Organizing Pet Peeve #3: There’s Chaos in My Freezer

Freezer organizing can seem like a daunting task. If you were to open your refrigerator freezer right now, what would you see? An organized space with handy containers separating veggies from fish? Or would you see a state of chaos with freezer-burned rolls and crystallized mystery meats?

I used to belong to the chaos in the freezer crowd. It seemed to me that if I left things in there long enough I no longer felt guilty about throwing them out. I generally find I’m not really interested in eating food when I can’t identify its origins….I’m funny that way. And, of course, chaos in my freezer was all rather frustrating and a complete waste of money.

This all changed for me when I found a simple solution:

clearly labelled plastic bins

They work well because:

1. They categorize freezer items
2. You can actually see everything in your freezer
3. They put a limit on how much you can fit in each one

Here are 4 steps for easy freezer organizing:

Step 1:  Measure freezer shelf dimensions and purchase enough clear plastic bins to fill the shelves.   Home Depot has shoe box size bins for .97.

Step 2: Empty freezer completely and discard all old or unrecognizable food.

Step 3: Categorize remaining food (i.e. meat and poultry; veggies and fruit; bread products)

Step 4:  Label bins to match categories and fill with frozen food.

 

Other hints:

• Always label and date any food that goes into the freezer unless it’s already clearly marked with an expiry date.
• When meal planning for the week, check what’s in the freezer first before buying more food.

I hope you enjoy the results as much as I do.

With calm, cool thoughts,

Maggie

 

 Teaser photo attribution: By Chip Harlan