Organising freezer (making space)

[rhubarbhandsoap]

I love the advice on the Christmas boards and hoping for some wisdom please!

How do you free up space in your freezer?

I want to make room for Christmas dinner prep, extra baking and meals, and plenty of party food.

At the moment I’ve got frozen veg, fruit, ice creams, salmon and lamb (for Christmas) couple of pizzas, mince and sausages. Ice cube trays, random bits of bread, wraps, garlic bread.

Each week I seem to plan meals using stuff in the freezer… and buy more stuff to go in the freezer.

What do you prioritise space for? What do you eat ahead and not waste space on at Christmas? And please can you send me some discipline to eat the food we have and not buy more? 🙃🎄

Two different lists one of what you have to use up. One of what you want to have for the holidays.
With the above I would make a meal plan to use what I have.
Burritos ( mince and wraps)
Veggie pasta ( veg and garlic bread)
Pizza night (with ice cream sundaes) pizza, ice cream and fruit
Sausages and mash
Bread and butter pudding for the random bits of bread. Or blitz them for breadcrumbs
Then buy what you need to prep for Xmas.

I usually make 2 or 3 large quality meals in two batches to serve four each so I can cater for 4 or 8 people last minute. Things like Ina Garten's Bouef Bourgignon, a really lovely chilli and Slow cooked lamb and chestnuts. I have some lidded Pyrex dish so they stack nicely. We're working through the contents of the freezer at the moment to make space. Usually make the gravy ahead of time and freeze too.

NB in terms of using up what you have, I find it helpful to list out all the contents and keep the list on the fridge so I can tick them off as they get used. Some opportunities for creative cooking!

This is so helpful thank you so much!!

Seeing it written out like that I can really see how if stick to this I can spend most of next week’s grocery money on party food the week after, when the freezer has space!

😀🎄

Thank you! I will do that, I keep making a list of what’s in there and not keeping it in sight, then getting sucked in to buying special offers when I do the shopping! It’s going on the fridge along with @Lalanbaba’s meal plan!

Yes this would be great! I wouldn’t mind the freezer being so full if it was with nice meals instead of random ingredients! Thank you!

a tip take the packaging off and freeze in freezer bags

It's about this time of year when I start making random meals from whatever I find lurking in the freezer. It will all be worth it when I have a freezer stocked with party food!

Yes this is a great shout! I know the salmon is in packaging way bigger than it needs to be for one thing! Thank you!

You’re so right, I need to be a bit more long-sighted! Random now = party food joy later 😂 Thank you!

We eat the entire freezer over the next month! No exceptions, makes for some random meals but we all don't mind, and a 100% BAN ON BUYING FREEZER FOOD!

Note to self, there's only so many bananas one can freeze before you need to actually make the banana bread... 😁

I love this! Ok, I need to be way more strict with myself!! I hear you on the bananas, I apparently am obsessed with freezing random bread in all forms 😂😂

You can freeze bananas? In the skin, whole? When you make the banana bread do you defrost the banana first? So many questions…….

This is what my lovely MIL did and we now call it a Maureen after her. She would invite us over especially and declared it was food that needed eating so she had freezer space. She was an incredible cook so hardly an imposition to eat it. Although she is no longer with us her kindness and generosity is always remembered fondly throughout the year but most of all at Christmas.

I also use the things asap that I won’t be using at Christmas.

Also, get the drawers out on the kitchen table and see how you can rearrange things to make the best of the space.

As soon as you have some space, buy something for Christmas so you’re not tempted to buy more non-Christmassy stuff.

Is there anything you can actually buy last minute if you’re cooking it straight away? For example if you want a frozen apple pie maybe you can buy it and cook it straight away then stick it in the fridge?

Keep like with like so you’re not buying repeat items eg all veg in one drawer, not bits here and there.

Yes! I peel them and freeze them in sandwich bags. Then defrost for a few hours or overnight if I remember. Game changer right? And banana bread works well with those brown bananas nobody wants to eat too 😃

Omg I love this and might start calling it a Maureen too 😭🥰

Thank you so much this is so helpful!

I tend to get the drawers out one at a time, never thought of putting them on the table!

And yes I could easily buy on the day I think my brain buys food like I live miles from a town and all the shops are closing!

@rhubarbhandsoap awww that is lovely. It was a yearly thing that we looked forward to and I miss it.

I'm going to call it a Maureen now too. Lovely of you to share with us, sorry you lost her.

@webb thank you, her memory lives on, we talk about her a lot, same with my Mum too. We use their phrases that make us smile. So a gentle reminder that you should film your friends, family, whoever is important to you because you need to hear their voice sometimes and see their faces react rather than just photos. Maureen has been gone 10 years and we didn't know her last Christmas was her last Christmas. She was a special Grandma, really put thought into the little things she did. My Mum was exactly the same, she died 14 years ago but my Dad is still like that, thoughtful whereas FIL is not.

@MissCordeliasCoats what a beautiful legacy your mums left, thanks for sharing ❤️

And emptying the freezer feels much lovelier now, we have a Maureen planned for tomorrow night 🎄🥰

An important reminder @MissCordeliasCoats I never take videos of anyone except the DC, so I'm going to make a proper effort to do so. I don't have any of my parents which you're right, I'd hugely regret if I was to lose them. So thank you.

@rhubarbhandsoap enjoy your random dinners! I've cancelled next weeks Gousto box and will also have Maureen's every night next week, just in time for new fridge freezer to be delivered on the 24th.

@Webbb thank you - you too! And the timing of a new fridge / freezer to be filled with Christmas food is perfection! 🤩🙌