Freezer Organization Complete!

     I love when I can have productive days! With the unseasonable warmth this weekend, I am hoping to catch up on a few more outdoor chores that I never got to before the snow fell as well. Have to see how it goes!

     Yesterday I ended up spending a few hours on emptying all of the freezers, organizing and replacing everything back in them, rotating the older stuff to the top, and making sure to thoroughly clean all the surfaces in-between. It amazes me just how much crud can get spilled in there! So here is the new and improved system.

     Much better! I can find everything easily, see most everything at a glance, and even made it teen friendly by labeling the drawers - no home is complete without Sharpies! No more endless, non-productive, freezer digging! Typically, I purchase meats when on sale - usually looking for half off kind - and stock up a month's worth of meat for that price (or what ever my meager budget will allow). I have found some great help here with Reynolds' new Perfect Portions Freezer wrappers, as I usually don't cook very many meals where meat is the "main course" on its' own, though like to add bits of meat into various recipes to make it last as long as possible. So, when I pick up a pack of chicken breasts, I usually try for the largest size as it has the biggest discount for purchasing in bulk (same with beef and pork). These allow me to portion down before freezing, so I only take out what I need and also allows me to save money by reusing my expensive freezer bags by keeping them rotating with individual servings. I can use multiple times, since I never really take the main bag out of the freezer. Always a win-win! 

 

                

Chicken breast portions - singles

     Here is what it looks like with my portions already frozen. I get the heavy duty (quality) freezer bags, as they do much better and hold up much better than the cheap guys. I think I paid all of $3 for 75 ct of the portions bags and so much cheaper to toss a bag that costs only $.04 than one that costs $.20! Also great, as I can load them without directly touching the meat and avoiding a larger mess or washing my hands 30 times while packing it all down! I have my beef and pork the same way, often in 1lb portions. Then I just label the bag with dates (have I mentioned I love sharpies!), and rotate the older stock into the inside freezer as needed. Each type of meat is further separated into the chest freezer into stack-able baskets for easy searching (and easier on the back!).  Keeps everything fresh and easily found with little hassle or having items lost in the abyss of the chest freezer.

     I have always extremely disliked food waste, and take as many steps to prevent it as possible. After breaking down the freezer yesterday, I was shocked to see just how many little frozen veggie bits had fallen to their death at the bottom of the freezer - they are now fodder for the compost bin, so not a huge loss. Just a waste of money if meant to be eaten. So ended up switching them all into quart freezer zip lock bags. Figure there is no need to label, as it is easy to see just what veggies are where, and the quart bags are perfect for holding one regular size bag of veggies (also as I replace the veggies I do stock, they can go into the same bag - no waste!) No more half-used, crap bags; digging through to see just what I do have, or having rogue veggie bits meandering all over the freezer at whim. Everything is neat and tidy! Woot! 

Easy to find veggies now!

     With cooking for just my son and I, we never ended up needing the whole bag of veggies at a time, and I adore having frozen veggies on hand to toss into casseroles, soups, stews, etc. Also, many of the fresh produce items I purchase get processed (cleaned, diced, etc) then sent into the freezer so they are on hand when I want them. Creates much less waste, especially with the bell peppers, onions, summer squash, seasonal fruits not canned, etc. Usually though I will dice or chop them, throw them on a cookie sheet in one layer, then place into the chest freeze for a couple of hours until frozen and then straight into a freezer zip lock bag - that way, you have frozen bits for ease of use, rather than one solid clump. So much cheaper to purchase fresh and freeze yourself, also save quite a bit when produce runs on sale!

     So hopefully this may help a few out there wanting to get control of their food storage issues, or perhaps give others a few ideas to make life a little easier and dinner prep a little quicker. I am always happier to dice, chop and create when I have a little time, rather than trying to be rushed to get a dinner on the table and something in the belly before 9 pm ends up rolling around. Life can get hectic, time can get away from us all, and just remember - life happens. Just try and make the best of it. I am usually pretty worn out with just going to the grocery, and will often toss everything that needs to be dealt with in the extra fridge in the garage for an hour or so (couple of times even overnight) until I was better prepared to get it all packaged down and where it needed to be. Works great for me, but perhaps not for some. Just have to find what works for you!

A Different Twist on Leftovers...

     Had a conversation with a friend earlier looking for ideas on meals and meal planning, and figured I would share what I have been up to this week, in hopes that it might inspire others.
      I have a rule at my house, waste not - want not. Saturday evening, we enjoyed a meal of beef roast (slow cooker), baked potatoes and fresh carrots with a butter dill sauce (Not so normal for us to have a full meat course, but on occasion it is nice...). As always, I plan on leftovers with most meals, using one base to make another meal completely. Now after cooking the roast, I had stock and left over roast to put up. The stock was set into muffin tins, to freeze into smaller portions, leaving easily usable disks of beef stock to add to recipes in the future (one less thing to purchase from the store and I keep it sodium free!). All kept in a wonderful little labeled bag in the freezer - without taking up too much valuable space. (The little floating bits are just fat. I skim most of it off, but happy to leave a small amount). This is also a great thing for leftover gravy, as I often add a disk or two to soups and stews to give it a little flavor.

Muffin tins with beef stock ready for freezing.

     Next, I shredded the leftover roast (had two teen boys for dinner that night - so not quite as much left over...), added some frozen peas & carrots, some onions, herbs & spices, and a bit of the left over gravy - all dumped into a pie crust, and topped with mashed potatoes. A quick and easy meat pie! Completely different meal, but using all the leftovers I had. Even the water that I boiled the potatoes with is set aside and fed to the plants. They love the starch boost from the potato water!

Meat pie before the potatoes. The little white pieces are garlic and dehydrated onions.

     Then I added the mashed potatoes and gravy just before going into an oven heated at 350 degrees for approximately 40 mins - just long enough to get everything heated through and a bit of browning on top of the potatoes. Came out wonderfully, and even my picky son ate it. Always a grand thing!

Finished meat pie - fresh from the oven!

     Now whenever I cook, I try and use whatever I can so as not to waste. Vegetable scraps are chopped coarsely, thrown into a labeled bag in the freezer, and boiled down to make vegetable stock, frozen the same as above. I also do the same with chicken stock, and find I no longer need to purchase extra from the store. After the veggies are boiled down and sifted from the stock, they go onto the compost bag, which when full, heads out to my rolling compost bin. So nice when everything can be used!
     Sunday was a casual dinner night of chicken quesadillas (left over single grilled chicken breast from Friday was cut up and used for them -perfect size for a couple for each of us), along with some single serve cookies in a cup for dessert. Finished off the last bit of cheese, the grilled chicken breast, and some pico di gallo I had thrown into the freezer. Thinking my son also finished off a couple of other small veggie leftovers we had in the fridge as well. Tuesdays are my cleaning the fridge day, as Wednesday is trash day. Nothing worse than something going foul in the trash and stinking up the house! Luckily, it is a rarity that I have any food that needs to be emptied out of there though - lets' get real, I have a teenage son and he LOVES to EAT! Luckily he has a mom that is a great cook! LOL

     Also, most days I bake small batches of all the bread we use (check out this site for Artisan bread in just 5 minutes a day!), but sometimes it still goes stale. When that happens, I end up cubing up and throwing in the freeze for bread pudding or making croutons later on, the freezer halting the oxygen from damaging it further. If I am really not paying attention and a tiny bit gets a little mold, the critters that live out back get a treat. LOL Though I usually am fairly good at keeping it all under watchful eye. 

     Too, if your family has a great deal of left overs and not really a good thing to try and make another meal out of, try freezing single portions into smaller zip lock bags. We have a bin in the freezer just for that, so on nights that I am busy or unable to cook, the kiddos can fend for themselves. A much better "frozen dinner" option. Many times we have left over soup, and it too is frozen into muffin tins and then transferred into zip lock bags, as you can heat up as much as you wish to eat. Makes life much more convenient! 

     I know as busy parents, we are always looking for useful tips that are tried and true. Perhaps just trying to shave down a bit on the grocery bills, etc. Always good to save as much as possible in this economy! If you are single and tired of cooking for one, the freezer portions work great! Or find some friends and get on the same style of freezing, and host a meal swap. Each of three friends cooks three separate meals, then freeze portions. Get together and swap out, so as to have variety without having to cook every night. Saves a ton of money and is always a great way to try other foods! 

     I always love great tips and ideas, please feel free to share some so that we may all benefit from the shared knowledge! Thanks!