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Freezer Challenge Update! Smoothies, pizza, fish cakes, and more

I and lots of other Frugal Girl readers have been busy working on eating the odds and ends in our freezers.  We’ve been chatting about that all week on the FG Facebook group, but I didn’t share all of my freezer adventures there.

freezer challenge

The whole rundown is here!

For a refresher, here’s what I started with.

freezer challenge

And here’s what I did with my food.

Bananas and spinach = smoothie.

Well, bananas, spinach, yogurt, and mango, to be more precise.

spinach smoothie

The Vitamix does a great job of blending up greens; no small green bits like with my old cheap blender.

(I bought my Vitamix myself. Here’s my unsponsored review, written a year after purchase.)

I made two smoothies, and the spinach and the bananas are now all gone.

Woohoo!

Also related: a post about the differences between a Vitamix and a Ninja.

Mozzarella + flatbread + small bit of tomato sauce = pizza

The flatbread and tomato sauce were unpictured, but they were indeed in my freezer.

So, Zoe’s lunchtime creation was a win on multiple fronts.

flatbread pizza

Bread cubes = French toast casserole

I use Pioneer Woman’s recipe, which is simple and delicious and very not good for you.

French toast casserole

It IS a very good way to use up dry bread, though!

Chicken thighs = chicken lettuce wraps

I had just a pound of thighs, so I poked around the ATK/Cook’s Country/CI website to find something that

  • used a pound of thighs
  • didn’t call for anything not already in my pantry/fridge

And a chicken lettuce wrap recipe fit the bill. Yay!

chicken thigh lettuce wraps

Waffles: toasted and eaten

That was easy!

toasted waffle

Bacon + OJ = breakfast for dinner

We ate the bacon along with buttermilk pancakes (which used up the last of the buttermilk.)

freezer challenge bacon

frozen OJ concentrate

And I had some partial containers of OJ concentrate in there too, so I made a batch of Orange Julius.

homemade orange julius

Burger buns = fish cake sandwiches

These were slightly worse for the wear due to being in the freezer for a while, but I buttered and toasted them in the pan before assembling the sandwiches, and they were great.

fish cake sandwich

Heating tortillas, buns, croissants, and any other dinner breadstuff really makes such a huge difference!

(Here’s how I make my fish cakes. Easy and delicious!)

Mozzarella = homemade pizza

I made two homemade pizzas on Friday night to use up the rest of the mozzarella.

homemade pizza

This is the recipe I use to make regular pizza.

The dough recipe in that post is really good, but the baking tips in that post are what will really elevate your homemade pizza.

homemade pizza

We’ve tried a few non-dairy cheese alternatives for Sonia, but all of them have been pretty bad.

So, this time I made half of one pizza with just pepperoni, sauce, and a little bit of Parmesan (which doesn’t seem to bother Sonia), and she was very pleased with the results.

no-cheese pizza

Whew. Now we don’t have to skip pizza night anymore.

What do I have left?

I didn’t get through everything, but I’m happy with my progress. I have just 5 items still to go!

freezer challenge update

Here’s what I have left, along with the plan for using it.

freezer challenge

  • roasted orange pepper (maybe a batch of this mayo)
  • two partial banana bread loaves (we’ll thaw and snack on them)
  • pork tenderloin (a pork quinoa bowl is on the menu)
  • five chicken sausages (we’ll eat these for lunch)
  • half bag of peas (these will go in pork tinga)

How are things going with your freezer/pantry?

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Tiffany

Friday 3rd of April 2020

I see a few people have recommended VioLife but it really is the best cheese alternative. It is nut free, soy free, dairy and gluten free as well. I think it must be made with magic. I posted in the link where you can find it. They have mozz shreds, a feta-like one, and two types of sliced cheese. Way better than Daiya. Chao is good if you want a non-melted slice but it does contain soy. Tastes close to American cheese.

Yvette

Wednesday 1st of April 2020

Hi! I don't eat cheese on my pizza either. If your sauce is really great you don't need it. But...if Sonia would like another substitute option olive oil and a little nutritional yeast is pretty good.

lisa

Tuesday 31st of March 2020

Our freezer supply is dwindling. There are some items that don't even get looked at. For example, we were given bags of pretzels with, it looks like, some kinda cheese topping... The youngest said that nobody eats them and that's not cheese. :/

This freezer shopping has been more like an Easter Egg Hunt as I don't know what I will find. But here's some ideas for the week:

- scalloped potatoes and ham (from leftover ham) - deconstructed lasagna using crumbled Italian sausage links and hamburger patties w/mozz - chicken & pepper skillet on tortillas - beef noodle soup (there's a wrapped item in freezer that looks like beef bones? ribs? it has the word "cooked" on it...No idea) - mixed grill w/fries (hamburgers, kielbasa, marinated shrimp)

Haleigh

Monday 30th of March 2020

Good! I've got meals planned about 10 days out right now (things won't stay in that order but we know how we'll use the food at least). Freezer will be mostly empty by that time and no additional shopping should be needed before then!

Corrine

Monday 30th of March 2020

We used up a ham that we had gotten very cheap from Aldi's. We glazed it with pineapple juice we had frozen and the juices from fruit cups (the kids only eat the fruit). It was delicious! We served it with mashed potatoes because we bought a huge bag of potatoes from the Public Market. We also made ham sandwiches using homemade wheat bread.

With the ham bits, we made BBQ baked beans. We served this over baked potatoes to stretch it out. We buy huge bags of dried beans from the Public Market for less than $1 per lb.

I also used up some bread from the freezer to make french toast, for my kids, for breakfast. I plan to cook down my bag of random pieces of frozen fruit into a compote some time this week. It's great over oatmeal.

I love this challenge!

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