Freezing leftovers and bulk items, like meat, are great ways to save money on your grocery bill. However, improperly freezing foods can lead to waste, which is basically like throwing away your money if you don’t eat it. Here’s a quick and easy tip from Real Simple for freezing ground meat:
The Fastest Way to Freeze (and Retrieve) Ground Meat
Fill a zippered plastic bag with raw meat, press it flat, and seal. Score the meat into equal sections by pressing a chopstick over the bag, tic-tac-toe–style, then freeze the grid flat. The next time you need ground beef, simply break off enough for your recipe.
Genius, right?
What are your favorite tips and tricks for freezing leftovers and bulk items?
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Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 
Great idea! I order my meat through a local (45 minutes away) organic/grass-fed ranch and since they deliver only once a month to my area, I buy in larger quantities and freeze the majority of it. It’s great!
There are so many freeze-and-portion things you can do! You can portion tomato paste with spoon and a cookie sheet and freeze it; chicken stock with an ice cube tray, and so much more! It’s a great time-saver
That is SO smart. Now I have to try it.
This is a great tip! I use my freezer for just about all my leftovers, but I hate having to defrost an entire package of meat if I only need to cook for one or two.
I always buy meat in bulk and divide it up. This is a great trick!
@Wei-Wei: Those are smart tricks too!
I am totally going to do that next time! Thanks for sharing
I purchase freezer bags in bulk and portion all food into the amount just enough for one meal for Hunni and myself. This way I only take out one serving at a time.
I also never use all the tomato paste so I freeze them in ice cube trays in 2 tbsp amounts. After they are frozen I throw them in one bag and use at my convenience. You can do the same with herbs.
What a great simple idea! Love it.
When I make a big batch of soup, I portion it with the Ziploc Twist n Loc containers. They freeze beautifully, so I put one container of soup in the fridge and freeze the rest. A bonus…the containers are exactly 4 cups, so not only are they convenient, they serve as portion control tools too!