Freezing Dairy Products to Stretch your Grocery Budget
Have you ever tried Freezing Dairy Products to Stretch your Grocery Budget?
While shopping with a friend one time I seen a great deal on butter and scooped up at least a dozen and put them into my cart. My friend gave me the oddest look, she had no idea that butter could be frozen.
The shock was on me when someone later told me that you could also freeze milk. That information was awesome to hear, since it seems we are running to the store for milk many times a week.
Shopping during sales and preventing perishables form spoiling are a great way to stretch your grocery budget. Did you know that many dairy products can last in the freezer, and later re-thawed in the fridge for use?
Milk
- Pasteurized homogenized milk can be frozen for up to 1 month while Non-fat and low-fat milks will freeze better than whole milk. Take note that liquids expand when frozen, so be sure to remove about 1/3 cup of the milk before placing in the freezer. When thawing, be sure to shake your milk well to remix the fats.
Butter
- Butter can last for 6-12 months in the freezer, yet Unsalted butter can lose its flavor over time so it should only be frozen for 3-6 months.
Cheese
- Hard cheese can be frozen for up to 4-6 months. They may become dry and crumbly after thawing, so they are then best used for cooking and not slicing. Myself, I shred the cheese and separate about 2 cups into each freezer bags – perfect to use for casseroles, tacos, lasagnas and pastas!
Cream Cheese
- Cream cheese can be frozen for up to 4-6 months. Since it loses a bit of the creaminess once thawed, mix well and best used for baking and cooking.
Cottage Cheese
- Cottage Cheese can be frozen for up to 1 month.
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Awesome post! I’ve never froze butter or milk! But so good to know 🙂 My mom and I always buy red/green peppers, celery, mushrooms, etc…dice and chop them up into different sized baggies and freeze them. Great for cooking! And of course, bread hehe…especially buying it in bulk at Costco 🙂 Love that dairy products can be frozen too!
Brandi
http://www.yeewittlethings.blogspot.ca
I freeze butter. I love the idea of shredding cheese in one portion sizes to use for cooking. Thanks for the great suggestion!
Thanks for this information. I’ve seen my mom freeze butter and I’ve done the same with cream cheese, but I didn’t know you can do that with milk. I will have to give it a try!
We try to freeze products when we find them on sale. The only problem is the more we buy, the more we eat. especially dairy. So freezing is impossible.
I feel silly now. I froze breastmilk for all my children and it never once occurred to be to freeze cow’s milk. Well, now I know. Thanks for the tips!