Money-Saving Frozen Food Organization
Organization and Action Steps to Organize Your Freezer
My freezer is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. For this reason, I don’t have a lot of frozen food in my house. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. While I tend to eat more fresh food, on occasion it would be nice to be able to take things from my freezer and heat up dinner in a matter of minutes. We are learning to use many more staples in our house from the pantry rather than relying on frozen ingredients. We purchase fruits and vegetables in small quantities so that we don’t let things go bad before using them up. This is a great way to prevent food waste. Look to The Uncluttered Life’s Declutter Deck® for tips and tricks about home organization.
Organization
Some things we don’t think to do, but they are easy and cost-effective. For example, vacuum sealing fruit is a good option if you make jams or baked goods like a cobbler. It’s also a good option if you want them to last all year long.
Chop and prep your vegetables ahead of time and freeze them for meals that you will make in the future. Another good idea is that when you purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, prep them so they are ready and easy to incorporate. I chop up my lettuce and salad ingredients, wash them, and put them in a plastic bag with a paper towel after putting them through the salad spinner. That way, I only have to chop lettuce for salads twice a week. We eat a salad almost every night for dinner.
Most dairy items freeze and defrost well. Sharp cheddar cheese will need to be used for shredding only after it’s frozen and cream cheese should only be used in recipes.
Souper cubes are great for storing soups and other leftovers. They are oven, freezer and dishwasher safe.
Mason jars are a great way to store pre-made salads. Don’t add dressing until the salad is ready to be eaten as it will wilt the lettuce.
Wide mouth jars are best for freezing. If using a regular mouth jar, leave approximately two inches of headspace.
Meat in styrofoam packages will only last three months. To keep it longer, transfer it to a freezer bag.
Action Steps
Lay your washed fruit on a cookie sheet and flash freeze it before putting the fruit into bags. This will prevent them from clumping together and allow you to pull out the pieces individually. We used to do this with berries when we were very young and it worked great to have them on hand all summer long.
Wash spinach and kale and store with a paper towel in the refrigerator. Remove the paper towel to freeze. It will stay good for months.
Make extra breakfast items and freeze them to make mornings less stressful.
Add parmesan cheese to mashed potatoes to improve the texture when they are defrosted.