It is hard to keep up with the food that is in your freezer.
If you have a fridge freezer and that is all you have it may seem an easy task to find out what is in your freezer. But is it? Do you see it as a kind of a sport or a game to squeeze yet another bag or packet into the freezer? Trying to convince yourself you can and will get it in there. I have to admit I do.
Is there any order at all in there? Is the space you think you have just been used to shove something else in.
If you would empty out your fridge freezer do you know what you will find?
The kitchen table will probably be full. There may be some very surprising findings.
Some freezer bags may contain some strange things that you cannot even identify.
The wonderful chest freezer
Do you have a chest or deep freezer? Oh wow how much fits in one of these is absolutely amazing. I know farmers have often talked about how a whole cow can fit in one. I can believe it in some cases. You almost need a hoist to get to the bottom of some of them.
They are like a black hole when it comes to storing food. The excitement builds as to how much you can put in and store. The money you can save from buying food in bulk or when it is reduced. Then you know you are an adult when you get excited about saving money with groceries.
Sadly these freezers are also great at hiding things at the bottom. We only seem to use the top third as things are easy to reach at this level. It is also easy to forget what you actually have further down.
Do you use all of the freezer?
Are there freezer bags of things left there for longer than a year? Can you identify all the food that is in a freezer bag? Be honest we all have picked up a freezer bag and looked at the frozen item thinking “what on earth is that?” It could be meat but what kind of meat? If it is a vegetable what exactly is it? Do you keep the bag and think I will find a way to figure out what it is.
My very common question has been “ is it cucumber or zucchini?” Why on earth did I not label it? Labels have fallen off or got rubbed off as I pushed the bag in again multiple times.
Maybe it is time to toughen up ok I either use this now in some way or I toss it.
It will only take up space and never be consumed. How do I know what to do with it if I cannot be certain what it even is. Then it is time to toss the item.
Face the fear
When was the last time you emptied the chest freezer, defrosted it and took a real stocktake of what is in it?
Are you brave enough to do it?
Are you thinking what is the point of doing it anyway? I just end up putting everything back into it and lose track of what I have again.
That is true for many people. Don’t forget a huge positive in all this. A clean defrosted freezer works more efficiently. This will ensure that the items are kept frozen at the safe temperature and save money on electricity. That is a win in itself.
Be honest with yourself
If you are not sure how old an item is or what it is then toss it. This frees up space for you to add what you need into the freezer.
A trick I do as I empty out my freezer is I make groups to put different items into.
I pull out a freezer bag, and place it into the relevant group. So all fruit goes into the fruit group. I have groups for vegetables, meat, finished meals or whatever way you want to group things.
Why not include your children or family members to help out. This will speed up the work and may be a bonding experience. Always looking for the positives.
Once you have the freezer emptied defrosted and cleaned out it is time to sort it back into the freezer.
While doing this it helps if you figure out how you want to organise your freezer space. What makes sense to you where to put your meat/veg etc.
With the help of the other person add in the freezer bags into the spot where you have allocated it. Don’t forget to put the new items at the bottom of the freezer. Keep the items you need to use first at the top.
The other person is counting how many bags of each item is added to the freezer.
When it is all back in the freezer and you can switch it on again. Now you can smile and breathe again.
The benefits of using a freezer inventory
Now you can use your inventory to start managing your food stock. Plan your meals around what needs to be used first. Don’t leave frozen food too long in the freezer anymore.
This is also a great way to find out what is missing. Which items you need to buy on your next grocery trip.
It includes family members as well into the whole meal planning and who knows what surprises you may find. Thinking of meals you can make to use up the food.
What did we find in our freezer? We had more bags of our fruit than I remembered which meant lots more smoothies and baked goodies.
With the price of food rising we could all do with some wins. Knowing what you have and what you can use is a huge win. Making space in the freezer for any reduced items or bargains you come across is another win.
Keeping track of the food in your home is important. It helps to reduce food waste and save money, not to mention your sanity. Who likes to throw out food knowing that you are also losing money.
Using the printable food inventory can save your sanity. Let it help you keep track of the food you have. Just cross off the food items you have used.
Check out the free inventory printable planner here and try it out.
