Tackling the Freezer Compartment

One memory I have of my upbringing is that my family always had a completely crammed-to-the-gills freezer in the garage. At times, it even had a bungee cord tied to the front to keep it closed! (Okay, Mom and Dad, enough skeletons out of our closet--I mean freezer!) My parents have always been very thrifty, and they have always been on the lookout for bargain prices to stock up on essentials. Hence, the full freezer.

Last fall Mike and I cleaned out our upright freezer in the basement...no fun task! But the freezer in the kitchen hadn't been cleaned for quite awhile. It was difficult to find anything without rooting around in it for awhile.

Cleaning out refrigerators and freezers is not one of my favorite kitchen tasks! But I sure do like the results!

Here is the "before":



You can see what I mean...that everything is crammed in there!

When I started excavating, I found several bags worth of spelt flour, and three packages of puff pastry sheets that expired a few years ago!! Out they went.

Amazingly, I found only one banana! (I like to freeze bananas so I have them for baking.)

I threw out a bunch of old bread and rolls, but mostly it was a reorganization effort.

Fruit in one area, cheese in another, meat and fish in another, flours on the bottom shelf (the spelt flour consolidated in two plastic containers!), and vegetables in another corner.



Ice, nuts, herbs, ricotta, and tomato paste on the door.



The freezer is still fullish, but at least we will know where everything is!