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So yeah. I’m doing a freezer challenge.

The freezer below my refrigerator was getting a little…full.

freezer challenge

So, I took everything out, thoroughly wiped the freezer down, and took stock of what I had.

I found a lot of bread odds and ends:

bread odds and ends

And several partially-fully tortilla bags.

tortillas

What else?

-a few slices of uncooked bacon
-a small bag of cooked bacon bits
-a jar of homemade marinara sauce
-one pizza crust’s worth of pizza dough
-some random fruits

Plus there’s a big bag of strawberries and blueberries, but I’m not too worried about using those up. Those are regular smoothie additions, and I go through those lickety-split.

Here’s my plan-

I’ll use the pizza dough, marinara, and bacon to make a pizza.

I’ll use the fruits in smoothies this week.

I’m making tacos for dinner this week, and we’ll use the random assortment of tortillas for those.

As far as the bread goes?   I made paninis for dinner last night to use some of the bread up, and I also made a pan of The Pioneer Woman’s overnight french toast, which we will eat this morning.

That does still leave me with a fair number of odds and ends, and I’m thinking I might make some bread crumbs (which I’ll freeze for future use in things like Fish Cakes) and some croutons.

cinnamon croutons

So, things are looking good for me getting my freezer whipped into shape before week’s end.

I’ll update you on how things went when I do my Friday grocery/menu post.   And I’ll probably be posting small updates on Instagram throughout the week as well.

(I’m thefrugalgirl over there.)

Wish me luck!

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Annie

Tuesday 12th of April 2016

How about bread pudding? My mom used to make her own bread and save all of the odds and ends and would make a fabulous apple cinnamon bread pudding.

Anna

Monday 11th of April 2016

I also have to use up everything in the freezer as we are buying half a cow next month. I am so excited, but this does mean that I will not be buying a lot of food until then.

Kris

Monday 11th of April 2016

Glad I'm not the only one with odds and ends of tortillas. Something I discovered this winter was to cut them in strips with a pizza cutter, sprinkle some olive oil and salt on them, and bake them. SO good and tasty on Mexican-style soups.

Jane

Monday 11th of April 2016

Havnt been great myself on the frugal front, could well do with a freezer clean out. Food shopping was expensive last week and over budget.. Got completely distracted as just found out I'm expecting identical twins!! Soo really focused on that and anxious that all will be well..and that I'm eating enough to feed the 3 of us as healthy as possible :-)

Kristen

Monday 11th of April 2016

Oh wow! Congrats!!

Lauren

Monday 11th of April 2016

Congrats! I have 10.5 month old fraternal twin girls (and their three year old sister). They are a blast! It's a lot of work, so accept all the help you can get. Oh, and schedule at least 20 extra minutes for any activity you do... Everyone loves to talk to you about twins. If I had a nickel for every time someone told me I have my hands full I be one rich lady! Good luck!

Stephanie L

Monday 11th of April 2016

Congratulations!

KimN

Monday 11th of April 2016

I didn't plan it, but I just did a freezer clean out too. About an hour ago I discovered our freezer above our fridge is no longer keeping things frozen. Boo! I lost most things in there and everything else went to the outside freezer. I knew it was on the outs, but I guess it finally decided to quit.

We have had a few really horrible, no good, very bad, frugal weeks. My daughter was hospitalized for a week, home for a week, and back in for 5 days (with 2 brain surgeries to boot). This caused our eating out expenses to sky rocket, our Ting bill to be insane, and the loss of many perishables that were purchased between her two stays (my husband is awesome but cooking is not his thing).

On the positive side, she is home now and doing good and I am more determined then ever to step up my frugal measures!

Kristen

Monday 11th of April 2016

Oh my goodness. What a rough few weeks for you guys. I'm so glad she's doing better now and that you guys are able to be home.

SandyH

Monday 11th of April 2016

So glad to hear your daughter is on the mend! Scary times.

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