Keeping Your Freezer Full

My freezer is always full. I empty things out of boxes or excess packaging to make sure there is more room and organize it so that it's easy to take things in and out.

I do like frozen vegetables because they are useful when you haven't had time to go shopping and they are also handy to use in things like soups or pies. I do invest in good freezer bags and containers because it is worth it and they can last a long time if looked after.

 

Same here, if I don't have a freezer and pantry full of stuff at all times I start getting nervous. Freezers in particular though can be tricky - it's easy to stock up on whatever pantry items because you can stick them just about anywhere, but you only have so much limited freezer space, so you have to prioritize it much more.

I generally prefer to stock up on basic things like frozen fresh meats than processed stuff in bulky packaging that just takes up space more than anything. There were times where I would score a great deal on a case of some Stouffers frozen stuff for example, only to realize that all that excess packaging just wasted a bunch of space in my freezer.

I got an entire case of Stouffer's flat bread pizzas one time for only $7 on sale (from their outlet store which I happened to live nearby). That was a total of about 12 of them, for less than $1 each, which would normally sell for about $3.50-$4 each at the grocery stores. But the case filled up my whole freezer, and for a week or so, I couldn't fit anything else in there.

 

We try to keep our freezer full for the same reason. There have been many times where we've run low on cash for whatever reason so having that backup is really nice. I try to freeze some of whatever I make especially soups and chillis!

 

Frozen veggies make up a hefty portion of my diet, so I try to keep them well stocked at all times. I’ve also gotten into cooking ahead of time and freezing portions, which is incredibly handy. Or even cooking individual ingredients and freezing them for later use.

 

Our freezer is always full of meat and fish. These are the foods that we stock up on as it is quite far to buy fresh meats and fishes from our place. Veggies and fruits are bought everyday as there is a nearby stall out our place. We also stock up on some processed breakfast foods that we need.

 

Generally speaking - as I live in the middle of nowhere and can often get cut off from civilization for more than a week at a time during bad weather and grow all my own produce - as well as batch cook as I always cook everything from scratch - my freezer is almost always full of absolutely everything that I need.

However on the few occasions when supplies do start to diminish - which does sometimes occur prior to the start of the new growing season - as it costs more to run a freezer with less in it - as the motor has to work harder in order to regulate the temperature and therefore it uses more electricity - I usually fill the gaps with plastic water bottles filled with water until I can replenish the supplies - as I've found doing that helps it to run more economically and keep the costs down.

 

Rosyrain, I also like this method of doing things! Meat is very expensive in supermarkets. So I look out for promotions and stock up then, even though my freezer is only small as we live in tiny apartment. There's also this butcher's where they sell fantastic meat at amazing prices. I guess because it's on the outskirts of the city. All you do is place your order and it's delivered to you. So I can't wait to move to a bigger place so I can proper stock up!

 

I do like my house to be full of food, especially my freezer because the food lasts a long time!

I also like to stock up on canned goods, as I agree when it gets close to pay day it can get to be a struggle, but you can still make really nice and healthy meals from cans!

 

I would sometimes hit up our local restaurant supply stores and food distributors which sell cases of stuff in bulk, and fill up my freezer with a case of salmon and or a case of chicken or steaks. What's nice about these is that they are each individually shrink wrapped portions, so it saves me the trouble of having to do all of that when I get home from the store, and the shrink wrapped packaging protects better against freezer burn. You just have to be careful to read the labels and make sure the meats aren't pre-marinated or soaked in some salt solution - those are usually pretty low quality and way too salty.

I used to buy the large cases of Hot Pockets too, to bring to lunch each day. And I almost always have a large bag of frozen fries in my freezer, as well as some individually portioned fresh ground beef patties. Worst case scenario when I get home from work and can't figure out what I want to eat, I can almost always go for a burger and fries, so I just toss them on a baking sheet and into the oven for about 30-40 minutes.

 

I like to plan a weeks worth of food and have the food available whether I actually make those meals I planned. That way I know I have enough food, I freeze leftovers and cook large meals to have enough to freeze enough for another meal.

 

I try to just keep it moderately stocked because if I buy and put in too much I only end up ignoring a lot of the other items I keep. If I buy just enough then I could keep track of my products a little more and I get to finish what I buy first before I get new freezer products. Admittedly it's more just because of my personal habits though and not really the best way to go about it since extra trips to the grocery counts for a bit of additional expense but I make sure I have enough to last me a good enough amount of time that makes the trips worth it.

 

My freezer is pretty small, but it's often packed full. I tend to cook extra, so I have full cooked leftovers ready to go once they're defrosted. I have a labeler, but don't use it, so the freezer is often packed with mystery leftovers, and I don't know what they are until they're thawed, and ready to eat. It can be fun doing it this way, but I still always swear that I'm going to start using the labeler, so I can plan meals better.

 

I keep it moderately full. I like to cook a few meals for the week, so I can freeze and then use them during the week. I think I focus more on pantry staples and prefer to have a well stocked pantry. Don't get me wrong, I want my freezer to be stocked too, but I put more of my focus on having bags of flour(I make lots of bread: breadsticks, pizza dough, sub sandwich bread, tortillas and etc..), sugar, oatmeal, rice, beans( I always cook big batches and then freeze them), peanut butter, canned tomatoes and other pantry staples. For me, if my pantry isn't well stocked then I feel like our household is in trouble.

 

I hate my freezer! I have a fridge that has the ice and water tap on the front..which I really like, but the freezer itself is small and a big problem because the space is small, to make room for the water and ice dispenser. It is not very spacious at all ,and you can't put pizza in the box in there. Plus I share it with my roommate so there is a limit as to how much we can put in there. I would love to have an additional freezer. but it isn't in the cards at this point in time.

 

I actually just came back doing some groceries shopping, and as usual, i'm frustrated that I couldn't get many things I wanted because of the size of my fridge! There were so many things I could've got, including meat, but I'm limited by the size of my fridge. As soon as we move house, hopefully to a larger place, the first thing I'm getting is a large fridge, with a large freezer LOL

 

I like keeping my pantry and freezer full. For me it's a way of saving money. If chicken is on sale I'll buy a few packs and freeze them. If frozen vegetables are on sale I'll buy several packs too. Then I never have to buy them at full price. I also stock up on bread or meat at Costco and divide them into smaller portions and freeze in freezer bags. I like that I always a variety of meat to choose from for supper. We recently renovated and I have my old fridge downstairs in the basement. It's great. Now I have two freezers to and two fridge spaces.

 

You could have taken off the outer packaging and stored the actual pizzas in your freezer. The plastic wrapping around the pizzas is what protects them, not the cardboard. I once got an amazing deal on DiGiorno pizzas because I combined a bunch of coupons with a sale. The pizzas took up too much room in the chest freezer so I took off the outer boxes and stored them in their plastic wrappings. Nothing bad happened. I think the cardboard boxes on frozen foods are mostly for branding and don't do anything to protect them from freezer burn.