I seem to spend a large portion of my life keeping track of food.
How much food is in the fridge? How is the food doing in the garden? Is there food in the pantry? Writing missing food down on lists. Keeping track of where that food list is in the house. What will I make for food today? When's the last time I pooped out my food?
It's time consuming. So a few days ago I figured I should do something, anything, to cut down on the amount of time I spend keeping track of food.
I did that, by ... keeping track of food.
Whenever I make meals, I often have food leftover. A lot of people with only one or two people in the household see this as a problem. They think this is one of the downfalls of cooking for one. The fact that one person can't eat a whole pan of lasagna.
Those people are stupid.
First of all, one person can totally eat a whole pan of lasagna, and the fact that you think you can't really means you think you shouldn't which proves you are a person of superior willpower. Good for you.
Second of all, a whole pan of lasagna never needs to be wasted, it needs to be frozen!
Cooking for one or two is the best thing EVER because you almost always have leftovers. And if you have even just 3 or 4 braincells remaining after a day at work you should have the mental capacity to remember to freeze the leftovers.
My one piece of advice with freezing leftovers? Do it RIGHT AWAY. Do not stick the leftovers back in the fridge, click your heels and walk away thinking "I'll take care of those tomorrow". Because you won't. They will get pushed further and further back into the abyss of the refrigerator until one day, 7 years from now you'll look behind that jar of sweet pickles to discover something that's now fur covered and has almost mastered the basics of language.
So the freezing of leftovers I've had down pat for a while. I even threw them into the same general area of the freezer so I knew where to root around if I didn't feel like making dinner.
But my method seemed inefficient. I know this because I found a container of frozen pizza sauce dated 2001 last week. (that's another tip, write the date you packaged the item with a Sharpie on your Foodsaver bag, freezer bag, mason jar or tupperware container)
So, even though it was a pajama day, I threw on my shoes and ran to the Dollar Store to pick up some containers for organizing. I pretty much blended into the rest of the Dollar Store shoppers pajama outfits.
This is what I ended up with.
In the main portion of my freezer (I have a small upright freezer in my mudroom, but this method can be used with any regular refrigerator freezer) I labelled bins for the various meats I keep on hand. Steaks, Ground beef, Chicken, Roasts.
For the freezer door I bought small plastic bins and put them in the door shelves. I have no idea what idiot thinks these door shelves should be designed like an enormous hole with a single inch wide bar holding everything in place, but as I said ... those people are idiots. Unless you have a large carton, things inevitably slip out and crash onto the floor.
The small plastic bins in the doors stops smaller things from plummeting to the earth. These door bins are reserved for seafood, pizza dough/pie dough, frozen rhubarb and a few other things.
And finally, the best part ever. I bought 3 bins specifically for leftovers or foods that I've premade. Like that famous leftover lasagna, or premade hamburger patties, or frozen pesto.
On each bin I've attached a note that says what's in that specific bin and how much. When I take something out and scarf it down, I cross it off the list. When I add something new to the bin (like I did yesterday with Curried Cauliflower Soup) I write it on the list.
Not only are my leftovers easy to find, I know at all times exactly what I have in there.
I don't mean to brag but I feel like a better person than everyone else now. I walk among the rest of you with the knowledge I am ... s l i g h t l y ... better. And with a few bins, a pen and a piece of paper you can be better too.
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Tigersmom
Now I know what those voices are that I hear when I open the fridge.
(Not really, I am a container addict and have been known to shout, "Bins for everything!" upon entering the dollar store. I have found them to be the best way for me to keep just about everything organized.)
However, I do NOT have an additional freezer to the one in the bottom of my kitchen fridge and lament it often.
I have freezer envy and must investigate prices for one for the garage immediately.
Kyle
I think I just had an organizeasm! I bought all kinds of books on make ahead meals a few months ago.....I will now add the dollar store into that process! Thanks!
Bre
I have 2 freezers. One a top my fridge and a wee upright the size of a bar fridge. Nothing gets lost in there except stuff we lost interest in. And then there's nowhere for it to hide. That's also my theory on purses, too. I'm often asked how I can have a small purse. Well. If it's small, it doesn't fill up with "junk" and extra stuff in the first place. That's how I stay organized.
Kristin
I agree! I accidentally bought a big purse because there was nothing to show scale and I got it online. It's a really nice purse, but stuff gets lost in there! I'm not kidding when I say that one time last spring I cleaned it out and found a sixteen-ounce bag of golden raisins, a lemon, a roll of masking tape, and a large retractable tape measure.
Kelly
So my husband is apparently normal after all -- here i thought he was a bit OCD with his freezer list next to the grocery list and masking taping the name/date on each little freezer pack. (He also hangs shirts with the buttons all facing west, puts his clean underwear at the bottom of the stack so he wears it evenly. I figure if mine makes it into the closet or drawer, I'm doing just fine thank you.)
Susan U
:-)
Maureen Locke
I want an upright freezer :( but in the meantime, I use reusable grocery store bags and put different products in each. Eg, beef in one, chicken in one, pork in one, froz veggies in one, hmbg in one and I save my basket and the ledge under the basket for leftovers. Most of the time my freezer is full to the brim, but I know where to find whatever I need in no time. My husband on the other hand.... aiyiyiyi. I only send him to the freezer when the item I need is visible immediately when lifting the lid. I LOVE your idea of the bins though.
Louise
My freezer takes up the upper third of my fridge, so it's pretty small. Since it's absolutely crammed full (right to the top), I couldn't possibly have room for bins. I try to keep the meat organized in one section, fruit and veggies in other sections, but it's still a mess. I feel so . . . slovenly. And inferior. :-c Big sigh.
Jake
I am off to do this right now, this very minute. This has been on my 'TO DO' list forever, well for the last three years. My tetanus shot is up to date and garbage bags are at the ready, lord knows what's in the bottom of my freezer.
calliek
I have to admit I'm jealous of all of your freezer space. We have a very small fridge with an even smaller freezer so not much room for multiple bins. I have a much scaled down version of your system- one bin (cardboard boxes actually) for meat, one for veggies, leftovers usually go in stackable containers (I like to reuse the square style that storebought coleslaw comes in) , and 3 of the large version fit in the single door rack to hold odds and ends. The best thing is I didn't buy anything new, just used what I had on hand and it's worked perfectly for about 3 years now. Of course with that little space there not much worry in losing things, although I'm pretty certain that bottom of the stacking containers in the back has last years currants still waiting to be made into jelly.
Kat
I applaud you... I love portioning and freezing all my home made meals as it keeps me from buying frozen dinners but alas I have a chest freezer. But with some cardboard boxes, a sharpie and every single empty Zerto Asiago Shredded Cheese container (they are clear and I can see if it gets freezer burnt and sort of see whats in it) I get to take home made dinners to work every day. Don't microwave those containers! But it is so great knowing I get to eat my good cooking every day while my grown son still eats his frozen dinners as he seems to have a left over food phobia and considers my frozen food as leftovers! He is weird!
Christina B.
Awesome post! I have to organize my freezer/s this week when it's cold enough! And Garfield made my night/morning! lol
Barbara
Dates added to the lists would work better for my short term memory!
Edith
The toenail on my left big toe has a permanent split in it since 1989. Why? Because when I opened my freezer door the 24 pound turkey tumbled out, bounced off the garage floor, and landed on my big toe. It's the kind of pain that travels up your spine and blows out your fillings!
Anyway, since then I've been REALLY careful about how I stack my goodies in there. But I've never thought about using bins.....what a great idea! Thanks Karen!
Amber
I was going to ask how you have so much free time to organize your freezer. Then I realized it's because you have an organized freezer!
I have homemade burritos, peas, raspberries and a roaster chicken in the front of my freezer. Everything else is too far back for me to think about, and whatever is back there has probably devised a new world order and is plotting a takeover through cyrogenics and a judicial application of tater tots..
Karen
Also ... doing things like organizing my freezer is ... well, kind of my job. Who am I kidding? I would have done it anyway. ~ karen!
Sally
I never did trust those tater tots.
Becky
sniff sniff. I have a chest freezer. Mine will probably never be this organized.
Its tiny, and e v e r y thing falls straight to the bottom.
Karen
I know all about it Becky. I *used* to have a tiny chest freezer and I HATED it. I gave it to Betty and bought this one a few years ago. Cheap! (from Costco) ~ karen!
Alice
I have a large chest freezer -- any suggestions on how to organize it?
Lynne
When I had a chest freezer I bought some stackable plastic bins and built little towers from the floor upwards. It certainly helped with the organization issues.
Marti
How do you get all this done, what with having to iron your socks and panties? Gracious!
Seriously, nice job on the bins. But wouldn't a clip board on a nail over or next to the freezer (or use the fridge as a dry erase board?) be better than trying to get ink pens to operate on frozen list that invariably falls off because the scotch tape you hung them with is less effective in the freezer?
Nice freezer graphic. Did you draw that one yourself? And does your mudroom freezer have genuine artificial wood handles?
JennyW
Thank you Marti! Karen, how on earth do you get tape to stick on things in the freezer? I'v tried being organized in the freezer, but gave up due to "labeling" problems lol!
Jane
If you buy 2 of those little green lattice baskets and cut one end off each one, you can overlap them in the door and fill the whole shelf. That is, if it annoys you that they don't fill the whole space.
Karen
That's very smart thinking Jane! It does kind of bother me. I might just do it. Immediately. ~ karen!
Patti
Use some zip ties to secure them in place and they won't slide around on you, either :)
Karen
They're actually jammed in there pretty good Patti. No slipping around at all. But also good thinkin'. ~ karen!
Amie
I once found a 12 year old jar of jam in my mums fridge. I'm pretty sure it winked at me.
Storing leftovers immediately is a no brainer for us; but we are no where as tidy as this. Love the organization! I actually want to go clean out my freezer now.
Shannon
You make me laugh :)
Jamieson
Wow I was truthfully excited by all that organization.
This comment stream isn't monitored by mental health agencies, right?
Karen
LOL! You're funny. On a serious note, this is one of the BEST things I have ever done and if you do it you will instantly be a better, happier person. ~ karen