What's in the freezer?? Enough stuff for a freezer challenge, that's what.
I mentioned last week that my kitchen freezer is getting a little bit out of control.
Which is especially sad because when I finished my freezer challenge this past fall, it was lookin' super marvelous.
And now it's not.
So!
This coming week is gonna be freezer challenge week at my house.
How much of this stuff can I get through in a week?
To start off, I emptied my freezer and took inventory. Here's what I've got to work with: 
Seeing it all piled on the counter wasn't super helpful, so I divided things up into a few categories.
I had a LOT of random bread odds and ends, some storebought, some homemade.
I put most of them into a single bag until I decide what to do with them. Thinking croutons and bread pudding, maybe.
As I did this, it occurred to me that keeping a ziploc bag in the freezer for bread odds and ends is a great idea. If I freeze bread miscellany in those yellow reused commercial bread bags, I can't see what I have.
And I know that seeing what I have is half the battle in avoiding food waste.
Next up are all the meaty things from the freezer.
I have leftover taco meat, a few shrimp, some lunch meat, a bit of bacon, two chorizo links, a few chicken breasts, and a little bit of cooked chicken.
And then the rest is very random...
-beef ravioli
-frozen blueberries
-some old bananas
-frozen cherries
-pepperoni
-tomatoes
-tortillas
-mashed potatoes
And lastly, something mysterious in that glass bowl.
I think I'm gonna have to thaw it in order to figure out what it is!
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Just like last time, I am totally not opposed to buying ingredients that will help me use up what's in my freezer.
Because the point is not to be spartan as much as it is to empty the freezer.
I feel decently hopeful about this project because nothing in that inventory is crazy difficult to use up, and I think I'll be able to produce some pretty tasty eats this week with my freezer things.
Alrighty! Hopefully by next Friday I'll have a much emptier freezer. Stay tuned...
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P.S. Food Waste Friday is officially over at Simply Being Mum today.
Sometimes I make a salad with leftover taco meat. I just heat it up a bit and throw it on a tossed salad with cheese and it turns into a meal!
Three more ideas for the bread:
- French toast
- bread salad
- tomato and bread soup
The last two are both Italian traditional dishes and tastier than they sound. (Especially the bread salad.)
Depending on which freezer I'm cleaning (we have two chest freezers in addition to the one on top of the fridge), I pretty much always have to thaw something to figure out what it is. Often it's something gross like chicken livers saved for the dogs, but sometimes I luck out and it's something like pear/cranberry sauce we actually want to eat.
I love reading about what you (or anyone) does with little bits of things to use them up. Way more fun than standard meal plans or whatever.
I am currently doing a freezer challenge, too! Instead of buying my weekly groceries I have been scrounging all kinds of wonderful things from there. We've had a pork tenderloin goulash, taco night, quiche, and some leftover crock pot beans with scraps of fajita meat. So far, very easy meals, and NO leftovers. That's the best part. (: If I still have food in there next Wednesday, I will extend it but my goal is to empty it so I can clean it.
You inspired me to clean my freezer and fridge. There was't a lot in there but there was something that smelled weird so I cleaned it all out. Thanks.
With the odds and ends of bread, the tomatoes and the pepperoni --
toasted, open-faced, pizza sandwiches
toast the bread first, to give it a crisp crust
run the tomatoes through the food processor, along with some garlic, onion powder, oregano, salt, red pepper flakes -- if too thin, add tomato paste to thicken, or cook down a bit
spread toasted bread with "sauce"
add cheese and other toppings
broil in oven
Ah, kind of like how I make pizza subs or pizza bagels!
I was thinking tomato sauce-y something or other with the tomatoes.
Ohh, this is one of my favorite games! In fact, my inspiration for learning to cook was a dramatic example of someone making a large meal from nothing but odds and ends; and my definition of knowing how to cook* is being able to walk into a strange kitchen and make a meal.
You have Taco Pizza makings, too: tortillas, taco meat a/or chorizo, tomato sauce (make salsa or jazz up with Mex spices); add cheese. You might need to buy some cilantro... (g, d, r.)
(More suggestions available on request.)
* For me. YMMV.
Yes, I think a "Make your own pizza" lunch or evening could be in the works. . . you could even cook up the chorizo as a topping. . . and the cooked chicken. . . along with taco meat and chicken. You could even give a prize for the most creative pizza? If only you had a stray ice cream bar in there. .. that would be a good prize.
You have inspired me! I have been meaning to do this, and dragging my feet, because, out of sight, out of mind! However, I plan to tackle this next week! Happy morphing!
I made Chorizo and White Bean Ragout a couple of weeks ago. I served it over white rice and it was delicious and very cheap to make. The link to the free downloadable cookbook that features the recipe is in this post on my blog: http://imperfectlyfrugally.blogspot.com/2015/04/in-my-fridge-dinner-plan.html
Also, bread pudding?! Can I come over?! I looooove bread pudding but we never have any bread leftovers here. Please post scrumptious pictures so I can live vicariously through you 🙂
That's not bad at all. It's kind of nice to have extra food that you forgot about. I might rethink freezing those type of items. I try not to freeze leftovers, since I forget about them and then am not sure if they are spoiled.
If I have any leftover bread, which is rare since I bake most of our bread & it goes fast, I keep it all together in the freezer door. I use that bread for Thanksgiving stuffing and/or bread crumbs.
My first thought was....aren't we lucky to have the problem of extra food that we need to try to eat and use up!? 🙂
In other news - another reason you wouldn't want a dog...I have half a freezer full of random bones leftover from holiday roasts, etc. My family gives me random leftover meat product every time I see them to pass along to the dog for the occasional treat. It's great from a no waste perspective (if we're going to kill an animal, at least put as much of it to good use as possible, I say), but my freezer looks crazy weird to those who don't know what's going on. :/
I need to get better about putting cooked meats in the freezer. I just threw out some chicken that I should have frozen. Good idea for next time!
Can't wait to see what you do with everything.
Just a suggestion, whenever I have a banana that has browned enough to be used for banana bread, I peel it and then put it in a container in the freezer. As more bananas go "bad," I peel them and add them to the container I already started. This works out nicely for a few reasons, I know how much frozen banana I have to use in bread and I don't have to try to peel frozen bananas, which is really unpleasant to the fingers.
You can throw the frozen bread in the food processor to make bread crumbs. Just put them back in the freezer and use whenever- to add to minced meat to bulk it out, to bread meat or vegetables before frying or baking, to top casseroles, to make Queen of Pudding or whatever else you use breadcrumbs for. Except the French bread- I slice it into 1/2 inch slices before freezing, then when we want French toast for breakfast thaw them for a few minutes before dipping them in the egg/milk/etc. batter to cook.
I need a freezer challenge too. What a good idea! Good luck!
I think the last time you organized your freezer, it prompted me to do mine as well. I have a freezer on the bottom of my fridge, which I LOVE because it puts the fridge at eye level. I finally thought to add mini plastic baskets there to organize it better. That has saved me a lot of time and trouble and....my freezer has maintained its order.
I like to re-use Ziploc freezer bags that have never been in contact with any food. I bring meat home from the grocery store in the individual plastic bags they provide (to avoid cross-contamination in the carts) and place them directly into a used Ziploc. Before doing so, I place a piece of regular Scotch tape (matte finish) on the bag and use a PENCIL to write the date and contents. After using the contents of the bag, I let it air dry, easily erase the words, fold it, and store it in a drawer. It has been years since I bought a box of freezer bags, since I rarely, if ever, put food directly into them.
Side note: Did you know Ziploc makes a 2-gallon size? I love these for craft projects.
Hi Kristin. Seeing all of your leftover bread reminded me of a recipe that I have yet to try, but would like to one of these days. We don't typically have a lot of leftover bread. The dish is called Panade. It's from: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-a-panade-114846.
Here is a description (from the website) of the dish: "A panade is certainly not the prettiest of dishes. In fact, it's just about as "rustic" as rustic cuisine can get. But a panade is something truly incredible. A panade is the perfect combination of crunchy edges, custard-soft spoonfuls, and chewy bits. It can take all your leftover vegetables, your stale bread, your pantry scraps, and transform them into something you will find yourself craving at odd hours of the night. Savory and so satisfying, you've got to make this."
I'd never heard of that! But when I clicked over to see the recipe, I thought that it kind of reminds me of a mix between a strata and stuffing/dressing like you put inside of a turkey. I bet I'd like it because I adore stuffing.
This is not an idea for using your frozen bananas but rather for the next time you have bananas to freeze: peel banana, cut in half and insert popsicle stick, then freeze in a bag. The frozen banana is creamy, just like a fudgsicle except different flavour. They go down really well in hot weather and they're healthy.
I need to get on my freezer contents, too. Thanks for the reminder!
What a huge difference there is seeing the bread in the store bags and then the bread in the ziplock bags. It really does help when you can see what you have! I love decanting stuff into ziplocks. I second Silverilex's idea of making and freezing bread crumbs - super handy. I make and freeze grated cheese with cheese odds and ends too. Great post. x
Yes. I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Duh!
Chorizo, shrimp, and chicken, huh? Sounds like the beginnings of crockpot jambalaya! Not my recipe but so good. http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-jambalaya-17134
I am totally with you on the freezer challenge. We have a pig that is being processed and I have a freezer full of food. We will be eating freezer leftovers for quite sometime in the Ray household.