In this post: How I’m stocking my new freezer.
Anyone who knows me well knows I love to have a fully stocked house.
Yes, a fully stocked house.
Canned goods, paper goods, fresh foods and frozen.
Having plenty of consumables stored and organized makes this homeschooling, business-owning, Momma of three very happy!
Taking Care of Business
The fridge we inherited when we bought this house is more than adequate for the fresh foods we consume weekly.
And last year we looked after the pantry and paper goods storage with our Rolling Kitchen Pantry Shelves and our Small Closet to Extra Pantry projects.
So all that was left was the freezer for the frozen foods.
We had that almost fixed with a hand-me-down chest freezer. But I could never find anything, it wasn’t big enough for a house with soon-to-be three teenagers and (since I’m barely 5′ 1″) I could hardly reach the stuff in the bottom!
A sad state of affairs that needed a solution.
Our New Freezer
Our new freezer arrived just before the Holidays.
And let me tell you, it’s pretty.
I may or may not have visited it several times the first few days it was here.
In Classic Slate it blends in anywhere – kitchen (I wish!), garage, laundry room.
It seals tight even after the kids have grabbed something from inside.
And I can lock all the goodies in if I don’t want anyone stealing something that is supposed to be for another day.
But the best part is the inside.
Oh the gloriously bright, now-full and organized inside!
Stocking the Freezer
While it was very tempting to just go out and buy a freezer’s worth of food all at once, that wasn’t really economical or practical.
Neither was me cooking enough food to fill freezer!
Instead we bought extra food little by little and then prepped several meals all at once on a Saturday.
Tips for Stocking the Freezer:
- Stock it a little at a time. Purchase one extra of what you’d buy anyway for the week. After a month, you’ll have several weeks worth on hand.
- Buy in bulk if things are on sale. This is perfect for food items you’d buy anyway. Kind of pointless if you’re buying just for the sake of a sale.
- Freeze Leftovers. When cooking during the week, make a little extra and freeze the leftovers for quick individual meals later. Use microwavable containers for these freezer leftovers.
- Cook for a month. Or a week. Spend an afternoon or a day cooking and then freeze meals for later.
- Pack it flat. Freeze foods flat in freezer bags. Use a straw to suck the excess air out if you don’t use special sealing equipment. I lay all my freezer bags on a cookie sheet until they’re frozen and then just stack them on a shelf in the freezer or stand them up in one of the door bins.
- Label. Make sure you label and date everything that’s homemade, so you can use it up in good time. And so you don’t have a mystery meal! (Is that chili or spaghetti sauce?)
- Organize. If you’ve got everything labeled it should be easy to put like with like; meats with meats, veggies with veggies, etc.
Freezer Inventory
Admittedly the toughest part of food storage is keeping track of what we’ve got and what we need more of.
(Our freezer is all the way down in the laundry room.)
I was going to create a freezer inventory printable for you, but I found that there were plenty available online.
That and I didn’t quite get to it yet.
Sorry.
But if you want to use a freezer inventory sheet, I’d recommend doing a Google search to find one that suits you.
I’ll get to mine sooner or later!
So that’s how we stocked the great big shiny new freezer.
What about you? Do you have a freezer? Is it a good one? Is it all stocked up?
Disclosure: I am part of the Frigidaire Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
