You think I need to defrost my freezer? Since I have not defrosted it since Hurricane Katrina, I guess it could be worse.
Anyway, I set out to organize my freezers since I really had no idea what was inside them… I know… I tell you to keep an inventory and then I don’t do it myself. Bad! Bad! {Slapping my own hand repeatedly.}
Before you get started organizing your own freezer, I recommend gathering a few items:
- winter gloves (to prevent frozen fingers)
- cardboard boxes or an ice chest (for keeping the food frozen while you work)
- organizing bins, containers, boxes (to help create a place for everything so the organization will be maintainable)
- garbage bin (for the food you find that has passed its prime)
We have two freezers: one over the refrigerator and a chest freezer crammed into our tiny laundry room.
So, half of them will be defrosted and stored in the back of a cabinet just in case one of the packs remaining frozen gets a hole in it… if we ever use them.
Don’t judge me for my convenience food. HA!
I created compartments in the door of the freezer by using empty wipes containers and restocked the door with those remaining ice packs, Ouchies, frozen baby food, and breakfast items. Yes, we have a serious addiction to Scrambles. Bill cooks them every Sunday along with instant grits. It’s a tradition, and I can take my time getting ready for church since I don’t have to cook breakfast. Jealous much? Yeah, I love my man!
Please ignore the ice maker. It doesn’t work and for the life of me… I cannot figure out how to remove the thing! So, we freeze ice in trays and then put it in a gallon freezer bag. And, I’m not really sure why I waited to wipe the shelf AFTER the picture. Hmmm…
On the top, I placed Bill’s lunches and breakfast choices. On the bottom, I used two of our former workboxes (available at The Dollar Tree) for those partial bags on frozen vegetables. To the left of that, you see some of the meals I have saved for Sunday lunches or nights when I don’t want to cook.
In the chest freezer, I needed a way to separate items but it is such a large space that small containers would not do well. I looked around and realized that the only thing I had in abundance was diaper boxes. So, if you look closely, you will see all of my vegetables in a diaper box (on the left) and all of my chicken/turkey in a diaper box (in the bottom-back). Since the box of chicken created a stable space towards the front, I placed all of my pork and beef there.
Our chest freezer came with an organizing basket in which I placed the meats that are prepped and ready to add to recipes, like browned ground beef, chopped cooked chicken, and pulled pork.
So, now the only question in your mind at this point should be… Why is the ice cream in the chest freezer and not in the easily accessible refrigerator freezer?
Just ask my hips. They don’t lie.
How do you organize your freezer?
Linked with love at Good Cheap Eats and OrgJunkie..
We use reusable grocery bags to organize our freezers. We have one half size,and one full size deep freeze as well as a fridge freezer. We find it’s the best thing for us, since we can easily lift them up, and when the item in the bag gets lower, the bag gets smaller with it!
Ha Ha, maybe I should move my ice cream to the freezer outside. 😉
Oh, it works. The ice cream lasted an extra week that way!
We put ice cream in the chest freezer because it is easier to scoop out. I have no idea why the side by sides freezer makes it hard as a rock, but the deep freeze doesnt……
Very true even in our top freezer but I didn’t think about that. Maybe I should move it to the top freezer so it will be hard and I will scoop less out with each serving. LOL 😉
I find the ice cream is softer in the freezer that is frost free. The one I have to defrost myself sets up ice cream like a brick!!
Hmmm… interesting theory. That just might be the key. Although, there are advantages to rock-hard ice cream… like the exercise you get trying to dig some out. 😀
I just organized my freezer this weekend. My husband got in there for something and said, “Wow! We have some extra space in our freezer now!” I had just been shoving things in haphazardly for the most part through the holidays because things were so busy.
This is how I organize my freezer (over the fridge – it’s all we have). Door: bags of frozen veggies and ice packs (which we actually do use! My hubby and brother-in-law both pack lunches every day.)
Top shelf: Meat. I re-package all of my hamburger into small square containers so they stack nicely. Chicken breasts get cooked right away, then I wrap each piece in plastic wrap (to prevent them from sticking together – learned the hard way on that one!) and put them all in a big gallon freezer bag. Hot dogs also get put in a big bag so they’re easier to get out than in their original packaging. Sausage and bacon get put into small bags in 1-meal-serving-size amounts.
Bottom shelf: everything else! Freezer jam (this took up almost the entire shelf this summer, but now I have room for other things too), various breads (sandwich bread, bagels, etc), Cool Whip, ice cream, etc.
Wow, Krysten. You sound very organized and I am surprised at the amount of product you manage to fit into one freezer. Would love to see a picture of that. You go, girl!
Adding one of those wire organizing shelves like the ones used to double space in your cabinets made a huge difference in my freezer because I had no shelf before! I also bought two large plastic square containers…one for meat, which I buy in bulk and break down into smaller portions in zip-loc freezer bags, and the other for bags of shredded cheese and frozen fruits and veggies. I sometimes make cookie dough and portion it out on baking sheets that then go in the freezer for 15 minutes. Then I move the dough to zip-loc bags once it is frozen so that I can bake just a few cookies at a time (never just one, though! 🙂
I have to say that I was thrilled to see someone else recycling those baby wipes containers…aren’t they awesome?!! I use them to store plastic grocery bags in my car so that I always have a trash bag handy, but I hadn’t thought of using them in the freezer, so thanks for the idea.
Our freezer came with the shelf, but I would love to buy another! I am going to check that out. And I do my cookie dough the same way. Nothing like a fresh baked cookie, right? LOL Thanks so much for commenting. 🙂