I freeze many dairy items butter, milk- shake as it thaws, cheese, cottage cheese- use in place of ricotta in lasagna, cream cheese to be used in recipes. For the cottage cheese, thaw it the day before you need it then use hand mixer to blend. Same texture as ricotta but MUCH cheaper. Great job organizing!!
Thank you for the freezing cottage cheese. I did not know this! I freeze everything else you mentioned but haven't tried the cottage cheese! Living in a small town I try to keep a good pantry and freezer selection so I am excited to give this a try!
I got a stand up freezer then 1$ tree fabric totes, labeled each tote and was surprised that I could get more in my freezer with that method!! I just got note cards with total in tote then when I take 1 out I make a check so I know at a glance where inventory stands. Just found your channel and loving it!!
I’m too embarrassed to video my part of the challenge…because I don’t have a garden (small small yard and I’m old). However, I do buy my produce from local farms during the season and freeze a lot of it for use throughout winter. The recipes that have been shared are good ideas for me and my husband. He may or may not eat it because he’s picky but I tell him if he wants a cooked dinner he will eat it
I highly recommend a frigidaire upright that the shelves are the freezing unit. I have 2 of the largest from lowes, about 800$ ea a few years ago. Easy to defrost, easier to rotate your items.
Get a large upright freezer and fit cardboard boxes inside with labels. That contains product very well and prevents items from slipping and falling on your toes. It is much easier to clean and find things in. I change out my boxes every two years and recycle them in my compost after removing the tape or staples, so it is not wasted. Good luck and have fun!
Try putting some cream cheese in your mashed potatoes as your mashing them -YUM - gives them a bit of extra flavor. If you have milk in the freezer it works well when we make our mac and cheese baked dish. I have never frozen heavy cream but I'd sure put some of that in my mac n cheese dish that I bake (we just slice some of the block and layer it over macaroni that we partially cooked - layer of macaroni, layer of cheese and repeat - then I pour whole milk into the bowl til it comes to the top of the macaroni/cheese mixture -I usually sprinkle bread crumbs on the top - all of my kids (who are adults) love this mac n cheese dish. Bake it about 45 minutes at 350. Let rest 15 minutes before you dig in. You can use your ground beef in many ways - use 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound ground pork and make meatballs, or use it to make chili or even sloppy joes. We like to also cook it up with some spices and and put it on our pizzas.
I organized my chest freezer in November and got some info from someone who is into organizing (me, well I'm trying - lol). We defrosted our chest freezer because it seriously needed it (way over-due), then my husband found some boxes that fit pretty perfectly down into the freezer - we have the bottom layer of boxes with newer cuts of meat and venison, and then boxes sitting on top of those with older items that we are using first. Oh my gosh what a difference, my poor husband no longer has to dig thru everything to find what we are looking for. I have an upright freezer that we haven't done that to yet. Tried to get hubby to help me with that project today but other things took over. I did manage to take some rhubarb and berries out and can up some jam today though. Will be perfect on waffles/pancakes. Happy January/February and enjoying watching all the pantry challenge entries.
This was so good to see! It is always fun to see someone else with a “normal” volume of freezer space and to hear your thought process as you get started. I am starting a week late because it has taken me some time to inventory. I am still trying to plan and this helped me. Happy Pantry Challenge!
Ground turkey is wonderful! I take a pound and add 1 egg and crumbled crackers and make turkey burgers. Also Joanna Gaines has a wonderful zucchini bread recipe that take 3 cups of shredded zucchini in it. You have quite a bit of goodies in that freezer!
You should have a gallon ziplock bag in the freezer for vege scraps. I collect peelings as I cook and when it is full, I make a pot of stock. Sometimes I have meat bones and scraps to add, but that gives it a second life and you are getting the most from your purchases. I wish you the best on the pantry challenge and have lots of fun!
New subscriber here. Thanks for sharing with us your freezers. I think the biggest thing you can do to help yourself is to label everything and then create a list of what you have. I can't tell you how many times I pulled out what I thought was chicken broth only to realize it was apple juice. We have 2 upright freezers and 2 refrigerator/freezers. You will love the upright freezer. Much easier to see what you have. I also meal plan for the entire month. That way I can make sure I use up whatever needs to be used soon. To make meal planning easier, we have a beef night, chicken night...etc. But since your hubby doesn't eat meat you could have a taco night, breakfast night, etc.
Most efficient way to organize food is to put like with like. All your marinades together, chicken together, etc. This helps you see what you have. Also, labeling quickly with a sharpie truly helps.
My whole tomatoes are still in my freezer, I plan on in the next week or so to can them up, along with the green beans. Getting things ready to start Challenge on Monday till the end of Feb. We need to eat up one of the freezers.
Zucchini….make zucchini appetizers (with bisquick) If have bell peppers, quesadillas or peanut capsicum curry. Or sauces and butter, add to scraped eggs and eat on top of hash browns
Hi! I just found you and am a new subscriber. Thanks for sharing your freezer storage. I would recommend a stand-up freezer. It's easier to see what you have. I have two (we bought the second one during the pandemic....well, actually they were out of stock and I think we weren't able to get one until Spring 2021) plus the kitchen freezer. We are doing the pantry challenge (it's just hubby and me). I want to get the kitchen freezer organized so that I can have one shelf dedicated to the meat(s) and anything else frozen that we are going to have for dinner for the week. That will eventually have us working thru our oldest freezer and then rotate the things from the newer freezer to that freezer. Then we'll have room for the newest/fresher foods to put in the new one and also to save some space as backup in case one of them decides to break down. For chicken, maybe you can do Mississippi chicken (I have that on the menu next weekend to use up two chicken leg quarters). Or maybe use shredded chicken in the stuffed shells. When my young nieces were here a few years ago, they each had a night to cook dinner, with my assistance of course (they were about 13, 11, and 9 at the time). One of them made stuffed shells with chicken. They were yummy....but we haven't had them since then. I'll have to put that on my menu plan....lol. Enjoy the challenge!
I just found your channel with this video popping into my feed. Isn't it crazy how we add a deep freezer, then next thing it's stuffed full, and we're thinking about adding another one, it's like chicken math, lol. I'm staring the three rivers challenge too, so had to sub!
Since you have put everything back in order, you can get a piece of paper and write/draw out a map so you can remember what's in there. I did that with my big chest freezer. I sorted in reusable bags and made a map. Now I know the beef is on he far left two bags down.
If you make meatballs, spaghetti, chili, stuffed cabbage etc, you can use part ground pork with the beef. Also, you can use it to make sausage patties. Lots of good uses for ground pork.
Loved watching this, and your reminder about the baked oatmeal! I’m doing the pantry challenge too, and want to find ways to use up all my jelly and jam. That would be a great way!!
So great to see so many people not just joining but showing us their pantry challenge. i have subscribed to so many new channels the last few days. lol. Ideas on recipes for some of the stuff in your freezers, taco bake will use up some of those ingredients, If you mix the pork mince with beef 1 to 2 ratio will make a great amount of meatloaf/meat balls/rissoles. Any of those veggies would be great with that as sides. You could do Indian cuisine with the chicken if you like those flavours, i made some last night with some left over potato bake as a side. I have a turkey left in the fridge i need to cook this weekend. it will go either into the freezer as roast lunch meat or into canning jars as stew or in broth. We love turkey here but its only on sale for less then a month at Christmas time here in Australia. Gotta be quick to get the 4 i usually purchase for the year. One thing i have found helps me with my freezer storage is i label each draw/shelf. 5 in the freezer in the kitchen 6 in the one downstairs and the outside one is for the turkeys and breads. So it goes like 1, veggies, 2, Beef, 3, Pork, 4, Chicken, 5, Seafood. Then 1, Beef Mince (i mince my own rumps to save $$) 2, Pork, 3, Chicken, 4, Seafood, 5, Fruit, Dairy, 6, Veggies again. We have another small Freezer outside that isn't very big but it helps with the fruits i grow, mangoes and bananas. Ive rambled on enough now. cant wait to see your other vids now ill be binging those the next few days. G'day and thanks
You look like you'd benefit from a vacuum sealer. I love mine. I have 2 big chest freezers and and the one in the kitchen. We did inventory at the end of last month, then i went to the store for meat and veg sales. Now I dont have any freezer space lol excited to see what its like in february. You can freeze all dairy. Never put frozen cream cheese on things, use it in stuff, like cauliflower mac (cauliflower instead of pasta), or carbonera (which I cant spell). I freeze heavy cream and kilk etc all the time. Just shake the heck out of it as it thaws and once its completely thawed and you wont be abke to tell it from a brand new one feom the store :)
I LOVE to make meatballs and meatloaf with half ground beef, half ground pork. It really amps up the flavor! Thanks for a great video! I love seeing someone else who’s in the process!
Thanks for sharing, when I took inventory of my freezers I found it was so helpful to label bags before freezing inorder to identify contents. I also found supper helpful to designated a shelf to group like items so I could easily keep track. On the front of the stand up freezer I have charted what I have and how many, when I take something out I mark off, this way I always know what's there. Good luck with the pantry challenge, I am trying it this year only purchasing dairy and fresh fruit/produce
Hi! I freeze wipping cream all the time and it works justfine. You can even freeze left over wipped cream and use later in cooking. When it´s thawed I shake the carton alot !before open it. If it´s going in warm food , a saus or in a stew it´s ok if there is some lumps in it it will "melt" away.
I picked up the silicone freezer trays that Cassandra uses in her videos for freezing eggs. I use them for freezing my heavy cream and half and half in convenient cubes.
I core, score and squish my tomatoes as I get them out of the garden. Part of the reason I am doing the challenge is to get rid of MOST of the stuff in my home. I am in WA and we HAVE to either bring our own bags OR they give us weird bags when I get home delivery (which is quite often) I drink Glucerna milkshakes which come in good strong boxes so I have been keeping those to organize my freezers. Becoming a farm girl did use a meat grinder to grind up a rather large turkey
Oh squishing tomatoes...thanks for the tip! For sure saves a bunch of space! And yes....I am purging a lot as well, its honestly overwhelming me! LOL-I'm going to go back and watch her video...I think grinding turkey is a great idea!
That was me on my channel last week I did the same as you I had bags and just filled each one and the packed each shelf so i have grouped, chicken, beef etc. I couldn't find my gloves omgosh it was cold! LOL
My daughter lived in South Africa for 7 years and they always froze milk then thawed it in the fridge. I used to visit from the UK and I did not taste a difference but I did not drink it by itself, just in tea and coffee. I have a magnetic dry wipe board on our fridge freezer to keep track of frozen meat mostly as I am pretty good with veg tracking but have no clue about the meat in there
Just found your channel and subscribed. My first time doing the pantry challenge and I just went through my freezer and made an inventory. Great job getting organized. Shelby
You can use ground pork instead of ground beef in pretty much every recipe. The flavour is a bit different obviously but you can hide it better in spicier meals. Good luck with the pantry challenge!
@@Cordelia0704p we typically use it as an appetizer with cream cheese and crackers however I have seen a lot of recipes on Pinterest using it that I really want to try out! Lots of pork and chicken recipes for it! ❤
We struggled with a chest freezer for years. Then bought an upright and it was a game changer. It's easier to organize, see and rotate through. Still struggling with the french door fridge, cleaning and reorganizing every few months.....wished we would have stayed with the side by side.
This brought a smile to my face as befor Christmas we said we must sort out the freezers after Christmas as we did quite a bit of meat shopping as there were loads of reduced stuff. But unfortunately my wife was ill over Christmas so a lot of the stuff was not used so i had to alone put big boy pants on and sort out both freezers!!!!! It took 2 hours even gloved up i was sooooo cold. I had frozen a lot of veg in season so i decided to put all veg in my upright freezer and meats in the chest freezer ready now for the new year and sorting it out i can see i have more space to fill yipee!!!!
Love watching you inventory your freezers. I'm doing the pantry challenge too and you've inspired me to reorganize my freezers. Especially with using up the frozen veggies instead of buying fresh. For the ground pork, next time you make a pasta sauce, use half beef and half ground pork...so good. I typically double my sauce recipe and use a pound of ground beef and ground pork and then freeze half of it for a different night freezer meal. I've also use ground pork in Asian lettuce wraps instead of chicken (because I was out), turned out great. You can also use ground pork in breakfast casseroles and burritos. 🙂
Hello there 1st xr here to see you channel. I have know idea what could be in the bottom of my deep freezer, but going for knee surgery end of month and hubby & adult son says they will work meals out of it to clean it out. It will be a surprise for use all.
I write down exactly what I have on a chart, separated by proteins, carbs, very, etc. That helps me know what I have. I also put to the side the things I need to hide in meals, because we didn't like them.
About forgetting to thaw the meat, what about marinating them ahead of time so you can cook from? Of course it depends on your preferred method of cooking tho.
Also restaurant style cambros, rigid, clear, food-safe, are great for freezing large quantities of tomatoes - I get more in them if I core and halve, then squish a bit. After thawing the skins come right off, so much faster and easier!
Ground = Chow mien.....google a recipe......so easy........San Chow Boy ( I think another recipe is also called) and it it put in the leaves of a fresh iceburg lettuce and eaten.......Yummy.
I freeze many dairy items butter, milk- shake as it thaws, cheese, cottage cheese- use in place of ricotta in lasagna, cream cheese to be used in recipes. For the cottage cheese, thaw it the day before you need it then use hand mixer to blend. Same texture as ricotta but MUCH cheaper. Great job organizing!!
Oh the cottage cheese idea, I love it! I have some cottage cheese in the fridge that I need to freeze, I'm going to try it! Thanks for the tips!!
I also freeze all that and coffee creamer and cheese to we’re so far out in the country we have to and it’s always nice to have when you want it
Thank you for the freezing cottage cheese. I did not know this! I freeze everything else you mentioned but haven't tried the cottage cheese! Living in a small town I try to keep a good pantry and freezer selection so I am excited to give this a try!
I like making my own breakfast sausage patties with ground pork. Thanks for the video
I got a stand up freezer then 1$ tree fabric totes, labeled each tote and was surprised that I could get more in my freezer with that method!! I just got note cards with total in tote then when I take 1 out I make a check so I know at a glance where inventory stands. Just found your channel and loving it!!
Oh that's a great idea! So glad you found me! Thanks for being here!! :)
I’m too embarrassed to video my part of the challenge…because I don’t have a garden (small small yard and I’m old). However, I do buy my produce from local farms during the season and freeze a lot of it for use throughout winter. The recipes that have been shared are good ideas for me and my husband. He may or may not eat it because he’s picky but I tell him if he wants a cooked dinner he will eat it
Oh no don’t be embarrassed!! The pantry challenge meets everyone right where they are!!
When unloading the freezer, having a table near the freezer would save your back a bit, rather than unloading into bags on the floor. Just a thought.
I highly recommend a frigidaire upright that the shelves are the freezing unit. I have 2 of the largest from lowes, about 800$ ea a few years ago. Easy to defrost, easier to rotate your items.
You could use the ground pork for egg roll in a bowl - any kind of ground meat works for that recipe
Get a large upright freezer and fit cardboard boxes inside with labels. That contains product very well and prevents items from slipping and falling on your toes. It is much easier to clean and find things in. I change out my boxes every two years and recycle them in my compost after removing the tape or staples, so it is not wasted. Good luck and have fun!
Try putting some cream cheese in your mashed potatoes as your mashing them -YUM - gives them a bit of extra flavor. If you have milk in the freezer it works well when we make our mac and cheese baked dish. I have never frozen heavy cream but I'd sure put some of that in my mac n cheese dish that I bake (we just slice some of the block and layer it over macaroni that we partially cooked - layer of macaroni, layer of cheese and repeat - then I pour whole milk into the bowl til it comes to the top of the macaroni/cheese mixture -I usually sprinkle bread crumbs on the top - all of my kids (who are adults) love this mac n cheese dish. Bake it about 45 minutes at 350. Let rest 15 minutes before you dig in. You can use your ground beef in many ways - use 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound ground pork and make meatballs, or use it to make chili or even sloppy joes. We like to also cook it up with some spices and and put it on our pizzas.
Great ideas! Thank you!
I organized my chest freezer in November and got some info from someone who is into organizing (me, well I'm trying - lol). We defrosted our chest freezer because it seriously needed it (way over-due), then my husband found some boxes that fit pretty perfectly down into the freezer - we have the bottom layer of boxes with newer cuts of meat and venison, and then boxes sitting on top of those with older items that we are using first. Oh my gosh what a difference, my poor husband no longer has to dig thru everything to find what we are looking for. I have an upright freezer that we haven't done that to yet. Tried to get hubby to help me with that project today but other things took over. I did manage to take some rhubarb and berries out and can up some jam today though. Will be perfect on waffles/pancakes. Happy January/February and enjoying watching all the pantry challenge entries.
Just a little bit of organizing goes a long way for sure!!! And that jam sured does sound good!!
This was so good to see! It is always fun to see someone else with a “normal” volume of freezer space and to hear your thought process as you get started. I am starting a week late because it has taken me some time to inventory. I am still trying to plan and this helped me. Happy Pantry Challenge!
Ground turkey is wonderful! I take a pound and add 1 egg and crumbled crackers and make turkey burgers.
Also Joanna Gaines has a wonderful zucchini bread recipe that take 3 cups of shredded zucchini in it.
You have quite a bit of goodies in that freezer!
You should have a gallon ziplock bag in the freezer for vege scraps. I collect peelings as I cook and when it is full, I make a pot of stock. Sometimes I have meat bones and scraps to add, but that gives it a second life and you are getting the most from your purchases. I wish you the best on the pantry challenge and have lots of fun!
Ground pork use Italian seasoning for flavor and then use with lasagna, spaghetti or pizza.
Not sure why I didn't think of that! I always use sweet Italian sausage in lasagna, just never the ground pork like this! Thanks for the tips!!! :)
You have a very calm and soothing voice
I'm so glad it's not just me who has a giant mess in the freezer. Your's is so much better than mine!
Haha! Definitely not just you!! :)
New subscriber here. Thanks for sharing with us your freezers. I think the biggest thing you can do to help yourself is to label everything and then create a list of what you have. I can't tell you how many times I pulled out what I thought was chicken broth only to realize it was apple juice. We have 2 upright freezers and 2 refrigerator/freezers. You will love the upright freezer. Much easier to see what you have. I also meal plan for the entire month. That way I can make sure I use up whatever needs to be used soon. To make meal planning easier, we have a beef night, chicken night...etc. But since your hubby doesn't eat meat you could have a taco night, breakfast night, etc.
Great tips! Thanks so much!!!
Most efficient way to organize food is to put like with like. All your marinades together, chicken together, etc. This helps you see what you have. Also, labeling quickly with a sharpie truly helps.
i label and date the packages but also on the side of chest freezer in sharpie - ( dry erase got rubbed off and messy in my house )
My whole tomatoes are still in my freezer, I plan on in the next week or so to can them up, along with the green beans. Getting things ready to start Challenge on Monday till the end of Feb. We need to eat up one of the freezers.
Zucchini….make zucchini appetizers (with bisquick)
If have bell peppers, quesadillas or peanut capsicum curry. Or sauces and butter, add to scraped eggs and eat on top of hash browns
Hi! I just found you and am a new subscriber. Thanks for sharing your freezer storage. I would recommend a stand-up freezer. It's easier to see what you have. I have two (we bought the second one during the pandemic....well, actually they were out of stock and I think we weren't able to get one until Spring 2021) plus the kitchen freezer. We are doing the pantry challenge (it's just hubby and me). I want to get the kitchen freezer organized so that I can have one shelf dedicated to the meat(s) and anything else frozen that we are going to have for dinner for the week. That will eventually have us working thru our oldest freezer and then rotate the things from the newer freezer to that freezer. Then we'll have room for the newest/fresher foods to put in the new one and also to save some space as backup in case one of them decides to break down. For chicken, maybe you can do Mississippi chicken (I have that on the menu next weekend to use up two chicken leg quarters). Or maybe use shredded chicken in the stuffed shells. When my young nieces were here a few years ago, they each had a night to cook dinner, with my assistance of course (they were about 13, 11, and 9 at the time). One of them made stuffed shells with chicken. They were yummy....but we haven't had them since then. I'll have to put that on my menu plan....lol. Enjoy the challenge!
I just found your channel with this video popping into my feed. Isn't it crazy how we add a deep freezer, then next thing it's stuffed full, and we're thinking about adding another one, it's like chicken math, lol. I'm staring the three rivers challenge too, so had to sub!
Bahaaaa! FREEZER math is right! lol-yay! Can't wait to hear about what you make during this challenge! Thanks for subbing!!
Since you have put everything back in order, you can get a piece of paper and write/draw out a map so you can remember what's in there. I did that with my big chest freezer. I sorted in reusable bags and made a map. Now I know the beef is on he far left two bags down.
Great tip!! Thank you!!!
If you make meatballs, spaghetti, chili, stuffed cabbage etc, you can use part ground pork with the beef. Also, you can use it to make sausage patties. Lots of good uses for ground pork.
Thanks for the tips!
I,also, found myself without bags at Aldi. Remember, the car is a container. Push cart to trunk, unload groceries there, put in bag when get home
great idea!
bags are a better idea than what I use when I sort my freezer. I use laundry baskets.
Loved watching this, and your reminder about the baked oatmeal! I’m doing the pantry challenge too, and want to find ways to use up all my jelly and jam. That would be a great way!!
Yesss for sure!! 🥰
Oh that’s a great reminder! Thank you!
So great to see so many people not just joining but showing us their pantry challenge. i have subscribed to so many new channels the last few days. lol. Ideas on recipes for some of the stuff in your freezers, taco bake will use up some of those ingredients, If you mix the pork mince with beef 1 to 2 ratio will make a great amount of meatloaf/meat balls/rissoles. Any of those veggies would be great with that as sides. You could do Indian cuisine with the chicken if you like those flavours, i made some last night with some left over potato bake as a side. I have a turkey left in the fridge i need to cook this weekend. it will go either into the freezer as roast lunch meat or into canning jars as stew or in broth. We love turkey here but its only on sale for less then a month at Christmas time here in Australia. Gotta be quick to get the 4 i usually purchase for the year. One thing i have found helps me with my freezer storage is i label each draw/shelf. 5 in the freezer in the kitchen 6 in the one downstairs and the outside one is for the turkeys and breads. So it goes like 1, veggies, 2, Beef, 3, Pork, 4, Chicken, 5, Seafood. Then 1, Beef Mince (i mince my own rumps to save $$) 2, Pork, 3, Chicken, 4, Seafood, 5, Fruit, Dairy, 6, Veggies again. We have another small Freezer outside that isn't very big but it helps with the fruits i grow, mangoes and bananas. Ive rambled on enough now. cant wait to see your other vids now ill be binging those the next few days. G'day and thanks
Great ideas! Especially the meatballs! Perfect Freezer meal! Thanks for the tips and thanks for being here!
I froze whipping cream once and I found it super clumpy after thawing, too! But if you whip it first, that thaws well.
Great idea!!
You look like you'd benefit from a vacuum sealer. I love mine. I have 2 big chest freezers and and the one in the kitchen. We did inventory at the end of last month, then i went to the store for meat and veg sales. Now I dont have any freezer space lol excited to see what its like in february. You can freeze all dairy. Never put frozen cream cheese on things, use it in stuff, like cauliflower mac (cauliflower instead of pasta), or carbonera (which I cant spell). I freeze heavy cream and kilk etc all the time. Just shake the heck out of it as it thaws and once its completely thawed and you wont be abke to tell it from a brand new one feom the store :)
Got it! I actually have two vacuum sealers! I really need to use them more!! Thanks for the tips!!
So excited to watch you this pantry challenge! This is my first time documenting my pantry challenge ❤❤
Oh yay! I'm so excited to have you here! Can't wait to hear more about your pantry challenge journey!! :)
I LOVE to make meatballs and meatloaf with half ground beef, half ground pork. It really amps up the flavor! Thanks for a great video! I love seeing someone else who’s in the process!
Thanks for sharing, when I took inventory of my freezers I found it was so helpful to label bags before freezing inorder to identify contents. I also found supper helpful to designated a shelf to group like items so I could easily keep track. On the front of the stand up freezer I have charted what I have and how many, when I take something out I mark off, this way I always know what's there. Good luck with the pantry challenge, I am trying it this year only purchasing dairy and fresh fruit/produce
Hi!
I freeze wipping cream all the time and it works justfine. You can even freeze left over wipped cream and use later in cooking.
When it´s thawed I shake the carton alot !before open it. If it´s going in warm food , a saus or in a stew it´s ok if there is some lumps in it it will "melt" away.
Great tip! I may not have shaken it enough but I will for sure give it another go!!!
I picked up the silicone freezer trays that Cassandra uses in her videos for freezing eggs. I use them for freezing my heavy cream and half and half in convenient cubes.
oh wow...I actually have several of those...I will give them a try with my heavy cream! Thanks for the tip!!
I core, score and squish my tomatoes as I get them out of the garden. Part of the reason I am doing the challenge is to get rid of MOST of the stuff in my home. I am in WA and we HAVE to either bring our own bags OR they give us weird bags when I get home delivery (which is quite often) I drink Glucerna milkshakes which come in good strong boxes so I have been keeping those to organize my freezers. Becoming a farm girl did use a meat grinder to grind up a rather large turkey
Oh squishing tomatoes...thanks for the tip! For sure saves a bunch of space! And yes....I am purging a lot as well, its honestly overwhelming me! LOL-I'm going to go back and watch her video...I think grinding turkey is a great idea!
yes-it is. I spend a lot on ground turkey, chicken and beef myself.
@@ourdreamofsimpleliving
We have a similar size deep freezer and milk crates fit right in. I think we have two or three in ours. Very helpful to get to the bottom stuff.
Oh I need to get milk crates! I like the bags but I think I would like the milk crates even better!! Thanks for the tip!
That was me on my channel last week I did the same as you I had bags and just filled each one and the packed each shelf so i have grouped, chicken, beef etc. I couldn't find my gloves omgosh it was cold! LOL
My daughter lived in South Africa for 7 years and they always froze milk then thawed it in the fridge. I used to visit from the UK and I did not taste a difference but I did not drink it by itself, just in tea and coffee. I have a magnetic dry wipe board on our fridge freezer to keep track of frozen meat mostly as I am pretty good with veg tracking but have no clue about the meat in there
love the dry erase board idea! Thanks for the tip!
You can use frozen heavy whipping cream, especially if you are going to bake with it. But just whipping it may have texture problems.
That's what I'm thinking, the texture after freezing is quite lumpy, so I'll only use it for baking or cooking in a dish! Thanks so much! :)
I freeze my HWC in large ice cube trays so each block is 1/3 cup. I cook with it without issue (like for alfredo sauce and casseroles).
Just found your channel and subscribed. My first time doing the pantry challenge and I just went through my freezer and made an inventory. Great job getting organized. Shelby
You can use ground pork instead of ground beef in pretty much every recipe. The flavour is a bit different obviously but you can hide it better in spicier meals. Good luck with the pantry challenge!
Thanks for the tips!
I just saw Leisa at Sutton Daze make pepper jelly. I have a bunch of peppers in my freezer and I’m going to try making pepper jelly.
Yes! I actually made a big batch of it last season, we love it, I may make another batch with the peppers that I have!
What do you do with the pepper jelly? I've seen her make it but I c a nt imagine what to to with it.@@ourdreamofsimpleliving
@@Cordelia0704p we typically use it as an appetizer with cream cheese and crackers however I have seen a lot of recipes on Pinterest using it that I really want to try out! Lots of pork and chicken recipes for it! ❤
So great to get reorganized. Is defrosting the freezer an option.? Enjoy your broth when its ready.
I do no prep or pre shopping, I just dive right in and use what I have. Our weekly budget for fresh is 10$ and we are allowed to eat out one time
We struggled with a chest freezer for years. Then bought an upright and it was a game changer. It's easier to organize, see and rotate through. Still struggling with the french door fridge, cleaning and reorganizing every few months.....wished we would have stayed with the side by side.
I think an upright is the way to go for sure!!
This brought a smile to my face as befor Christmas we said we must sort out the freezers after Christmas as we did quite a bit of meat shopping as there were loads of reduced stuff. But unfortunately my wife was ill over Christmas so a lot of the stuff was not used so i had to alone put big boy pants on and sort out both freezers!!!!! It took 2 hours even gloved up i was sooooo cold.
I had frozen a lot of veg in season so i decided to put all veg in my upright freezer and meats in the chest freezer ready now for the new year and sorting it out i can see i have more space to fill yipee!!!!
Oh that's awesome! Good for you! I hope your wife is feeling better!
Crumble the beyond burger in the taco soup in place of beef!!
Oh great idea!! Thanks so much!
Love watching you inventory your freezers. I'm doing the pantry challenge too and you've inspired me to reorganize my freezers. Especially with using up the frozen veggies instead of buying fresh. For the ground pork, next time you make a pasta sauce, use half beef and half ground pork...so good. I typically double my sauce recipe and use a pound of ground beef and ground pork and then freeze half of it for a different night freezer meal. I've also use ground pork in Asian lettuce wraps instead of chicken (because I was out), turned out great. You can also use ground pork in breakfast casseroles and burritos. 🙂
Ooohhh asian lettuce wraps!! I need to make those for sure!! Thank you!! And yes....a good organized freezer makes all the difference for sure!!
Google the Ikea swedish meatball recipe. It uses 1/2lb. ground pork and 1 lb. ground beef and is delicious!
ohhhh looking it up for sure!! May need to make them this week!
thanks for the tip!!
That outside freezer held alot more than I thought, looking at it.
I’m in the same frozen zucchini boat 😅 I’m also doing the pantry challenge for the first time. Thanks for sharing your process 😊
You got this!
Good luck with the challenge
I love the bag idea for a chest freezer! I'm going to have to do that. *New subscriber 🙂
I don't have a written inventory, but need to make one this week for my freezer 😎
Just found your channel and loving it - I'm doing the Pantry Challenge down here in New Zealand. We've just done a stock take of our freezers
Hello there 1st xr here to see you channel. I have know idea what could be in the bottom of my deep freezer, but going for knee surgery end of month and hubby & adult son says they will work meals out of it to clean it out. It will be a surprise for use all.
A stand up freezer is what I would recommend. You can see where everything is
Yes...I'm leaning toward a stand up one for sure!!
I write down exactly what I have on a chart, separated by proteins, carbs, very, etc. That helps me know what I have. I also put to the side the things I need to hide in meals, because we didn't like them.
Ground pork tacos. That's what we use our ground pork for.
Yummm!
About forgetting to thaw the meat, what about marinating them ahead of time so you can cook from? Of course it depends on your preferred method of cooking tho.
Great tip! Thank you!!
We love to make fruit crumble with the frozen fruit or somethings put it in yoghurt and let them melt to flavour the yoghurt…
Yummm! We may need to try this! I'm not a huge yogurt fan but my daughter loves it!! Thanks for the tip!
I had another good idea yesterday for the frozen fruit, i made a jelly and put it inside the jelly and made a trifle all the best
Milk crates are great for stacking in freezer
I will be getting some for sure! Thanks for the tip!
Also restaurant style cambros, rigid, clear, food-safe, are great for freezing large quantities of tomatoes - I get more in them if I core and halve, then squish a bit. After thawing the skins come right off, so much faster and easier!
measure first - i have seen them work perfectly ... sadly not in my freezer ...
Ground = Chow mien.....google a recipe......so easy........San Chow Boy ( I think another recipe is also called) and it it put in the leaves of a fresh iceburg lettuce and eaten.......Yummy.
Thanks for the tips! Going to look them up for sure!
Boy do I need to do this, mine desperately needs to be de-frosted,
Just found your channel. You are my type of lady! Great video
Oh thank you! So happy to have you here!!
Fry up your ground pork and add it to your spaghetti sauce.
I know someone that rites on side of freezer with a white bird marker inventory
great idea!
i do too - in sharpie -
I also have very good intentions for my frozen/shredded zucchini 😂😂😂
Haha! Goodness...I think I may try zucchini bread! I feel guilty every time I look at it! LOL
@@ourdreamofsimpleliving is there an echo in here??
🤣🤣🤣
Stand up freezer it is easier to find what you need.
Hi from Mississippi
Keep a list of things to be used up. Then you can see what item pair we together.
Great idea! Thank you!
New subbie!
Welcome!! Thanks for being here!!