Cooking Confidence Can Start In The Freezer

Your dinner plans can be perfect and still collapse by Wednesday. The real problem isn’t that you “can’t cook” it’s that fresh food goes off when life gets busy, and the waste hits both your budget and your motivation. I’m sharing the simplest way I know to make whole food cooking easier: turning your freezer into a shop filled with ready-to-cook ingredients.

We walk through the mindset shift that changes everything: your freezer isn’t just for packaged convenience food, it can hold ready to cook ingredients that don’t even need thawing. I share tips on how to stock and manage your freezer (and give it a good clear out first!) and talk about the importance of labelling your containers so you never defrost the wrong “mystery red mush” again.

Then we get practical with freezer staples for easy weeknight meals: which proteins can be cooked straight from frozen? Which dishes can you whip up with whole ingredients straight from the freezer? Which frozen veg actually tastes good?

I have tips on fresh herbs and spices as well as ideas for making flavour bases give you two meals for the effort of one. 

If you want to save money, reduce food waste, and cook more nutritious meals from scratch without the stress, hit subscribe, share Cook and Nourish with a friend, and leave a review so more home cooks can find us.

Transcript

Make The Freezer A Real Shop

Leftovers That Reheat Like Magic

Fast Proteins From Frozen

Frozen Veg That Still Counts

Herbs And Spices Without Waste

Stock And Curry Bases For Speed

Extra Freezer Staples And Subscribe

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello, lovely cooks, and welcome back to Cook and Nourish, where the real life struggles of making dinner are met with realistic and easy solutions. I'm your host, Claire Serene, and I'm a master chef runner up, determined to give the home cook's one-pop meals just as much recognition as a Michelin-starred chef's essence of lettuce with a whisper of cucumber. Today I'm hoping I can help some of you feel more confident about cooking with whole ingredients with tips on how to turn your freezer into a shop. I think lots of people worry about buying fresh ingredients because life derails, something comes up, your original plan goes out of the window, and the food goes off in the fridge. All of a sudden, your money and your morale have taken a big hit and it discourages you from cooking fresh food, but your freezer can change all that. At first, a big thank you to everyone who listened to the last episode celebrating my favorite carbs. It was really interesting to read your messages about which carbs form the backbone of your weekly meals. I had one message from a lovely lady saying that she and her family eat exclusively rice, but that she can switch up the kind of rice that she uses and the methods of cooking it. Rice is a phenomenal family for this, because it's so versatile. It ranges from sweet to nutty, fluffy to sticky, and it can be eaten hot in dishes like biryani or paella, or cold in sushi and salads. I was really delighted to get an email from Mark in Swansea who said he has never tried tinned beans other than the humble baked bean, and so he gave them a go and was an instant convert. That made my day. Because if I can give one person one tip that widens their home cooking repertoire, then this entire podcast is worthwhile. So back to today, and I'm sharing my deep love of the freezer. I know that my freezer is crucial for the way I cook so that I can eat more nutritiously, save money, and reduce waste. That is a pretty powerful trio for one appliance, and it puts the toaster to shame. I know that lots of people think that the freezer is just a place to store packaged food like pizza, chips or fish fingers. And trust me, my freezer has all those things in it too, but it can also be full of instantly ready-to-cook ingredients that transform the way you eat. My freezer breaks down into a few categories. There's the packaged food, like I mentioned, and then I have oven ready leftovers in foil containers, which I've mentioned before. Then there are proteins, veggies, herbs, spices, and flavor bases. Aside from the packaged food, everything is whole foods and don't need to be thawed before cooking, so you can rely on them to get a meal going quickly. Stocking your freezer like a fridge, it gives you the chance to eat more whole foods without the stress of cooking things before they go off. The reality is we're not really taught how to use our freezers effectively. It's one of those appliances that we take for granted as having the usual suspects in there. We treat it like a second-rate backup, but it's actually a powerhouse appliance. If you start to stock it differently, your freezer can give you the confidence that you have nutritious food on hand to cook when you're ready. And confidence fosters growth. On my episode about meal planning, I said that not everyone feels confident enough to buy fresh ingredients and cook them within the same week. And I get it, it's an awful feeling when you realize the mince has gone off or the cauliflower's gone black. But if it's just the worry of wasting ingredients that stops you cooking whole food meals, then you can bypass that worry with the freezer. It ensures that the ingredients are fresh and ready when you are. And this is why I'm so passionate that the freezer is a gateway to more people cooking whole food meals more often. I don't have a huge freezer, just a few drawers, but it serves as a takeaway, uh a first aid cabinet, it's a shop and an ice cream fan. And if you can't tell, I'm a big fan. But there's a catch when you're turning your freezer into a shop. A shop only works if you can see the stock. And most of us know that freezers have a tendency to become a wasteland of forgotten items, literally frozen in ice. So before you start loading it with renewed vigour, it's a good idea to turf out anything that's not labeled or been in there longer than six months or is unidentifiable by shape or colour, and then pour out all the peas that have fallen out of their bag. When you start using your freezer as a shop, you need to employ the first in, first out principle. So when you come home with your new stock, don't just shove it on top. Take 30 seconds to move the older bags to the front or to the top. It's also worth investing in a chunky permanent marker. Because I don't care how much you think you'll remember that the red mush is bolognese and not chili. Once it's frozen, they will look identical. So label the top of your foil containers or the front of your zip bags with a name and a date, and future you will thank you for it. The easiest win for your freezer is leftovers. And I've talked about this before, how much I love a foil container, because you can bung the whole thing straight from your freezer into your oven without defrosting it, and then there's no washing up. I can write the dish straight on the lid and avoid playing guess the frozen package game. I can so distinctly remember defrosting what I thought was a foil package of chicken breasts ready for that night's meal. When I went to open it, I had lovingly defrosted a package of pears that had frozen in the autumn, and they didn't pair so well with sweet and sour sauce, so it's definitely worth labelling things. You can pick up foil containers for really cheap at the supermarket or shops like BM, then either batch cook or save the leftovers from meals like fish pie, curry, chicken and rice, bolonese, burritos, paella, tuna break, you name it. The options are huge, and each container is a whole food meal ready without any hassle. I love them. Knowing which ingredients you can keep in your freezer to make easy meals is the key to using your freezer like a shop. Large ingredients like a whole chicken or a leg of lamb will need to be defrosted before you cook them, but there are loads of proteins that can go straight from your freezer into the pan. So let's start with prawns. Bags of frozen prawns are phenomenal because you can use just a few or the whole bag. I tend to buy large, raw frozen prawns so that they can stand being in the pan a bit longer whilst everything heats through without the prawns becoming rubbery. I use frozen prawns to make laxa, prawn curry, garlic and lemon, prawn spaghetti, prawn and chorizo paiella, or just straight up prawn cocktail. It's a pretty great repertoire for the humble bag of prawns. I also keep a bag of frozen fish pie mix because it's so much cheaper than buying all of those components individually. Whole chicken breasts need to be defrosted before you can cook them. I have a trick that I use to save time. I buy a big tray of chicken breasts because they're usually cheaper per kilo than buying a smaller tray. And then I dry the meats with kitchen roll and I dice it all up, then pop them into a big bag, a zip bag, with some corn flour and I give it a good shake until the chicken is coated, and then I put that into the freezer. I usually portion the bag so that there's enough chicken in each bag to serve four of us. But if I'm freezing a really, really big bag of diced chicken, then I pop all the pieces in, place the bag on a baking tray, and then spread the chicken into a single layer. Put the baking tray into the freezer, leave it for a couple of hours, and it ensures that the cubes don't stick together. So you can take out just as much chicken you need, pop it straight into your sauce and heat it through. It's an instant, healthy protein in seconds, and the dusting of corn flour will help to thicken your sauce and give it a slightly glossy look, so it's a double win. Similarly, with mince, a whole block of mince will take a while to defrost. But I buy a block of beef mince, add some breadcrumbs, dried herbs, and a whisky and an egg, and then I make meatballs. I pop them inside the bag, put them on a tray, put the tray in the freezer, give it a couple of hours, then the meatballs freeze individually, and then I can take out as many as I need at a time. I use beef meatballs in pasta and in meatball subs, and then I make pork meatballs the same way but using Asian spices, and then I pop these into noodle dishes or soups. Sausages are a terrific protein to keep in the freezer. Again, if you don't need all of them, just spread them out on a bag, freeze for a couple of hours separately, and then you can pick and choose how many you want. This way you don't have to defrost eight every single time. I know some of you might be thinking, is it actually safe to cook meat straight from frozen? And the answer is yes, as long as the protein is in small pieces, like my diced chicken or the prawns. Because they're small, the heat can penetrate to the center of the protein and cook it through thoroughly before the outside overcooks. It's why a big leg of lamb needs to be fridge thawed, but your diced chicken is perfectly safe to go straight into a bubbling sauce and cook through completely. It's a massive time saver that doesn't compromise on safety. So let's talk veg. You say frozen veg, and people will just think bag of frozen peas. And I adore a frozen pea, and you'll always find some in my freezer, but it's only the beginning of the options. I love frozen edamame. With the shell on, I can whack it in the microwave, sprinkle it with salt, and it's one of my favourite snacks. I also keep a bag of shelled edamame that I just chuck into Asian recipes. It is terrific. I have a deep love for frozen spinach for a few reasons. It's got a higher nutrition density because it's frozen shortly after being picked. It doesn't die a slimy death in the fridge, which I hate, and it's already washed, which is a really boring job I don't want to do. These little blocks can be added to pasta dishes, soups, curries, or pie fillings. And the list goes on to be honest. Each one is just a little iron fest with zero fuss. You could make your own frozen blocks by blanching spinach and then filling an ice tray and letting it cool off in the freezer, but they're just done in bags and I love them. Broccoli and cauliflower freeze really well and cut down on the prep that some people get frustrated with. You can steam them in the microwave and serve them as a side or pop them into sauces straight from frozen. Just bear in mind that they will release a little water as they cook, so don't make your sauce too thin to start with. There are umpteen pre-frozen veg bags to choose from, and these absolutely count as cooking with whole foods. If eliminating the chopping allows you to cook whole food meals, then that is a massive win. I love a bag of pre-mixed Asian veg when I'm making a quick stir fry because my time is valuable and I need to protect it, so I'm quite happy to buy some pre-made veg. A family of ingredients that people overlook when it comes to the freezer is herbs and spices. We're so used to the dried ones that many of us have fresh garlic and ginger to hand. But if you don't cook with these ingredients very often, it can feel like a waste to buy fresh just for the odd meal. And this is where your freezer comes in. You can keep a whole ginger root in the freezer and then grate as much as you need into a meal straight from the freezer. And actually it's really easy. I think it's easier straight out of the freezer than when it's at room temperature. You pop the root back in the freezer, ready for another day. Peeled whole cloves of garlic or chopped garlic can be frozen in zip bags or packed into an ice cube tray, then pop them out straight into a pan of gently warming oil, and you're off to the races with dinner. If you just know you're not going to use the rest of that fresh basil, coriander or parsley, then chop it up, pop them into individual bags straight into the freezer, and you can add those herbs into a dish. They don't work so well as a fresh garnish after they've been frozen, but you can absolutely add them into a hot meal to add depth of flavor. The final thing I rely on in the freezer is flavor bases. Anyone who's been following me for a while will know that I am a massive devotee of chicken stock because it ticks all my culinary boxes. It avoids food waste, it is nutrient spectacular, and it's delicious and ludicrously versatile. I have takeaway boxes of frozen homemade chicken stock in the freezer all the time. One takeaway container feeds two of us for stock-based soup. One container is also enough for me making a heartier soup, like a veggie soup or a chowder. I pop a frozen container in the microwave, defrost it for a couple of minutes to loosen the edges, then I tip it out into a pan and melt it directly over the heat. It's just the best flavor base for a delicious meal. I also make curry bases that I freeze in bags, and then I just peel the bag back from the sauce, whack it straight into a pan, and then heat it up. When I make a batch of curry sauce, I pour half of the sauce into a bowl to cool before I pop it in the freezer, and then I carry on cooking the other half, add a protein, eat it that day. Then with the cooled sauce, that goes in the freezer, get it out another day, and I can add a different protein. It's a way to make old work feel new. And I love anything that gives you twice the reward for less effort. You don't have to use all of these ideas to feel the benefit of using your freezer like a shop. Tonight, just have a think about which ingredients it would be helpful to have on hand and not worry about them perishing in the fridge. Adding just a few to your weekly rotation can add some variety and some more freshness to your meals. For those people trying to cook more meals from scratch, I hope this gives you some confidence and ideas of ways that you can venture into trying some new dishes without the fear of food waste. My last tips before I go are that you can keep grated cheese in the freezer, which is a game changer for anyone who's gone to get the grated mozzarella out only to be met by a green lump. Portion it into smaller bags for even more ease. You can also freeze butter, milk, bread, eggs that have been cracked into an ice tray. The list goes on, to be honest. If you're finding the podcast helpful, then please hit subscribe. It's free and simple and means more people can find my tips for the amazing home cook, and it means a lot to me. I'm really grateful to every listener. Thank you for spending time with me at Cook and Nourish. I hope your freezer is your friend this week. So until next time, happy cooking.