I fail at the freezer. Any meal I freeze is never used. I always look at it with suspicion and find an excuse to throw it out. Meat that has been bought fresh from somewhere like a farm shop never seems right when I defrost it. I've had a very small success with home freezing, mainly mushrooms. I keep threatening to go on the market at closing time and see if they have any mushrooms being sold off. I peel them and quarter or halve them and just bung them in the freezer. They are ideal for pasta sauces, spag bol and casseroles. I haven't frozen any mushrooms for ages.
I'm definitely not making the most of the current freezer. I'm sure it isn't working properly and there's a thick layer of ice over the inside. Some of the food is gunked up as well. For the last few months I have been looking at bits, considering them and then putting them back because I don't feel confident with them. Today I went through the freezer and pulled out everything I was doubtful about and threw it out. If I was doubtful about it then it was never going to get used. I might as well dump so I'm not digging through layers of ice to work out what's in and whether I can trust it. I feel really conficted. There was actually less waste than you would think. I got rid of some fish and chicken which were covered in ice and stuck together so I didn't feel confident and a box of ice lollies that bear didn't finish in summer. There were two freezer meals that I had bought from a farm shop over a year ago and some corn on the cob that looked like it had freezer burn or something desperately wrong with it. It was still wasted money and it nagged at me. It made a surprising amount of space and at least I have a better idea of what needs to be used up.
Next month I want to get a new freezer - and this time I'll spend the extra and get frost free! Until then I'm going to try and use up what's there. If I manage to get a new freezer (I've been wanting one for over a year) then I may try learning how to use the dratted thing properly.
The hospital appointment re swollen legs went well so that's something else off the list.
I used to be terrified of using my freezer Lyssa and like you viewed the food in there with great suspicion but since I got a frost free one it's been brilliant and I make very good use both of the frost free one and the bog standard one outside.
ReplyDeleteYou just need to make sure everything is properly wrapped and dated and have some sort of system where things get used in rotation. I am implementing my system now and so far it's working great. I keep a list of what is in each freezer and cross it off as I use it.
Glad to hear that your appointment went well-x-
I need to go through and clean out my freezer, too. It's a frost-free one but I have some things in there have have been there for over a year and have acquired a "freezer" taste!
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