Keeping Freezer Inventory

There was a discussion about this on one of the Food Forums that I belong to. Now-a-days, it’s a good idea to have a secondary Freezer somewhere in your home; mine lives out in the finished garage. I have it on a separate circuit, so that if something else in the house “trips”, we won’t lose the entire load. 

For years now, even back when we lived in Hawaii, I had a small Chest Freezer.
This latest one is 5 cubic feet and works just fine for the two of us.

Something I’ve also done all these years is keep an inventory of what’s in there on a Dry Erase Board. I’ve found recently that I needed a second board.
With being in lock-down for the past NINE WEEKS  I’ve managed to fill both my Chest Freezer AND the `Fridge-Freezer in the kitchen. Whenever I put something new in, I write it down and of course when I take something out, it gets erased. Oh, and I mark all packages with the content and date that it was purchased.

Speaking of packages, I use a FoodSaver to divide up all of the Meats that I get on sale or at Costco in bulk. There are several different models available, I have the basic one that I found at Walmart for less than $100. I also buy the rolls of make-to-size bags there too.
For my homemade Soups, Stocks and basically anything liquid, I use freezer Zip-Top baggies, lay them flat on a rimmed baking sheet in the freezer, until they’re solid. Then I stack them up like books on a shelf to save space.

How do you freeze?

Menus For The Quarantined Life ~ Part 7

 Day Six!

 

We’ve had Wintery-Mix since very early this morning,
it’s dark, it’s cold, it’s dreary
BLAH!

 

 

Breakfast

DH slept in and wasn’t in the mood for any sort
of Breakfast, again, so I finished off the last
of the Local-Style Beef Stew ala Chef Keoni
from Foodland

ONO! (that’s delicious in Hawaiian)

 

 

Lunch

By the time Noon rolled around,
DH was starving!
So I cooked some thick Spaghetti
and warmed up the last of that
Pork Ragu (I still have 4 servings in the deep freeze)
I made for Sunday Supper.
I asked DH, who’s wife makes them
Pasta for lunch?
“Tony Soprano, that’s who!”

 

 

Dinner

I wasn’t in the mood to really cook anything,
so I simply warmed some leftover steamed White Rice
and a boil-in-bag of Zippy’s Chili from back home,
aka Honolulu. I brought back a bunch of the
stuff, frozen, in my suitcase
Add some chopped Sweet Onions and Diamond Bakery
Soda Crackers, also from Hawaii via my suitcase…
THAT’S comfort for us!

I’m stuffed 

*Post script: DH keeps looking the in `fridge,
freaking out that we’re running out of food!

Moi: Have you looked in the BOTH of the freezers yet?
DH: No
(as I whip open in the indoor one)
Moi: LOOK! See all of these frozen vegetables …
(as I throw open the kitchen pantry door)
Moi: LOOK! Do you see all of this?
(As I grab him by the hand and gently, yet firmly, guide him to the garage)
Moi: LOOK! Do you see my inventory of what’s in the Deep Freeze?
(As I yank open my dry storage cabinets)
Moi: LOOK! Do you see all of this food?
DH: WOW!  I know I’ve teased you in the past that you have too much stuff, but this is a good thing. I see this now. Look at all of this Pasta and Rice and …
You can make up all sorts of dishes, can’t you, with all of this?
Moi: Yup 

Menus For The Quarantined Life ~ Extra

I’ve talked about my Deep Freezer that I have out in our finished garage.  Sometimes, it can be a challenge to keep inventory of what you’ve got on hand.

During these trying times, we all want to try to eat/cook/serve what we’ve got on hand, and try NOT  to run to the market if we don’t have to.

Guys, here’s my preferred method of keeping track of my deep freeze:

 

 

I have two Dollar Store Dry Erase Boards,
these work splendidly, for me anyways.
I keep them on the top of the chest freezer,
that way I’m reminded to add or delete as
the case maybe, to or from my manual spreadsheet