The final freezer update
How did I do with my final items? Lemme tell you!
Here's what I had:
Burger buns
I did indeed make burgers to use up the buns.
Hawaiian rolls
If you read my Friday post, you also know that I made ham and Swiss sandwiches to use these up.
Frozen whole tomatoes
I roasted the frozen tomatoes, along with some onions and seasonings.
Then I blended them up and added a cube of my homemade chicken broth (from an earlier freezer challenge week).
Then I added the last bit of half-and-half, and ta-da, we have a bowl of soup!
I had two more of the Hawaiian rolls left (the Sam's packages have more than will fit in an 8x8 pan of baked sandwiches), so I toasted those and then melted a piece of Swiss cheese on top, to eat along with my soup.
Peaches
I did kind of forget about the peaches until yesterday, but...I made a smoothie last night! So, the peaches are back on my radar and I will keep working on using them up.
I accidentally made a very thick smoothie, and I had to use a spoon to eat it.
So, here is how this week's grouping ended up:
The end result
I should have taken a before picture, but my freezer contents were actually almost up to the brim.
(Those rotisserie chickens take up so much space!)
Now I have a lot more space to work with:
And while there are obviously still things in my freezer, the important thing is that almost none of them are random odds and ends. Instead, I have almost-full bags of items, such as chicken breasts, protein powder, almonds, shrimp, edamame, and so on.
I don't know how long I will manage to maintain this; I last did a freezer challenge in 2023, so it is reasonable to assume that I might be able to make it another three years before my freezers become unmanageable again!
A thank you
If I had tried to do this freezer challenge on my own, I would not have made nearly this much progress. The accountability of a weekly check-in really kept me motivated, so thank you for being here and following along!
You indirectly helped me get my freezers whipped into shape, and I am grateful.
Your tomato soup looks and sounds so yummy - and easy!
We didn't have anything in the freezer that needed to be used up so I focused on the pantry.
-- Used three cans of expired tomato paste in a spaghetti sauce, mixed with homemade veggie broth, caramelized onions, roasted eggplant, sauteed mushrooms, and dried herbs.
-- Made red lentil soup out of expired lentils.
-- After rescuing eight expired boxes of mac 'n' cheese from Buy Nothing, I tossed the orange dust and decanted the noodles into quart mason jars. Cooked some of those noodles to have on hand for assembling quick meals (including breakfast) of pasta, a frozen veggie, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and pepper.
It is seriously so easy, and so tasty too. I'm glad I discovered this method!
What recipe do you use for lentil soup?
This one from The Non-Consumer Advocate, to which I add carrots and substitute powdered ginger: https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/cheap-eats-red-lentil-soup/
We are a bread-loving household. When me or my husband find marked-down, clearance loaves, we can’t resist. I have and am working hard to rectify that habit. Over the summer I got my over-packed deep freeze down to one layer, seeing the bottom, using up bread and other items in there too long. I was so pleased. Now it’s creeping back up again with, you guessed it, bread! It’s a constant cycle. LOL
Oh yes, I understand the lure of the discounts. They get me too! And that's fine, as long as I keep track of what's in there and actually use it.
We are a bread-loving family, too! I know I have white bread in the freezer (son only likes/will eat white bread, DH and I prefer wheat or whole grain), and I recently stumbled on a "$1 off" deal at Aldi on our favorite heat-and-eat Italian bread, so two loaves are in the freezer, too. It's hard to pass up those discounts!
For now, I am done with my freezer reorganisation. I am slowly filling the freezer again, making sure to use all my small jars and containers because I take those out more quickly than the large bags and containers.
Today is a sunny day and during lunch break I did something I had been wanting to do for some time already: I "mopped" our fixed carpet with a damp cloth, and left it to dry. I considered and decided against shampooing the carpet because I was afraid it would become soaked (or cause "white stains"). In the end I decided to just use handwarm water and a splash of white vinagre, on the assumption that if it did not work, it also would not harm. And I rubbed over the carpet with an old towel, my preferred household tool for all kinds of chores. The carpet looks nice and fresh again, with brighter colours. It is definitely better than it was, which for today is good enough.
Yes to the small containers! I've been doing that with my broth now that I have some silicone cubes; I freeze it in 1/2 and 1 cup quantities and then it's so easy to pull some out for something like a sauce.
I used up some stuff from the freezers and from some groceries the Bestest Neighbors left behind (they're on a Road Scholar trip abroad). From the freezers, 2 # of boneless lamb (Reduced for Quick Sale at Wegmans) and a partial bag of pearl onions; from the left-behind groceries, a partial container of beef stock, a partial bag of snow peas, and some celery. I added one of the two last bottles of Guinness I found on the curb a while ago, as well as carrots and garlic from my garden, and potatoes and onions from my usual supply.
Your curb stew sounds wonderfully fragrant!
I like the name "curb stew," even though only the Guinness really came from a curb. I think that Katy at the NCA should adopt that name for some of the meals she's been making lately from vegetables in free boxes! 🙂
Oh, and I forgot to mention the rosemary and thyme in the stew, which also came from my garden.
Over the weekend I made cough syrup with handsful of sage, rosemary, bay, thyme and mint, as well as koenjit powder and slices of ginger. It was a new recipe and the taste is surprisingly good. Of course the main ingredient for conserving is sugar (1:1 ratio to make the syrup keep for over a year) but still the taste comes through very well. I have over 1 litre now, in small bottles and jars. I love that nearly all the ingredients are from our own garden.
The kids joked that I started cackling. Let's see who asks for a spoonful when the viruses start going around!
Kristen,
Could you please tell me how you roast tomatoes. I tried finding it in the archives, but apparently didn't use the correct words. Thanks!
I don't think I've done a dedicated post, actually! It's hidden in this post, and I should probably make it a stand-alone so it's easier to find. https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/im-a-lid-influencer/
I opened my freezer yesterday and - ouch! Ice cream should not be under a couple dozen small bags of fish. It also seems that buying half a happy pig was a mistake; that's going to take a long time to eat. Oh well.
Oh dear; does your ice cream smell like fish now??
Or like happy pig??
Mo, everything's fine, just poorly organized.
Hmm, having trouble posting, so I hope some dups don't pop up!
Just wanted to say, your management of freezer items to use up is so impressive.
I go back and forth with my freezer. I thaw, I cook, there's too much, I freeze. I think that's a way of life when you're cooking for one.
Yes, it definitely is different now than it was when I was feeding six people! But on the other hand, since I am often cooking just for myself, I can make a very random meals to use up odds and ends, and that is helpful.
Every dinner last week had at least one thing pulled from the freezer: shredded pork used in a stir fry, a jar of chicken noodle soup base, a discounted package of naan, a package of brats, chile verde and tortillas for enchiladas, chuck roast.
I’m really happy I put in the effort during this freezer challenge. While I was out of town my husband did some meal prepping for his lunches and he had the room to put what he prepped in the freezer.
Geneva,
It sounds like you did a great job using up freezer items!
Nice work on your freezer challenge! I extended mine to also incorporate the pantry. Here's what I used up that I wanted to get rid of:
-Frozen peppers
-Rotisserie chicken
-Chicken broth x2
-Four cans of beans
-6 overly ripe bananas
-Shelf stable oat milk (much prefer the refrigerated kind, but this is getting closer to expiration date)
With the peppers, rotisserie chicken & broth - one pan skillet dish
With the beans & broth, added chicken sausage & spinach for a quick dinner
Banana muffins with the overly ripe bananas
And, oat milk in my coffee!
A friend and I were in Louisville, Kentucky this weekend. By coincidence, our hostess served us the most wonderful tomato soup, the main difference was the addition of dill. That made it absolutely fabulous and I will make it on my own. Another coincidence was peaches, she made a homemade peach cobbler and the result was stunning! I was a happy camper. I've come back to my freezer and from what everyone has said I still need to go through it some more. Everybody have a wonderful week!
I have those same storage cups w/the purple lids - they appear to be virtually indestructible as I've had mine at least 20 years.
Do you double bag your carcasses when freezing?
We have a hodgepodge of leftovers (recent meals - nothing from freezer) so unlikely we'll both eat the identical meal.
I do not! I simply zip up the rotisserie bag and toss it in the freezer. I am sure this is not what experts would recommend but it works fine for me. 😉
For soup and stock it doesn't matter. To use freezer-burnt meat in soup, all you need do it chop it finely.
That matches with my experience: the broth I make from these bones has all been just fine in soup and sauces!
I managed to get through 3 bags of vegetable scraps and one bag of chicken bones to make broth. I also used many of the freezer-prepped meals that I try to keep stocked. I still have some deer sausage soup we need to work through. I may heat it for the Halloween potluck we are hosting this week.
That tomato soup looks amazing; I really need to make one as soon as the temperatures stop reaching 90 every day.
Kristen, is there a secret to freezing bread to prevent freezer burn? Mine always dries out and tastes wrong after a short time. Is it because I have a frost free freezer? Thanks.
Air is the enemy! Try to squeeze out all of the air. Also, unless you have a chest freezer (the manual defrost kind), your food will start to get a weird freezer-ish taste after a while. It's a result of the thawing-freezing-thawing cycle the freezers go through to self defrost.
We have an upright that is not self-defrosting. Better half double bags bread products.
Spoon-only smoothies are my favorite kind!
So good, right?
I think I've been adding oddments to mine, but in a frugal way inspired by you all!
I shredded some chicken and froze it so I can throw it into things (my partner is vegetarian so we cook a lot of veggie things that I can add meat to after if I want). Also we had some jarred curry sauce and didn't use the end of either jar so I've decanted and frozen those for easy meals later!
I also bought a cheap frozen pizza but topped up the underwhelming amount of cheese with a handful from my frozen mozzarella bag.
I didn't get much used last week, but am having a productive day today.
Over the last week, I finished a single serving of ice cream from who knows when and another open bag of meatballs.
Today, I'm using all the random trimmings of beef in the freezer and frozen beef broth to make steak pie, the last of a very old bag of frozen berries plus some of the next similarly old bag to make cobbler, and some frozen bananas to make banana bread.
I have two more turkey carcasses plus some frozen celery to turn into stock. I have lots more frozen berries and my smoothie eater is off at college. I have half a bag of okra and some shrimp which will become jambalaya when the college kids are home. And, I have a tray of stuffing that will be eaten around Thanksgiving.
I'm sure there are some other odds and ends, but those are the items consuming space. I'm clearly not as efficient as Kristen at this, and clearly didn't properly estimate what would be eaten before the college crew left, but will keep working through it and expect to be in good shape when they head back to school after Christmas break.