Confessions of a Freezer Squirrel: The Costco Breakdown
Welcome to the Freezer Squirrel Summer Series! 🐿️❄️
Over the next few months while the weather is hot outside, I am diving into the frosty depths of the freezer. Forget the freezer-burned mystery meals of the past. Together, we’re going to transform your freezer into a dynamic, waste-reducing, money-saving tool. Grab a cool drink, and let’s start with Part 1: mastering the bulk buy.
You know how squirrels in the fall are constantly picking up treasures and burying them in special little hiding spots around the yard? They are stocking up for the cold winter ahead. Saving the abundance of now for later.
I am exactly like that with my freezer. I am constantly finding little culinary treasures and tucking them away.
Having a well-stocked stash of food gives me a deep sense of safety and security. While I shop regularly (and genuinely love grocery shopping!), it’s comforting to know that if a winter storm hits, the car breaks down, or money gets tight, I’m covered. I’m sure this instinct stems from past experiences with food scarcity, both real and self-inflicted (looking at you, restrictive diets), but it’s a trait I’ve fully accepted about myself.
Beyond security, I also just love a good deal. You never know when one might pop up, like the $3/pound ground beef I scored recently. (In 2026? Unbelievable!)
Now, before you picture a chaotic episode of Hoarders: Food Edition, let me assure you this system works because I get immense pleasure out of actually using what I have. Is that contradictory to having a stash? Maybe. Humans, we contain multitudes!
I think of it less as a stockpile and more of a curation of possibilities. And over the years, I’ve developed a few core strategies to turn my freezer into a dynamic, money-saving, waste-reducing tool for food pleasure rather than an icy graveyard.
Here is how I channel my inner freezer squirrel to save money, food and time.
Buying in Bulk (Without the Waste): Costco for Life
I am a total Costco fan-girl. My humble household of two manages to "need" a Costco run about three times a month. While we sail through fresh produce like berries pretty quickly (our primary excuse for such frequent trips), I can’t deny that the massive savings on pantry and freezer staples sweetens the deal.
The key to successfully buying in bulk without drowning in wasted food is simple: only buy what you know you love (yay, in-store samples!) and immediately divide it into usable portion sizes before it ever touches your fridge or freezer.
Here are a few of my go-to bulk buys and how I break them down
Say Cheese! 🧀
I have been accused of being part mouse due to my absolute love of cheese. (So much so that I worked in underground cheese caves in NYC one summer during college!) But even I have a limit on how much cheese can be eaten before mold takes over.
The great news? Cheese freezes beautifully.
🍝 Hard Italian Cheeses (Parmesan & Pecorino):
I chunk them up and blitz them in the food processor. (Grated is far superior to shredded—fight me!) I divide the grated cheese into half-cup glass canning jars to label, date, and freeze. You can scoop grated parm straight from the freezer to top your pasta. No mold, zero waste, and the prep is already done.
🍕 Mozzarella:
I pick up giant, deli-sized logs of whole-milk mozzarella from the Costco Business Center for our weekly pizza nights. The price is an absolute steal! I cut the log into 8-to-12-ounce chunks, wrap each tightly in plastic, and store them together in a large freezer bag.
🌮 Other Cheeses:
This method works wonders for semi-hard cheeses like cheddar, gouda, or Manchego. Sliced and shredded cheeses freeze great, too!
Breaking Bread 🥖
Talk about a small luxury, but I just cannot abide sliced sandwich bread standing in for a proper bun! I made a pact with myself that I would always have the appropriate bun for the job.
It is hard to pass up the competitive pricing on bread at Costco, but 12 to 24 buns is a lot to get through outside of a backyard grill party. Luckily, they freeze perfectly. I just pull out exactly what we need in the morning, and they are thawed and ready by dinner.
Pro-Tip (Non-Freezer Related): Toast your buns! A quick swipe of butter and a hot pan will make any bun a million times better and keep them from getting soggy under juicy meats and sauces.
I also keep a stash of English muffins in the freezer for quick salmon burgers, tuna melts, and breakfast sandwiches. Thirty seconds in the microwave gets them ready to fork-split and toast.
Sliced and unsliced bread, bagels, croissants, and flatbread all freeze well. For smaller households, consider cutting large loaves in halves or quarters or dividing sliced bread into half loaves before freezing to make it even easier to thaw and use later.
Getting Saucy 🥫
If you aren’t making your own, Kirkland Pesto is hands-down the best store-bought pesto you can buy (IMO, anyway). But a little goes a long way. Much like the parmesan, I divide the giant jar into half-cup glass jars and freeze them.
I also make pizza sauce in bulk from big cans of crushed tomatoes, dividing and freezing the extras (have you picked up on a pizza theme?). If we don’t quite finish a jar of marinara, Indian simmer sauce, or enchilada sauce, those partial jars get tossed straight into the freezer, too. I’ll even tuck extra marinated artichokes from those massive Costco jars into smaller containers to freeze for future toppings.
Meaty Matters 🥩
Meat is the most obvious bulk-buy, but the secret is breaking it down immediately. I portion everything into quantities that make sense for a two-person meal.
This means cutting a pork loin into chops, slicing salmon sides into individual fillets, and dividing pork shoulder, brisket, or sausages into smaller portions. Then, I vacuum seal or freezer-bag them. (And yes: label and date, label and date, label and date!)
Rotisserie Chicken Hack: I’ll often grab a rotisserie chicken even if I don’t have an immediate plan for it. I strip the meat off the bones and freeze them separately. Once I accumulate two or three sets of bones in the freezer, I make a batch of chicken stock. It’s essentially free food made from inedible scraps!
Coming Up Next in the Summer Series...
Now that we've conquered the art of the bulk buy and portioning, how do we make the freezer do the actual heavy lifting for weeknight dinners?
In our next installment, we’re talking cooking math. I promise, it is less about math and more about saving time!
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You can freeze cheese, but the texture can change depending on the type. Semi-hard and hard cheeses like Cheddar, Gouda, Parmesan, and low-moisture Mozzarella freeze well. You can freeze cheeses grated, sliced, or in blocks. While thawing can make some block cheeses slightly more crumbly to slice, they remain perfect for melting, cooking, and finishing dishes.
It is not recommended to freeze soft fresh cheeses like fresh mozzarella or burrata, cream cheese, or cottage cheese as they tend to become grainy or watery when thawed.
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Freezer burn is caused by air reaching the surface of the food and drying it out. To prevent this when freezing bulk meat, divide the meat into meal-sized portions and wrap them tightly in plastic wrap before placing them into a heavy-duty freezer bag. For the absolute best protection against freezer burn, invest in a vacuum sealer to remove even more air before freezing.
A freezer that maintains a steady low temperature also protects against freezer burn.
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Don’t throw those bones away! Strip the cooked meat from the carcass to use or freeze for quick meals, then toss the carcass into a freezer bag. You can keep adding bones and veggie scraps (like onion skins and carrot tops) to the bag over time.
Once you have two or three carcasses saved, throw them straight into a pot of water to simmer into homemade chicken broth (which also freezes beautifully!).
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Liquid expands as it freezes, which can easily shatter glass if you aren't careful. To freeze sauces, pesto, or chicken stock safely, always use wide-mouth canning jars (avoid jars with narrow "shoulders" or necks, which trap the expanding liquid). Crucially, leave at least one inch of headspace at the top of the jar to allow for expansion, and keep the lids loose until the liquid is completely frozen solid before tightening them.
The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be medical advice or to diagnosis, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This information does not replace a one-on-one relationship with a physician or healthcare professional. Dietary changes and/or the taking of nutritional supplements may have differing effects on individuals.
To learn more about how working with a nutritionist could help you, schedule a free 15-minute call.