In Your Freezer

The ideal freezer pantry includes both foods that can be pulled out and thawed for dinner on a moment's notice (proteins, like chicken, shrimp and ground meat) as well as packaged vegetables that cut down on prep (like trimmed vegetables or peeled pearl onions).

Frozen fruits and vegetables are picked and processed at their height of ripeness, so they can sometimes be more flavorful and nutritionally beneficial than fresh. For example, a frozen sweet pea is almost always a better bet than a fresh pea, unless you pick that pea yourself and cook it the same day. Freezing food is an especially good way to stock up on items with short seasons, like corn, berries and stone fruit (such as peaches).

• Pearl onions
  
• Peas
  
• Edamame
  
• Berries
  
• Peaches
  
• Chicken breasts
  
• Ground turkey
  
• Shrimp
  
• Wonton wrappers
  
• Puff pastry