Time management - cooking, cleaning, and exercise

Next is the mid-drawer.
In this I store stuff that I use often - such as onions, cut veggies, tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, other pastes, ginger, chillies, etc. I could not take the full drawer as I was losing the light when I pull it fully. But you get the idea!



The next one is the pull out freezer.
In this I store frozen veggies, par-boiled veggies, soaked and boiled channa, beans, etc. There is ledge shelf where I keep grated/cut coconut etc.
You may also see a pull out drawer, which I have not used yet.

In addition I have an upright freezer in which I store the cooked meals. It is also used to store the dhals, sooji, besan, etc. that I buy extra during my trips to the very far away Indian stores.

Below is the freezer:


The whole fridge:

 

Thank you very much Inner Bliss! I am so happy to see you liked this post.

Thank you Sita for your valuable inputs.

Dear Latha

Yes I do freeze food such as sambar, rasam, curries etc for my elder son. Being a research student, many days he would stay very long in his lab, or just be mentally exhausted to come home and cook.

• I freeze them in Ziploc freezer bags
• Then place them in vacuum sealed packages.
• We have a thermal bag (like the one the pizza man carries) to keep the food frozen.
• He checks in the luggage for his 1:30 hour flight and the food stays solid till he reaches his home and puts them away in his freezer.

Foods that DO NOT freeze well (from my experience only)

• Pudalangai (snake gourd)- cooked or raw- it is awful when taken out of the freezer. It is ok in kootu.
• Radish in sambar – becomes limp.
• Potatoes- become watery.
• Onion

Foods that can be frozen

• Sambar
• Rasam
• Kootu
• Almost all poriyals – beans, avarakkai, keerai,
• Pongal – sweet and savory
• Rawa Uppuma
• Rawa Uppuma mix
• Dosai batter
• Leftover Idlis – steam them again
• Idli uppuma or Leftover crumbled idlis for idli uppuma later – crumble the idlis (they crumble very well if left in the fridge for an hour or so), mix some turmeric and freeze.
• Adai batter
• Chapathi dough
• Ginger-garlic paste – freeze the paste in small balls either in a plastic ice cube maker (use only for this), or on an oiled plate. Just when it is frozen place them in a covered container. Use one portion whenever you need it for pulaos, kurma, etc.
• Extra green chillies – I pulse the chillies (no water) and store them in a box. They come off easily when scraped with a spoon.
• Chutneys
• Sundals
• Gravies
• Lemon rice, coconut rice, tamarind rice, bisibelebhath, curd rice,
• Jaggery syrup- I melt jaggery and filter off the impurities- then pour the syrup in a container. This will not freeze; instead be like a “legiam”- you can use for payasam, pongal, etc...just be careful of the water in pongal or it can become too watery. (I learnt this by trial and error – in the initial days I used too much water and the sakara pongal took awfully long to turn from “payasam” to pongal and the taste was “bleh”. So be careful!)
• Ripe Bananas – Cut in halves-put a popsicle stick through, freeze. When frozen, children can have healthy “fruit-ice pops”.
• Chapathis, parathas.
• Pies, Pizza.

Method to use frozen food

• Plan on the food that will be used.
• Thaw the food – place the whole container in a pan of water.
• For sambar, rasam, curries etc:
• In a pan heat a little oil – just tsp- add mustard, jeera, curry leaves, coriander leaves, hing, a pinch of fenugreek powder (optional), and pour the contents and bring to a boil.
• For dry curries, fried rice, lemon rice, etc. – do not stir too much, just a light toss every now and then will do.
• You can also sauté some chopped onions for some fresh flavor in any dish you want to. Sometimes, adding a dash of sambar powder will enhance the taste.
• For gravies, you can add some garam masala powder to give a fresh taste.
• It is all trial and error again…try what suits you.

Proper freezing methods

• The important thing to remember in freezing is the “freezer burn”.
• Freezer burn is caused when the water molecules from the food escape and get into the freezer compartment, leaving the food dehydrated. This means that air or oxygen will enter the food and cause it to deteriorate, making the food inedible.
• If you are not anti-plastic, rigid plastic containers, polythene freezer bags, and heavy duty aluminum foil are the best choices for freezing food.
• Do not use any glass container. Use only those designed for freezers (corning, pyrex.)
• You can use stainless steel also; however, do not remove the containers with wet hands.
• Properly sealing the containers is a must to prevent freezer burns.
• The freezer temperature should be 0 degrees F (-18 degrees C) or lower to avoid freezer burn.
• Most important is labeling- Write the name and the date it is frozen. In the beginning I was very lax about it and have taken out kurma when it was sambar that I wanted. The problem is, once thawed we cannot refreeze the food. It has to be used or thrown away.
• So I learnt the lesson the hard way. Date also helps in deciding whether to use it now or later.

How long can food be kept in the freezer?

• The longer the food is kept the higher chances of freezer burn.
• So far I have not kept food for more than a month.
• If I sense that my son’s visit may be a little longer, I use the food.
• In general do not keep food more than 3 months.

Trust this helps.
I may have left out some critical information; if something comes up I’ll write it or you can ask too.

Hello all
I had today's write-up ready, but already the Freezer post seems very long.

I will be going out of town and have to get ready tomorrow after work. Will be back Next Tues-Wed.

Take care all; all have a great weekend; US friends- have a good long weekend.