Chest Freezer Challenge | in which I spill broth

In case you’re just joining us: I’m not necessarily trying to empty my chest freezer entirely by doing this challenge.

But I am trying to use up odds and ends…those things you throw in the freezer so you don’t let them go bad. 

That’s a good strategy, but unless you actually eat those things, the freezer just ends up being a pit stop on the way to the trash can. 

So. I’m eating down odds and ends and I’m also trying to eat up things that have been in there for a while. Chest freezers are good for storing things on a long-term basis, but long-term does not equal forever. 😉 

Since I don’t like my freezer challenges to be miserable or overwhelming, I do them by pulling out just a few things to use up each week. And I give myself permission to buy other ingredients as necessary, to help me use up what’s in my freezer.

SO!

Let’s see how I did with the stuff I pulled out last week. 

Frozen peaches

These are peaches I’d sliced and frozen from those boxes of bruised peaches I buy from my local produce stand, so they were pretty inexpensively obtained. 

Here’s a YouTube video I made about how I freeze peaches, in case you wanna see me talk about it!

I made a smoothie with some of my peaches (after I banged the bag on the floor a few times to loosen the peaches, which had somehow gathered together into one large lump.) 

I also added some of the OJ concentrate from my previous challenge. 

Also in the smoothie: homemade yogurt, and some pineapple chunks that I’d frozen from an overly ripe Hungry Harvest pineapple. 

So, I felt pretty good about the frugality of this smoothie! 🙂 

After my first one, I made several more peach/orange/pineapple smoothies, and my peach bag is now down to 1 pound, 12 ounces.

Chicken 

Once I thawed my two packages of chicken, I realized that one package was chicken tenders and one was boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

This is why we should always label things.

But, I don’t always do everything that I should. 😉 

I decided to forge ahead and use both types of chicken to make a batch of chipotle chicken kebabs; I prepped the chicken as usual, and then I just made sure to thread the breast pieces on separate skewers from the thigh pieces.

Thigh meat generally takes longer to cook, so I didn’t want to mix the two on a single skewer.

And I’m happy to report that chicken thighs work just fine in this recipe; in fact, I might actually prefer them.

 Good to know for the future! 

Chicken Bones

I had three rotisserie chicken carcasses to use and I opted to pull out my slow-cooker for the broth-making process.

I started it out on the stovetop so that I could brown an onion and the chicken bits.

And then I transferred it all to the slow-cooker, which I parked out in my carport.

(July is not the time of year to have a pot of simmering liquid on your stove all day. In January, it’s delightful. In July, it’s torture.)

When I was pouring the broth into the containers last night, I noticed a growing puddle underneath one.

And then I realized why!

Whoops.

Regardless, now my bones have been transformed into chicken broth, which was my end goal. Chicken broth is in a usable form, and I know that I will always use it up over time.

I’m probably not going to make a big dent in my broth stash until the seasons change, though. Most broth-centric recipes are for cold weather!

Here’s my method for making chicken broth that tastes really good.

Mozzarella

I opted to leave the sealed bag of mozzarella in the freezer for some future use. But I thawed the bag with just a bit of cheese in it, and I’ll add it to my scrambled eggs this morning.

Next Week’s Freezer Items

Well, of course, I will continue to work on my bag of peaches.

And I have another batch of freezer goodies (baddies?) that are up this week.

This is a bag of pineapple chunks, and I seriously had no idea it was in there. But this is perfect because pineapple is a great addition to a peach smoothie.

And we know I’m gonna be making more of those.

I could use these banana slices in smoothies, or maybe I will make the strawberry-banana “ice cream” I posted about some years ago.

These bread cubes are destined for a French toast casserole, I think.

And lastly, this is a bag of butternut squash rolls. I’m not sure what I plan to do with them…heat and serve with dinner? Toast and make egg sandwiches for breakfast?

Stay tuned to find out. 🙂