It's time (to deal with my chest freezer)
I love my chest freezer dearly, I really do.
But since I've owned it for quite a few years now, it's gotten to be a little lacking in the organizational department, and there are plenty of odds and ends that should be used up in order to avoid food waste.
Plus my freezer needs a good defrost right now.
While it's not the biggest chest freezer in the history of humanity, it's large enough for the job of cleaning it out/organizing it to be a little overwhelming.
So here's my idea: each week, I'm going to take a section of the freezer and use up/organize the contents.
There are seven sections in my freezer (two baskets, five compartments), so if all goes well,my freezer should be transformed at the end of seven weeks.
There's part of me that wants to tackle this faster, but there's another part of me that knows I'm never gonna actually get it done without going the slow/steady route.
And there's a very large part of me that knows I will not get this done unless I share it with you guys!
Public accountability: it is a helpful thing.
So, here's the first basket I'm going to take on, snapped with my phone camera just now.
What do we have here? Let's go from left to right.
- shredded mozzarella (I can make pizza)
- whole milk vanilla yogurt (will thaw and use in muffins)
- sweet potato soup (heat up for two lunches for me)
- pork butt (pulled pork, probably!)
- two English muffins (good for avocado toast)
- butternut squash cubes (will roast)
- a heel of bread (bread crumbs?)
- panko (not sure...)
- yeast (this can stay in the freezer long term. Even I can't use this much yeast in a week!)
- beef ravioli (I'll see if one of my kids wants it for lunch one day this week)
Well. That seems not too terribly overwhelming to do in seven days.
I'll report back next week to let you know how I did and also to share what's in my next freezer basket.
And I'll probably also do some Instagram stories/posts as I work through this list over the week, so follow me there if you're interested (I'm thefrugalgirl on Instagram).
I'm so excited about this challenge since hubby and I are doing one ourselves. After my MIL left for China two weeks ago, I cleaned up one of the two fridges that we had and moved all of the food their to the bigger fridge.
We have a freezer full of meat, frozen veggies, and a ton of other stuff. We haven't gone grocery shopping for two weeks and expect the meat in the freezer to last us another week or two. Money saved! 😀
Ahh timing! I was thinking if we should get a chest freezer so we can stock up on sales. I didn't know you can freeze yogurt and mozzarella! This will be interesting! How big is your freezer roughly? I was thinking of getting one for our bedroom (hope that's not weird sounding.)
Cheese works best if you grate if before freezing. I have no idea why!
Yogurt works ok, but you only want to use it for things like baking or marinating once it's been frozen, as the texture definitely suffers.
My freezer is about 5 feet by 2 feet.
You can also use frozen yogourt in smoothies, yummy!
I thank a friend for telling me about 20 years ago you can freeze cheese - I freeze most of my cheeses ready grated. My sis buys us fresh grated parmesan from her fave deli & puts it in the freezer in a large wide topped jar - we always have grated high quality parmesan to add to lots of things & it never goes off.
We're working on getting our freezer emptied and organized too. We'll need the room once the zucchini and squash from the garden start coming in. I think your plan is a lot more organized than mine though. 🙂
I'm intrigued by the idea of freezing yogurt. I honestly had no idea that could be done! Does it change the texture or flavor? Can you just eat it like regular yogurt after it has been frozen? Or do you have to bake/cook with it?
Oh, it definitely changes the texture. You'd only want to use it for smoothies or baking once it's been frozen.
If anyone could help me, I would appreciate it!
In my freezer I had a bunch of frozen fruit, in my fridge I had old Greek yogurt, and in my pantry I had crystalized honey. So I blended it all to make frozen yogurt/ sorbet in three flavors. I was super proud of myself and they all tasted good.
However, when I left them in the freezer overnight they all froze into absolutely solid blocks.
Any ideas how to makes it serveable??
If you let them sit at room temp for a little while, do they become softened at all? Like, enough to scrape some off with a spoon?
Commercial frozen treats are usually aerated/mixed while freezing so that they don't become like ice once frozen.
Thaw them enough to break up, and blend it into a shake?
Oh yeah, the never ending tale of the deep freezer.... I'm right there with you! My husband keeps NAGING me about the freezer content ("We have to use what's it there! Why is it always so full?!"). I try and try but it never empties.... (magic! aha! or maybe I'm just to *crazy* about sales...). So, I will do, yet again, an inventory and work on reducing the amount of food in there.
(1st world problem...!)
I do this as well. I end up devoting every meal for a week or two to using something in the freezer. Even breakfast and lunch because I often have components for smoothies and various kinds of eggy skillet meals. That determination is the only way I can make a dent in the pile.
Tell him a full freezer is cheaper to run
Panko - coating for Chicken Parmesan or use that mozzarella! OR - these amazing meatballs in which I subbed ground turkey for ground chicken https://pinchofyum.com/best-anytime-baked-chicken-meatballs
Thanks, this recipe looks fabulous!
I have been needing to do this exact same thing. I would like to know about your compartments, though. My freezer came with one basket that slides but the rest of the freezer is just a big dumping pit .
This freezer came with them! You can see some photos of the compartments here: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/11/whats-big-rectangular-white-and-happiness-inducing/
Mine didn't come with compartments either. I use milk crates.
Just curious if your baskets came with your freezer? I have a small chest freezer and I'm always on the lookout for containers to keep it organized. Right now I'm using plastic bins from Dollar Tree and they work ok but they do get brittle from being frozen.
Yep, they came with my freezer! I really love them.
I live one million miles from IKEA (approximately) but my sister got me some good quality freezer baskets for a pretty reasonable price several years ago. (They are better quality than those at Walmart, but it was sheer luck that was the case since I didn't compare them beforehand.)
My freezer is about due for a defrosting as well, but I want the fridge freezer a little emptier so I can store the frozen stuff in there while the big freezer defrosts. I have half-bags of dog and cat food in the fridge freezer now.
I got tired of never finding anything in my freezer this winter (mine is an upright -- being short, I used to nearly tip over into my mom's big chest freezer). I found some bins for refrigerators at the store and put them on my shelves, trying to keep like items in each bin. It really helps, as does the chalkboard I have nearby to write contents when I put them in, and wipe them back off when I take them out. So to see what I have in the freezer, I study the chalkboard, first, instead of standing there with the door open. I still want to organize a little more, but the progress I've made so far has been good.
ooh I love the idea of the chalkboard - sometimes I get enthusiastic & write a paper list to stick to the fridge with a magnet but as I cross things off it gets messy & confusing
Ooo, frozen butternut squash cubes -- were these something you did yourself, or leftovers from a purchase? I'm trying to learn more about freezing extras without crazy losses in the texture / taste departments. Assuming you prepped these yourself for freezing, did you have to parboil or anything to keep them from turning brown?
Well, I've never done this before! I'd cubed a bunch of squash for a roasted squash recipe, and realized it was way more than we'd eat in one sitting. So I froze half of it and now I'm seeing what I can do with the cubes.
I didn't parboil them or anything...just stuck them in the freezer. Butternut squash isn't a veggie that tends to brown when exposed to air, so it's all good.
Excellent. Thanks!
I don't have a chest freezer so I am forced to stay organized in my regular freezer. Plus, there are only four of us here on a regular basis now. That being said, I know that we will get a chest freezer some day, along with a commercial ice machine, when we move out to our country place. This Saturday I was proud of myself for cleaning out both fridge and freezer in advance of grocery shopping on Monday. We are eating up odds and ends as we go, and every thing got a thorough wipe down and a new box of baking soda to keep odors at bay. The little things, ya know. (:
My advice for anyone contemplating buying a freezer--purchase an upright freezer, not a chest freezer. Yes, it will cost a little more. I feel it more than makes up for the cost in 1) ability to organize--it's SO much easier to see items if you don't have to dig them out and 2) body mechanics. Digging through a chest freezer is hard on your back and shoulders. You may not have problems with your joints now, but you very well may develop a few years down the road. Love, love, love our upright freezer.
Kris - you are a very wise woman indeed!
Ditto on the upright freezer. Hubby wanted to get a chest freezer (due to price) I told him if he bought it then he would cook anything that was put in it. Needless to say we have a upright freezer....and more than one due to our lifestyle.
What is it with husbands and saving a few dollars? It was a minor battle to get my hubby to agree with me--now I think he takes the credit for the brilliant idea of an upright freezer. Whatever works--we have what we need so who cares who gets the credit??? 🙂
I agree completely Kris!
Definitely wish I had an upright freezer instead of a chest freezer. It's no fun digging in a chest freezer for things. I use a combination of baskets and bags to keep up with what is where. The bags are canvas - I use a red one for veggies, a blue one for fruits, muslin for meats, etc. Being color coded helps a lot, but you still have to dig through the freezer to find the right bags or baskets.
And if you are lazy like me (or forgetful) you just pile new food on top of old food instead of digging down..... !!
Interesting. I started with an upright and was happy to change to a chest. It's more efficient use of space, more efficient use of energy, less expensive, and I've never had physical trouble digging through it.
I just emptied out my. Heat freezer thanks to your post! I fit all the stuff in my main freezer. Now the chest freezer will get to defrost before my major garden harvests that start in July! I'm excited to save a bit on my electric bill next month.
I'm new to all this. My deep freezer has bulk frozen fruit, meat and some pizza lol. Do you freeze everything that won't be eaten so it won't go bad and can be used later? Sounds like I need to start! Any starter tips are appreciated!
I do use the freezer for that to some extent; if I have to much of something that won't get eaten before it goes bad and I know it'll freeze ok, into the deep freeze it goes.
The trouble is just that over the years, some odds and ends accumulate and you can forget what you have in the freezer! So that's why I'm going to try to work through my stash.
I just organized my freezer last week! Baby #3 should make her grand entrance anytime in the next 3 weeks, so I wanted to have a solid idea of what we have, plus get it ready for garden season. I grouped by uncooked meat, main dishes, side dishes/veggies, smoothie stuff, and breakfast items. I used topless boxes to help keep things grouped in the spaces where there were no baskets. It felt so good to know what I have and where it is! Enjoy your freezer cleaning. I'm hoping some of that you're doing with the food will inspire some things for me, too.
Ooh, what a good job of nesting you are doing!
Oy... My main freezer problem is all the stuff I put in there with great intentions of making stock. You know... basically garbage. Chicken bones & carcasses, ends from onions and various other veggies, yadda, yadda, yadda. And now, of course, it's nearly 100 degrees outside and soup is the last thing on my mind.
See for me once it goes over 90 in my kitch I figure I might as well turn the stove on I’m gonna sweat anyways. Which i plan to do in two weeks while the kids r at camp. I have two turkey carcasses and misc chicken bones all set to roast boil and preasure can.
Isn't that the truth? Stock-making feels like a job for a cold day.
Could you make the stock in a crock pot and then use it for non-soup recipes?
Probably what I ought to do is set up the crock pot in either the basement or out in the garage. I could always freeze the stock... of course, that doesn't help much in terms of cleaning out the freezer! Or, I could just go ahead and make the stock into soup either in the basement or garage. I will seriously have to leave notes all over the house though because I can totally see myself forgetting it's there and burning the house down! 🙂
Concentrate that stock - I reduce a quart to a cup - and it'll take up a lot less space.
This is a great time for me to take my garbage out of the freezer to make tons of broth. I used my Instant Pot to make veggie broth and chicken broth last week.
It is not USDA approved, but I do use my Instant Pot to can the veggie broth in pint jars. The chicken broth gets frozen in small quantities.
You could use the panko bread crumbs with homemade meatballs for pasta or for a soup?
I have a deep freezer with a door. I chose this one due to ease of being able to stack food and see exactly what I have. My door has lots of room.
We have a magnetic white-board on the freezer side and put on it what's gone in - wipe off what's come out.
oh i like that idea too
Sometime give the Butternut Squash soup recipe from Cooks Illustrated a try. My family loves it and no peeling of squash involved. Maybe you could modify it w/ the squash cubes.
Yes, I love that soup! I always feel like I'm making something out of practically nothing...so few ingredients, but so delicious.
I love using Panko to make crispy chicken tenders or chicken nuggets in the oven! My 4 year old gobbles them up!
We don't have a chest freezer, but I spent last week while my family was vacationing with the in-laws (I had to work, also I dislike amusement parks) eating all sorts of random odds and ends from our regular freezer. I feel proud of myself and I didn't resort to cereal three meals a day like I sometimes do when they're gone.
It IS fun to eat cereal every now and again for dinner. But three times a day would definitely get old.
Woohoo for eating down the freezer!
I must admit that I *did* eat ice cream for dinner not once but twice last week. But someone had to finish up that pint of B&J, and the leftover homemade sesame brittle ice cream (Pure Dessert) was taking up a huge amount of space given how little was left. But I also had spinach broccoli balls for lunch, and some kind of cauliflower/broccoli patty thing from TJ's that the kids refused to eat, so I think it balanced out.
Anything for the freezer clean-out cause.
Kristen you have to help!! we don't have a deep freeze(apt life) but i scored some peeled cubed butternut squash at my Harris Teeter reduced produce rack over the weekend. 2lbs was 50 cents. i bought 1 of the 10 containers they had out. i roasted it with olive oil, s&p BUT i don't like it. what should i do with it? i feel like i am eating a pumpkin
Haha, butternut squash definitely IS like a pumpkin. I'd recommend blending it up to make some soup. The texture improves a lot that way, and you can mix in curry spice, heavy cream, salt, a little brown sugar...or some sour cream right before you eat your bowl.
ok i will try that- have a whole baggie of veggie scraps to make veggie stock and will give it an south east asian twist with curry or garam masala that is hanging out in my spice cabinet. i will let u know how it turns out
Yes! Indian-style spices work really well with butternut squash, in my opinion. And a little bit of brown sugar really helps to tie things together.
It also makes a good bread (good even if you don't like pumpkin pie) or pie (for your favorite friend who likes pumpkin) pureed like you would with pumpkin.
A little coconut milk helps too! 🙂
ok things got complicated so my butternut squash was regulated to freezer for a future soup bcs my veggie stock was a FAIL. i was so proud (too proud?) of my scraps and included some Kale "bones"- stems really LOL. they overpowered the stock and made it smell like sauerkraut juice- yuck. lesson learned & kaleless bag started for freezer
Oh, I can totally see that happening! Cruciferous veggies like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower are just so overpowering.
I hope next batch turns out better.
You can roast it and add between lasagne layers with zucchini, spinach, and tomato sauce - I use sliced butternut squash for this & it's delicious - I too do not eat whole plates of pumpkin on their own
Love this challenge! Can't wait for updates!
I usually just read/lurk, but wanted to make a comment about your old freezer - just in case someone else has the same problem and can't afford a new one.
My freezer ( my depression-era grand-mother bought it for me for $100 at a yard sale almost 30 years ago right after I got married.) worked fine, but the plastic insert in the lid had cracked around the edges. And, the lid wasn't staying up. I had the problem with icy buildup around the latch and things near the top not staying cold enough too.
I have to remove the kitchen door to get this monster out, so what I did was more about not taking a door off the hinges than saving money.
I pulled the plastic liner out from the inside of the freezer lid - along with all the insulation. I was left with a hollow piece of sheet metal with one wire in it leading the the light that says the freezer has power.
After that, everything sealed fine, no more icy buildup, the lid stays up, no more problems. I replaced the insulation with the spray-in foam & things have been fine.
Your compartments look nice, so I'll try find something similar, but in the meantime, I'm using different colored reusable shopping bags to organize things. It works fine as long as I don't start dumping things in thinking I'll get to it later.
pardon my ignorance, how are Panko crumbs different from regular bread? and why are they stored in the freezer?
They're a little crispier...almost like fried bread crumbs. And in my experience, they get rancid more quickly than regular bread crumbs, so I store them in the freezer.
I once had crumbed mushrooms deep fried with a garlic/sour cream dip - they were awesome, in Austria they crumb & deep fry just about anything - including cauliflower chunks; so good. I would probably do crumbed lamb cutlets, veal schnitzel, meatloaf, or some kind of meatballs
Regarding the yeast in your freezer, eventually it will go bad. I researched this recently. Here is one of many links on this:
http://www.eatbydate.com/other/baking/yeast/
Some days my freezer is my arch nemesis, mine is a small upright Kenmore that is 25 years old. I would love a frost free one. Just the right size but how I hate to defrost. Some things that get froze I can't recall or can't determine what it is till defrosted. I mark a lot more of my items now so even the hubby can figure out what they are...
Yeah I need to do this as well. My freezer is a bit disorganized.
This is a great challenge! I love the idea of splitting each section/shelf into weeks, as that seems totally more do-able than just going through the whole thing and nothing actually getting used. I'm thinking I should do this next time we have a tight month grocery budget-wise! Thanks for the idea.