{"id":7382,"date":"2020-03-20T08:40:28","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T08:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7382"},"modified":"2020-03-20T13:24:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T13:24:50","slug":"make-the-most-of-your-fridge-and-freezer-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/03\/make-the-most-of-your-fridge-and-freezer-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Make the most of your Fridge and Freezer Space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As we all look for more ways to keep our kitchens well-stocked. The team over at Marks and Spencer have put together some top tips to help you make the most of your fridge and freezer&nbsp;space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"M&amp;S | Freezables\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y75B4TvzFMA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>M&amp;S Director of Food Technology, Paul Willgoss, and resident M&amp;S chef, Steve Fitzgerald<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>There are lots of foods that you can put straight in the freezer instead of the fridge. This includes meat and poultry, ready prepared meals, fresh pasta, bread &#8211; and did you know you can even freeze butter and cheese? Here\u2019s some\u00a0examples:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Milk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All milk can be stored in the freezer and defrosted before use. Just make sure it\u2019s still sealed. It should be defrosted fully in the fridge before&nbsp;using.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Cheese:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some hard cheeses freeze very well, firmer types like cheddar, gouda and Swiss cope well with the freezing process and maintaining their structure. You can freeze in blocks or grate it and freeze in handy portion&nbsp;sizes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Bread:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Baked goods like bread, rolls, pittas, bagels and crumpets can all be easily frozen. Loaves of bread can be bought ready-sliced or whole to be sliced yourself before freezing. Most toasters have a defrost function so you can toast baked goods from&nbsp;frozen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Pasta:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fresh pasta is a great option to keep in the freezer. Some pastas won\u2019t have to be defrosted before use either, they\u2019ll defrost once put in boiling&nbsp;water.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Fruit and vegetables:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our frozen fruit and vegetables in the freezer aisle are not the only option; some fresh fruits like bananas and berries when frozen make great ingredients for smoothies and for&nbsp;baking.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Batch cooking:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider cooking a larger portion at mealtimes to freeze for a later date. Make sure you freeze the leftovers as soon as possible, once they\u2019ve fully cooled and mark clearly the date it was cooked and frozen on the container for later reference. And only defrost or re-heat the meal&nbsp;once.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Around three quarters of our ready prepared meals and over half our desserts are suitable for freezing and have the logo on pack. Simply freeze on the day of purchase and follow the guidance on packaging for the length of time it can stay frozen. Look out for the \u2018suitable for freezing\u2019 logo on product which also includes guidance for how long you can freeze each item&nbsp;for.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:#5cb9b5\" class=\"has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><strong>Defrosting food safely:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thinking about the best way to prep your food for freezing is important. But it\u2019s even more important to defrost your food&nbsp;properly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/click.news.marksandspencer.com\/?qs=6b07cababea20af0210685193c6e8709d95d9bfb15a782e6d9e1899636d3ba89d5f8ce8edb6520a8e15517d9ee1fcc6da9664b84db2484bf3c5e13c316d81d69\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Food Standards Agency website<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;has everything you need to know about freezing and defrosting food safely,&nbsp;including:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 Make sure any warm dishes are cooled before putting them in your&nbsp;freezer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 Place food in an air-tight container or wrap it well in freezer bags or freezer&nbsp;wrap.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 If the food has been defrosted it must be cooked before being eaten to be&nbsp;safe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 Once defrosted, food should be consumed&nbsp;immediately.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we all look for more ways to keep our kitchens well-stocked. The team over at Marks and Spencer have put together some top tips to help you make the most of your fridge and freezer&nbsp;space. There are lots of foods that you can put straight in the freezer instead of the fridge. This includes &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/03\/make-the-most-of-your-fridge-and-freezer-space\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2657,2656,10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-life-hacks","category-ideas","category-inspiring-families","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7382"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7389,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7382\/revisions\/7389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.littlebird.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}