The Best is Frozen

Pandemic Update

In the time of a pandemic, canned and boxed foods are often gone from the shelves due to panic buying. But they are not the only food to disappear. This past week, for instance I did my usual weekly shopping, and found even frozen foods were mostly gone. According to news reports and agency updates, any of the shortages we are seeing right now, are a result of food hoarding and not food supply issues.

But let us be clear, it is not just food hoarding that is causing empty shelves. Part of the problem is also stores and warehouses using a “just in time” model for stocking their shelves. In this modern world this is in general a fine model, but efficiency also presents a fragility when we go into a crisis. The Atlantic writes: Highly efficient systems have no slack, no redundancy, and therefore no resilience and no spare capacity. 

This post is focused on ideas of the frozen foods I normally want to have on hand, and if you can find them, consider purchasing them for your freezer too.

Frozen Foods

I always buy certain food frozen, and stock them in my freezer; pandemic or not. Although I could make some of these items at home, “fuhgeddaboudit“ as a New York friend says; it is just too much work. But more than that, I have less waste when I buy things frozen and just use what I need. This translates into a better use of my money as well.

During a crisis, when food is flying off the shelves, the less food you throw out the more you have to eat. That is the number one great thing about frozen food.

Doughs/Breads/Wrappers

• Bread: I like eating good quality bread, so often buy 2 loaves and freeze one. If it is a whole uncut loaf, I ask them to slice the one destined for the freezer. If using gluten free bread, I will keep that in the freezer too, so I just use what I need for those friends who do not eat gluten. To defrost, I take the number of slices I need from the bread and toast them. Defrosting via a toaster works well with pre-sliced bread.
  • I also need to admit I buy the Trader Joe’s big soft German pretzel bags for when all I want is some sauerkraut, a sausage and the pretzel with mustard. Yum.

• Egg Roll Wrappers: So much time is spent creating the filling, and putting them all together, I would rather buy the wrappers and focus on the cooking and eating. From pot stickers, wontons, to other Asian-styled dumplings I use store bought wrappers.

• Naan: A cook mentioned she buys packages of garlic Naan from Trader Joes and keeps them frozen for quick pizza nights when she does not feel like cooking. She smears on some tomato sauce, herbs, and whatever she has to make the pizza, pop in the oven, and dinner is ready.

• Phyllo Dough: For me, making this dough is damn hard. I would rather just buy Phyllo dough. I tend to always keep at least one package on hand. I use this dough for spanakopita, spanakopita salmon, and baked brie.

• Puff Pastry: You already know I am not a baker; why should I attempt to make a pastry dough I can easily buy? Especially when I know there is a 50-50 chance my dough will not come out right. Puff Pastry is my go-to dough for chicken pot pies, apple strudel, fruit tarts, and pastries. Just pull it out, defrost, roll out to the thickness you want, and use.

• Tortillas: Another cook mentioned he just buys tortillas from Costco, even though he can make them, and freezes them in smaller packs since the Costco bag contains ~50 tortillas. (Making your own corn tortillas is very easy!) I always keep a couple of bags of corn-only tortillas for gluten free friends, and a couple of whole wheat.

Veggies/Fruits

There are also veggies and fruit I always buy either frozen or to freeze.

• Corn, peas, spinach, edamame : These organic frozen veggies are always in my freezer. It is easy to parse out a bit for a recipe and thus reduce food waste.

• Pearl Onions: Pearled onions are great for some specific recipes, one cook reports, but a pain to peel. Frozen is always helpful, saves a tremendous amount of time. Pearl onions would be great in my Peas and Carrot recipe (in place of chopped onions).

• Riced foods: One cook mentioned he keeps riced cauliflower and riced broccoli in his freezer just for ease of cooking. Not that he does not know how to do it from scratch, but it is faster to just grab the bag and use what he needs.

• Blueberries, strawberries, peaches: Make sure to buy organic if you can, and that it is only the fruit in the bag, no other preservatives or sugars. I pick my blueberry bushes and just put them in a baggie after a rinse and thorough dry, then pop into the freezer. I also grow strawberries, but there is never enough left to freeze, we eat them all.

Meats/Fowl

• Shrimp: Shrimp is caught and frozen on the boats, so it is kept in prime condition. If I buy unfrozen shrimp from my fish place I know it has been defrosted and needs to be used right away. Otherwise I buy it frozen and it stays that way until I need it. I may eat shrimp ~2-3 times a year in shrimp cocktail, Shrimp Tacos, Limey Rum Grilled Shrimp, or stir fry.

• Ground turkey, chicken and beef: I usually keep 1# of each in my freezer to have on hand for special dinners (like my son is coming by). Ground beef is eaten just a few times a year, mainly used in chili or pasta dishes. But turkey is eaten ~6 times a year as turkey burgers, meatballs or with noodles or pasta. Ground chicken will make burgers, or I use it in chicken soup.

• Ground Lamb: I use ground lamb very infrequently, and only to make Greek Koftas or for use in Shepards Pie. So I keep it frozen in 1/2# packages. I may actually eat lamb up to ~2 times a year,

• Boneless chicken breasts + thighs: I usually keep some in the freezer (in ready to cook portions of 2 each) as a go-to quick protein source. Chicken is the main meat that I consume, and these days at least once a week I make some kind of chicken meat or broth dish. I do not usually have frozen chicken tenders as I can cut that from fresh chicken breasts and freeze them myself; much cheaper.

• Meat Parts: I have a large plastic freezer bag full of chicken parts from leftover meals. It has the carcass, skin, grease, everything left over so I can make chicken broth once the bag is full. I also have some frozen Oxtails for beef broth used in my Pho broths

Broth

I always have frozen broth, and rarely buy it. In my freezer downstairs are containers of homemade chicken, veggie, and Dashi broth. Occasionally I will have some pork of beef broth for Pho. I put the oldest in front so I keep using them before they have a chance to go bad. They are all labeled with what they are and the date I made it.

Starchy + Other Stuff

• Pasta: One Cook said she buys fresh pasta and freezes it for later use. But even if you make your own, freezing what is not immediately used means you have future quick dinners. The trick here is to freeze leftovers in portioned bags so you can easily grab the amount you need.

• Pesto: I always have a jar of frozen basil pesto in my freezer. I just scrape out what I need for dinner and put it back. Makes a very quick and tasty dinner when I am in a hurry.
  
• Trader Joe’s frozen food: Given the Covid-19 situation, I have added some of the quick frozen foods available from Trader Joes. This is purely a matter of convenience in case I get sick, since I am the cook of the house.
  • Roasted Potatoes With Peppers and Onions
  • Chicken Burrito Bowl
  • Turkey Meatballs
  • Channa Masala
  • Stir-Fry Vegetables or Melodious Blend

Since we are limited to what is actually available, I suggest you buy only those items you know you will eat. It may not matter if it is frozen rice, pasta with sauce, or breaded fish sticks; whatever you will eat is reasonable to get.

Does this mean all my talking about eating healthy is being thrown out the window? No, for we all need to continue to stay healthy now and eating well is part of that. But if you are running out of food, the goal is to eat first, eat better comes in second.

–Patty

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Pandemic update: The New England Journal of Medicine found that the coronavirus is detectable for up to three hours in aerosols, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.

Cleaning update: Some of the cleaning and disinfecting materials can be harmful, so be careful. Bleach should only be mixed with water. Isopropyl alcohol is flammable and irritating to the skin. Hydrogen peroxide must NEVER be mixed with vinegar.

News: The Guardian reports that Americans eat an average of 17 teaspoons of added sugar daily due to our consumption of processed foods. For comparison, the AMA recommended daily maximum is 6t of sugar for women and 9t for men. Natural sugars in fruit and milk are not the issue here, it is candy, canned sauces, processed and fast foods.

Tip: To save time, always cook more than you need so the rest can be frozen for use later when there is just not enough time to cook. I do this with soups, stews, meats, sauces, etc.

Recipe: Vegetarian + Easily Vegan Quiche Cups and Greek Open Face Omelet.