Sorting out freezer

[MadauntofA]

Right, I'm fed up not knowing what is in my packed to the brim freezer - I'm going to take everything out and try and organise.Any tips for keeping things in a more orderly way and not just shoving things in as we buy/ make them???

I usually make a list as I repack the freezer and then use that for meal planning to use stuff up. When you discover that there are three boxes of fish fingers at the bottom, then you know it needs to go on the menu for the next few weeks.

just the obvious - when I reorganise mine I put all the veg in one drawer, the cooked stuff ready to defrost and eat into another, fresh meat into another and odds and sods in another. It never lasts though. Just sorting it out is brilliant - I find all sorts of lost treasures in there.

List sounds good. I think we are going to have a freezer only week or two to eat some of the stuff that has been in there for ages!

Top drawer - veggies, fish, icecreams
Middle drawer - meat
Bottom drawer - anything else incl fruit.

DH sorted my freezer for me a couple of weeks ago.

Unplugged the chest freezer in garage to use power tool.

You can guess the rest.

Oh no! Izzy, did you have to throw lots away?

Yep!

Have a fridge freezer in house so don't use chest freezer every day.

Found it three days later. Salvaged bacon and a pack of smoked salmon was all I could risk. Oh and some butter.

Lots of soggy frozen veg, mince , chicken portions. Meals id cooked for the freezer.

But worst of all pots of stock which I always have in freezer and use all the time!!

Such a waste.

If you bag up sauces or stock or chili etc to freeze lay it flat to start the freeze. They are then flat and unifor!m shape and easy to 'file' in a drawer rather than a big puddle at the bottom of the bag. This has made a bid difference to our drawers!

Such a good tip travail - never thought of that!!

I have a dry wipe pen blutacked to the freezer door. When I put something in, I write it on the door, when I take something out I wipe it off the door. This works for me as my freezer is inside a cupboard, might not look so pretty if your freezer is on show.

Another good tip - I think a list of some sort is the way to go and I have a randoms cupboard next to my freezer so could put on the inside of that door. Izzy, you could have given hubby a meal of random cooked veg mush for dinner (grin)

Sorry, just realised - I'm new to MN!

I know !

But he was very apologetic!

It's about my only tip as I am hardly a domestic goddess. Though I am doing a bulk cook up this weekend to restock!