change the taste. I'm sure freezing works, but I've just been a little skeptical.

But I know that I can make a dozen blueberry or zucchini or peach muffins and freeze what I'm not going to eat right away. And the chicken broth has meant I have a staple for a lot of recipes, especially for my green beans lately. It's also nice to know I'm not going to find the broth has gone bad in my cabinet.

I made a simple tomato sauce (can of tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and oregano), used it on a pizza and then divided the rest into single servings so I can pull them out for pizza or pasta. And I won't find containers with white stuff growing in them in my fridge. Now if only I could figure out a way to avoid the sour milk that comes all too quickly.

Also, before I started the co-op I discovered the convenience of frozen vegetables (yes, I realize this contradicts my earlier statement but someone else does the freezing). I found it was much easier to pull out a handful of corn, lima beans or okra and cook how much I want, rather than opening a can and having leftovers.

All of this to say, my freezer has definitely been a friend lately, and I'll say I'm considering it key to cooking for one.