Tips from the Freezer

The freezer is a food lover's hero because there's not much that can't be frozen until its needed: homemade ready meals (see Timesavers); veg and wonderful herbs; grated cheese for toppings and meat cut in strips for quick stir-frying. This section has a few surprises for us all. Visit the freezer often to keep tabs on what's inside.

• Freeze your thin chillies

  Submitted by Bal, London

  Few manage to use up all those chillies in the supermarket packets so....freeze them whole and just take out of the freezer what ever you need and chop whilst they are still frozen. First length ways and then thinly slice. They are much easier to chop whilst frozen. No more dried out chilli pods languishing in your fridge.

• Ripe bananas

  Submitted by Lee, New Zealand

  Freeze them whole to use later in cakes, muffins or pikelets. They thaw quickly.

• Sandwich crusts

  Submitted by Caroline Marson, Cookery Advisor,

  Save sandwich crusts in a plastic bag in the freezer until you have accumulated enough to make breadcrumbs. They can be used for toppings on casseroles, stuffing’s, or pie crusts combined with melted butter or for sweet crusts, add a little sugar and cinnamon.

• Using up apples

  Submitted by Caroline Marson, Cookery Advisor,

  Apples can be frozen in slices after they have been quickly cooked in boiling water. Freeze in a single layer then pack into bags once frozen. Use the frozen apples to make into apple cake or apple sauce.

• Strawberry Cubes

  Submitted by Alice Thacker, London

  Wash strawberries and place individually in ice cube tray. Freeze. Use instead of ice cubes in water, lemonade, etc.. and munch them when the glass is empty!

• Freezing milk

  Submitted by Ilaria, Paris

  I regularly freeze semi-skimmed milk - fresh or long life - e.g. when we have half finished bottles or bought too much and we are off for a few days. It also means that we can have our much needed cup of tea when we get back to an otherwise empty fridge, whatever the time of day or night!

• Any vegetables

  Submitted by Kate, Bournemouth

  Being a singleton - usually buying veg is cheaper by the mass - so I cook it all then freeze in plastic conrtainers in meal size portions - to be used as and when required -nothing goes off !!! Hurrah !!!

• Two meals in one

  Submitted by Bev Donnison, Shropshire

  When making bolognese or curries etc I always make enough to freeze into sandwich boxes for my hubby to take to work, no sandwich making and no waste...

• Cauliflower getting tired?

  Submitted by Angela Field, Oxford

  I like to make a big batch of cauliflower cheese and then put it into individual portions and freeze it. It's great if the cauliflower isn't going to last much longer and you have a large amount left. It's really great with garlic in the cheese sauce and topped with breadcrumbs and parsley!

• Delicious chicken stock

  Submitted by Liz, Leeds

  If you have roasted a chicken, freeze the carcass. Once you have two or three, boil them up for a couple of hours with two or three pints of water, a few chopped celery stalks, onions, carrots, a bunch of parsley and bay leaf to make chicken stock. Measure into pint portions and freeze them to be used whenever you need it.