Just a couple of pictures of the snowmen and snowballs made by the children at the school where I worked last Monday afternoon. It was a village school I had not visited before and I had a great time there.
And two pictures of freezer contents. What’s in your freezer? In general, there are 5 sorts of things in my freezer
- meals I have prepared and frozen
- goods purchased ready frozen [peas, ice-cream etc.]
- leftovers ready to make other meals
- random stuff [icepacks for medical emergencies, icecube trays]
- goods purchased fresh and then frozen
Category 1 is well organised, and labelled properly with dates. Category 2 is the same – although I often decant bags of peas into more manageable lock’n’lock boxes. But there is always at least one stray frozen pea rolling around whenever I defrost my freezer! Category 3 is one area I am working hard on at the minute – being more disciplined about labelling, and avoiding the temptation to put it in the freezer intending to go back later and sort it. In the past I admit I have stared at a cold box of brown goop and even after it is thawed I cannot recognise the contents! Liz has a ‘charnel box’ for bones destined for soup, and I have a crusts box which is useful. Category 4 speaks for itself. Some people freeze candles and tights [in the belief it promotes their longevity] El on Superscrimpers even freezes her Credit Card in a box of water, to deter spending! If your freezer is only half full, you should fill up the gaps with someting [anything- screwed up newspaper, bags of icecubes, teabags*…]Category 5 is the one in the news at the minute.
Sainsburys have said they are going to drop the message “Freeze on the Day of Purchase” labelling, as they think it is leading people to waste food.
Confession - I have never taken any notice of this anyway!
My theory is that if the pie was in the chilled section in the store, and I bring it home [Monday] and put it straight in my fridge, then into the freezer a day or so later [Wednesday], then my goods will have been frozen no sooner than those of the woman who bought the adjacent pie on the Wednesday and froze it the same day. I know they say there may be ‘slight deterioration in favour or quality’ if you delay.
The BBC Good Food Website has a useful article on freezing here
*You can use teabags straight from the freezer into the pot, honest!
But despite my apparently cavalier attitude to informative labelling, I am applauding Sainsbury's for showing common sense on this one.
I heard this about Sainsbury's aswell - and my thoughts were much the same as yours about when it is taken off the shelf. It's a bit like people who go to buy their ' fresh' veg on Christmas Eve- they don't realise it's been sat in a warehouse for ages before it ever hits the shelves. They could have just bought it the week before, stored it somewhere cool and saved themselves the hassle!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the odd position of trying to empty my freezer right now! Wwe are working our way through lovely Summer fruits and vegetables, aiming to have it empty by April!
ReplyDeleteMy freezer's as rubbish as the rest of the place!
ReplyDeleteWOW I'm really impressed with your very well organised freezer. I was much better with the upright one I had than this chest freezer I now have, its a case of open the lid and hope there is a space. I am getting better with the label side of things after having a few interesting dishes of UFO's. I try my best not to waste anything, its just like opening the bin and emptying in your purse. Sell by and freeze on the day dates are a bit of a pain and I take no notice. We haven't been poisoned yet!
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