Nobody likes throwing away food that’s gone bad. (Wasn’t that avocado hard as a rock yesterday?!) Luckily, Caitlin Greene, cookbook author and TikTok hack expert, has given us the run-down on how we should actually be storing our grocery staples.
The cookbook author shares tons of recipes and food storage ideas with her thousands of followers. Recently, she shared a video that has over 472k views. The video shows how she stores various foods to keep them fresher longer, and it left us bamboozled, to say the least.
Freezer Friendly Foods
Greene, otherwise known as @starinfinitefood on Tiktok, has countless tips on freezing and storing foods. Her first suggestion is to freeze tomato paste. So many recipes call for just a few tablespoons of tomato paste, and then you’re stuck with the rest of the can. No more! She scoops the tomato paste out into small spoonfuls on a baking sheet, freezes them, and stores them in an airtight container.
Second, she peels and chops ginger and stores it in an airtight container to use later. She also freezes pesto in a silicon ice cube tray, which works great for either store-bought or homemade pesto. The pesto can then be used in pasta dishes for months to come.
Next, she freezes eggs; it might sound bizarre, but it actually works. She whisks them into a silicon tray made specifically for freezing sauces, adds some salt, and stores them in an airtight container. To cook the eggs from frozen, make sure to fully defrost them. They should only be used in fully cooked meals.
Bacon, avocados, and butter can all also be frozen. She wraps up bacon separated by parchment paper, then wraps it in tinfoil. Avocados can be frozen whole and defrosted before being eaten. Additionally, bulk butter can be cut up into squares and wrapped tightly in foil. And for an easy way to make cold butter instantly spreadable, there is also a TikTok hack for that!
Other Food That Can Be Frozen
After the success of her initial video, Greene made a second video. In it, she shows even more freezer-friendly foods. My favorite suggestion is to freeze leftover coffee in silicone ice cube trays. These can be used for smoothies or iced coffee later.
She peels, chops, and freezes garlic similar to ginger. According to another TikTok user, you can also puree garlic with olive oil and salt before freezing.
Individual portions of cooked oatmeal, nuts, and flour can also be frozen in airtight containers to be thawed and reheated later.
For fresh herbs, she freezes them with a little bit of water in an ice cube tray to keep them fresher longer.
We love everything budget-friendly, and these suggestions make me want to invest in a few more freezers to keep all of my food fresher, longer!