I want to empty the freezer

[Wiloswisp]

I have a definite idea of what I want in it but can’t seem to get shot of stuff. I didn’t shop for a couple of weeks and we ate from freezer but now I’m back to the same problem. I offered my mum the fruit but she’s still not taken it four months later.

I thinking of throwing stuff but feel so bad. I just seem to have lots of really random stuff filling it up when I want my batch frozen meals in it.

@DillDanding Egg whites and bananas

Two things it hasn't ever crossed my mind that i could freeze. And really can't think of any reason i'd want to! Maybe give husband just one shelf that he can fill with his "rubbish"? and the rest is for "useful" stuff.

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I found an Easter egg, complete with cardboard box in mine last week

I think that must be mine!

There's a lady locally who makes jam for charity. I'm sure she'd take frozen fruit.

I think your DH might be my long lost twin.

I've been trying to run down our freezer for years. We need a new one because the current one is well over 20 years old and costing a fortune in electricity but all attempts to use things up get thwarted by my being unable to resist buying food. And the reality is that a lot of the time, there's only me to feed (DP gets fed at work and/or works away) and I don't really eat that much, so it never seems to get anywhere near empty.

DP despairs of it, but then he saw DMs freezers (note multiple, and she lives alone) and knows that it's a family trait that I'm unable to overcome.

Amateur.

Everyone knows that if you take things out of the packaging, you can free up space for other things.

I need to organise mine. It was OK but I just did a food shop while I was hungry and now it's full of ice cream

We’ve just had a new fridge freezer and I also have a small freezer and when shopping stuff from the old to new one I did bin a few bits . I have all my drawers organised though so I know what is where and more or less what I’ve got .

There is a sodding fish head in my freezer thanks to my "I'll make stock with it" partner. The fantasy stock will go in the freezer unlabelled and never used. There's nothing wrong with an Oxo or Knorr cube in my opinion.

I have vodka, frozen peas, chips, fishfingers in the fridge-freezer, but the big 5ft long freezer is dedicated to dog food. Just had a big delivery, hopefully it’ll last til February.

Mine has loads of egg whites in. I never make anything with them. Theoretically they should be useful for egg and breadcrumbs on pork chops.

I will use 2 for royal icing but that doesn't solve the problem. Now when I make carbonara I just keep the egg whites and feed them to the dc as yolk-less fried eggs.

I'm also chronic for freezing good value meat from lidl but not cooking with it.

My elderly mother has a habit of bagging random leftovers and slinging them in the chest freezer unlabelled. We once sat down to a delicious dessert of potato crumble ... with custard!

I chuck random bits of frozen fruit into my porridge oats before I microwave them. Easy way to use them up.

If the custard came out of the freezer, just be glad it wasn't cheese sauce.

Use olio. Everytime I've put something on there it's been snapped up.

Potato crumble with cheese sauce sounds okay - as long as she mistook the sugar for salt (which has happened before).

My sister listed everything on a spreadsheet and planned meals from it until it was empty, only shopping for bread, milk and fresh fruit and salad.
She had some random combinations at the end apparently but loved doing it!

Reading this thread, I am just glad I got rid of my big freezer many years ago...
I now have a small 4 drawer freezer that's well organised...
Took me years to release that freezer organising is just like the fridge... except instead of weekly you do it on a monthly basis. Works well and reduces waste.

Frozen bananas are OK for making banana bread. I don't have smoothies but they'd be good for those too, I think. Also allegedly make a good ice cream substitute if blended from frozen and eaten immediately.

I need to defrost my fridge freezer. I keep a list of the door of what's in there. Works well , occasionally I forget to cross things off when I get them out. But mostly is fine

I freeze bananas and then make banana bread. Poor DH finds this infuriating. We’ve just moved and I had several nights of freezer surprise in the run up…I’m hoping good habits will prevail.

Thank you for all the useful ideas.

I do use my notes on my iPad to make a list using the voice recording as I put it back (but who know is Please Pleaee Gillian ring beans )a useful as I know the top of the list is at the bottom of the freezer (well maybe for a week or so). I do try and ‘shop’ from the freezer before I actually do a shop. I rarely put leftovers in the freezer as we tend to have them as lunches the next day.

jam for fruit would be good as then it’s in jars so I think I might just do that.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

For the kids - anything they do not finish, if hubby or I do not want "starters", it goes in the bin. Mostly, this is leftover pasta and sweetcorn.

Adults - we do not bin. Any leftovers go in the fridge and hubby snacks on during the day. It also helps that we have tried to, in the last 6 months, tried to cut down on portion sizes!

In the beginning, when dc1 was young, I tried in earnest to refridgerate / freeze all leftovers. Now, they just reject any re-heated pasta and there is minimal other food waste. And hubby and i have mostly rice dishes these days.

I haven’t read the whole thread, but have you seen/used the Supercook app?

You put in all the food items you have in your cupboards/freezer etc and it generates recipes. I find it really useful when I have a collection of stuff but seem to have nothing to eat.

Make a point of using it. Onions and peppers into a spag Bol. Defrost half the fruit and have with it with youghurt for breakfast. Have chicken breasts with the broccoli. Within 3 weeks your'll have used it all. Meal plan around what you've got.

Egg whites = meringue. Eton mess. Of pavlova.