Author Topic: Empty the freezer  (Read 6880 times)

Linea_Norway

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Empty the freezer
« on: March 04, 2019, 01:42:15 AM »
Our freezer drawers are full. We have 7 drawers, divided over 2 combi fridges. The stuff needs to be eaten as well.

Contents:
- Meat bought cheaply in Sweden some time ago (chicken filets, duck, reindeer, a large chunk of beef)
- Other meat, stored in daily portions
- Fish cakes, 1 plastic bag with 2, and a full pack of 8 small ones.
- Young porcini mushrooms, frozen in one piece last August
- A large bag of stir fry vegetables, much cheaper than the vegetables we usually buy fresh to stir fry
- A bag of frozen apples, cut in pieces (those were left over apples from my work's fruit bowl)
- Cut cabbage (half of a cabbage I bought earlier, but didn't want to eat completely)
- Frozen spinach (normal stable food)
- Green cale
- An amount of leftover portions (2 slices of pizza, half a bread cake, many single person meat + sauce portions)
- One drawer full of bread, cut in halves. When I buy bread, I always store it in the back of the drawer and take out a fresh half from the front in the evening for the next day. So this is in constant circulation.
- A bag of banana slices (left over from my work's fruit bowl
- A bag of blueberries, picked self
- Other stuff

Yesterday, I used the apples to make an apple cake. DH used some of the frozen chicken filets to make a dish on Saturday. He had already eaten the 2 fish cakes during the week when he was home on sick leave. I served 4 frozen fish cakes for dinner yesterday. The other half of the pack is now opened in the fridge and needs to be eaten tonight or tomorrow.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 12:46:46 AM by Linda_Norway »

EngagedToFIRE

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2019, 07:49:30 AM »
We try not to empty the freezer.  For us, it's more about what goes in to the freezer than what comes out.  If there is a killer BOGO on fish, then we will load up and fill the freezer.  The more food in the freezer, the longer you can hold off until the next BOGO.  In a way, I guess we do empty the freezer as we won't put anything new in unless it's on sale.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2019, 07:55:17 AM »
We try not to empty the freezer.  For us, it's more about what goes in to the freezer than what comes out.  If there is a killer BOGO on fish, then we will load up and fill the freezer.  The more food in the freezer, the longer you can hold off until the next BOGO.  In a way, I guess we do empty the freezer as we won't put anything new in unless it's on sale.

Our freezer is so full that we can't put anything in it, if we see a bargain. And instead, I tend to keep buying meat at full price. So for us, it is a good idea to utilize what we have put in the fridge.

dcheesi

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2019, 07:59:14 AM »
We try not to empty the freezer.  For us, it's more about what goes in to the freezer than what comes out.  If there is a killer BOGO on fish, then we will load up and fill the freezer.  The more food in the freezer, the longer you can hold off until the next BOGO.  In a way, I guess we do empty the freezer as we won't put anything new in unless it's on sale.
It's nice to keep the freezer stocked, especially with bargains. However, it's also good to keep the stock in check; you don't want to be  stuck with a freezer full of hundreds of dollars' worth of food when the power goes out, or the freezer unexpectedly (and silently) dies on you [/voice of experience]

EngagedToFIRE

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2019, 09:31:07 AM »
We try not to empty the freezer.  For us, it's more about what goes in to the freezer than what comes out.  If there is a killer BOGO on fish, then we will load up and fill the freezer.  The more food in the freezer, the longer you can hold off until the next BOGO.  In a way, I guess we do empty the freezer as we won't put anything new in unless it's on sale.
It's nice to keep the freezer stocked, especially with bargains. However, it's also good to keep the stock in check; you don't want to be  stuck with a freezer full of hundreds of dollars' worth of food when the power goes out, or the freezer unexpectedly (and silently) dies on you [/voice of experience]

I should note that we have a large drop in freezer in the garage that we use to store our bargains.  It's much easier to fill up your standard kitchen freezer and run out of space.  If you can't fit bargains in the freezer, then you really need to empty it! We have meat in our freezer so I would have no reason to pay full price for it, but if your freezer is full of non-essential stuff, then it's gotta go.

If the power goes out, we have backup power.  If the freezer dies, we would just run over to Costco.  We use that freezer almost daily anyways, we would catch it.


Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2019, 09:45:52 AM »
I will join in!  We are in the process of buying a house, so I want as little food in the fridge/freezer as possible when we move.

Current contents (from memory, will update later):
 - 2 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 quarts vegetable soup
 - ?? quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 tuna steaks
 - 4 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
 - Bag of green beans
 - Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc

Plans this week:
 - Monday, rice made with stock instead of water
 - Tuesday, 2 chicken breasts used
 - Wednesday, use spinach to make saag
 - Undecided day, blueberry muffins

The other ingredients for these meals will be from the pantry or fridge.  My goal is to buy no new groceries this week.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2019, 10:16:47 AM »
I just bought groceries, but the normal stuff: milk, juice, sweet potato and a cauliflower.

Tonight we are eating the remaining fish cakes. DH is making soup from sweet potato, some frozen vegetable mix and coconut milk and will add the fish cakes in pieces.

Enough to eat tomorrow as well.
« Last Edit: March 05, 2019, 06:37:58 AM by Linda_Norway »

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #7 on: March 05, 2019, 02:08:04 AM »
Our freezer is getting really full too.  We have a large chunk of bone-in beef (around 750 grams).  I was thinking about using the electric pressure cooker to make something with it - does anyone have any recipe suggestions?

Apart from that, frozen cod fillets, chicken stock, frozen spinach, frozen bean soup, frozen turkey breast, frozen chilli con carne (made with cheap fatty ground beef that my husband bought by mistake), frozen bread, frozen cooked chicken.

I'll probably make chicken soup this weekend with the stock and cooked chicken and maybe something with that big chunk of beef.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #8 on: March 05, 2019, 02:48:33 AM »
Our freezer is getting really full too.  We have a large chunk of bone-in beef (around 750 grams).  I was thinking about using the electric pressure cooker to make something with it - does anyone have any recipe suggestions?

You can first brown it on the outside and then simmer it with tomatoes (sauce/puree/fresh), herbs like bay leaves, onions, garlic, carrots, celeriac, mushrooms. And then taste what you should add more. Serve with potatoes or rice. It should be enough to freeze several portions.

Gray Matter

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2019, 06:35:37 AM »
I emptied my freezer in one fell swoop just last week.  Go me! 

(We had some electrical work done, and when the inspector came, he somehow managed to turn trip the surge protector for the freezer and didn't get it turned back on, and we didn't notice until everything had thawed and even then, we only noticed because our dogs took an inordinate interest in the freezer--their sniffers caught the smell of decaying meat before ours did.  Hundreds of dollars worth of food had to be thrown away.  Good times.)

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2019, 01:01:34 AM »
- Meat bought cheaply in Sweden some time ago (chicken filets, duck, reindeer, a large chunk of beef)
- Other meat, stored in daily portions
- Fish cakes, 1 plastic bag with 2, and a full pack of 8 small ones.
- Young porcini mushrooms, frozen in one piece last August
- A large bag of stir fry vegetables, much cheaper than the vegetables we usually buy fresh to stir fry
- A bag of frozen apples, cut in pieces (those were left over apples from my work's fruit bowl)
- Cut cabbage (half of a cabbage I bought earlier, but didn't want to eat completely)
- Frozen spinach (normal stable food)
- Green cale
- An amount of leftover portions (2 slices of pizza, half a bread cake, many single person meat + sauce portions)
- One drawer full of bread, cut in halves. When I buy bread, I always store it in the back of the drawer and take out a fresh half from the front in the evening for the next day. So this is in constant circulation.
- A bag of banana slices (left over from my work's fruit bowl
- A bag of blueberries, picked self
- A small box of fish, no idea what kind, maybe sardines? (need to ask DH about it)
- Other stuff

Yesterday I had to throw away the bags with bananas and blueberries, because they were stinking. :-(

We have learned from FIL, who heard it from a professional painter, that when you are painting several days in a row, you can wrap your paint brush in plastic and put it in the fridge overnight. The next day you can use it again. This way you save yourself from having to clean your brush too often. DH and I have been practising this for years. We have a house that is painted with tar on the outside, terribly stinking stuff. We have spent 2 summers painting the outside walls with new tar. Last time, the brushes were wrapped up in plastic and put into the extra fridge, where we have the beer. After some time, the fridge started smelling of tar and I put an extra plastic bag around them. Obviously, we have not bothered to wash those brushes for half a year, as they are still there, now with so much plastic around it that they don't smell anymore.

Yesterday I had a plan to use the banana slices to make a milkshake. But when I opened the bag, and even with the bag still closed, I smelled a very strong smell of tar. The food didn't smell edible, so I throw it away. Then I wanted to use the blueberries. Same story there. They also needed to be ditched. Then I decided to clean the 3 brushes once and for all. But I am a bit sceptical towards some of the other food in that fridge. A lot of the food is in good containers, which should be air tight. The porcini mushrooms are also in a normal plastic bag and could be ruined. Yesterday evening I didn't have the motivation to investigate that further.

I have taken out the duck breast for thawing and hope we can eat it tonight. It should be enough for 2 meals.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 06:27:17 AM by Linda_Norway »

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2019, 05:43:42 AM »
Current contents (from memory, will update later):
 - 2 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 quarts vegetable soup
 - ?? quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 tuna steaks
 - 4 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
 - Bag of green beans
 - Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc

Still have not made the blueberry muffins, I will try to get to that tonight.  The chicken was taking longer to thaw than I expected, so I swapped it with the saag and used  up all the frozen spinach.  One thing down!  Chicken will be made up in the slow cooker tonight, to cook tomorrow.

daffodil2001

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2019, 06:56:37 AM »
Working on our frozen banana stockpile. We kept buying too many bananas and throwing them in the freezer when they got too ripe. I made a lot of progress by baking banana bread, but our oven just died and I'm not sure when we can get it operational again. I'm going to try cooking it in a slow cooker.

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2019, 05:37:02 AM »
Current contents (from memory, will update later):
 - 2 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 quarts vegetable soup
 - ?? quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 tuna steaks
 - 4 2 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
 - Bag of green beans
- Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc

Made the blueberry muffins, and the chicken is cooking in the slow cooker today.

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #14 on: March 08, 2019, 04:02:20 PM »
Current contents (from memory, will update later):
 - 2 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 quarts vegetable soup
 - 3 quarts dal
 - 9 quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 tuna steaks
 - 4 2 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
- Bag of green beans
- Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc

Used up the green beans last night.  Also updated the list with a few things I forgot I had, and the right quantities.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2019, 12:47:51 AM »
I used some of the frozen stir fry vegetables in the pasta saus for dinner.

The bread drawer is almost empty, so we need to buy new bread, or otherwise bake something.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2019, 01:11:09 PM by Linda_Norway »

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2019, 03:16:38 PM »
Today we used the 2 latest chicken breasts, some frozen veggies and the half pack of frozen wraps.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #17 on: March 10, 2019, 01:10:34 PM »
Contents:
- Meat bought cheaply in Sweden some time ago (chicken filets, duck, reindeer, a large chunk of entrecote)
- Other meat, stored in daily portions
- Fish cakes, 1 plastic bag with 2, and a full pack of 8 small ones.
- Young porcini mushrooms, frozen in one piece last August
- A large bag of stir fry vegetables, much cheaper than the vegetables we usually buy fresh to stir fry
- A bag of frozen apples, cut in pieces (those were left over apples from my work's fruit bowl)
- Cut cabbage (half of a cabbage I bought earlier, but didn't want to eat completely)
- Frozen spinach (normal stable food)
- Green cale
- An amount of leftover portions (2 slices of pizza, half a bread cake, many single person meat + sauce portions, half a pack of wraps)
- One drawer full of bread, cut in halves. When I buy bread, I always store it in the back of the drawer and take out a fresh half from the front in the evening for the next day. So this is in constant circulation.
- A bag of banana slices (left over from my work's fruit bowl
- A bag of blueberries, picked self
- Brussles sprouts
- some slices of entrecote

We almost finshed the large chunk of entrecote. One day eaten with half the brussle's sprouts, tonight with cabbage. But I made too much. So now we have a new 1 person portion in the freezer.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2019, 12:22:33 PM by Linda_Norway »

fuzzy math

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #18 on: March 11, 2019, 10:59:16 AM »
Hey I did it this morning! Not fully though.

Took stock of some items we had gotten from a neighbor who moved almost a year ago, and made a point to use them as they aren't things I typically buy.
Thawed a bag of corn and made a cold corn salad that's marinating in the fridge.
Used up a freezer burnt bag of bell peppers and onions in an egg scramble.
Thawing a brick of ground beef and some beans for dinner options tonight.


There is some truly scary stuff in my freezer and now its all stuff I've put in there. I need to stock up on some items that are only available in the big city stores (Costco, IKEA) that are a 2 hour drive. I'm not going to make the next trip until I've got lots of room to buy 6 months worth.

EngagedToFIRE

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #19 on: March 11, 2019, 11:15:51 AM »
Doing good Linda!

I couldn't tell you what's in my freezer at the moment, but we have not bought a single new frozen item since last post.  Pretty good for us.  We did go to Aldi and buy some veggies, but I like fresh veggies so that's not negotiable.  Aldi had 39 cent avocado, couldn't pass that up!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #20 on: March 14, 2019, 01:30:10 AM »
Contents:
- Meat bought cheaply in Sweden some time ago (chicken filets, duck, reindeer, a large chunk of entrecote)
- Other meat, stored in daily portions
- Fish cakes, 1 plastic bag with 2, and a full pack of 8 small ones.
- Young porcini mushrooms, frozen in one piece last August
- A large bag of stir fry vegetables, much cheaper than the vegetables we usually buy fresh to stir fry
- A bag of frozen apples, cut in pieces (those were left over apples from my work's fruit bowl)
- Cut cabbage (half of a cabbage I bought earlier, but didn't want to eat completely)
- Frozen spinach (normal stable food)
- Green cale
- An amount of leftover portions (2 slices of pizza, half a bread cake, many single person meat + sauce portions, half a pack of wraps)
- One drawer full of bread, cut in halves. When I buy bread, I always store it in the back of the drawer and take out a fresh half from the front in the evening for the next day. So this is in constant circulation.
- A bag of banana slices (left over from my work's fruit bowl
- A bag of blueberries, picked self
- Brussels sprouts
- some slices of entrecote

Yesterday we ate the leftover breadcake (from the freezer) together with chicory and blue cheese. Tonight we will eat the pizza slices. Maybe we'll eat the reindeer meat this weekend. It is only a thin portion, enough for one meal I think.

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #21 on: March 14, 2019, 11:29:39 AM »
Current contents:
 - 2 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 1 quarts vegetable soup
 - 3 2 quarts lentil stew
 - 9 quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 tuna steaks
 - 4 2 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
- Bag of green beans
- Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc

Discovered that what I thought was dal was actually regular lentil stew, oops.  It pays to label things!  Regardless, we finished a quart of that, plus a quart of vegetable soup.  I also have a deadline now, we have made an offer on a house with the settlement date 5/31, so my goal will be to clear out the freezer by that date so we don't have to cart frozen stuff to the new place.

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #22 on: March 17, 2019, 06:32:36 AM »
Current contents:
 - 2 1 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 1 quarts vegetable soup
 - 3 2 quarts lentil stew
 - 9 quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 2 tuna steaks
 - 4 2 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
- Bag of green beans
- Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc

This week's menu used a quart of white bean soup to have with our fresh bread, and one of the tuna steaks with a stir-fry.  Making some good progress on the soups, and whittling down the meats as well.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #23 on: March 18, 2019, 01:23:34 AM »
Contents:
- Meat bought cheaply in Sweden some time ago (chicken filets, duck, reindeer, a large chunk of entrecote)
- Other meat, stored in daily portions
- Fish cakes, 1 plastic bag with 2, and a full pack of 8 small ones.
- Young porcini mushrooms, frozen in one piece last August -> Eaten half of them
- A large bag of stir fry vegetables, much cheaper than the vegetables we usually buy fresh to stir fry
- A bag of frozen apples, cut in pieces (those were left over apples from my work's fruit bowl)
- Cut cabbage (half of a cabbage I bought earlier, but didn't want to eat completely)
- Frozen spinach (normal stable food)
- Green cale
- An amount of leftover portions (2 slices of pizza, half a bread cake, many single person meat + sauce portions, half a pack of wraps)
- One drawer full of bread, cut in halves. When I buy bread, I always store it in the back of the drawer and take out a fresh half from the front in the evening for the next day. So this is in constant circulation.
- A bag of banana slices (left over from my work's fruit bowl
- A bag of blueberries, picked self
- Brussels sprouts
- some slices of entrecote

Yesterday we ate half the reindeer meat, with half of the young porcini mushrooms and a portion of sauerkraut from a pack. We will eat the rest of the meat tonight.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #24 on: March 19, 2019, 03:26:35 AM »
Contents:
- Meat bought cheaply in Sweden some time ago (chicken filets, duck, reindeer, a large chunk of entrecote)
- Other meat, stored in daily portions
- Fish cakes, 1 plastic bag with 2, and a full pack of 8 small ones.
- Young porcini mushrooms, frozen in one piece last August
- A large bag of stir fry vegetables, much cheaper than the vegetables we usually buy fresh to stir fry -> eaten weekly
- A bag of frozen apples, cut in pieces (those were left over apples from my work's fruit bowl)
- Cut cabbage (half of a cabbage I bought earlier, but didn't want to eat completely)
- Frozen spinach (normal stable food)
- Green cale
- An amount of leftover portions (2 slices of pizza, half a bread cake, many single person meat + sauce portions, half a pack of wraps)
- One drawer full of bread, cut in halves. When I buy bread, I always store it in the back of the drawer and take out a fresh half from the front in the evening for the next day. So this is in constant circulation.
- A bag of banana slices (left over from my work's fruit bowl
- A bag of blueberries, picked self
- Brussels sprouts
- some slices of entrecote

I am noticing that I'm really buying less groceries now, just potatoes, milk, and an occasional vegetable.
When the snow is gone, I will try to pick young Matteuccia leaves (Matteuccia struthiopteris), while they are still rolled up. We tasted that last year and it was good as a vegetable. I need to hunt for them, but this year I will try to do that early.

At the end of May we will go paddling in Sweden. If the freezer at home then is a bit more empty, we can fill it up with cheap meat from there.

Most of what remains now, is the single portions, which we seldom eat when we are not home alone.

Dicey

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #25 on: March 19, 2019, 09:18:07 AM »
One of my favorite frugality blogs is The Frugal Girl. You might try peeking at this recent series for inspiration:

https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/the-freezer-challenge-it-is-back/

daffodil2001

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #26 on: March 19, 2019, 07:42:13 PM »
Freezer bananas are all gone! And my oven is working again. I haven’t done a full inventory of what’s there yet but we have three bags of edamame that some friends gave us when they moved. We’re moving in a few weeks, so I want to use them up before we go. I invited some friends over Thursday to play board games for my husband’s birthday. He doesn’t know about the friends coming over, but I suggested to my husband that he should try making some sort of dip out of the edamame tomorrow  to use it up. It’s a recipe he’s been meaning to try but hasn’t gotten around to yet. I hope it turns out okay because I’m planning to serve it for the party.

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #27 on: March 20, 2019, 06:43:51 AM »
Current contents:
 - 2 1 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 1 quarts vegetable soup
 - 3 2 quarts lentil stew
 - 9 7 quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 2 tuna steaks
 - 4 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
- Bag of green beans
- Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc

Cooked the rest of the chicken last night, and we've been working our way through the peas and mixed fruit.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2019, 06:12:40 PM by Raenia »

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #28 on: March 20, 2019, 06:49:11 AM »
It wasn't even on my list, but yesterday DH used up some frozen fish to make fish soup with frozen vegetables.

LinneaH

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #29 on: March 20, 2019, 08:04:34 AM »
Posting to join this thread in little over a week. In April-May I will be off work and have time to sort out or freezer/fridge/pantry/food in general.
We have a small freezer in the kitchen and it's totally packed in a very random way. We also have a stand-up freezer in the garage, currently not even half full but very difficult to get to since the whole garage is a mess. My plan is to sort out the garage a bit for easy access to the big freezer, transfer from the smaller and get an overview of our inventory. I will try to finish a lot of the old food stuff but not empty out fully. Goal is to have a working system of food.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #30 on: March 20, 2019, 08:10:24 AM »
Posting to join this thread in little over a week. In April-May I will be off work and have time to sort out or freezer/fridge/pantry/food in general.
We have a small freezer in the kitchen and it's totally packed in a very random way. We also have a stand-up freezer in the garage, currently not even half full but very difficult to get to since the whole garage is a mess. My plan is to sort out the garage a bit for easy access to the big freezer, transfer from the smaller and get an overview of our inventory. I will try to finish a lot of the old food stuff but not empty out fully. Goal is to have a working system of food.

Random freezer packing is not good. Try to sort each drawer/rack or compartment with bread, meat, fish, vegetables, left-over portions, soups, etc. Then you always know where to look. Everything should be marked with contents and freezing date.

LinneaH

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #31 on: March 20, 2019, 08:35:53 AM »
Posting to join this thread in little over a week. In April-May I will be off work and have time to sort out or freezer/fridge/pantry/food in general.
We have a small freezer in the kitchen and it's totally packed in a very random way. We also have a stand-up freezer in the garage, currently not even half full but very difficult to get to since the whole garage is a mess. My plan is to sort out the garage a bit for easy access to the big freezer, transfer from the smaller and get an overview of our inventory. I will try to finish a lot of the old food stuff but not empty out fully. Goal is to have a working system of food.

Random freezer packing is not good. Try to sort each drawer/rack or compartment with bread, meat, fish, vegetables, left-over portions, soups, etc. Then you always know where to look. Everything should be marked with contents and freezing date.

Yes absolutely agree, this is the structure we have "underneath". But then life happened for some months and... I normally have meat/fish/berries&fruit&jam/vegetarian and vegetables. Great when it works.
Also I try to keep a list of content so I can be in my kitchen and not have to go to the garage to look if we have something or not when I plan grocery shopping and meals. Really looking forward to come back to that.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #32 on: March 20, 2019, 08:58:43 AM »
Posting to join this thread in little over a week. In April-May I will be off work and have time to sort out or freezer/fridge/pantry/food in general.
We have a small freezer in the kitchen and it's totally packed in a very random way. We also have a stand-up freezer in the garage, currently not even half full but very difficult to get to since the whole garage is a mess. My plan is to sort out the garage a bit for easy access to the big freezer, transfer from the smaller and get an overview of our inventory. I will try to finish a lot of the old food stuff but not empty out fully. Goal is to have a working system of food.

Random freezer packing is not good. Try to sort each drawer/rack or compartment with bread, meat, fish, vegetables, left-over portions, soups, etc. Then you always know where to look. Everything should be marked with contents and freezing date.

Yes absolutely agree, this is the structure we have "underneath". But then life happened for some months and... I normally have meat/fish/berries&fruit&jam/vegetarian and vegetables. Great when it works.
Also I try to keep a list of content so I can be in my kitchen and not have to go to the garage to look if we have something or not when I plan grocery shopping and meals. Really looking forward to come back to that.

I have such a list as well, hanging with a magnet on the door of one of the fridges. It is easy to use to find out what there is. But it doesn't get updated when we put new stuff in. So in no time it is pretty outdated. I just need to make a fresh list every couple of months.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #33 on: March 27, 2019, 01:20:17 AM »
Contents:
- Meat bought cheaply in Sweden some time ago (chicken filets, duck, reindeer, a large chunk of entrecote)
- Other meat, stored in daily portions
- Fish cakes, 1 plastic bag with 2, and a full pack of 8 small ones.
- Young porcini mushrooms, frozen in one piece last August
- A large bag of stir fry vegetables, much cheaper than the vegetables we usually buy fresh to stir fry -> eaten weekly
- A bag of frozen apples, cut in pieces (those were left over apples from my work's fruit bowl)
- Cut cabbage (half of a cabbage I bought earlier, but didn't want to eat completely)
- Frozen spinach (normal staple food)
- Green cale
- An amount of leftover portions (2 slices of pizza, half a bread cake, many single person meat + sauce portions, half a pack of wraps, 2 new slices of home-made pizza)
- One drawer full of bread, cut in halves. When I buy bread, I always store it in the back of the drawer and take out a fresh half from the front in the evening for the next day. So this is in constant circulation.
- A bag of banana slices (left over from my work's fruit bowl
- A bag of blueberries, picked self
- Brussels sprouts
- some slices of entrecote


I am now getting through most of the stuff that was on the list. Apart from the large amount of left-over portions. DH and I are so often home together, that we don't have to eat alone, and typically don't eat those leftover portions. I have even added 2 new ones. Maybe we should just find a few days that we will eat leftover portions.

I saw that the local grocery store had large bags of cheap frozen chicken filets. I would love to have enough room in the freezer drawers to store such a bag, but I'll need to wait for longer.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #34 on: April 01, 2019, 12:29:06 AM »
This week I am unexpectedly home alone, because DH has to travel for family affairs.

We were away this weekend. We have some lettuce left from before that. I will eat that tonight. The rest of the week I will start eating portions from the freezer. Finally a good occasion to start with them.

In the weekend we bought a bunch of spring onion. We only ate the upper green part. The rest I have put in glasses with water. I expect it to grow new greens, they usually do that.

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #35 on: April 01, 2019, 08:04:42 AM »
Current contents:
 - 2 1 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 1 quarts vegetable soup
 - 3 1 quarts lentil stew
 - 9 6 quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 tuna steaks
 - 4 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
 - Bag of green beans
 - Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc

More progress in the last week - we ate another quart of the lentil stew and one of carrot ginger soup, as well as finishing off the peas and frozen fruit, and the tuna.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #36 on: April 05, 2019, 11:09:56 AM »
I have today eaten my third portion of freezer meal. This was only long cooked meat in gravy, so I made some other stuff beside it. Before this I warmed up a remain of fish soup and a portion of chicken and mango with rice and veggies.
Nice that I don't need to shop groceries. But I did have to buy some milk.

I am also in the mood for pancakes. Maybe I will eat them with the remainder of the long cooked meat tomorrow.

Nederstash

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #37 on: April 06, 2019, 03:18:51 AM »
I'm in the home stretch! The freezer now only contains:
- leftover bell pepper soup - will be used up tomorrow
- three slices of bread in a freezer bag - will be used up tomorrow
- tray of ice cubes
- icepack

I did have to throw a few things out, because they'd gone bad. Freezing food does not equal everlasting food... My fridge and pantry will run down in the next two weeks, getting everything empty for a proper spring clean on Good Friday. The only things to buy in the next two weeks are:
- Milk
- Cheese
- Bread
- Fruits
- Veggies

How do you know you're definitely an adult? You look forward to spring cleaning...

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #38 on: April 12, 2019, 06:15:07 AM »
Tonight I will eat alone for the last time for quite a while. I have been eating leftover portions, or other freezer food each day that I was home. So there is really a lot less than there was. We still have portions left, as we continue to make too much food. But that will have to wait for the next good occasion.

Tonight: a frozen portion of potato with cabbage and meat (not specified which meat).

Goldielocks

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #39 on: April 12, 2019, 12:25:56 PM »
I love this thread.   I have been eating down my freezer right now because work has been stressful, and produce expensive (Very expensive from Jan-early May, here, not much local yet).

So, I am nervous because it is now 1/2 full and that means I should buy more to refill it.. right?

It's low right now because I don't have much left from the fall picked / frozen items, stock, etc.  I am eating through the meats...
I don't know if it is better to eat it down, and save $$ now, hope for better pricing later..or to keep shopping the sales to top it up...

ETA-- Inspired, so I took the first step and cleaned the freezer attached to the fridge.

Remaining - Blueberries, Cherries, small amount of other asst fruit, coconut (which none of us likes.. even in smoothies), pastry shell, icing, phyllo pastry, yeast, one pack of bread, two meals of meat dumplings (Teenage son eats these), 4-5 bags of frozen veg including home frozen ones, 5 packs of frozen spinach (should eat! Overload!), some grated cheese (2 dinners?)...  Smoked salmon (will eat this weekend, this is a find DH must have bought it and forgot), three tuna pieces for sushi, and imitation crab (ditto).

Large freezer has meats (11 dinners), fish (2-3 dinners), juice (1 day), nuts, ice cream, cranberries, stock, butter x 4lb, pizza x1 and perogies (Teenage son).
Whew.   I think I can get through the fruit / veg scarcity here for another 2+ weeks if I eat it all down.

I am giving a party for Easter dinner and then for MIL birthday the week after.  If I use up the freezer to keep my grocery costs low, I can buy nice things (fresh veg/fruit) from the store for those meals.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2019, 01:37:02 PM by Goldielocks »

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #40 on: April 12, 2019, 02:51:57 PM »
Current contents:
 - 2 quarts white bean soup
 - 1 quart carrot ginger parsnip soup
 - 2 quarts vegetable soup
 - 3 quarts lentil stew
 - 9 6 quarts vegetable stock
 - 3 tuna steaks
 - 4 chicken breasts
 - Bag of corn
 - Bag of peas
 - Bag of green beans
 - Bag of blueberries
 - Bag of mixed fruit
 - Bag of spinach
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc
 - 6 chicken breasts
 - Bag mixed veggies
 - 1 quart chili
 - Gallon of ice cream

Finished the white bean soup, the lentil stew, and the veggie soup.  Added a few new things after this week's shopping, but not too much.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #41 on: May 20, 2019, 02:50:38 AM »
The last few weeks have been the harvesting season for edible plants. My freezer is stuffed now. So a new plan needs to be made to eat what is inside it. In 1,5 week time we will be visiting Sweden where we can shop groceries (meat) for reduced price. We need to have empty freezer capacity by then.

These are my current freezer contents that I can recall by memory. I will do a more complete inventory later. I added the Norwegian names of the greens for my own benefit, because I cannot remember these English names too well.
- Chinese cabbage. 1 bag (1 meal for 2 people)
- Minced meat. Several portions.
- Beef. 2 single portions.
- Some chicken boneless thighs. 2 1 portions for 2 people.
- Broccoli stem. I think there is only 1, so not quite enough for a meal, but maybe mixed with other stuff.
- Bread stumps. To be made into bread crumbs.
- Fish fillets of saithe or some other white fish. 1 meal for 2 people left.
- One portions of leftover kale with potatoes.
- Sea kale (strandkål) flower heads (broccoli like food). 2 bags = 2-3 meals for 2 people.
- Sea kale young leaves. 1 bag = 1-2 meals for 2 people.
(I also had a shitload of not so young sea kale leaves and made them into sauerkraut, which needs to ferment for another 5 weeks.)
- Fiddleheads (strutseving). 5 x 2 persons portions, 1 portion overcooked.
- Wild garlic (ramsløk) frozen in cubes. 1 box with 20 or so cubes.
- Wild garlic frozen as whole leaves. 2 bags.
- Ground elder/Bishop's weed (skvallerkål), frozen as leaves. 1 bag.
- Good King Henry/Poor man's asparagus (stolt henrik). 2 bags. Can be used like spinach.
- Alliaria petiolata (løkurt, no english name). 2 bags. Tastes like union. To be used as herb.
- Common sorrel (engsyre). 1 small bag, but I will pick more. To be used as herb.
- Orpine leaves (smørbukk). 2 small bags. I have already been using it a bit. Doesn't take too much place as it is quite flat.
- Bittercress (vinterkarse). 1 small bag. Not very good for eating directly. to be mixed with other food.
- Caraway (karve). 1 or 2 bags with leaves. 1 box with roots.
- Stinging nettle (brennesle). 1 or 2 bags. I could pick a lot more as they are available everywhere. Can be used like spinach.
- Broadleaf plantain (groblad). 1 small bag. Need to pick a lot more. Season just started.
- Spinach. 1 small bag of cubes.
- Fruits of wych elm (alm). 2 bags.
- Cicely (Myrrhis odorata, spansk kjørvel). Is sweet, can be used in cakes. It use it occasionally when I bake stuff.
- Frozen coriander leaves. 2 bags, bought to be used as spice. No hurry to empty.
- Lime leaves. 1 bag. Used as spice. No hurry to empty.
- Dark grapes from DH's vines. 1 small bag.
- White grapes from DH's vines. 1 very small bag.
- Blueberries.
- Raspberries.
- Bananas in slices. 2 bags?
- Whole, medium size porcini (steinsopp) mushrooms. 1 bag, enough for several meals.
- Cortinarius caperatus mushroom (rimsopp). 1 bag, 2 meals. Not sure if DH wants to eat it.
- Orange birch bolete (rødskrubb). 1 bag. Not sure if DH wants to eat it.

There are also a lot of plants that I dried and am drinking as tea or using as herbs. So that is not a freezer problem.

I think I should simply make jam of the berries. I kept them in the freezer in the hope of using them in muffins and cakes, but I haven't done so since I picked them in the summer last year. At least jam is something I can store outside the freezer and I eat it regularly.

Recently I made vegetable croquettes from some of my greens. I guess that this time, I could use the overcooked fiddleheads, the bittercress, the ground elder, some of the wild garlic, the broccoli stem and the stinging nettle for that. Just mix with egg and spices. Maybe add some nuts as well.

With the caraway I only know to make soup. When we did that on a course last year, it didn't have much taste by itself. The cooks has to use all the tricks they knew to make it into a good soup. I should learn how to use it in a different way.

For tonight, I thawed one portion of boneless chicken thighs. We have some fresh coriander growing in the kitchen window and it now looks like ready to use.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2019, 12:25:36 AM by Linea_Norway »

Goldielocks

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #42 on: May 21, 2019, 03:05:33 AM »
Wow, great job on native foraging!

Of interest:  ramsløk = rampson nice when the words have similar roots...   and either rampson or ramps were what the pregnant woman , the cobbler's wife, wanted from the witches garden in the classic fairy tale "Rapunzel"... at least in the version I read as a child, which, of course means that it is not true...!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #43 on: May 22, 2019, 12:32:13 AM »
- Chinese cabbage. 1 bag (1 meal for 2 people)
- Minced meat. Several portions.
- Beef. 2 single portions.
- Some chicken boneless thighs. 2 1 portions for 2 people.
- Broccoli stem. I think there is only 1, so not quite enough for a meal, but maybe mixed with other stuff.
- Bread stumps. To be made into bread crumbs.
- Fish fillets cod. 1 meal for 2 people left.
- One portions of leftover kale with potatoes.
- Sea kale (strandkål) flower heads (broccoli like food). 2 bags = 2-3 meals for 2 people.
- Sea kale young leaves. 1 bag = 1-2 meals for 2 people.
(I also had a shitload of not so young sea kale leaves and made them into sauerkraut, which needs to ferment for another 5 weeks.)
- Fiddleheads (strutseving). 5 x 2 persons portions, 1 portion overcooked.
- Wild garlic (ramsløk) frozen in cubes. 1 box with 20 or so cubes.
- Wild garlic frozen as whole leaves. 2 bags.
- Ground elder/Bishop's weed (skvallerkål), frozen as leaves. 1 bag.
- Good King Henry/Poor man's asparagus (stolt henrik). 2 bags. Can be used like spinach.
- Alliaria petiolata (løkurt, no english name). 2 bags. Tastes like union. To be used as herb.
- Common sorrel (engsyre). 1 small bag, but I will pick more. To be used as herb.
- Orpine leaves (smørbukk). 2 small bags. I have already been using it a bit. Doesn't take too much place as it is quite flat.
- Bittercress (vinterkarse). 1 small bag. Not very good for eating directly. to be mixed with other food.
- Caraway (karve). 1 or 2 bags with leaves. 1 box with roots.
- Stinging nettle (brennesle). 1 or 2 bags. I could pick a lot more as they are available everywhere. Can be used like spinach.
- Broadleaf plantain (groblad). 1 small bag. Need to pick a lot more. Season just started.
- Spinach. 1 small bag of cubes.
- Fruits of wych elm (alm). 2 bags.
- Cicely (Myrrhis odorata, spansk kjørvel). Is sweet, can be used in cakes. It use it occasionally when I bake stuff.
- Frozen coriander leaves. 2 bags, bought to be used as spice. No hurry to empty.
- Lime leaves. 1 bag. Used as spice. No hurry to empty.
- Dark grapes from DH's vines. 1 small bag.
- White grapes from DH's vines. 1 very small bag.
- Blueberries.
- Raspberries.
- Bananas in slices. 2 bags?
- Whole, medium size porcini (steinsopp) mushrooms. 1 bag, enough for several meals.
- Cortinarius caperatus mushroom (rimsopp). 1 bag, 2 meals.
- Porcini in small cuts (steinsopp). 1 bag.

I have been describing how to use my green food in this thread:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/foraging-wild-food/

Conclusion is that the sea kale tasted way too bitter. So we ate it last night and I through away the rest. I hope that the batch that is fermenting will work out better.
I have thawed the Cortinarius caperatus mushroom, added salt to it and put a heavy, flat stone on top. I hope that some more fluid will come out of the mushroom and that I can make mushroom soya sauce. But it won't be much in quantity, so I might end up ditching it if it doesn't become any decent amount. In that case I will have to wait until I find a decent amount of mushrooms, probably not before July/August.

Tonight I will make croquettes from some of the greens.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2019, 12:36:17 AM by Linea_Norway »

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #44 on: May 30, 2019, 12:09:10 AM »
Yesterday I made caraway soup from caraway leaves and roots that I picked earlier. I added diced potatoes and meatballs. The soup was okay, but the caraway didn't taste that much.

We have been eating some meat from the freezer, but there is still a lot left. We are just not home often enough these days to really empty it.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #45 on: May 30, 2019, 12:18:02 AM »
- Chinese cabbage. 1 bag (1 meal for 2 people)
- Minced meat. Several portions.
- Beef.  2 single portions.
- Some chicken boneless thighs. 2 1 portions for 2 people.
- Broccoli stem. I think there is only 1, so not quite enough for a meal, but maybe mixed with other stuff.
- Bread stumps. To be made into bread crumbs.
- Fish fillets cod. 1 meal for 2 people left.
- One portions of leftover kale with potatoes.
- Sea kale (strandkål) flower heads (broccoli like food). 2 bags = 2-3 meals for 2 people.
- Sea kale young leaves. 1 bag = 1-2 meals for 2 people.
(I also had a shitload of not so young sea kale leaves and made them into sauerkraut, which needs to ferment for another 5 weeks.)
- Fiddleheads (strutseving). 5 x 2 persons portions, 1 portion overcooked.
- Wild garlic (ramsløk) frozen in cubes. 1 box with 20 or so cubes.
- Wild garlic frozen as whole leaves. 2 bags.
- Ground elder/Bishop's weed (skvallerkål), frozen as leaves. 1 bag.
- Good King Henry/Poor man's asparagus (stolt henrik). 2 1 bag. Can be used like spinach.
- Alliaria petiolata (løkurt, no english name). 2 1 bag. Tastes like union. To be used as herb.
- Common sorrel (engsyre). 1 small bag, but I will pick more. To be used as herb.
- Orpine leaves (smørbukk). 2 small bags. I have already been using it a bit. Doesn't take too much place as it is quite flat.
- Bittercress (vinterkarse). 1 small bag. Not very good for eating directly. to be mixed with other food.
- Caraway (karve). 1 or 2 1,5 bag with leaves. 1 box with roots.
- Stinging nettle (brennesle). 1 or 2 bag. I could pick a lot more as they are available everywhere. Can be used like spinach.
- Broadleaf plantain (groblad). 1 small bag. Need to pick a lot more. Season just started.
- Spinach. 1 small bag of cubes.
- Fruits of wych elm (alm). 2 bags.
- Cicely (Myrrhis odorata, spansk kjørvel). Is sweet, can be used in cakes. It use it occasionally when I bake stuff.
- Frozen coriander leaves. 2 bags, bought to be used as spice. No hurry to empty.
- Lime leaves. 1 bag. Used as spice. No hurry to empty.
- Dark grapes from DH's vines. 1 small bag.
- White grapes from DH's vines. 1 very small bag.
- Blueberries.
- Raspberries.
- Bananas in slices. 2 bags?
- Whole, medium size porcini (steinsopp) mushrooms. 1 bag, enough for several meals.
- Cortinarius caperatus mushroom (rimsopp). 1 bag, 2 meals.
- Porcini in small cuts (steinsopp). 1 bag.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2019, 12:46:53 AM by Linea_Norway »

Raenia

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #46 on: May 30, 2019, 05:51:32 AM »
Current contents:
 - Bag of corn
 - 4 quarts stock
 - Various things that will not be used up: breadmaking yeast, baking powder, Thai chili peppers, butter, etc
 - 2 chicken breasts
 - Gallon of ice cream
 - 3 balls of pizza dough

Getting to crunch time!  Move is in 2 weeks.  I think I'm going to stop saving scraps for the duration, to help whittle down the stock supply without making more to replace it like I have been.

Sibley

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #47 on: May 30, 2019, 10:35:22 AM »
I'm kinda doing this. Don't need to empty it, but do need to make sure some older items are eaten, and bring down the overall quantity a notch. Ate the single remaining pot pie, and the pizza that somehow kept not getting eaten (despite being the exact same as the others, but older).

Also finally made the frozen skillet chicken fajita thing. It was bad. Not sure why I got that.

Also made a casserole that used up some chicken which I thought was cooked, but really wasn't so that took longer to make.

Need to remind mom that there are perogies and a lasagna in there for her, she can eat those next time she visits hopefully.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #48 on: June 02, 2019, 12:12:45 PM »
Today we came back from a canoeing trip in Sweden. We also bought some good bargain meat there, so the freezer is full again. As we were home late, we ate two leftover portions, one kale with potato and one tropical stir fry thing.

I think week we should eat: fiddleheads with meat, pasta with blue cheese and stinging nettle or some other green, something with applesauce and a dish with the porcini chunks.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2019, 06:30:56 AM by Linea_Norway »

Sugaree

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Re: Empty the freezer
« Reply #49 on: June 03, 2019, 06:29:52 AM »
I think we're going to have a clean-out-the-freezer week or two starting next week.  My freezers are full and I really need to organize and get a handle on what's actually there.  I know there is quite a bit of meat that I've gotten on sale lately.  There are also between 15-20, at least, freezer meals that we need to work on.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!