My Deepfreeze is my best friend

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 10, 2005 by Leanne Ely

Where would I be without my faithful companion, my freezer? Inside of its chilly little body are fixin's for meals, desserts for good boys and girls, and on occasion, some ice for a boo-boo.

Freezers are one of those appliances that has made my life easy and bargain hunting doable. Every time the market has a buy-one, get- one sale on something worthwhile, where does it go? The freezer. Of course, I don't do that with non-perishables and cleaning products!

I have made some great discoveries about the freezer, too. Like milk freezes well! No kidding. If you have found milk marked down at the market, don't worry about the soon-to-be-cheese date on the jug. Buy it! Take it home, open it, pour off a glass, reseal it and freeze it. If you don't pour some out and freeze it like it is, the expansion of the milk will cause the container to pop and make a mess out of your freezer (don't ask me how I know).

When you need to use it, put your frozen milk container in the fridge to thaw. Plan on a couple of days to get it completely thawed. When it's thawed, shake it vigorously and serve.

In about three days, add a pinch of salt to extend the life of the milk if you haven't used it all yet. Salt is a preservative and this little trick works very well. I once bought 15 gallons of milk (hugely discounted -- that's why I bought it) this way and we were drinking milk in July that had an expiration date of March 15!

I would be remiss if I forgot to mention that the freezer can also hold an already prepared dinner or two. The beauty of a chilly dinner is the ease of accomplishment -- a definite boon to payroll moms.

The next time you're making something your family loves, double or even triple the recipe and freeze the bounty. There is almost no extra work in making three meatloaves instead of one -- all you need are the ingredients. And the nifty thing is, if you pull out the meatloaf to thaw in the fridge the morning before you go to work, it'll be a quick warm-up in the evening when you get home. By the time the potatoes are done and the salad is tossed, you'll have a delicious dinner ready to roll.

Do remember to double freezer bag anything that you make for long term storage (I use a name brand because the zippers on the bags are more dependable) and mark the contents and date with a Sharpie pen (it's the only brand I've found that won't run in the freezer).

Another trick is to keep the pen in the plastic bag box to keep roving bands of children from absconding with it. You know how these people operate -- ever try to find scissors when you need them?

While my freezer might be my friend, I now realize that we can be so much more than friends -- my freezer saves me the most precious commodity I treasure -- time.

Here is a fabulous recipe for my famous Manic Meatloaf that you can become famous for, too!

Manic Meatloaf

Serves 8

1 large onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 cup ketchup

2 eggs

1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half

1 cup oatmeal

2 pounds extra lean ground beef

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Saute the veggies and garlic until translucent, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; salt and peppering liberally.

Add the now cooled sauteed veggies and mix again until all is incorporated. Shape it into a huge dirigible-shaped blob on a jelly roll pan (you need the sides; don't use a cookie sheet or you will have a mess in your oven).

Bake for about 45 minutes or so, depending on how big your blimp is. If you're short on time, grease the daylights out of your muffin tin and make mini-meatloaves. This is one time you will want to skip the cupcake liners, however.

Per serving: 420 calories; 22 g. fat (47.6% calories from fat); 27 g. protein; 27 g. carbohydrate; 3 g. dietary fiber; 125 mg. cholesterol; 684 mg. sodium. Exchanges: 1 grain(starch); 3 1/2 lean meat; 1/2 vegetable; 0 non-fat milk; 2 1/2 fat; 1/2 other carbohydrates.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serve with mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and some baked acorn squash.