I purchased a set of 4 trays for $1 at my local discount store and have used them for all sorts of non-ice items. Cubes thaw faster than blocks of food in larger sizes, and store easily in zipper freezer bags. Just be sure to label the bags.
Freeze leftover jarred tomato sauce that you won't get to use up right away, that way it won't go bad, and you can thaw out just how much you need for a recipe.
Freeze leftover rice - the cubes can be dropped into soups, or mixed with other foods for a quick lunch for an adult or child.
Freeze the juice you drain off your canned fruit. It can be used to sweeten different baking recipes or in punch. A fruit juice cube in a glass of iced tea is quite tasty.
Freeze your herbs. To preserve herbs with a high water content, like basil, chives lemon balm, mint and tarragon, fresh freezing is a better option than drying. The herbs will become limp in the process, but their flavor will be intact.
Tips For Freezing Herbs
Harvest the freshest, heathiest leaves
Wash and pat dry with paper towels
Stuff 2-3 individual leaves in ice cube trays. Pack them in so that at least half the cube is herb leaves. (for chives you can chop them up and put as much as you want into each cube)
Fill the tray with water. Make sure the leaves are down into the water, as best you can, and place in the freezer. (If you are planning to use them in particular soups or something, you can also freeze them in broth)
When the cubes are frozen, remove from the tray and store in zippered freezer bags.
When ready to use, toss the whole cube into your favorite stew or dish.
You know, I need to have four freezers to handle all the herbs, things I try to save for leftovers, and hair-tintng chemicals, in ice cube trays. But I can see how a single person in a first home/apt. or mother making baby foods, could truly learn and benefit from doing this. But, once we used to save old tea/coffee and it took up WAY too much room considering how cheap it was to make. Now we have not even enough room for ICE to make in our small refrig. top half freezer. I'm ALWAYS compacting, consolidating, and saving by freezing, but it takes ROOM to save anything significant, especially when neighbors bring us fish, beef, and froz. food on occasion. The world changes when we cannot store what we are given. It hurts our hearts, but we CAN use our ice chests in an emergency IF we can afford 2-3 bags of crushed ice. Life isn't getting any easier, that's for sure! God bless you. : )
I have also pureed fruit from the bargain bin to use for smoothies. Especially bananas with a little lemon juice. Even considerd making some homemade "dips" or "dibs" which are bite sized chocolate covered ice cream. Never got around to it tho.
I also made individual jellos in ice cube trays and set in a few raspberries for garnish for a moulded salad that I made for a dinner party.
Herbed butters in tiny ice cube trays for vegetables or mashed potatoes.
These days they make so many cute shaped ice cube trays. Lets freeze some fruit juice in fun shapes for summer drinks.
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