Chest Freezer Update | the flank steak story!
You guys, I can definitely see a difference in my chest freezer now! When I open it, there's....extra space. YESSS.
And also because I am regularly going in there and pulling stuff out for challenges, I have a better mental idea of what's in there.
Which means I used up some other random stuff in these last two weeks, aside from what I officially added to the challenge.
Ok!
Let's run through the stuff from last time around. First up, this poor, sad-looking flank steak that was at least 3-4 years old.
Had it been a cheaper cut of meat, I miiiiight have let it go. But I really, really hate to throw away beef.
I read through all of your suggestions, and I decided to go with the idea that many of you had: to marinate it with spices and oil. I think Kristin from Going Country suggested a southwest type of twist, and that's what I did, using cumin and chili powder along with garlic and salt and pepper.
And oil, since America's Test Kitchen has taught me that oil is a very good carrier of flavors.
Not gonna lie, when I thawed this thing out, I felt not-that-optimistic.
But I forged ahead, trusting that time + salt + spices can work magic.
I let it sit in the fridge for a solid 24 hours because a 4-year-old flank steak is not a candidate for a quick marinade.
I cooked it in some hot oil, flipped it, browned the other side, and then let it rest for ten minutes before slicing it thinly.
The first night, we ate it as tacos, because I figured if it was gonna taste a little off, tacos would help a lot!
But the meat was actually surprisingly good. I credit the salt + time equation, honestly.
I ate taco leftovers as a salad.
I also used some leftover meat to make a taco-ish quesadilla for breakfast.
And I used the very last of it to make a small Swiss cheese/steak quesadilla, which was super tasty. I wished I had one more to eat!
So, I give myself an A++++ on the flank steak. It was a very successful save.
Hot dog buns
I thawed these and used two of them to make some garlic bread for Zoe and me.
That leaves four still, and I might use them to make croutons.
Sun-dried tomatoes (except not really)
Remember my jar of sun-dried tomatoes?
Well...I thawed them and quickly realized that the contents were actually roasted red peppers. Whoops!
THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD LABEL THINGS.
But no matter. I added them to some breakfast mashed potatoes for two days, and all was well.
A+ on this.
Pineapple chunks
I used them up in smoothies and they are alllll gone. Yay me!
Another A+.
Peaches
I did use some of these in smoothies.
But they are not all gone, so I cannot give myself another A+.
I think I'll have 'em all blended into smoothies by the next go-round though.
Beef Jerky
I have been snacking on this, but it's not all gone yet.
Next Set of Freezer Items
Okee-dokee. Time for a rundown of what I'm gonna try to use up these next two weeks!
Leftovers from last time:
- four hot dog buns
- the rest of the bag of peaches
- the rest of the beef jerky
And let's see what new stuff I want to tackle.
Ham pieces
These are left from a Christmas ham, I think?
Apple Slices
I think I froze these a few years ago when I was getting tired of making bruised apples into applesauce. I ran them through my apple peeler/corer/slicer, and chucked them in the freezer.
I could make them into applesauce.
I could make an apple crisp.
I could fry them up in butter at breakfast to add to oatmeal.
Hmmm.
Sweet potato fries
Nothing odd here; just a bag that should be used up.
And you know the drill; I'll work on this for two weeks and report back.
Is this is an extremely slow way to eat down a freezer? Yes.
Is it maintainable? YES.
Slow and steady is my approach to life. 😉
How do you get your eggs so crispy but the middle still looks done and not overcooked???
@Becky, I 2nd this question. I have been working on it and just can't figure out how to not overcook.
I usually fry them over relatively low heat, always with some kind of fat in the pan (bacon grease, butter, oil, etc.) I think it's harder to get the edges crispy when you don't use fat, so maybe that's the key to try?
Yup, that was me with the Mexican-ish marinade suggestion. You might say I have a lot of experience with gnarly meat. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, One of the reasons I love your blog is to read bull meat and sheep ribs and other animals represented on your dinner. As someone who ate tripe and tongue regularly growing up, with some goat and wild boar since then, it's fun to see what others eat.
Good job on the flank steak! It's amazing what seasoning can do.
I'm very intrigued by the frozen apple slices. I didn't realize apples were something you could freeze. Does the texture change? I'm kind of hoping you'll take the frying in butter and topping oatmeal with them approach. I'd like to see how that turns out. It has never occurred to me to fry apples. I feel like I've learned a lot about apples this morning!
@Danielle L Zecher, I've frozen apples. I peel, core and slice, then dip in a salt water solution (helps prevent browning, doesn't affect taste). Drain and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze till solid, then pack into freezer bags. This keeps the pieces more or less separated and easier to remove smaller amounts as needed. I've made pies and crisps from apples frozen like this and they turn out well. If I remember correctly there was a bit of compensation for extra moisture, so more thickening added (flour or cornstarch). Or partially cook them before adding to pie, etc, so you can gauge the liquid accurately.
Anyway, I'm sure I found this method on the internet...somewhere!
@Roslyn, thank you so much for the apple freezing info! I'm definitely going to give it a try.
@Roslyn, thank you so much for the tip!
The texture definitely will not be like fresh apples, since freezing expands the liquid in the apples and then the cell walls burst. That's why frozen fruit is mushier than fresh fruit. But I think they'll be fine baked/cooked.
You know I will keep you all posted. 😉
Has anyone ever seen canned apples in the store, not applesauce and not apples for pie, but apple slices? I haven't but I had a 1/2 bushel of apples one fall and decided to can them. Using my apple peeler, slicer, corer, I canned them in bottles with a light syrup. They turned out to be our favorite canned fruit of all time! They're even still a little crunchy.
@Kristen, I dice my apples to freeze and then throw them in steel cut oats or regular oatmeal as I cook it. That, and some extra cinnamon. Works like a charm.
@Joan, oooo. were they fall apples (the crisper ones) or Gravensteins style (the softer pie summer type?). I might try this! I don't seem to have freezer room, but I do love to have canned fruit....
@Ecoteri,
One of my clients, a retired home ec teacher, makes her homemade apples pies up but doesn't cook them. She freezes them uncooked (crust also uncooked) and when she wants a pie, takes one out and pops it in the oven (frozen) to bake. Sort of a home made Mrs Smith's pie.
Oooo, apples fried in butter with some cinnamon and a little sugar (if they are tart apples) is one of my favorite side dishes with pork or barbecue anything. I will happily stand there and core and slice up apples to make a skillet full of them for a meal.
The flank steak save was impressive. I'm ready to see what happens next in your clean out efforts.
The only thing I really need to deal with in my freezer is the bone situation. I need to make a lot of broth, but I don't want to think of the heat involved, even cooking it in a crockpot outdoors. I still have to deal with draining hot broth off of hot bones and, if I want to can it, the steam and heat from the pressure canner. I think I need to just get over it and do it.
@JD, Totally with you on the heat AND the bones! I had a bunch of random baggies of bones taking up too much freezer space too. I dumped them all in my crockpot and let it go for a very long time (days), which left a super concentrated broth, which was easy(ier) to fit back in the fridge or freezer (it also makes delicious quinoa or couscous, which I've been mixing in with salad greens, since I can't crave soup right now).
But next time I'll have to try and plan my freezer contents better, because to your point, it's much more fun to make/have broth in colder weather..
@JD, just wait until it stops being hot. There isn't a deadline, is there? I grant you permission to wait!
@Central Calif. Artist, @JD probably has the same problem I do - fall meats are coming onboard and she needs freezer room. I, too, need to deal with a lot of bones. Instant pot does a nice job of making the broth, and gritting my teeth and pressure canning is what I will do to get it all out of the freezer. Next week, probably - there is a lot on my plate this week!
@Ecoteri, I'm sure you are right. Because my garden is dismal this year and "fall meats" aren't present in my life, I didn't think through those possibilities for JD.
Nice saves! I was eating a repurposed hot dog bun (toasted with peanut butter) when I saw your photo of your hot dog bun turned into garlic toast. I received a couple dozen from my Buy Nothing group and, since we don't eat hot dogs, it's going to take a while to use them up. My husband also uses the buns as sandwich bread. Slow and steady wins the race.
@MB in MN, my sister in law uses them chopped up with bread ends in a French toast casserole. I thought I would try that as I don’t eat hotdogs so I usually don’t buy the buns!
@MB in MN, Pretty much any bread product can also be sliced thinly, dried in the oven, and then crushed or food processed for bread crumbs. This is a good way to rescue those ends of things you can't use.
You know I love a freezer cleanout! Nice work with the steak. I think I may have given up before you, so I'm super impressed with your diligence, and it paying off.
We've been making good progress on our inside freezer (we also have one in our garage, which primarily holds meat), which is primarily comprised of:
-Frozen fruit
-Bread products (naan, hamburger buns, hoagie buns, bagels, homemade muffins)
-Leftover meals
We made quite a bit of progress on the frozen fruit, making smoothies over the past week or so. I was also to pull the last package of bagels out of the freezer, which is nice, as those take up a lot of space.
I defrosted two containers of taco meat, and we had that for dinner on Monday, with a bit still remaining. A few of the meals are soups, and it's way too hot for that right now, so they will just wait for the right moment, I suppose. 😉
I just diced the last little bag of Easter ham in my freezer and served it with cheese raviolis and peas with a butter garlic sauce. It was good!
@Stephanie, OOh, nice! Thank you for that idea -- I have oodles of bags of ham bits in my freezer and this sounds yummy.
Nice save on the flank steak! I'm really enjoying this series, thank you for taking us on this journey!
Good save on the steak. Of all things to waste, meat is my least favourite.
We definitely need to do a freezer challenge here! My goal for this week is to make an inventory of what needs to be used. First, though, we have a fridge-full of perishable items to use up--we were too excited about summer produce!
@Meira@meirathebear, I sped-read your comment to say, "God Save the Steak"!!
@Central Calif. Artist, it sure looked like it needed divine intervention.
@JDinNM, thanks for the chuckle!
@Central Calif. Artist, Hahaha "Send it victorious, happy and glorious..."
I enjoy reading this-- kind of like you are doing craft projects with leftover supplies, which you then eat instead of having them sitting around the house gathering dust.
Can you tell if things stored in the bottom are frozen harder than those in the top, like the ice cream? Or if you don't open the lid often, maybe it doesn't matter.
Hmm, I have never checked to see if there's a difference from top to bottom!
The internet says the average relationship length is 2 years and 9 months. You had a longer relationship with your flank steak and got to make tacos from it in the end. Win win.
@Tiana, The flank steak was just so cold and uncommunicative for those years, though.
Wouldn't even go to therapy. Is it any surprise this ended in tacos?
(I have a funny marriage/taco story that I am dying to share here, but I should probably keep my mouth shut for the moment.)
@Rose, lol, exactly!
After reading all the freezer challenges I just realized I am a philandering foodie. I cannot maintain a relationship with food I’ve purchased for more than a week. Like these beautiful organic 2 pounds of carrots. It’s been a week and already I’m thinking” oh, you’re still here”. And if stored properly they are good in the produce bin for up to 2 months. I don’t know if I was born this way or if the harsh realities of life have left me unable to commit.
@Kristen, save it for your book.
@Tiana, make carrot soup? Yummy.
@Tiana, Also, I sort of understand. I made an underwhelming pot roast this week. I'm not sure what was wrong with it--a bad cut of meat? IDK. Anyway it cooked for something like 9 hours on low temps and still was kinda tough. I thought, OK, dog food, but then my daughter emailed me, "Last night I put some in ramen. It got tender after I cut off a bit for myself, sautéed with a bit of butter, deglazed with brandy and let it simmer in the soup stock." She's the creative cook, I'm the OH GOD WHY DOES ANYONE HAVE TO EAT cook.
I have to do one if these soon. My son gets on a kick for waffles, fries, or pizza rolls and then burns out with just a few left in the bag. My fridge freezer is filling up with odds and ends of stuff like that.
Somehow I missed that the flank steak was 3-4 YEARS old! I didn't know you could keep anything in the freezer that long! Good for you for salvaging it and making it delicious.
A bit off-topic, but how is Lisey doing? I thought of her when I saw the fires in the news. I hope she is ok!
Well, in a non-defrosting chest freezer, food can stay good for a surprisingly long time.
Still, 3-4 years is beyond what any expert would recommend. It's not a safety issue; it's more of a "will this still be delightful to eat?" issue.
Lisey is good because she's on Oahu, thankfully. But I feel terrible for the poor people on Maui.
Oh, I didn’t know you could freeze apples and have them looking that good. And such a good save on the steak!
I’ve a little freezer challenge for myself in august to make room in time for foraging season. I have a spreadsheet on the fridge with the content of the freezers, but it’s real interesting how much I find in there that’s not written down.
You are braver than me with the flank steak. If I have meat of unknown time or provenance, it becomes chili. Kinda like tacos, enough seasoning covers a multitude of sins plus chucking it in the instapot guarantees at least some level of tenderness.
Man.... I REALLY need to get working on my chest freezer too (except I am not allowed in the garage until my ankle heals per my husband bc it is a massive trip hazard lol)
He needs to go on freezer excursions for you. 😉
@Kristen, Yes! Send the expendable troops to the front line.
@JDinNM, Hahahahaha!!!
Kristen you have inspired me to try some creative marinating of.... tofu! I stocked up on a ton and froze it (which helps to get the liquid out) and hauled it with me to the new place. I am NOT inclined toward tofu fandom. But....for health reasons I've been trying to serve myself more plant-based meals.
The marinade you described sounds pretty yumola! I will have to see if I can't rustle up a batch to soak my next "deconstructed brick of soy curd!"
Wow, that's a great save on the flank steak.
You could make a hash with the ham, fries, and apples. Sauteed apples are surprisingly good in savory dishes.
Oh, and put a fried egg on top, of course.
A great week on the freezer emptying front! Well done, you.
I was thinking today about how Kristin and all of you have inspired me to get creative with using up food instead of letting it spoil. I am much more successful (although not 100%) at using up the food we have on hand.
Speaking of labeling - my husband took out a package of "marinated chicken breasts" that had been in freezer. It was defrosting in the fridge. The following day he turns on the grill in preparation for grilling it. I take a closer look at the now defrosted package which turns out to be chicken pieces in a delicious broth! So I made chicken orzo veggie (clean out the crisper version) soup. So maybe I will learn my lesson and label more as my guesswork is not particularly effective.
@Jean C, Those labels make perfect sense in the moment you make them, but weeks or months later ... ? What the ...?