Freezer Challenge Time (with some casualties)
I don't think I have done a freezer challenge since I left my old house, so it's been over four years! No, wait...I looked back, and I did one in July of 2023.
So...it's been three years.
Both my kitchen freezer and my chest freezer could use some focused work, soooo, consider this the start of some freezer challenges.
Some people do strict freezer challenges, as in...no other grocery shopping allowed. So, if you're new here, you should know that I am not trying to add needless suffering to my life, which is why I do gentle freezer challenges.
Basically, I allow myself to buy whatever other ingredients I need to make my random freezer contents palatable. Also, I do not restrict myself to eating entirely from the freezer.
Lastly, I take my freezer challenges in small chunks: one section at a time, or one grouping of food at a time.
This week: kitchen freezer
I'm starting with the kitchen freezer, since it's small and it's also where food is most likely to get freezer-burnt.
(My chest freezer is not self-defrosting; my kitchen freezer is. Self-defrost cycles are a major cause of freezer burn.)
I emptied it out, wiped it down, and took pictures of the contents, which I will now share with you.
First, a casualty: these bananas.
I'm usually pretty good about turning my frozen bananas into banana "ice cream", but I guess I forgot these ones existed.
I took one look at them and knew they would not taste good, so I'm calling them a casualty.
Next up, some whole wheat flour that I ground for pancakes. This is no problem; I will use that up in more pancakes!
This unopened container of OJ concentrate will just go into my chest freezer for future use.
I think this container has either heavy cream or half and half, which I could easily throw into a baked good of some sort.
I have a little tomato sauce problem; three half-used jars that I tossed into the freezer. Too bad I didn't realize I already had any open! Whoops.
Neighbors gave me some fresh tomatoes, and there were too many to use before I had a string of work shifts. So, I just quartered and froze them to use in the future (the skins will peel right off when they thaw.)
Ok, lastly, I have two groupings of smaller items. The first one is all bread.
I will eat the waffles at some random time. I could make mini pizzas with the naan. The tortillas are main for Zoe to use when she makes mini egg burritos (scrambled eggs and cheese in a tortilla).
The bread ends...I should cube those, and I think I have some in my chest freezer too. I might have enough for a baked French toast dish.
And this last photo is produce and cheese, plus some chicken broth (that's what the cubes are).
I gotta tell you...those peas were freezer-burnt together in a hard lump, and I decided to toss them. I'm not desperate enough to suffer through aged peas. 😉
I could make a smoothie with the fruit. And given that I have frozen shredded Parmesan and mozzarella, plus several containers of tomato sauce, I could definitely make some kind of pasta dish.
The corn...I bought that pretty recently, so I'm not too pressed about using it. On the other hand, frozen corn does tend to languish in my freezer, so maybe I should be purposeful about it.
My to-cook/to-eat list
Just to get my own thoughts together, I'm making a list!
- waffles (I'll eat them as a random snack)
- naan pizzas
- baked French toast (maybe)
- a smoothie
- a pasta dish
- some kind of corn-related dish (I might make chili over rice before my next shifts)
- whole wheat pancakes (although the flour is not a rush in my mind)
That should mostly take care of my kitchen freezer contents, and I'll try my best to get it all done this week. I'll plan to do an update next Monday, along with a fresh assignment for the next week.
Do you want to join me?
If so, you can make a list in the comments, sharing what you need to use up this week. And then you can update us in the comments next week; it's so helpful if you need a little accountability!
Most of the foods in my freezer are meat, and some recently bought vegetables. But I also discovered a bag full of sliced frozen lemons and limes, a small jar of organic orange zest, some frozen bananas, several packs of butter (bought at buy one, get one), half a jar of tomato puree and some frozen chili peppers. And in three drawers I discovered cool packs in different sizes.
The plan for this week:
--Remove all cool packs that are not used at a regular basis for lunch or shopping.
--Cook two types of meat. Focus on the meats we will also restock on our way back.
--Make one curry that includes the chili pepper and the tomato puree, and some lime.
--Bake a banana bread and include the orange zest, preferably with some walnuts that I have.
Plus I made myself a glass of water with lime. Today is one of the last really warm days of the season, so I might as well celebrate the sunshine!
I need to clear out the cool packs also. We have cool packs for medical stuff like icing DH's knee, large packs for the cooler, small packs for DH's lunchbox, very small medical ones for icing eyes, etc. Cool packs are taking over my small freezer like water bottles used to take over the cabinets til I pared that down to only 3 water bottles.
I just have a small freezer compartment in my fridge, but this has reminded me that my container of ginger in there is almost finished so I need to buy and freeze some more!
The freezer clean out is due here too... I'm hoping with the new students we will get stuff cleared out. I know that there will be plenty of banana bread, tomato soup and oatmeal with apple sauce in the next few weeks.
I may clean out the freezer downstairs and put everything in a cooler while I clean it out.
Thank you for the inspiration!
I have one full size freezer, 2 dorm size freezers, and 2 very small freezer compartments in the 1) full size refrigerator and 2) the dorm size refrigerator. One of the dorm size freezers needs to be gone through. The other dorm size freezer only has Popsicles in it. The full size freezer is a pain in the ass as it is not frost free plus builds up enough frosting the upper compartment that the door won't fully shut. I defrost it frequently, the other freezers are frost free.
This is a great idea, and I didn't think to take everything out of my fridge/freezer. I will do that today. I'm in the kitchen zone ( fly lady), so that will fit in perfectly. I did just ask ChatGPT about some random food stuff I had and did get a recipe for a chicken curry, which turned out delicious. It was fun to do that.
Do you know how long it's been since I heard someone mention Fly Lady?!? I was just thinking about her cleaning routines the other day when I noted that I needed to shine my sinks. 😊
I was just thinking that too when I saw the name. Blast from the past.
Perfect timing for this. My youngest kids just left for college and my oldest recently moved out so we are suddenly empty nesters. Cooking for 2 is much different than cooking for a family of five! I’m not worried about our chest freezer, but the kitchen one is where I toss random things I don’t want to go to waste. I have bananas, small amounts of oj and milk, bread and buns, cooked meats like leftover rotisserie chicken, and random fruits and veggies. Some can be sorted and moved downstairs (like peppers that I harvest and then freeze to use year-round). This week I’ll do some organizing and then focus on meals to clear out the cooked meat and some veggies, and maybe a small batch of French toast. And when the kids are home for visits later I’ll be deliberate about using the frozen ingredients I already have instead of buying everything fresh!
My freezer challenges are like yours: my goal is to use freezer contents rather than to not buy anything.
All your ideas seem sound and I have a couple to add:
- For the corn, you could roast or broil it to make them less flabby, then add to beaten egg + a little flour + flavorings (I like garlic and cheese) for savory pancakes.
- For the peas, you could keep them to use as ice packs. Peas are easier to shape around something (such as an ankle) than ice. You can also bring them on planes, which you can't w an ice pack.
- For the oj, add an oz or two to whole wheat products for a more tender crumb. This tip brought to you by King Arthur Baking.
Our Jazzercise teacher always kept a bag of frozen peas in the church kitchen's freezer for just that purpose. Frozen hash brown potatoes also work.
I think I would have had to hit that pea bag with a hammer to make it at all useful for an ice pack. It was seriously like a rock!
Sounds normal to me. One of my unexpected kitchen tools is a rubber mallet, perfect for jobs such as that one.
Any inexpensive small frozen thing works - peas, corn, etc.
As the British Royal Marines say, "If at first you don't succeed, hit it with a bigger hammer!"
Ooh, I'm intrigued! My Bosch freezer is self-defrosting and to my knowledge I've not had one single instance of freezer burn in the five years I've had it! Is this some kind of miracle?! It's the first freezer I've ever owned, so I have no idea. I do regular freezer clear outs, perhaps once every six months/year so maybe that's it. Anyway, my freezer is fine BUT I am on a dry goods clearout as I have far too much and have just bought a secondhand Instant Pot (making bean cooking so much easier!). So far I've made butter bean stew - delicious. On the list to use is couscous, bulgar wheat, pearl barley, chickpeas (which will go in a yummy harissa chickpea stew) and lots of yellow split peas. If anyone knows good vegan yellow split pea recipes, please feel free to recommend and link them! So far I have tried a disappointing dal and that's it (open to other dals/dal tips and tricks though).
Since you mentioned buying an instapot and looking for Vegan recipes, I have to recommend The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook by Nisha Vora , everything I’ve made from it has been the most delicious things I’ve eaten! She also has a website, rainbow plant life, so might want to check that for yellow split pea recipes.
Oak,
I, also, have couscous, dried chickpeas, and yellow split peas to find a use for. I am contemplating canning the rehydrated chickpeas (I need to do more research on how to do that). I use a free app called Supercook to find recipe ideas.
Prepare the couscous with broth, for a delicious base. Vegetable broth lifts couscous from meh to yum. Then proceed with whatever your recipe calls for.
There is a soup recipe from Pinch of Yum that is vegan or easily made vegan that has split peas/lentils and it is so tasty! It’s listed as “detox lentil soup.” Not sure how much “detoxing” it does, but it’s tasty and has all sorts of nutrient dense ingredients (sweet potatoes, kale, lentils/split peas).
Split Pea Dip, thinnable to soup to which you can add grains. Idea from Joe Yonan's Cool Beans (I think). I used about equal volume of chopped onions and dry split peas.
- Saute onions and generous amount garlic.
- Add generous amount ground Indian spices (masala, cumin, chilies, etc) and bloom.
- Add water or stock and salt (not a lot, you're going to be using the liquid), bring to boil.
- Add split peas (and optional grains), simmer till fully cooked, adding more liquid as necessary.
- Drain, saving liquid.
- Puree the peas + onions (options: for soup, puree only some as thickener; for dip w texture, puree most but not all), adding cooking liquid as needed to get desired texture. (Note: peas + onions alone too dry to puree w/o liquid, even in a vitamix.)
- Season to taste.
Joe Yonan has two vegan cookbooks. My experience is that both are reliable cookbooks.
1) Cool Beans, which is quietly vegan - the recipes include both vegan and vegetarian options.
2) Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking, which is vegan by design.
Mary Anne Mohanraj wrote Vegan Serendib, a Sri Lankan cookbook. I haven't tried it myself but I know she's careful with her recipes.
Thanks to everyone who left ideas - very grateful!
Oh, I did a freezer challenge while back and I have shifted my buying habits most recently to where I use mostly freezer contents up before I shop again - but there's just little ole me here. And I am always up for hearing about other people's menu plans to use up stuff! Maybe I will root around in there this week to be sure I am staying on top of it!
Yea, the freezer burn is bad around my house. My fridge is 27 years old so I try to give it a little leeway. Right now I have a lot of bread and English muffins because there is so much humidity where I live. I make bread pudding frequently so that is ok. Apparently I have purchased fish fillets every week so I need to get on that! We eat all of the veg very quickly, but no matter how quickly it seems that my opened peas turn into that horrible block and aren't palatable. I also freeze pasta sauce, but right as I open the bottles. Pour them into ziplog bags with a container to give them shape, and after they are frozen I take them out of the container and store in the door. They never seem to burn.
Have a lovely Labor Day!
Love these food challenge posts! Freezer, fridge, pantry - you name it.
We are beyond lucky to have a tall and shallow column freezer unit that came with the house we bought almost three years ago. It's easy to see what we have and compact enough where we can't overbuy or overstuff. The house came with another fridge/freezer in the garage that we don't use but keep in case the one in the kitchen malfunctions or if the power goes out for a lengthy period and we can transfer everything to the garage unit and plug it into the generator.
Here is an intimate look at the contents of our freezer that has three open shelves and two drawers.
Top shelf holds our food scrap compost bucket that gets emptied once a week and a large Ziploc bag of scraps of onion, carrots and celery. I will make veggie broth out of those either this week or next. I then freeze the stock in stacking containers.
Next shelf has a jar of frozen walnuts, a few jars of cooked black beans and chickpeas, and large bags of sharp cheddar and Parmesan cheese that we decant into smaller bags for the refrigerator as needed. Yesterday we finished the popsicles that were also on this shelf. Since it's still hot and humid, we may have to buy more.
Next shelf is for frozen veggies that we corral in a large lidless Tupperware container that acts like a pull-out drawer. Right now it only contains edamame since we just finished up the broccoli, peas and other bag of edamame over the last couple weeks. Next to that is one frozen Spanish tortilla and a box of frozen hash browns, both from Trader Joe's that we use on a consistent basis.
The first drawer has three kinds of bread that we use up before buying more (whole wheat, English muffin toasting and cinnamon-raisin). We freeze all bread to avoid spoilage. The second drawer has frozen plant-based products like veggie burgers, faux chicken cubes, Impossible meatballs, etc.
In the door, we have two vertical Tupperware containers full of frozen water that we use in coolers, ground coffee decanted in mason jars, a pound of butter, butter wrappers that I use to grease baking pans, and a large bag of frozen fruit that we draw from for smoothies. Oh, and an always-ready frozen peanut butter and kibble-filled Kong for our dog when we're gone.
We have a few things to use up this week which should be easy since we don't keep a lot on hand. I'm looking forward to reading about everyone's plans for their challenge!
Wow! Freezer envy:) I am impressed with your freezer organization! I have a drawer freezer and it’s a mess.
Sandra, I used to have a drawer freezer in a previous house and mine was a mess, too. I liked the concept until I actually had to use it. It was so difficult to organize and find the things we like to freeze.
Freezer clean outs were forced on us. The upright freezer had the door left open. Everything was still cold to touch but not frozen. I am trying to use those vegetables before buying more. There were hardly any meats in there, just a couple of pork chops and a partial bag of shrimp. I thought they would be OK but still didn't feel confident enough to feed them to people. The dogs enjoyed them mixed into their dinners. Then the refrigerator freezer was not keeping things frozen. I thought a repair or replacement was needed but after cleaning everything out, the temperature seems to be fine. It may have been too jam packed for good air circulation. Lots of vegetables there for dogs plus a few scraps of gyro meat. Happy dogs. No food waste. Well there was one thing we couldn't identify even after thawing. Out it went.
I found a clump of green peas, threw it in the instapot with some undated chicken broth, hit soup button and when finished, immersion blended and stirred in some pancetta. Mom loves it for lunch.
I did find a lone elk shank and an oxtail, so that will turn into French dip this week.
Undated roasted peppers will be added to my spicy hummus. 3 random bananas will go into a double chocolate loaf for afternoon tea. Found some frozen Reese's peanut butter cups in the barn freezer. I will chop them for a bar cookie topping. I buy them and for the helper kids as a break treat, but most graze in the orchards and berry patches and grab cookies from the kitchen.
My real challenge for fun is playing with my new to me sous vide kit that I bought for $10. We used it to chill this weekend, but I want to sit and read the very large cookbook (will have to hide my library book).
Looking at you random turkey thigh! Plus I want to make egg bites. My caterer friend makes them for two coffee kiosks, sells out every day! I'm intrigued.
I've been cleaning out the bread odds and ends tucked in the freezers. My family won't touch French toast casseroles, but our local teachers will! I took two 9x13 pans to the elementary school last week and the middle school will be blessed tomorrow.
Even with other ingredients mixed in, it still makes a frugal way to say thanks to our hard working teachers!
after taking out frozen food I put in small containers of water, to keep the freezer 'full' and working efficiently; everything is cooked before going in, so if power goes out, it's all ok to eat right now.
We have an upright chest freezer, and two standard freezer compartments with our two fridges (one in the kitchen, the other in our basement). Awhile ago, DH and I went through all the freezers and inventoried and organized everything. We created a Google doc that we share, indicating where various items are ("left side of top shelf" of basement chest freezer, for example), which has made it much easier for both of us to take a look at the list, and decide what to make.
Having said all of that, I just bought a Too Good to Go bag of dairy products - and have 2 one pound containers of ricotta cheese to use up. I'm already planning on baking a blueberry lemon ricotta sweet bread, and making a pasta bake. If anyone has recipes using ricotta (besides lasagna and baked ziti), please share!
Ricotta pie like nonna used to make : ) - sort of like a less dense cheesecake (esp if you sub in some yogurt) & great with fruit sliced on top
We inventoried our freezer too! The only downside is that we forget to update the app when we pull something out. It's a process lol.
While I love a baked ziti, we eat a lot of ricotta on bread/crostini. For breakfast-Toast, ricotta, and berries (maybe a little syrup too). For apps-Crostini, ricotta, fava beans (or peas, aparagus-I guess this is generally in the spring). We've topped w/ figs and honey before and that was good too.
Ricotta pancakes are delicious!
We keep a notebook on top of our chest freezer for inventory. It saves us digging through the open freezer to see what's there.
My fridge got full after some recent good sales, so I'm trying to get it back to manageable again. I found some canned cinnamon rolls that had recently expired and baked them Saturday morning for a tasty breakfast; and made a smoothie to use up an expired yogurt, a brown banana, and a little bit of juice.
I get a case of tamales from a local company every fall, so I pulled out the 2 remaining packs in the deep freeze to eat before I pick up the next order in a few weeks. (My teens discovered last year that they like tamales, so I had hidden these at the bottom of the chest freezer, and managed to hide them from myself as well. Doh!)
I've been trying to clean out my stand-up freezer in the garage to make room for the holidays (I usually buy a couple turkeys when they are on sale and have zero room for them right now).
I defrosted a ham Saturday and had the family over to eat it. Made bean soup with the leftovers Sunday and ate the last of it today as ham salad at a picnic.
I seem to have a lot of random sausage items. Breakfast sausage/polish sausage/brats/etc. I can only eat so much sausage at once, so that may take time, but going to start making sure I use up at least one a week (will also ask the kids if they want to take some home with them).
Lastly, my husband has been freezing gobs of random peppers that really need to be made into hot sauce or something. I'm going to try to get him to do that this week. We also have bags of figs that our trees grew this year that need to be made into jam. I'm going to try to do that this week also (the jam will also be Christmas gifts for the neighbors).
I envy you! Balsamic fig chutney, I could just slobber it from the jar, so good!
Here, here! I'm drooling at the thought of Balsamic fig chutney! I used to have a fig tree....miss it!
I'm in. I have an upright freezer in the basement with contents that are fairly well organized, mainly because I need to pull out cuts of the 1/4 steer as needed for eager "customers" in a reasonably efficient manner. The freezer compartment of my refrigerator, by contrast, looks like the inside of a goat's stomach (I'll spare you the details). But, since I have the luxury of a compost heap, I can at least add any vegetables that are beyond hope to the heap. And I've always made an effort not to let meats and cheeses go beyond the pale. More details as the spelunking of the fridge freezer commences.
Was this all the stuff in your freezer or just the open/partially used stuff?
So...our freezers are quite full so this is something we need to work on also. The chest freezer not so much as the kitchen freezer. We are in the thick of tomato season here...which could mean that eating freezer items might help as we don't have as much time to cook. I'll try to remember to join for an update next Monday.
I was just thinking I needed to try a freezer challenge! I kind of unconsciously started last week when I made banana bread with the 3 frozen bananas (and a 4th veeerrry ripe one on the counter). I froze one of the loaves but pulled it out yesterday to take as "dessert" when we made a last minute visit to friend's for dinner.
I also pulled a package of some kind of beef from the freezer for tonight's dinner, wasn't sure it would be enough, and pulled a small package of tenderloin steaks to add to it. The vacuum seal on the tenderloins was failing, so I knew it was use it or toss it. I made a recipe I saw on instagram the other day which she just called steak. I call it stew without gravy lol. It's just beef chunks, baby potatoes and carrots with onion soup mix and aus jus seasoning on it (will definitely hide any lingering "freezer" taste). The unidentified beef was actually petite sirloins.
I've also been grabbing a chunk of french bread from the freezer to eat with meals over the last week.
My indoor freezer has: (off the top of my head and NOT all inclusive haha!)
Baggies of struesel topping - muffins
Blueberries - muffins
Bags of chicken broth - soup
Frozen peas - soup
2 frozen homemade breakfast burritos - take out and eat
Tortillas - not worried because we eat these regularly
Opened box of Cheddar bay fish - cook for a quick dinner
Bag of frozen cranberries - cranberry orange muffins?
Frozen cubed roasted sweet potatoes - maybe a fall salad for work (sweet potatoes, apple pieces, pecans, wild grains on a bed of lettuce with a maple dijon mustard dressing.)
Bacon - will be used for Christmas brunch, and other dishes as needed
French bread - 2 pieces left - easy to add to a meal
Puff pastry - turnovers for quick desserts
Frozen fruit - raspberries, blueberries - use in above turnovers and muffins
Butter - I pulled one out to put in the fridge yesterday.
That's off the top of my head. I also have a garage freezer screaming for some paring down. I have a ton of frozen strawberries from my jam making days. It won't get eaten here, but I have a friend who would love some, so I'll make jam from some of those.
We are several months into a freezer clean-out because food has become so expensive that it just makes good sense to use up those odds and ends.
Today I combined aspects of two different Jamie Oliver recipes for fish pie -- with a mashed potato topping, not a crust -- that used up a number of items from the freezer: fish filets, chopped onion and celery, shredded cheese, and green peas as a side. It also used up two Russet potatoes that were languishing in the kitchen. Absolutely delicious!
For dessert I made apple-walnut-raisin muffins to use up two slightly banged-up apples.
Jars take up too much room in the freezer. We put leftover sauces in those large cubes (like the ones you use for chicken broth) and freeze them, then bag them. Then it's easier to thaw just as much as you need--1 serving or multiple. And we can just dump the frozen sauce cubes in the pan rather than having to thaw them in the jar.
We only have an indoor freezer--bottom freezer on our French door fridge, so we are limited on space. Any little bit helps. I think it's also easier to see the bag of cubes because we try to keep like things in like areas of the freezer as much as possible.
I have commented more than once that my better half is the wizard of freezer management. Consuming frozen leftovers is a regular occurrence at our home. The upright freezer is not self-defrosting and is defrosted May/early June before garden produce kicks in. I can't remember the last time any frost burned item was tossed in the trash (from the frig/frzr unit). Better half has gotten much better at labeling thus saving lids on our storage containers.
I'm in! There are only half of us here this month for various reasons so its a good time to use up odds and ends, and I can plan to use larger quantities when we get more people back.
I haven't done a full audit, but this week I want to use:
- one package of breakfast sausage (I only have one frozen. It's a pain to mix frozen and fresh, or to thaw in advance, so better to use this while I have fewer eaters.)
- one bag of pasta sauce
- some cooked/mashed sweet potato (I'll make one batch of muffins and then see what's left. I'm the only one who eats it, but maybe I'll just finish it off, maybe it will be another batch of muffins.)
Ooh this sounds fun!! My freezer's mostly ok for now, but I'm going to assign myself:
-frozen green beans
-rice vermicelli
-oat flour
-corn meal
-fine semolina (I bought this for kubbe)
Frozen green beans will be pan-fried and eaten with vermicelli and tofu. Corn meal will be made into polenta and eaten with zucchini and tomato from my in-laws' garden. The oat flour will be made into snack bars (for a start.) And the semolina...I have no idea.
I recommend pouring the marinara into a cube tray the next time you have leftovers - it takes up less room as a cube (spray the cube tray with evoo before pouring in the sauce). I also freeze tomato paste into 1 tbsp cubes for easier future use.
Ooh that is a good idea!
I wish you luck! I feel like I am in constant freezer clean out mode. I keep a list of my freezer contents in my phone and update as new things go in and as things go out but there's always a clean out that needs to be done.
I'm so glad to see you doing this now. I realized I need to jump on board and do the same. I'm inspired by several folks on fb keeping a tight grocery budget and your steak post from 2023! I'm fairly certain I've got some older meat from a cow portion we bought a couple of years ago. Time to dig around and get creative! Always love your posts💕