I mentioned last week that my kitchen freezer is getting a little bit out of control.
Which is especially sad because when I finished my freezer challenge this past fall, it was lookin’ super marvelous.
And now it’s not.
So!
This coming week is gonna be freezer challenge week at my house.
How much of this stuff can I get through in a week?
To start off, I emptied my freezer and took inventory. Here’s what I’ve got to work with: 
Seeing it all piled on the counter wasn’t super helpful, so I divided things up into a few categories.
I had a LOT of random bread odds and ends, some storebought, some homemade.
I put most of them into a single bag until I decide what to do with them. Thinking croutons and bread pudding, maybe.
As I did this, it occurred to me that keeping a ziploc bag in the freezer for bread odds and ends is a great idea. If I freeze bread miscellany in those yellow reused commercial bread bags, I can’t see what I have.
And I know that seeing what I have is half the battle in avoiding food waste.
Next up are all the meaty things from the freezer.
I have leftover taco meat, a few shrimp, some lunch meat, a bit of bacon, two chorizo links, a few chicken breasts, and a little bit of cooked chicken.
And then the rest is very random…
-beef ravioli
-frozen blueberries
-some old bananas
-frozen cherries
-pepperoni
-tomatoes
-tortillas
-mashed potatoes
And lastly, something mysterious in that glass bowl.
I think I’m gonna have to thaw it in order to figure out what it is!
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Just like last time, I am totally not opposed to buying ingredients that will help me use up what’s in my freezer.
Because the point is not to be spartan as much as it is to empty the freezer.
I feel decently hopeful about this project because nothing in that inventory is crazy difficult to use up, and I think I’ll be able to produce some pretty tasty eats this week with my freezer things.
Alrighty! Hopefully by next Friday I’ll have a much emptier freezer. Stay tuned…
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P.S. Food Waste Friday is officially over at Simply Being Mum today.
Tina Ray
Monday 20th of April 2015
I am totally with you on the freezer challenge. We have a pig that is being processed and I have a freezer full of food. We will be eating freezer leftovers for quite sometime in the Ray household.
Amy W
Saturday 18th of April 2015
Chorizo, shrimp, and chicken, huh? Sounds like the beginnings of crockpot jambalaya! Not my recipe but so good. http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-jambalaya-17134
Rose Rive
Saturday 18th of April 2015
What a huge difference there is seeing the bread in the store bags and then the bread in the ziplock bags. It really does help when you can see what you have! I love decanting stuff into ziplocks. I second Silverilex's idea of making and freezing bread crumbs - super handy. I make and freeze grated cheese with cheese odds and ends too. Great post. x
Kristen
Saturday 18th of April 2015
Yes. I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Duh!
jenny_o
Saturday 18th of April 2015
This is not an idea for using your frozen bananas but rather for the next time you have bananas to freeze: peel banana, cut in half and insert popsicle stick, then freeze in a bag. The frozen banana is creamy, just like a fudgsicle except different flavour. They go down really well in hot weather and they're healthy.
I need to get on my freezer contents, too. Thanks for the reminder!
Stephany H.
Friday 17th of April 2015
Hi Kristin. Seeing all of your leftover bread reminded me of a recipe that I have yet to try, but would like to one of these days. We don't typically have a lot of leftover bread. The dish is called Panade. It's from: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-a-panade-114846.
Here is a description (from the website) of the dish: "A panade is certainly not the prettiest of dishes. In fact, it's just about as "rustic" as rustic cuisine can get. But a panade is something truly incredible. A panade is the perfect combination of crunchy edges, custard-soft spoonfuls, and chewy bits. It can take all your leftover vegetables, your stale bread, your pantry scraps, and transform them into something you will find yourself craving at odd hours of the night. Savory and so satisfying, you've got to make this."
Kristen
Saturday 18th of April 2015
I'd never heard of that! But when I clicked over to see the recipe, I thought that it kind of reminds me of a mix between a strata and stuffing/dressing like you put inside of a turkey. I bet I'd like it because I adore stuffing.