Week on Waste: Things You Can Freeze That You Don't Think You Can

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on $10/day.

1. Spinach in a bag. Okay, maybe it's salad days are over after it hits the freezer, but it has many smoothie days still to come. When I notice my spinach isn't going to last too much longer, I honestly just chuck the whole bag as is (tied with a twist tie) into the freezer.

2. Cream Cheese. Yes, freezing it gives it a slightly different texture and makes it a separate a bit. You probably won't want to spread it on bagels after you freeze it. If, however, you use it in a recipe, you will never know it has been frozen. I freeze mine all the time.

3. Broccoli. If you wind up with a little left over or a stalk you don't need, don't worry about blanching, just chop it and freeze it for a soup or chop it up really fine and throw it in an omlette or on a pizza sometime.

4. Herbs. Have a look at yesterday's post for more info.

5. Milk. We do this when we go on trips. You'll need to drink part of it because the liquid will expand in the freezer. Also, try to be sure it is completely unfrozen before using because otherwise you'll get the fattier stuff first (because it unfreezes first) and then you'll get the watery stuff at the end.

6. Eggs. Sometimes I wind up with a recipe that calls for a couple of yolks (or visa versa) and I think, "Oh, these leftover whites would be just great in macaroons, angel cake, etc. Only I don't want to make macaroons, angel cake, etc. right now. You can put the part of the egg you don't use in a freezer safe container and use them later. Just be sure to mark how many of the whites/yolks you've got because, seriously, you probably won't remember. Note: Some people buy eggs on sale and freeze them. I never do this because they last plenty long un-cracked in the fridge. However, if you're interested in doing this, you can't just throw the carton of eggs in the freezer. Rather, you'll crack and beat the eggs a bit with a fork before freezing (and you probably want to freeze them by two's because you can't just de-thaw part of a dozen eggs and use what would have been two).