Milk freezing

No milk was wasted during this photoshoot...but reused to make a delicious latte! 

So I posted on my IG account about freezing milk.  However, when I froze milk the first time I just split one gallon into two gallons.  Milk does expand, so you want to make sure you have room for it to do so.  After wanting to use the milk that I froze, to get it out of my freezer,  I realized how much that was to try and use up all at once.  I ended up making 4 batches of muffins and used it for my homemade gravy for supper of biscuits and gravy.  And then I STILL had a cup or so left.

So I decided there has to be a better way to freeze milk in smaller batches.  Then one day, I was looking at my cupcake pan and realized that would be perfect!  So I froze milk in my cupcake pans.   Now you can also freeze it in ice cube trays.  I did that before when I was nursing, but if you want a little bit more at once then the cupcake pans hold a little more.  I measured to see what the difference was, and ice cube trays hold about 1/8 cup, whereas the cupcake pans could hold between 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of milk, depending on how much space you want left in the rim.

1/3 cup of milk 

1/4 cup of milk 

Ok so I also said I' share some recipes that I found to use up that milk. One of our favorites was making muffins. 

1. Malt o Meal muffin recipe: 

This is our go to recipe for making muffins.  If you are familiar with Malt o Meal, they have a muffin recipe printed on the side of their box.  It really does make good muffins plus it calls for 3/4 cup of milk.  So if you froze your milk as 1/4 cups in the muffin pans, it'd be easy to use. 

2. Blueberry muffin

When I was looking up muffin recipes I found this one on Pinterest and we really liked it.  We did just make 12 regular sized muffins instead of the 6 jumbo ones, but I didn't have to do anything different, the recipe worked as is I just divided the batter into 12 muffins.  This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of milk.  So again if you go with the 1/4 cup it's really easy to just take out 2 frozen milk muffins.

3. Biscuits and gravy. 

So I LOVE biscuits and gravy.  My mom is from the south and whenever we visited Grandma, she would make homemade biscuits and gravy.  It is something that we have continued to do, although I don't make homemade biscuits.  (It's something I want to learn though).  But, we have biscuits and gravy at least once a month!  Making homemade gravy is a perfect way to use up frozen milk, especially when you freeze it in larger quantities. 

Ok before I give you our recipe I want to say I'm not going to be able to give you accurate measurements as I don't measure (just like my grandma & mom).  BUT, I DO measure the milk and I can give you guidelines for the rest. 

Our recipe: 

grease from meat you are using (bacon, sausage) (about 1 Tbsp)

flour (about 2 Tbsp) 

milk 2 cups

This is what I do for my family of 5, who includes my husband, myself, our 3 girls 7, 5 & 2 1/2.   

Now, if you want to make more, you can.  When we have other family members over, like aunts and uncles, grandparents etc. I add 1 cup of milk.  Then you'd need to add a little more flour and grease as well.  More flour the thicker it will get as you let it cook, more milk the thinner it will be.  It's totally a preference kind of thing. 

Put your measured out milk on the stove before you start.  This helps the milk to warm up and not clump.  Take the grease that you are using and put in a skillet.  Heat to medium and start adding your flour. Mix the grease and the flour together until it's mixed well.  Turn the heat down to low.  Slowly add the milk to the mixture.  Turn the heat up a little and stir.  The longer you let it cook the more it will thicken; however, if it doesn't thicken enough, just add a little more flour.  Remember more flour = thicker gravy, more milk = thinner gravy.  Add the meat you wanted at the end and enjoy! Or go meatless!  I don't add any seasonings as I feel the grease is enough seasoning, but you can add some pepper and salt if you so please. 

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Breast Milk freezing how-to