Not items that you have cooked yourself. Food from bakeries, restaurants, gas stations, etc. that are ready to eat. I like having a few freezer bags of these type items and am looking to expand on my selection.
In mine:
Empanadas from Nanno’s West Long Branch
Bagels from Hot Bagel Bakery in Oakhurst
Pizza slices from Attilios or Two Brothers
Tamales from La Chaparrita
What’s in your freezer?
Trader Joe’s vegetarian meat balls. That’s probably the only commercial prepared food I ever have on hand.
Costco stuffed peppers
After a freezer dive this morning, I spotted…
Jeni’s ice cream
Costco choc filled crepes-and they were disappointing
Costco fresh roasted chickens
Eastern Provisions pretzels
GSpot lamb shank
SB pumpkin latte creamer-my kid loves it
Delicious Orchards unbaked peach pie
Dearborn Farms unbaked fruits of the forest pie
Livoti’s egg pie
TJs toum, red pepper hummus, spinach ravioli, jasmine rice and a veg medley
OH the tales my freezer can tell… in addition to containers of soups I’ve made (Ch w and w/o matzo balls, ‘Minestrone,’ and Red Lentil w Lemon), there are other home-cooked items such as pork chops and chicken thighs + plenty of restaurant leftovers. I know for sure there’s lamb tagine w couscous, carrots, and dried fruit from Sami’s, plus some lamb w cumin from Sichuan Cottage, pizza from Rosie’s and Talula’s, and…and…I know there’s more. That’s part of the fun of eating out of the freezer, which I’m now doing almost every other week, as I’m trying to only go to the grocery store every 2 weeks. Hard/weird for one person, but I’ve learned to buy double of almost everything, and I generally stick to a healthy diet, so it’s a ton of produce + family packs of chicken and pork (hence the cooked meat in the freezer).
One of the few packaged staples I keep in the house are the Trader Joe’s veg dumplings + their cilantro/chicken ones. Easy to throw a few of those in to some of my soup or even to make ‘fake’ soup with a container of veg or chicken broth + spices + greens.
I have some Super Pretzels . . . they can be nuked in 30 seconds and aren’t bad, especially if paired with good mustard.
Butoni ravioli. It takes less than 20 mins to boil and is ok when paired with a good sauce or olive oil/garlic/lemon. Also goes with rolls from a local bakery that I keep in the freezer.
A local PA Dutch ice cream . . . 1/2 gallon of vanilla and a pint of coffee.
Otherwise, the freezer is stocked with uncooked meats. meatballs, meatloaf and chopped onions and peppers.
They do have some great vegetarian items. I will have to try them when I can get there again. I like their frozen Indian entrees, naan, scallion pancakes and brie and shells. Not sure when is the best time to go these days.
Not a Costco guy but maybe I can get a trial for their peppers. Are they the standard ground beef, tomato and rice? I usually go to Stouffers for my fix and think they are pretty good, and filling. I have thought about making a batch and freezing.
You, my friend, are ready for an impromptu dinner party!
Livoti’s egg pie, eh? Available at the deli area?
Hmmm…for some reason I have never thought of freezing restaurant leftovers. I do like the Joe’s dumplings.
Home cooked items I always have on hand are red sauce, meatballs, and some kind of pot roast or chili.
I am basically cooking for one as well since my girlfriend is very picky. That’s not going to stop me from eating what I want though!
Yep, have some ravioli. Not the fancy Butoni, though. Saw some ravioli in the Cooking thread and may want to give that a whirl soon.
Yes, rolls are a must. I keep Calandra sub rolls, bialies, bagels, croissants, and garlic knots.
Do you prep all the peppers and onions at once to freeze or do you freeze as you have them?
Pro-tip - if you call your Trader Joe’s, they will tell you how long the line is outside. At least mine will. And these days, there’s always a line.
Yes, at the right side wall of the deli. They freeze well. My wife believes in being prepared 
for company.
I think I heard that you can shop there for now without membership.
Yes, they are the standard ground beef tomato and rice. They come in a six pack. We usually split 3 for dinner (1 1/2 each). Mrs. P usually wraps three at a time in saran wrap and puts it back in the aluminum foil container and freezes them. We usually leave them out to defrost the night before we are ready to eat them. We usually get about three 6 packs and freeze them.
Mrs’ P’s stuffed peppers are much better (but a lot of work). These are good in a pinch when you are too tired to cook.
I’ve pretty much eaten everything that was in the freezer. There are still some stuffed cabbages. My wife has frozen mac & cheese - Stouffers - in there. I need to go up to RD & restock on ground beef & chicken. There is part of a bag of P F Chang fried rice but it was pretty disgusting so one of these days I’ll either get desperate & eat it or throw it out.
I wish there was a Trader Joes parking lot live webcam!
I went yesterday, was in the neighborhood and the line wasn’t too long, so now i have tamales & pizza in the freezer.
I got nuthin’, but at this point I’d like some, so my time can be spent making what I’D like to try.
So far husband likes the TJ’s chocolate. I think we might get some milage on frozen dumplings too.
It has been WAY too long since a “good” restaurant night, and I want to get way better at supporting “to go”. Ad hoc in Napa is often sold out before we decide!
ETA adult daughter is staying with us during these blah-blah-blah times, and has a frozen pizza. In case of emergency.
No parking lots for ours, but yep, webcams would be very useful.
The first thing in my basket is a 1 lb bar each of milk chocolate, milk chocolate with almonds and dark chocolate with almonds.
I overheard someone today describing their upcoming first visit to a restaurant for a nice steak after this is all over. I am looking forward to that as well.
To go food is all about order selection and lowered expectations. It is what it is.
The support is necessary! Order early!
