Fumbling through the Freezer?

A freezer can quickly become an exasperating pit of frozen mysteries if we don't pay attention and attempt to create order within. Mine gets out of control and I have bins to help try to prevent that from happening. Our freezer is now housed in the garage. As mentioned in a previous post I try to bring meat I plan to cook early in the week and stash it inside the small side by side in the kitchen, that way I'm not opening the big garage freezer as often.

My freezer has a handy chart inside to remind me how long I should keep things. I use a Seal-a-Meal to divide and freeze my meat. I label and date the packages with a Sharpie marker. I currently have 5 Rubbermade bins inside on the shelves. Each one is labeled. I have one for Chicken, Beef, Pork, Fish and Cajun meats my husband loves to use in gumbos and barbecue.

As you can see at a glance, I don't need to buy anymore chicken for a while, but may be a little low on fish.
I think I am going to buy some bins that will fit on that fourth shelf to hold those leftovers and sort them into meats and meal types. When you freeze them in the Seal-a-Meal bags you can pop them in a pan of boiling water and they taste like you just slaved over dinner! Everyone knows if you cook double you can freeze entree`s for later! Great when you come home from work tired.

The shelf next to the Cajun meats are prepared foods. As you can see I don't use very many prepared items, so my freezer isn't beautifully stocked with rows of prepared meals all alphabetized and sorted by type. But if this is you, keeping things with labels facing out and stacked neatly can save you money and help you find things easier.
The bottom bin has mostly veggies.I wish my shelves were adjustable! I only have one that is.

This is the freezer door. The cups are frozen mugs we use for keeping drinks cold in the hot Houston summer. I don't use them much anymore and considered tossing them out, they don't fit in my pool float cup holder anyway! lolol If I decide to redefine this space you'll find these for sale at the local Goodwill.
I love my frozen berries for homemade protein shakes, I am always stocked ahead since I can use up to a cup in each shake.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Organizing Your Freezer (orgjunkie.com)
• Freeze It! Budget Bootcamp #8 (betterinbulk.net)
• Label Frozen Foods with Discard Date for Optimum Flavor [Kitchen] (lifehacker.com)
• Get Organized: Set aside day to cook freezer-ful of meals (commercialappeal.com)
• How Long will Frozen Meat Stay Fresh? (brainz.org)