Since the grocery store options are a little iffy for most of us, this seems like a perfect time for a freezer challenge. Are you with me?
Almost all of us have a stash of random food hiding out in our freezers (doubly true for those of us with chest freezers!), and right now, we probably have an extra measure of motivation to actually eat it!
Why should you consider a freezer challenge?
Left to ourselves, we will usually grab whatever is fresh, new, and unopened, passing by the partial packages and odds and ends.
This perfectly good food to freezer burn, uneaten.
A freezer challenge helps you find all the random things and then make a plan for how to use them.
And sharing your “I used it up!” stories with other people is very motivating. At least, it is for me!
My freezer challenge items
My chest freezer is fairly full but because I completely emptied it last year, I know that nothing in there is super duper old.
Whew.
My kitchen freezer has gotten a little clogged with randomness, though, so that’s what I decided to focus on first.
Let’s start with a rundown of what I’ve got, left to right, top to bottom.
Row one
- Mozzarella cheese, both dairy and non-dairy (maybe some pizza?)
- 2 roasted orange peppers (I should make some of this mayo!)
- 4 waffles (might get my girls to eat these)
- a pan of bread cubes (overnight French toast)
Row two
- 6 burger buns (some kind of main dish sandwich)
- partial loaves of banana bread
- partial package of bacon (lots of options here; bacon should not present a problem!)
- 1 pork tenderloin (pork quinoa bowls)
- a bag of frozen bananas (smoothie)
Row three
- 5 chicken sausages (maybe a lunchtime option; not good for dinner bc they have cheese in them and Sonia can’t have dairy)
- a partial bag of peas (I’ll add them to pork tinga next week)
- a handful of chicken thighs (thinking some Chinese chicken lettuce wraps)
- frozen spinach (smoothie)
Since it’s really fun to share freezer triumphs with other people, I’m going to start a daily freezer challenge thread in the Frugal Girl Facebook group.
The comment section here is great, but in the Facebook group, you guys can share photos of what you’ve been making with your freezer food, and I think that’ll be fun.
And you can start threads of your own in the Facebook group as well, so if you need suggestions about a particular freezer item, that’s a great place to get some ideas.
Join the Frugal Girl facebook group by clicking here.
And non-Facebook people, don’t worry…I’ll do an update post here next week, letting you know how I did with my freezer stash.
Are you going to work on eating up your frozen food with me this week?
DeniG
Friday 27th of March 2020
Please tell me about your frozen mozzarella--what is the texture and taste like after thawing? Did you put it on pizza? Did it melt properly? When I buy mozzarella, we usually have a small chunk leftover that sometimes gets moldy. I thought cheese was one of those things that changed badly when frozen so I'd never tried, but this could save all my mozza bits. Thank is advance!
Kristen
Friday 27th of March 2020
Cheese actually freezes quite well if you shred it first. I shred it, spread it rather thinly in a freezer bag and then lay it flat in the freezer. That way the cheese isn't all stuck in one big clump together.
Anna
Tuesday 24th of March 2020
I'm not doing the freezer challenge, but for fun I thought I would put what is in my freezer in West Africa. It's not the same!
Little Freezer above fridge- Ice (or water currently freezing) in ice cube trays or containers. 2 smoothies that I made earlier in the week
Chest Freezer *5 whole chickens- bought from a local contact who raises them and slaughters twice a year *ground beef and cubed beef- bought in a big chunk at the market by my houseworker who removes the bone, gristle, and processes it to be ready for me to cook *Frappachino- decaf & regular (I need to make more regular) *papaya chunks for smoothies *small bag of mango chunks for smoothies *ripe bananas- put in freezer when there was no gas in town for stoves. Now that we have it back, I'm making lots of banana muffins this week. *yogurt *one pack Lebanese bread *homemade bread (about 12 rolls) *1 dozen banana oatmeal muffins, 1 dozen Banana molasses chocolate chip muffins *8-9 kilos of flour *3 blocks of yeast *4 small containers of lentils cooked with chicken broth, onions, and garlic *bags of frozen garbanzo beans *2 small containers of left-over sauce
Our country still has no reported cases of Corona virus, but it is all around us. We have some restrictions, but not total quarantine. Instead of using things up, I'm hoping to add some more beef for the inevitable quarantine time. Now that mangoes are in season, I want to start filling the freezer with those.
Grandma Bev
Monday 23rd of March 2020
I had just enough frozen beef broth for one portion of soup, added garlic tops (that I forgot I was growing in the crocus pot), added 2 T of canned kidney beans, a half t of 'better than bouillon', 2 t tomato salsa, T of Ramon noodles broken up, ..it turned out pretty OK. I haven't been to market in a week.
Sarah
Monday 23rd of March 2020
It's certainly a good time for a freezer challenge. I recently did a freezer and pantry challenge that lasted a few months and it was great to use up those items that had been buried or pushed to the back. Now that I have restocked I am ready to do it again and focus on using what we have and avoiding the stores. My favorite part about freezer challenges is that it sometimes forces you to get creative but the end result is always delicious.
Linda
Monday 23rd of March 2020
Timing is everything. My timing was off. I began the year by doing a freezer/pantry challenge. My goal was to "eat myself out of house and home" before I made any purchases to stockpile. Through out January and February I only purchased ingredients necessary to create a meal from what I already had on hand. Usually that meant only purchasing fresh produce and dairy. Well by the end of February I was 90% done eating the stockpile. When grocery store shortages became reality I only have a small amount of food at home. I'm optimistic that cooler heads will prevail and by the time I'm desperate for groceries the shelves will be full again. The good news is I have lots of TP and I only go thought about 1 roll of paper towels in a year.
Kristen
Monday 23rd of March 2020
Oh, man, that IS frustrating timing! Geez.
I'm glad you have TP tho.