And boxes labelled "Bob'sTom Sauce, September" "Ang's Spinach, blanched" and some boxes with no labels at all. There are a few neatly printed tags, curling up at the bottom of the freezer. Note; Brother P-Touch labels do not stick to plastic under freezing conditions even if they work in the kitchen. I decided to use up some of the foods just to make space to re-arrange what remains. I had a lot of stock, three tubs of tomato sauce, and a box of kebabs [mined meat] which never made it to a BBQ.
The stock went into the big slo-cooker, along with a load of small homegrown potatoes from the fridge [plus some tired carrots, a few spring onions and a handful of red lentils] That burbled away happily, and then I liquidised it to get vegetable soup. Warming lunches for autumn days.
One scoop of mince using my ice cream scoop is just enough to cut in half make two meatballs [I wore disposable gloves to handle and roll them] I'm pleased with what I have achieved, and I hope to get the rest of the frozen foodstuffs properly sorted out next week.
I keep a roll of masking tape and a permanent pigment pen handy in the kitchen. Everything gets labelled; it sticks to boxes in the freezer and I use it to write the date when I open jars before putting them in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteI must put a roll of masking tape alongside my Kitchen Sharpie!
DeleteWe freeze leftovers in tiny lock and lock boxes and then combine them and serve with grains or under a pie crust. Lentils and carrots for example go with a small serving of a casserole; you get the idea! Jilll x
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good idea. Sometimes my box of frozen goods is too large, and I only need a couple of spoonfuls for my casserole etc
DeleteYou could freeze things in ice cube trays then decant those into a freezer bag or other container. Then you can take out only as much as you need. We used to do this with foods we liquidised for our children when they were babies.
DeleteI'd quite forgotten the time spent liquidising and freezing portions of baby food [40 years ago!]
DeleteTo answer your question .... very much like you do. This weekends little kitchen job was to make a pot of soup with all the oddments from the fridge. Today I will be menu planning from the freezer. The masking tape and marker pen is a good idea isn't it, once Alan's finished with the painting I will commandeer any masking tape that he has left over for kitchen use.
ReplyDeleteLabelling is very important, as I learned quite recently when I thawed out some 'vegetable soup' and found out that it was in fact stewed apple!!
I too thawed out something recently and wasn't sure if it was stewed apple or soup till it was liquid!!
DeleteIt’s always nice to share thrifty ideas. The masking tape tip is good too.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
Thanks Kirsten for that one!
DeleteMy freezer is a den of mystery! Some things labelled, some not. More often than not, it's easily identifiable frozen produce but occasionally. No idea.
ReplyDeleteTop drawer is iced closed. No idea what's in there aoart from conkers and poss some year old bacon!
Kezzie you really should defrost it in half term and free up that top drawer!!
DeleteYes-I make soup and sauces from any remaining lurkers in fridge and freezer. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of naming them lurkers ! Loknlok Lurkers....
DeleteHow do you use up oddments in the freezer? Soup and stew...........if in doubt throw it in a pot with other things to make one or the other!
ReplyDeleteAnd hope it wasn't 🍎stewed apple 🤣
DeleteI managed to break the bottom drawer of my freezer, so we threw the drawer away, and all the bags of veg, etc. are now stacked neatly on their sides just in the space where the drawer was. Quite pleased with myself. (Rest of the freezer still has plenty of unidentifiable bags)
ReplyDeleteI found a wire basket in John Lewis years ago, which sort of fits where the broken drawer was.
DeleteI, too, use masking tape to write down the contents of a container in the freezer, but, sometimes, the tape comes off! I will also write directly on the freezer bag, but then, I can't reuse the bag, which I sometimes do.
ReplyDeleteI often make fried rice from bits and pieces I have in the fridge and freezer or make soup.
I have done soup, but never tried fried rice with oddments
DeleteOur Baby C gets his food already pureed and put into squeezy plastic pouches which are washable/reuseable. But I’ve often thawed something, thinking it’s soup and it turns out to be stewed fruit. I had a huge sort out of my freezer recently, so all nice and tidy
ReplyDeleteWashable reusable pouches are good. I got some very cheaply in Lidl (or was it Aldi)
DeleteI use scotch tape “matte finish” and a sharpie. The tape sticks well to plastic lids and leaves no residue. Rarely have “bits” from the freezer to use up as leftovers are eaten for lunch the following day or so.
ReplyDeletePeggy
👍❤️
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