photo by lissalou66

Ice-cube trays are versatile. You can use them the obvious way to make ice cubes. But they’re perfect to use as mini freezer containers for various foods, such as homemade pureed baby foods and storage for small items in your home, too. They stack easily, so use them to organize jewelry, loose change, tacks, paper clips, small screws and bolts or buttons. They’re great to hold different-colored paints for kids or candies, a variety of dips or to grow seeds.
Here are a few more ideas for frugal freezer foods.

MEATLOAF: Try making mini moo nuggets for kids. Prepare your meatloaf, and place the raw hamburger into the ice-cube tray and freeze. Once frozen, pop them out and put them into freezer bags. When you’re ready to prepare them, thaw in the refrigerator and bake or fry them. Any leftovers go perfectly with spaghetti or chili.

DRINKS: Freeze prepared hot cocoa in ice-cube trays. Make a mocha slush treat. Add cocoa cubes to your blender. Add milk, whipping cream and vanilla, and blend until smooth. Adjust ingredients to suit your taste. Freeze coffee or tea to make iced coffee or tea, or freeze citrus juice, fruit juice or syrup from canned fruit to use in lemonade, for marinades or baking.

HERBS AND LEFTOVERS: Freeze chopped herbs such as basil, mint, oregano and dill in ice-cube trays, cover each compartment with water, and freeze. Add to soups and sauces. You can also freeze leftover broth, vegetables, pesto, tomato sauce or paste, stew, gravy, soup and chili. When you make these meals again, mix in your frozen leftover cubes. One reader, Kristine J. in Ontario, shares: “My secret ingredient for great soup is saving my veggie scraps for the broth: the ‘ends’ of onions and garlic, the membranes and ‘navels’ of peppers, and the juice/seeds/navels from tomatoes. I also keep chicken and beef drippings. I just toss it all into a bowl with a lid in the freezer. When the bowl is full, toss the scraps in a pot, let it simmer down, and strain. I put this broth into an ice-cube tray and freeze.”

EGGS: Brenda, a reader in Missouri, shares: “As long as they’re scrambled, they’ll freeze just fine. Best to freeze them in single-egg servings in greased ice-cube trays. Measure 3 tablespoons of egg mixture into each cube compartment. One cube equals one whole egg. When frozen, pop them in a zip-type freezer bag. Whites will freeze just fine, too. Yolks, on the other hand, will not. For yolks, stir gently, and add 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar or 1/2 teaspoon salt per cup of egg yolks. One tablespoon of the yolk mixture equals one egg yolk.”

APPLESAUCE: Freeze applesauce, and thaw to replace half the oil in baking or for baby food. Another reader, Sarah in Illinois, shares: “I make homemade applesauce. I put it into ice-cube trays to freeze it. Then I store it in Ziploc bags. One morning, I ran out of regular ice cubes (which my kids have to have to cool off their oatmeal), so I grabbed an applesauce ice cube and tossed it in the oatmeal with just a little cinnamon sugar, and it was an instant hit!”

COMPOUND BUTTER: Flavored butter can be made and frozen to use as needed. Freezing ahead in trays allows you to serve a variety in small amounts. For more information on flavor combinations, visit www.frugalvillage.com/2007/01/14/easy-homemade-flavored-butters.

How do you use ice cube trays?

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