I’ve been working on a series for Taste Arkansas on freezer therapy.  The first part talked about Containing and Organizing the Freezer; the second  continues with some helpful  organizational hints and discusses using it up from your freezer.   Is your freezer a place when foods seem to disappear into a black hole?  If so, then you are in need of a little freezer therapy.

Try following my 3 cardinal rules:

Plus, you’ll get one of my favorite “shopping from the freezer” recipes — Oxtail Vegetable Soup.  Hubby would tell you that this one ranks at the top of his most-loved soups list.  And the man is a soup fiend!  (He makes my life so easy sometimes.)

One of my favorite ideas for using it up from the freezer is what I call Using It Up Stir Fry.  Other than a little sesame oil, soy sauce and maybe a few spices, I can usually pull together a stir fry of one kind or the other in about 20 – 30 minutes just with ingredients I have on hand in my freezer.  How?

Whenever I have a part of an onion or a pepper or maybe a stalk or two of celery hanging out in the refrigerator veggie bin, I’ll take a moment and chop them up.  I do a quick freeze on a cookie sheet and then pour them into a quart freezer bag.  I may throw in some minced carrots and jalapeno or other hot pepper (cause we like spicy!).  I’ll do the same thing with vegetables.  Have a stalk or two of asparagus or a handful of green beans?  Slice ’em up and freeze them.  That 1/4 cup of frozen English peas or edamame or corn?  Into the veggie freezer bag they go.  With some leftover chicken, shrimp, turkey or even ham, my stir fry is well on its way to our table.

Oh and that leftover cup of rice from dinner?  Do a quick flat freeze and bag it.  Soon you’ll have enough to add into your stir fry.  I keep those bags in their own “use it up” basket in my freezer along with other items that need to be used soon.

 So here’s a general idea for just how I make Using It Up Stir Fry which I’ll be demonstrating on Tuesday, January 31 on THV11 AT 6.45!  Maybe you can set your DVR:)

Use It Up Freezer Stir Fry

2015-01-22 17:47:33

Serves 4

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Pull a combination of these from your Use It Up Freezer basked

1. 1 - 1 1/2 cups freezer leftover, cooked shrimp, chicken, turkey, duck, beef or ham
2. 3 cups freezer veggie mix: onions, celery, bell peppers, green onions, carrots
3. 1 cup frozen English peas or a combination with edamame* (set out to thaw while preparing the rest)
4. 1 1/2 cups freezer leftover rice, thawed
5. 3 Tablespoons sesame oil (or canola if that's what you have)
6. 1/2 Tablespoon red pepper flakes (or minced jalapeno) to suit your tastes
7. 1 - 2 cloves of garlic minced (can substitute garlic powder after veggies have sauteed)
8. 1/2 Tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger (or ground ginger to taste)
9. 1 egg, whisked
10. Soy sauce
11. Salt and pepper
12. Sesame chili oil
13. Lime, optional
14. Dry roasted peanuts or cashews, optional

Instructions

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons sesame oil in a large skillet, soup pot or wok over medium-high heat.
2. If desired, stir fry the shrimp for 3-4 minutes just to color. You can heat whatever meat you are using then set aside in a separate container.
3. Add the additional sesame oil to the pot and stir fry the red pepper flakes (or jalapeno), garlic and ginger for about 1 minute; add in the bag of veggie mix and stir fry until the veggies are softened. Push the veggies to one side of the pot, reduce the heat and pour in the whisked eggs. Scramble the eggs well then mix together with the vegetables.
4. Add in the frozen peas and shredded cabbage, if using; heat for 1-2 minutes.
5. Stir in the rice and the meat.
6. Add soy sauce and sesame chili oil as desired. Squeeze with a touch of fresh lime juice if desired.
7. Garnish with peanuts or chopped cashews if desired. Serve.

Notes

1. *Heck. Use frozen corn, those mixed vegetables and/or chopped broccoli if that's what you have and need to use. You can even add in some shredded cabbage -- we love the additional texture.
2. We will mix together Chinese mustard with sweet and sour sauce and Sriracha to serve with ours. But like I said, we like it spicy!
3. The lime juice just adds an extra "perk" to the stir fry. Try it on a bite or so to see how you like it.

By Dining With Debbie

Dining With Debbie https://diningwithdebbie.net/