Bread

When I grew up there was always bread in the freezer. How about you? Surprisingly, many people don't realise how perfectly it freezes.

I tried these yummy rolls from the German bakery so bought a few extra for the freezer. So much nicer than supermarket bread!

We store all sorts of bread in our freezer, such as:

• sandwich bread (for school lunches)
• sliced bagels and sliced sourdough (I love a toasted bagel for breakfast)
• sliced raisin/fruit loaf
• hot cross buns at Easter time
• Turkish bread
• Lebanese bread
• hot dog rolls for sausage sizzles

And now I can add German seeded rolls to the inventory.

Make sure you slice any loaves prior to freezing, and I also recommend slicing Turkish bread into individual portions before freezing too.  Once it's frozen it will be like sawing through a brick, and you probably don't want to defrost a whole loaf for a slice or two.


Susan x

Feta

No more wasting feta....

If you have some unused feta cheese I suggest you crumble it up and store in the freezer. I use it all the time to scatter over roasted vegies or homemade pizza, or add to quiche or frittata. So handy!

Easter

Too many chocolate eggs in your house?

Photo source: here

When my girls were younger I would cull their egg stash, chop up the chocolate and make choc chip cookies (unfortunately they're older and I can't get away with that any more!)

I would make the dough into balls and freeze them.  And when I needed cookies in a rush I could cook them from frozen and have freshly baked goodies within minutes.

So handy.

Thoughtful gifts

I always say that when you have a friend going through a tough time (illness, new baby, moving house, divorce etc) the best thing you can do is provide them with meals.  And frozen dinners are even better because the recipient can eat the dinners when it suits them.

So I was particularly happy to see Cath from Lunch Boxes With Love share this photo of her Creamy tuna pasta bakes (from FROST BITE) that she has made for a friend.  And the cute labels make them cheery to boot!

Cath, I'm sure your friend will love your thoughtful gift.

Susan x

Genevieve's party

Today we're hosting a party for our youngest daughter's birthday.  I'm a bit over the FROST BITE party recipes but the girls keep asking for them!

Here are their favourites: Mars Bar and marshmallow slice, Sausage rolls and Rainbow cake.  All recipes are in the FROST BITE book and two are available online.  Click here and here for the recipes (the sausage roll recipe is on the Women's Weekly website because I cooked them with Pete Evans on the Channel 9 cooking show "Fresh" ages ago).

Happy Birthday to my gorgeous Genevieve!

Busy beaver

Hi blogland

I wanted to apologise for my lack of posting (both on Facebook and here).  I have so little spare time so my posts are few and far between.

But I must admit I'm getting into Instagram as it's quick and easy (plus even my mediocre photos look good with a filter) so you may like to follow me as I post snippets of my life: food, family, home, goings-on.

You'll find me at @frostbitefood  

Susan x

Leftovers

Do you have lots of ham, turkey or roast chicken leftover from your Christmas festivities?

How good does this ham look?  
Photo source: here

Don't forget that they all freeze well, so why not slice up the meat and store it in ziplock bags in the freezer.  Then you can grab a few slices when you need them for sandwiches, quiche, fritatta etc.

Or you could make up a batch of sandwiches with the ham/turkey/chicken, complete with mustard or cranberry sauce if you like.  Wrap the sandwiches individually and freeze.  Then you can grab one and take it to work, school or munching at home.

Even better: why not add some sliced cheese to the ham sandwiches before freezing then you can make them into toasties in a sandwich press after defrosting.  Hmmmm

This turkey looks fab - fresh herbs are the best garnish.
Photo source: here

Freezer to the rescue

I love a good freezer-to-the-rescue story!  I recently received this email from an Australian expat living in Tokyo:


Hi Susan.  Just wanted to let you know you saved my bacon tonight! 

I was making a slice for a school thing, but it hasn't gone well and the icing has not set (Japanese butter is very different!). Anyway, luckily I remembered a few choc chip cookies in my freezer. I've just baked them and they are just what I need! 

Thank you!! 

This is my photo, not from the Aussie expat, cause I always like a visual with my blog posts!  If you're after the recipe, click here.

Old faithful

I don't know about you, but I'm constantly getting requests for goodies for end-of-year parties.  As a time-poor working mum I have been whipping up this old faithful recipe as it can be made in a matter of minutes and it's guaranteed to be popular with the crowd.  Any crowd.

The recipe is shown here, but I'll re-post it today as it's always a winner!

Mars bar and marshmallow slice


4 Mars Bars / Milky Way bars (enough to add up to 240g/9 oz), roughly chopped
30g (1 oz) butter
2 cups rice bubbles / rice krispies
1 cup mini marshmallows
100’s and 100’s (coloured sprinkles) to decorate


Line a 20cm (8 inch) square cake tin with baking paper.

Roughly chop the Mars Bars and place them in a small saucepan with the butter.  Melt over low heat, stirring constantly.

Combine the rice bubbles and marshmallows in a large bowl then add the melted chocolate mix. Stir quickly to coat the dry ingredients with the chocolate but don’t over-mix as the marshmallows will melt slightly due to the heat of the chocolate.

Spread over the base of the cake tin then scatter coloured sprinkles over the top.  Place in the fridge to set. Once set, cut the slice into squares.


Freeze:  Place the squares in a plastic container and store in the freezer

Defrost:  On the kitchen bench.  Not suitable for the microwave

Makes 25 squares

Hostess with the mostess

We're now in the lead up to Christmas which means parties and food and festivities!

If you're hosting a soiree, make sure you channel your inner Susan Austin and prepare and freeze your canapes.  You will be much more relaxed at the party as all the prep work was a distant memory.

Don't forget that a  few tasty morsels in the freezer are handy for impromptu parties when friends pop in.  Wouldn't you rather serve these instead of a bowl of potato chips?

Roasted capsicum and feta logs -
this recipe is in the FROST BITE book but it's also on the blog here

Potstickers -
this recipe is in the FROST BITE book but it's also on the blog here

And don't forget to check out the other delicious finger food ideas in the FROST BITE book:

Savoury bread and butter pudding bites

Soy-glazed chicken skewers

Risotto balls

Caramelised onion and feta tartlets

Middle Eastern lamb pastries with yoghurt dipping sauce

Smoked trout pate