Chest Freezer Update | the flank steak story!

You guys, I can definitely see a difference in my chest freezer now! When I open it, there’s….extra space. YESSS.

And also because I am regularly going in there and pulling stuff out for challenges, I have a better mental idea of what’s in there.

Which means I used up some other random stuff in these last two weeks, aside from what I officially added to the challenge.

Ok!

Let’s run through the stuff from last time around. First up, this poor, sad-looking flank steak that was at least 3-4 years old.

Had it been a cheaper cut of meat, I miiiiight have let it go. But I really, really hate to throw away beef.

I read through all of your suggestions, and I decided to go with the idea that many of you had: to marinate it with spices and oil. I think Kristin from Going Country suggested a southwest type of twist, and that’s what I did, using cumin and chili powder along with garlic and salt and pepper.

And oil, since America’s Test Kitchen has taught me that oil is a very good carrier of flavors.

Not gonna lie, when I thawed this thing out, I felt not-that-optimistic.

But I forged ahead, trusting that time + salt + spices can work magic.

I let it sit in the fridge for a solid 24 hours because a 4-year-old flank steak is not a candidate for a quick marinade.

I cooked it in some hot oil, flipped it, browned the other side, and then let it rest for ten minutes before slicing it thinly.

The first night, we ate it as tacos, because I figured if it was gonna taste a little off, tacos would help a lot!

But the meat was actually surprisingly good. I credit the salt + time equation, honestly.

I ate taco leftovers as a salad.

I also used some leftover meat to make a taco-ish quesadilla for breakfast.

And I used the very last of it to make a small Swiss cheese/steak quesadilla, which was super tasty. I wished I had one more to eat!

So, I give myself an A++++ on the flank steak. It was a very successful save.

Hot dog buns

I thawed these and used two of them to make some garlic bread for Zoe and me.

That leaves four still, and I might use them to make croutons.

Sun-dried tomatoes (except not really)

Remember my jar of sun-dried tomatoes?

Well…I thawed them and quickly realized that the contents were actually roasted red peppers. Whoops!

THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD LABEL THINGS.

But no matter. I added them to some breakfast mashed potatoes for two days, and all was well.

A+ on this.

Pineapple chunks

I used them up in smoothies and they are alllll gone. Yay me!

Another A+.

Peaches

I did use some of these in smoothies.

But they are not all gone, so I cannot give myself another A+.

I think I’ll have ’em all blended into smoothies by the next go-round though.

Beef Jerky

I have been snacking on this, but it’s not all gone yet.

Next Set of Freezer Items

Okee-dokee. Time for a rundown of what I’m gonna try to use up these next two weeks!

Leftovers from last time:

• four hot dog buns
• the rest of the bag of peaches
• the rest of the beef jerky

And let’s see what new stuff I want to tackle.

Ham pieces

These are left from a Christmas ham, I think?

Apple Slices

I think I froze these a few years ago when I was getting tired of making bruised apples into applesauce. I ran them through my apple peeler/corer/slicer, and chucked them in the freezer.I could make them into applesauce.

I could make an apple crisp.

I could fry them up in butter at breakfast to add to oatmeal.

Hmmm.

Sweet potato fries

Nothing odd here; just a bag that should be used up.

And you know the drill; I’ll work on this for two weeks and report back.

Is this is an extremely slow way to eat down a freezer? Yes.

Is it maintainable? YES.

Slow and steady is my approach to life. 😉