Organizing Your Freezer

So you all know what my freezer has been looking like lately… Yes It’s an embarrassing mess!

What I really wish my freezer looked like is this…

(Image above courtesy of Google Images)

Well in order to get this mess under control I wanted to share some tips I use to get organized. While I will relate these tips to your freezer they can be used in all areas of your life and home.

Here are the steps to a clean and organized freezer.

 PURGE!

This is the single most important step in the process of getting organized. To start your purge empty all items out of your freezer to see what you have hiding in there. I’m sure you will be shocked by how many half bags of frozen corn are hiding in there 🙂 If the items are freezer burned or have been in there longer than you can remember it is time to toss them. The more you can toss the better.

Take Inventory.

Now that you can see what items you have, take inventory for future reference. I know that I often end up buying multiple freezer items because I’m too lazy to look and see if I already have that item before I go to the store.  I guess when your freezer looks like mine you don’t want to spend too much time looking at it… In addition identify what has been in there the longest, but is still good. Once you identify these items make an effort to look for recipes that incorporate these items. Not only will this save you money, but I will also free up more room!

Label

This step is just as important as the purging step of getting organized. I know that I have put things into my freezer and failed to label and date them. I can tell you that these items often get tossed during my purging step. While I thought that I was being frugal by freezing that extra soup it usually ends up sitting there taking up valuable space. Generally no one knows what that brown frozen block is and it sits uneaten for months. This can be an easy step if you print out pre-made freezer labels. The ones I use were made by one of my fabulous friends. Here  is the link to her blog and below are the printable labels. If you keep a stash of them in your kitchen drawer you will be more likely to use them. Once I get a link too the stickers I will update this post so you can print them for your own kitchen.

Restocking your freezer

When packing thing back in be sure to sort your freezer into sections. For example store meat in one area, fruit and juice in another, veggies in another etc… This will depend on what types of items you have  so do what works best for you.   In addition it is important to place newer in the back and older items in front. This way you see those items that you need to use up, and you can effectively rotate your food.

Here is an updated shot of my nicely organized freezer. Pretty right??? Since we are renting we have one of those freezers that is a box with no shelves. So to get more room I added a stack-able shelf from Target for the low low price of $4.99.

I must say I am very proud of the transformation and really intend on keeping it this way in the future!

Final notes… Here is a list of approximate length of time you food will last in the freezer.

Now that your freezer is labeled and organized you can move on to that pile of laundry that you have been neglecting…. I swear laudry multiples like bacteria in a petri dish.  I hope you enjoyed my tips, and maybe feel inspired to do some spring cleaning in your freezer this weekend!

Chicken Rollatini With Lemon Green Beans

I don’t know about you but my favorite type of food is Italian.  I could eat pasta for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day… Yes I have a problem…

Knowing that I’m a slave to the carbs I decided to try to incorporate more low carb Italian meals into my dinner rotation. In addition my freezer is so packed right now with frozen meats and god knows what else, so I decided to start cleaning that baby out ASAP.

I’m so embarrassed to even to show you that, but the plan is once I get some things cleared out I want to get that ice box organized and plan on sharing with you what I come up with so please don’t judge me 🙂

The recipe I want to share comes from Skinnytaste.com which I’m sure many people are familiar with, but if you aren’t check it out  today! I have found so many great meal ideas and all the nutritional values are included! The recipe on skinny taste  that i’m taking inspiration from serves 8 which is far too big for my family of 2. So I cut the recipe in half and subbed out a few low calorie items that I don’t keep on hand like liquid egg white… Sorry people I like regular old chicken eggs.

Recipe (Serves 4)

• 4 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each
• 1/4 cup whole wheat Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
• 2  eggs
• 1/4 box of frozen spinach, squeezed dry of any liquid
• 1/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella
• olive oil non-stick spray (I use my Misto)
• 1/2 cup of  your favorite marinara sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions

Wash and dry cutlets, season with salt and pepper.  Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly spraya baking dish with non-stick spray.

Combine breadcrumbs and half the  grated cheese in one bowl and 2 or egg in another.

Take 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and combine with remaining grated cheese, spinach (make sure you squeeze it dry), 1 tbsp egg already beaten, and ricotta cheese.

Lay chicken cutlets down on a working surface and spread 2 tbsp of spinach-cheese mixture on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one and keep seam side down.

Dip chicken in egg mixture, then in breadcrumbs and place seam side down in a baking dish (no toothpicks needed). Repeat with the remaining chicken. When finished, lightly spray with olive oil.

Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven, top with sauce then cheese.
Bake until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 3 more minutes. Serve with additional sauce on the side and grated cheese.

Sticking with the low carb meal I thought a big heaping side of green beans would hit the spot. Side note  as a child my nick name was “Whitty Whitty Bean Pole” Yes I know very glamours! As a young child you could find me in the garden all summer eating the green beans they were my favorite! I also think it had to do something with the fact that I was mange and looked malnourished, but I like the first story better 🙂  So the recipe I want to share is inspired by a local family style italian place that has the best grean beans on the planet as far as i’m concerned. They are prefectly crisp with the most simple ingredients!

Recipe (serves 4)

• 1 14 oz bag of whole green beans ( It’s not really bean season yet in Wisconsin but when it is I use fresh)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 lemon zested  as well as the juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 

Directions

Bring a pot of water to a boil season with salt and drop beans in for 5-7 minutes. When the beans are cooked though, transfer them to a bowl and toss with lemon zest butter and season with Salt and Pepper. They are like heaven, I love how the lemon adds just the right amount of zip and livens up them beans! So simple yet so good!

Here are a few shots of our lovely Tuesday night meal! I guess you could call it celebratory since I just accepted my first Nursing job offer! Pretty much one of the best days ever 🙂 More on that to come in a future post

So what is your favorite type of meal or type of cuisine? Did you have any weird nick names growing up that related too food??  I’ed love to hear  🙂