7 Things I Keep in My Freezer

I’ve written before about items that are good to always keep in your pantry. On a similar vein, it can be helpful to keep your freezer continually stocked with certain food products as well. Everyone has different needs and preferences, but these are things I regularly keep stocked in my freezer:

1. Quick easy meals. These can be grocery store Chinese takeout-style meals, store-bought or homemade casseroles, lasagna, hamburgers and French fries, fish fillets, chicken tenders, or frozen pizza. These meals can range from healthy to processed. There are times when I need some meals that can be thrown in the oven or microwave fast and be ready without a lot of effort.
2. Cooked chicken. I like to cook a whole chicken in my slow cooker or roast one in my oven and then pull it apart. I divide the chicken among several freezer-safe containers, label them, and pop them in the freezer. Then I have cooked chicken ready to toss in casseroles, or my favorite thing to do is reheat the chicken in a skillet with some Tikka Masala sauce and serve it alongside basmati rice and naan for an Indian-inspired meal. (I also keep a package of naan in my freezer for these times.)
3. Breakfast items like sausage patties and hash browns. My family enjoys a big home-cooked breakfast on the weekends, so we make sure to have all the supplies on hand.
4. Frozen vegetables. When I don’t have time to pick up fresh veggies from the store, it’s good to be able to fall back on some frozen veggies like steamable broccoli or a California mix.
5. Frozen fruit. This is good for desserts like crisps, cobblers, or pie. Frozen fruit also is great for making smoothies or for mixing into oatmeal or pancake batter.
6. Cool Whip, or its generic equivalent. I keep at least one tub of this in the freezer for hot chocolate (we top our hot chocolate with Cool Whip rather than marshmallows) and for times when we want a topping for pie, brownies, or apple crisp.
7. Freezer jam. This is easy to make using fresh fruit, and it keeps for several months in the freezer. My family prefers it over store-bought jam.

What basics or staples do you keep in your freezer?