Wanna see how I used my freezer foods?
So, last Wednesday, I posted a photographic inventory of the contents of my kitchen freezer.
And I promised an update in a week, so, here we go! I'm not done using it all up, so this is just a midway update. 🙂
These are the meats I started with.
I thawed the chicken tenders, browned them in a little oil with salt and pepper, and then shredded and sauteed them with salsa, green onions, and cumin, to make a filling for two quesadillas.
I used some of my stack of frozen corn tortillas to make these!
I used the Butcher Box Italian sausage in a number of ways.
For starters, I thawed these stuffed shells:
Then I covered them with some of this sauce from my freezer challenge.
And I browned some of the sausage and added it on top of the shells.
I also used some of the sausage in conjunction with my kale-using efforts.
And I had some browned with a Hungry Harvest pepper. The Parmesan on top is from my challenge too!
By the way...I tried a Butcher Box of meats because I got a really good introductory offer.
My very short review is that if you have a first-time offer, it can be a decent deal, considering that you are getting grass-fed beef, organic chicken, and so on.
However, I didn't think that the chicken breasts were very good; if you order a box, I'd recommend the bacon, pork butt, sausage, and ground beef instead.
You can definitely get conventional meat more cheaply at a grocery store, but that's not exactly comparing apples to apples.
Back to the freezer challenge!
The bacon? I just fried it up to eat with some whole wheat blueberry pancakes.
So, the bit of hamburger is all that's left of the meat.
What else?
I used up the second jar of pasta sauce to make some baked ziti, and I also used up the mozzarella and more of the Parmesan.
So, what's left?
I still need to use up the peaches in a smoothie or in some oatmeal.
I will make a couple of burgers with the ground beef.
I will use the corn to make some quesadillas, which will also use up some more of the tortillas.
I think I'm still gonna need to fry up some of those tortillas as strips to top a salad too, though. There are a lotta corn tortillas there!
And I might use some of the orange juice concentrate in that peach smoothie. 🙂
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I'll do another update next week and maybe, just maybe, I'll also start a challenge to use up some odds and ends in my chest freezer.
P.S. A key to making freezer challenges successful for me: keeping them low-key, with no rules. Some people don't allow themselves to buy any groceries during a challenge, but I let myself buy whatever I need to make my freezer foods into delicious meals.
I'm not here to be miserable. 😉
P.P.S. I know we skipped Five Frugal Things this week; it's because the 4th of July fell on Tuesday. I promise we'll do one next week.
Go you! That's an impressive amount of progress, especially given that you're only cooking for two at the moment. I remain impressed at your (to me) elaborate breakfasts! I just don't trust myself to cook with fire that early in the day.
I've no freezer challenge to report, though I'm afraid I'm losing my battle against the tub of Greek yogurt in the fridge. My husband bought it for one recipe, and I've been doing my level best to work through the rest with a chocolate overnight oats recipe. 1/3 of the tub remains to conquer. It's too hot to bake, or this wouldn't be a challenge at all.
@N, my new favorite way to use Greek yogurt: in a blender add 1c yogurt, I cup -ish fresh herbs (I like parsley and cilantro or parsley and basil, juice of half a lemon, pinch of salt. Add enough water to make it your desired dressing consistency, (or less water if you’d like it to be dip-like.). It makes a delicious salad dressing or dip for veggies.
@N, you can freeze your greek yogourt in ice cubes, then transfer in a ziploc, then use a couple at a time later in smoothies. 🙂
After my June grocery spending (yikes!) I will be doing quite a bit of freezer and pantry cleaning out this month. Thanks for the encouragement to help me get started!
We smoked a small turkey that was in our freezer for our 4th of July dinner. It was a little over-cooked, but I like dry turkey. My husband says the legs came out great. We used a brine for the first time and I doubt we will ever use that again. Way too salty for us. But now we will have turkey sandwiches for our road trip this weekend. And turkey for lots of other things as well!
Looks good! I'm sure we're all interested to see the chest freezer challenge as well.
I'm doing something similar myself. Yesterday I made "Moving Soup." It's part planned, part improv, and results in a ton of soup that I froze into portions for grabbing while I move.
Inputs purchased for the soup: cabbage, leeks, and celery.
Inputs added to use up: cabbage (I'd planned to use half of it for something but then life moved on), carrots, onions, dry beans, the rest of a pack of quinoa, homemade chicken stock, Better Than Bouillon chicken stock concentrate, half a can of tomato paste from the freezer, and anchovies in oil.
I may have overdone it a bit: there's about 4 gallons of soup.
Whoa! You have a pot big enough to hold four gallons??
@WilliamB, Soup always expands in the making. I consider that a bonus, myself, but then, I'm feeding a lot of people.
@Kristen, yup. I have a 20 qt stockpot for making chicken stock. They're inexpensive and nothing else is big enough.
@kristin @ going country,
That happened to me....back in the winter, I was reimagining some less than stellar pot roast as a soup. I added broth, canned tomatoes, canned beans, a bit of this, a dash of that....and ended up with a huge pot of soup. I ended up freezing two 1-gallon bags of it, as well as eating it for at least two meals.
I know in my house, that bit of beef would be combined with beans to make taco meat, and then put in the tortillas and fried for crispy tacos. But that's only because I have to stretch everything to six people, and that little bit of meat would make about quarter-sized burgers for that many. 🙂
Impressive progress on your part! I need to do a freezer challenge myself since I just got the email that it's time to pick up our 1/4 side of beef.
How do you get burgers to hold together when made from defrosted meat? Mine always fall apart. 🙁
@Beverly, I've never found any difference. Then again, I add things to my ground meat: an egg is the key. I also add Bovril, breadcrumbs, and a grated onion.
@WilliamB,
That's how my mom used to make burgers, minus the Bovril, and onions chopped instead of grated.
Hmm, I haven't had this problem, but I do usually use a panade in my burgers. https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/well-done-grilled-hamburgers/
Hmmm...enchiladas might be a good thing to make, too. I made Kitchen Sink Queso yesterday for work and it was a hit! Cooked ground beef crumbles, queso blanco from HEB, a can of Rotel. Then I started throwing in dibs and dabs to use up like a couple of chopped frozen tomatoes, a bit of fresh chopped cilantro, the last two slices of monterrey jack cheese, 1/2 package of cream cheese in the freezer...seasoned it all up with a few spices and served with fritos scoops. I love the challenge of "what can I make with this?". And I actually do that pretty often since I don't have a chest freezer.
Oooh, that sounds so tasty!
I finally inventoried the upstairs fridge freezer on Monday and found about 70 different, still useable, items. Have a plan to use “the findings” for next week’s dinners, dessert, breakfasts and snacks. Likely to be on this path for the rest of the month but July is a good ‘use it up month’ to clear space in advance of autumn’s harvest and love the lower grocery bills.
When our dd was vegetarian, I discovered Migas and that is the only time I've used corn tortillas. I still make them from time to time as a breakfast for dinner dish.
@Jennifer, I love migas!
I'm not doing an actual freezer challenge, but I made a start on using the oversupply of bags of bones for stock in my refrigerator's freezer. I used a large bag and small bag of chicken bones and made about 8 pints of chicken stock. I was going to can it instead of freeze it, but the temps and high humidity this weekend made the thought of a canner pouring hot steam into the atmosphere just unbearable.
I also used up the tea in my cannister so I refilled it using the pound bag of tea in that same freezer. It's looking better in there now.
Your meals look good, and isn't it nice to use food rather than waste the food, the money it took for you to buy it, and the resources it took to produce it and get it to you?
Love these series—I learn so much! Like how to turn our humble looking freezer odds & ends into something good. Your chicken meals looks delish. We had a bit of a freezer/fridge challenge weekend. One meal turned out fantastic—I combined ground beef & green peppers (both from freezer), with leftover cooked rice, aging carrots, salt, pepper, onion flakes (I was out of fresh/frozen/and onion powder), garlic & the last bit of parmesan cheese. Browned meat, sautéed veggies in olive oil, and heated it all together. Fun to experiment sometimes!
@Rachel R., I second your praise for these series. I like them even better than 5 Frugal Things, and I really like 5 Frugal Things!
Living rurally causes a (possibly extreme) stock-up mentality. And of course the oldest items land at the bottom of the freezer. Maybe someone could invent a freezer that inverts; every 3 months you just flip the freezer upside down, and then your oldest items will be on the top. Otherwise I am practically standing on my head, hauling out mystery meat packages.
@Central Calif. Artist, Me too. That's why I call it freezer diving. 🙂
@Central Calif. Artist, That is a genius idea, a flipping freezer!! We do all out eating from the bottom of the freezer in the summer because our freezer is outdoors and after it hits below zero I do not feel inclined to dig around looking for stuff. If it is not on top, it is ignored until May (We turn our freezer off when it is reliably before freezing for six months or so. It gets turned on again in April.) A flipping freezer would fix everything.
@Central Calif. Artist,
And that right there is why I have an upright freezer. I'm 5'2"; I'd much rather look for the items while standing on my feet than tip over on my head diving for food in a big chest freezer. And thanks to the shelves in an upright, I can organize my food by type in baskets, eliminating a lot of time with the door open.
But the concept of a flip-freezer is creative!
I think a flipping freezer is a fabulous idea.
Hi Kristen: I recently started saving all my veggie cuts and peelings in a freezer bag and then I make veggie stock, or else I add it to my chicken bones when I make chicken stock. It adds rich flavor. Then when my freezer is full of containers of frozen stock, I started canning it so it is shelf stable. It is a bit of work and stressful the first time, but once you get the hang of it, it is not hard at all. Oh, and the stock I make in the instant pot so I don't have to cook it for long. The veggie stock I do for 1 hour and the bone broth I do for 4 hours. Canning is not for everyone, but there's no reason anyone can't throw some veggies in the instant pot for some flavorful broth to add to soup or rice!
I've been following you since your very first year, I think, and I love your ideas, but also your honesty and cheerful spirit. Keep doing what you're doing because it helps a lot of people! Thank you and God bless you!
Have you seen the viral smash burger taco trend? That’s what your remaining ingredients are shouting to me. 😉
@Danielle C,
We've been making smash burgers lately. I find they are actually better with smaller amounts of meat. The bigger burgers don't smash as well and don't seem to cook evenly.
Wow! Super impressed at the number of items you used from your freezer challenge! Go you!
I love your comment "I'm not here to be miserable." Thank you again for the wonderful reminder that being frugal does not need to make you a martyr!
Yes! We can all figure out ways to save money that don't involve abject misery. 😉
@Hannah, aww, I love frugal martyrs!
I asked chat gpt to write me a cute story about a frugal martyr:
Pennywise's frugal escapades brought laughter and a dash of absurdity to their lives. And so, the world was entertained by the whimsical adventures of the frugal martyr, Pennywise, who proved that saving money could be a hilarious (and slightly eccentric) art form.
@Tiana, And that's why AI will never replace Charles Dickens.
Corn tortillas - I heat up on non stick skillet so they get crispy. Then top tortilla with eggs plus any extras, cheese, veggies. With little sauce of choice. So yummy.
Ooh, that sounds good!
Attagirl, Kristen!
I had to defrost our big freezer that we share with friends. It was not fun, but I did find extra goodies I'd forgotten were in there, including a dozen beef tamales (delicious). So my goal for the next two weeks is to 'eat down' as much as we can. So far, a pkg of chieken and a pork chop, as well as a big pkg of sausage and some beer brats are on their way to extinction. Tonight: a pizza, I think.
Oh yes, and some cookies that will use up a container of half-and-half.
It's so satisfying to eat down your freezer. Good luck to you!
Your freezer challenges are my favorite! Exactly the motivation I need right now.
I can tell how stressed I am by the content of my freezer and pantry. During Covid I stocked up. And then, I continued to stock up. My freezer at bottom of refrig is full and so is my small chest freezer.I can fit no more!! I have to start cooking it all up. Inflation triggered more worries so I kept stocking up as I worked down the contents.On top of that, my husband and I came home from a vacation with Covid and have not been eating this week. Soon as we feel better I will start clearing out my supply. I promise.
Thanks to your post, I have been inventorying my freezer and found a lot of items we have forgotten. We are also bringing in our garden which adds stress -but I found some ready-to-eat meals so I can cook when it is cooler (the morning). Today I have leftover cooked stir fry veggies so I cooked some rice - we will re-heat that tonight. I also made stuffed green peppers with the rice, a frozen bag of tomatoes, black beans (already cooked) and Mexican spices. We will eat that tomorrow night. I like this being one day ahead!!
You're inspiring me to do a freezer challenge as well. There are a number of bits and bobs in my fridge freezer that need to be used up.
You have inspired me to do my own freezer challenge - both freezer + chest freezer are nuts. Like you, I’m not here to be miserable, so I just want to the farmer’s market to buy some delicious vegetables to mix with my freezer situation. Should be very tasty, and was
$20.