8.14.2014

Extra cheese? Freeze it!

When we try out fancy new dishes, or have people over for dinner, we often buy special ingredients. Sometimes that means ingredients that we can't use easily in another dish. Sometimes that means we accidentally buy the wrong thing because we don't read recipes or write things down. What can I say... we like adventure!

We recently bought some Mexican cheese for a fish taco dinner. Usually we forget the special cheese and end up using cheddar. This time, we remembered, but got the wrong kind. Seriously, it's always interesting to be in the kitchen with us. We plan ahead and Doug and I are both great in the kitchen, but we also end up winging it a lot, too.

Freeze extra cheese and defrost as needed when you buy in bulk, or buy specialty cheese. #cheese #kitchentip

So, what to do with the extra cheese? We popped the cheese in the fridge, but I had no plans to cook a whole bunch of Mexican dinners. I didn't want the cheese to languish in the fridge, though, because given our track record, we'd just forget about it.

I chopped the cheese into cubes. This cheese in particular was aƱejo, a hard cheese (I think that's what it was. I tossed the wrapper before I could double check.) Anyway, it's a cheese you can grate so I cut it into cubes so we could grab one at a time for particular dishes. I take one out of the freezer and let it thaw a bit and then grate it.

I love this solution. We've got cheese for some great meals when we want it and we didn't waste any of it by tucking it in the back of the fridge.

What's your favorite food-saving tip for extras? I'm always looking for great shortcuts and kitchen tips, especially ways to take care of bulk purchases and extras like this cheese.

Freeze extra cheese and defrost as needed when you buy in bulk, or buy specialty cheese. #cheese #kitchentip

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