Freezer Cleanout Part 3

So much room in the freezer.  So much happiness at getting it cleaned out!

Did I mention I have a small life?

So last time I had the following to deal with -

Turkey bones

Ham

Meat pies

Apple muffins

Seafood patties

Hawaiian chicken

I made another batch of turkey stock and it got used up on a chicken pot pie with biscuit crust AND  a batch of Mac and Cheese done in the instant pot.

The ham became ham fried rice which the kids loved.

The meat pies are still in the fridge freezer.

The apple muffins got taken to work because no one here was eating them.

Seafood patties got eaten.

Hawaiian chicken got postponed because we had too many leftovers.

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Last week was a tough one - I was short on time for menu planning, and we had a couple of nights already set so I didn't need much.  I planned on heating up the leftover container of seafood stew I found, and  to use the hawaiian chicken that hadn't gotten used the week before.

I took a bag of buns out for sandwiches etc.

We are getting into weird territory now - 2 (or possibly more) bags of hashbrowns, so much frozen spinach - both store bought and home frozen.  Spicy sausage that I know the kids won't eat.  Coffee beans.  Lots of black bananas.

Also - I found TWO MORE half bags of ice.  I married a hoarder.   

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Neither the seafood stew or hawaiian chicken got eaten as we had so much leftovers from our lunar new years dinner and enchiladas.

The buns didn't defrost well and only a couple got eaten before they started to go moldy.

I have just finished my menu plan for the week and not much from the freezer is involved.

I'm going to use a block of frozen spinach for some creamed spinach tonight.

I'm going to turn some leftover holiday turkey into turkey cakes for tomorrow's dinner.

I found a freezer bag with a ground beef/pork combo we will use for Taco Tuesday.

The Hawaiian chicken is optimistically on the plan for Friday's dinner, but that is so far away who even knows what will happen.

 

Freezer Cleanout - Part 2

It is a bit sad how exciting I find it to open my freezer and see a bit of space.

I have a small life.

So!

I did very well on what I pulled out of the freezer on the second week. The turkey bone bag was so big I was able to make 2 batches of turkey stock - I made one into soup that same day and used some of the roasted garlic in the the soup (turkey noodle, so good, I was the only one who ate it)  and froze the other batch of broth.  I made the broth in the Instant Pot.  Very easy.

I used the blueberries for a pan of Blueberry Grunt from The Urban Vegan, and added some strawberries that I bought especially for that Sunday dessert.

The chicken cutlets were actually pork - and they got eaten on the Sunday as well.

The sausages were made into a weird crock pot thing that no one really liked.

The buns got eaten for breakfasts and lunches, and the pirogis and bacon made an easy weeknight dinner with some broccoli and peas.

Unfortunately the kebabs got tossed - once thawed it was clear one was an odd shade of greeney brown, which made me nervous, so I got rid of them.

Here is what I took out of the freezer last Saturday morning:

A half bag of ice left over from when our fridge died.  I tossed it.

Half a bag of frozen papaya - will be good for smoothies.

Frozen black bananas

Corn on the cob

Cooked turkey

Cooked pork belly slab

Naan bread

Flatbread shell

Not pictured - a bag of chopped rhubarb

The papaya went into a smoothie with some watermelon and strawberries from the  fridge and a black banana from the counter.  There's a bit left but it won't last long.

The naan bread and flatbreads were turned into Saturday night pizzas.

The turkey and corn were used for a weeknight dinner, and the pork belly was served with eggs and toast.

The rhubarb became a Sunday night dessert.

Yesterday morning (week 4)  I trekked back to the freezer, admired the growing amount of room again, and emerged with this:

ANOTHER bag of turkey bones.  Going to make it into stock and freeze it; makes more sense to have frozen turkey stock than bones.

Leftover ham slices/chunks - not sure what to do with this.

A couple of meat pies from Costco

Apple muffins

2 seafood patties bought from a butcher. 

Not pictured - a container of  homemade "Hawaiian Chicken" I will thaw for dinner later in the week.

The pickings are getting slimmer and weirder.

There are so many bananas down there - it may be time for some banana baking.

I am going to have to do some internetting - there is a lot of frozen spinach down there, both bags I have portioned and frozen and a couple of the blocks you get from the store.  What to do?

I tossed out two items this week - some old popsicles and a single serving size container of leftovers that was SO freezer burned it hurt my eyes.  The plastic container it was in had a crack, so it was definitely time for it to go.

Freezer cleanout has begun

Our freezer is in a pretty appalling state right now - full to the brim....but of what?

There never seems to be anything useful for a quick meal, it's full of fruit, bread, greens, bones....

Where are the chicken pieces, packs of ground meats?  

They are at the store because I have no room for them.

With the dawn of a new year I've decided that enough is enough and I'm getting my freezer cleaned up, along with the rest of my life (ha!)

Last Saturday -

I was working on a menu plan for a busy week and went to the freezer hoping to find some stew meat and some chicken.  I found the stew meat - no chicken, and also unearthed some yeast, which I added to my container in the fridge freezer, and some corn tortillas and homemade enchilada sauce, which I also moved to the upstairs freezer in anticipation of making a version of these green chile enchiladas.

I also brought up a bag of home frozen spinach, half a bag of frozen blueberries and a nearly full bag of mixed frozen berries.

I turned the spinach, the blueberries, and some of the mixed berries into a smoothie for me and the kids, along with a banana that was heading south and some almost expired coconut yogurt.

Delicious!

The beef stew meat was turned into Instant Pot Korean Beef, but the tortillas and sauce were not used.  The Mister pulled a box of mini sausage rolls out for a dinner/snack one night but the kids refused to eat them.  We tried to reason with them - you like sausage, you like pastry!  No go.

This morning  - 

I can see improvement in the amount of space at the top of the freezer!!!!!  Progress is being made.

I found some frozen chicken cutlets that will get cooked for tomorrows dinner.  I also grabbed a bag of turkey bones to make some soup, a bag of roasted garlic heads to move to the freezer upstairs so I will remember to use them, a bag of cheese buns, MORE blueberries, some swiss chard - maybe for the soup?, 2 Korean kebabs from Superstore that I will cook up for The Mister and I to eat for lunch or dinner.  I also found a bag of pierogis and some bacon, which will be an easy and tasty dinner too.  Grabbed a package of sausages too - if I can find a crock pot recipe or something easy for them, my week is practically set.

I am not above tossing out anything that really needs to go, although my goal is to eat as much of this as we can - I found a glass jar of homemade jam that was thankfully in a freezer bag; it had cracked or leaked so that got thrown out, along with a truly unidentifiable bag of something pretty scary looking that I didn't want to thaw to find out what it was.  Ew.

Keeping track of the freezer

My freezer is always a mess. It's small, so there really isn't that much we could do with it, but everything is always jumbled and tangled together. 

 We try to not be wasteful, so there are always containers and freezer bags with random buns and bread ends, cooked meats or stews, soups that no one liked much but I saved anyway. 

 I can never keep track of what we buy or use, so I try to keep an inventory list. 

An inventory list that The Mister never updates when he takes stuff out, that I 

forget to update when I put stuff in, that gets chucked in the recycling bin after a 

few weeks when I get frustrated that it's no longer up to date. 

 But I persist.

 I have no motivation for menu planning and cooking any more, so knowing what I

 have to work with is more important than ever.

 This time I tried a slightly different method than my usual handwritten list - I made a "spreadsheet". (I use quotes because people who actually use spreadsheets would

 laugh at what I call one, but whatevs.) 

I started with my usual handwritten, illegible, unorganized list.

Then I put the information into a computer, and tried to group it by categories that seemed helpful - meats, breads, potatos....

When it came to items that I had multiples of - like ground beef and turkey, instead of writing the number 3 to show I had 3 packs, I did 3 lines, apart, so in theory if I take one out of the freezer, I just cross off one line and that shows I have 2 left, and that should be correct.  In theory.

The printed copy hangs in my kitchen.

So far, so good! 

How to : roast and freeze garlic

I remember the first time I tried roasted garlic. 

 I'd read about it in a magazine and for some reason I already owned a little terra cotta garlic roaster, so I picked up a head of garlic and a baguette and tried it out. 

 My boyfriend at the time was a basic meat and potatos guy,and declared many many times he was not interested in trying it. 

No sir, not the kind of thing he would eat! 

Well, once the garlic came out of the oven and was plated with the sliced bread, he materialized over my shoulder and announced that fine! He'd try it! Get off his back! 

 And proceeded to eat the entire thing. 

 Men. 

 Roasted garlic is amazing - on bread, in pasta or sauces - but it takes time to make, so I always have some frozen in my freezer.

 First, roast the garlic. 

 Heat your oven to 400'. Cut just the bare top off the whole heads of garlic to expose the tops of the cloves. 

Place in a baking dish and drizzle well with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper 

and cover the top of the dish with foil.

Roast in the oven for an hour, until tender and golden.

They are ready to use as you like, or cool them completely, and wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then in a freezer bag, and store in the freezer until you need them.

They thaw in the microwave in a matter of seconds, or leave them in the fridge overnight.

So good.

How to : Freeze Zucchini

I bought way too much zucchini which normally wouldn't be a problem, 

but we were getting ready to go away for a week. 

I didn't want to leave it in the fridge in case it spoiled 

while we were gone,  and there was no time left to eat it. 

 What to do? I froze it.

 I washed and cut the ends off the zukes, and cut them in half lengthwise

 to make sure they would fit in the food tube of my food processor. 

Then I shredded them.

I was ready to start portioning out the shredded veg, but since

 frozen veggies can sometimes be a bit mushy once thawed, 

I decided to squeeze out as much liqiud as I could before 

measuring out 1 cup portions into bags.

The little bags were loaded into large freezer bags and then placed gently in the freezer.

I haven't used any yet, but I'm thinking baking and soups will be good 

places to see how the zucchini stood up to freezing.

How to: Freeze tomato paste

Just like I freeze ginger, I do the same with tomato paste.

Most recipes I make that call for tomato paste only need one or two tablespoonfuls. 

So annoying to open up a can for only a little amount.

I occasionally buy tomato paste in tubes, but lately I haven't been using them fast enough before the tubes spoil, so I'm back to freezing the paste in spoonfuls.

This is much faster and less messy than the ginger.  No prep required!

I lay out a piece of plastic wrap.  

You want to leave a couple of inches between each blob of paste 

and down the side for the sealing step.

Spoon the paste onto the plastic wrap.  I did mine in one tablespoon blobs.

Fold the plastic wrap over the paste onto itself, like you're making ravioli.

Press the plastic wrap all around the paste to seal.

Cut the plastic wrap between each tomato paste package to separate.  Fold over any extra wrap to seal up.  Place the blobs in a freezer bag, and put in the freezer. 

Freezer Pickles Part Two

Back a few posts I shared with you that we'd made some freezer pickles that would be ready after chilling out for 3 weeks.

Time's up and I've pulled a bag out of the freezer.


These are really nice, turned out better than I expected. The texture is good, and the taste is a combo of sweet and salty. Interesting and delicious. This recipe is a keeper!

Freezer Pickles

8 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tb salt
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup sugar

Toss the cucumbers onions and salt together in a large bowl. Cover and let sit for 2 to 3 hours.
Rinse the cucumbers very well. Squeeze handfuls of cucumber to remove excess water.
Put the cucumber/onions into freezer bags or freezer containers. Stir the vinegar and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved, and pour over the cucumber/onions.
Freeze at least 3 weeks before eating. The longer the pickles sit, the sweeter they will be. Thaw in the refrigerator before eating.

Freezer Pickles

It's been a few years since we canned anything. We have a ceramic stove in our house here, and I've heard both that you shouldn't can on a ceramic stove, and also that it's safe. I don't know what to believe, but I don't want to risk the well-being and intactness of our stove to find out for myself. I don't miss canning, all that time and heat, especially this summer....blah. No way. But we bought some really nice little cucumbers at the market on Saturday because who can resist those puppy dog eyes of Scotts. I haven't yet found a recipe for freezer cucumber relish, but I did find in one of my notebooks a recipe for freezer pickles.

I don't know where this recipe came from, and I can't tell you if it's any good, because they have to freeze for at least 3 weeks before you try them.

So stay tuned!

Freezer Pickles

8 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tb salt
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup sugar

Toss the cucumbers onions and salt together in a large bowl. Cover and let sit for 2 to 3 hours.

Rinse the cucumbers very well. Squeeze handfuls of cucumber to remove excess water.

Put the cucumber/onions into freezer bags or freezer containers. Stir the vinegar and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved, and pour over the cucumber/onions.

Freeze at least 3 weeks before eating. The longer the pickles sit, the sweeter they will be. Thaw in the refrigerator before eating.

Breakfast Sandwiches - Make em and freeze em.

I love breakfast! I do. I mentioned a while back that I like to have variety in my breakfast on the weekend, because my weekday breakfasts are boring toast or cereal. As I was driving to work the other morning I passed McDonalds and briefly fantasized about stopping and buying a McMuffin sandwich and enjoying a hot breakfast. I didn't, but as I ate my cereal at work I thought, why not make some breakfast sandwiches at home and freeze them, so I could have a breakfast that's not only hot but healthier than grabbing a drive thru sandwich.

I had all the necessary ingredients on hand - english muffins, eggs, cheese and ham, and the next morning before work I decided to put them together then so I could take one with me.

I used
6 english muffins
3 eggs and 2 egg whites
6 slices of cheese
sliced deli ham

I split and toasted the muffins and let them cool completely. I tore my cheese slices in pieces and put cheese on all the muffin halfs. You could use actual real cheese here if you wanted, but I love these fat free cheese slices.


Then I put some ham on half of the muffin pieces. You could use bacon, sausage, back bacon, or even omit the meat if you want. Tomato would be good if you were eating these fresh but it'd get soggy if you froze them. In my opinion.


Then cook your eggs. I only like scrambled eggs so that's what I made. I used 3 eggs and 2 egg whites. It was actually a little too much, next time I will do 2 eggs and 2 whites. Let the eggs cool so your sandwiches don't get soggy, then pile em on the muffins.


Then I wrapped 5 of them in foil, put them in a freezer bag and tossed them in the freezer. In theory I will take one out the night before, put it in the fridge to defrost, then nuke, toast or grill in the morning for a nice tasty hot breakfast.

I have since thawed and eaten on of the muffins and it held up very well. The bread didn't get soggy. The eggs tasted fine. Ham was good and cheese was yummy and gooey and dripped all over the place. Add a side of ketchup for dipping and it's a perfect portable breakfast!

Other breakfast ideas:

Ham and Apple Breakfast Pie
Lemon Cornmeal Waffles
Yogurt and Berry Parfait
Bannock
Breakfast Burritos

The Deep Freeze Summer Challenge, or, How Green Is My Curry.

I've written about the state of my pantry and spice cupboard before but I've never mentioned my freezers. That would be because I am ASHAMED, people. Both of them (my small freezer in the basement and the freezer in my fridge) are so chock full of God-knows-what it truly is embarrassing. The freezer part of the fridge is also a hazard; it's pretty much guaranteed that something will fly out at you every time the door is opened. In our kitchen you've got to move fast to avoid falling leftovers. And every time I am hit by falling soup/broccoli/eggos I tell Scott we've got to start using up what ever the heck is in there. But we don't. So coming across The Deep Freeze Summer Challenge over at Mele Cotte last week was exactly what I needed to jump start my plan to clean out my freezers.

After rummaging past all the hot dogs (seriously Scott, stop buying hot dogs!) and frozen bread products (why do feel the need to freeze all the buns, bread and muffins that are going to go stale? what do I think I will ever do with them?) I came across two promising, heading towards freezer burned items. A bag of stir fry vegetables and a bag of rhubarb.


The guidelines for the challenge say that you can supplement your freezer items with seasonings/oils/milk/eggs as needed. So I stuck as close to that as I could.


Green Vegetable Curry

2 tb oil
1 tb ginger (mine was from the freezer)
2 lb frozen stir fry vegetables (ours was so good - squash, peas, bamboo, water chestnuts, mushrooms, carrots, and broccoli)
1 1/2 tb green curry paste
1 can lite coconut milk

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the ginger and cook for a few minutes until fragrant but not brown. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are heated through. Add the coconut milk and curry paste. 1 1/2 tb of curry makes a medium spicy dish. Stir well, lower heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.


To answer my own question, my curry was the most beautiful pale green! I wish I had a better camera, this was a very pretty dish.

I did not serve this with rice, as I didn't have any in the freezer, but I will be making some rice for the leftovers.


Then I turned my attention to the rhubarb, in the freezer since last year when my boss gave it to me.

Stewed Rhubarb

4 cups of sliced rhubarb into a pot over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup of water, 1 tb ginger, 3 tb sugar (I don't like my rhubarb very sweet) and a couple of shakes of Chinese 5 Spice Powder. Simmer gently until the rhubarb is softened and broken down.


This is so good on its own, but is also nice stirred into plain yogurt or served warm over ice cream.

I'm feeling better about the freezer situation; I've got some plans for other stuff in there now - there's pizza shells, tomato sauce, even some tofu! I'll be eating some good stuff. And as soon as Scott gets all those hot dogs eaten, he will too.