Kitchen Hint of the Day!

Store Ice Cream In A Bag - A plastic freezer bag keeps the cold air from making your ice cream rock hard. If you like straight spoons and soft ice cream, this trick is worth the extra step! Try to push out as much air out of the bag as you can before putting it in the freezer.

Kitchen Hint of the Day!

The freezing process can decrease the flavor of some foods, which is why all the foods in the freezer section of your grocery store have been flash frozen in seconds (usually with the help of some liquid nitrogen). It's important that frozen foods don't thaw and refreeze before you eat them, so on hot days make sure to visit your store's freezer section last. That way, your purchases have less time to thaw.

Kitchen Hint of the Day!

Buying meat when it's on sale and keeping it in your freezer is a great way to save on groceries. Unfortunately, you can't keep in in there forever! Here is a helpful guide to how long different kinds (and cuts) of raw meat will keep at 0 degrees F, the optional temperature for your freezer.

* Bacon - 1 month  * Beef - 9 months  * Chicken (in parts) - 9 months

* Chicken (whole) - 12 months  * Cold Cuts - 1 month  * Duck - 4-6 months

* Fish (fatty) - 3 months  * Fish (lean) - 6 months  * Goose - 4-6 months

*Ground Beef - 2-3 months  *Ground Pork - 2-3 months  *Ham - 3 months

* Pork (chops or ribs) - 6-9 months  * Pork Roast - 9 months  * Rabbit - 6-9 months

* Sausage - 2 months    * Shellfish - 4-6 months  * Turkey (in parts) - 6 months  

 * Turkey (whole) - 12 months  * Venison - 6-12 months

*Source - Who Knew *

Kitchen Hint of the Day

Buy a separate freezer if you have room for one and can afford it. It will pay for itself in no time. If you only have one, I prefer the upright, easier to organize and find things, easier to defrost. Reduce waste, cook your own convenience meals (recipies later) save money by buying in bulk. We purchased a separate freezer about 3 years ago and it's been a great purchase.