In this short article, I'd like to share with you how we organize our freezer. We usually stock up our food supply for up to a month so that we can save on gas, time, and energy. A weekly trip to the supermarket no longer works for our family.
So how do you store a 3-4 weeks supply of frozen food in the freezer?
Part. Label. Store
On weekdays, I usually cook one viand for the whole day. Our leftovers from lunch can still satisfy our cravings come dinnertime. However if the preschooler has a big appetite for that day, I cook a new dish for dinner.
We all are aware that thawing meat and re-freezing them is a big no-no. So it's important for me to store meet into portions (for each dish) so that it's easier to thaw and it's safer for our health. This is why we (Hubby usually does this task after groceries) part and place the meat portions in small plastic containers.
Here's an example: For a veggie dish with pork as sahog, I'd usually cook only a quarter of a kilo. So, a 250g menudo cut (for this particular dish) has been parted and stored in a container.
The containers we use come with different colored lids to easily identify meat without opening them - which is pork, poultry, and beef. The rectangular clear container has the pork cuts, the meats in rectangular black containers with clear lids are beef, the small square container with green lid has ground beef, etc. For fish, we usually just leave the fish in their original packaging since most frozen fish in the supermarket (we don't buy at wet markets because it's too far; the nearest talipapa is another story) are packed by size/weight and their packaging are reliable to ensure their freshness.
There are times that we would ran out of a colored lid for a particular meat, let's say ground beef. So what we usually do is store it in square plastic container that is the same color as the ones we use for ground pork, take a strip of washi tape, and place it on the side of the container. By doing so, I'd be reminded that that particular container has ground beef and not ground pork.
Probably this is the hardest part of the process if you're trying to squeeze all of those meat inside the freezer.
Remember the story of the glass container, rocks, sand, and water? That's pretty much how you should store.
First, put in the fridge the BIG containers.
Next, the medium ones. And then the small containers.
It's easier to browse in your fridge if the small containers are on top and the bulky ones at the bottom.
Sometimes I make columns. Like the left portion would be all beef, and then pork in the middle, and then chicken at the right. But I've always find it more useful to store them by size. Since the containers are labeled (color coded), it's easy for me to spot what I'm looking for.
On the door of our freezer is where we place frozen veggies, whole chicken (yes, it fits there), and other frozen food.
We've been using this system for months and it's working well for us.
How about you, do you have any organizing ideas to share? I'd love to learn from you!
So how do you store a 3-4 weeks supply of frozen food in the freezer?
Part. Label. Store
Part
On weekdays, I usually cook one viand for the whole day. Our leftovers from lunch can still satisfy our cravings come dinnertime. However if the preschooler has a big appetite for that day, I cook a new dish for dinner.
We all are aware that thawing meat and re-freezing them is a big no-no. So it's important for me to store meet into portions (for each dish) so that it's easier to thaw and it's safer for our health. This is why we (Hubby usually does this task after groceries) part and place the meat portions in small plastic containers.
Here's an example: For a veggie dish with pork as sahog, I'd usually cook only a quarter of a kilo. So, a 250g menudo cut (for this particular dish) has been parted and stored in a container.
Label
The containers we use come with different colored lids to easily identify meat without opening them - which is pork, poultry, and beef. The rectangular clear container has the pork cuts, the meats in rectangular black containers with clear lids are beef, the small square container with green lid has ground beef, etc. For fish, we usually just leave the fish in their original packaging since most frozen fish in the supermarket (we don't buy at wet markets because it's too far; the nearest talipapa is another story) are packed by size/weight and their packaging are reliable to ensure their freshness.
There are times that we would ran out of a colored lid for a particular meat, let's say ground beef. So what we usually do is store it in square plastic container that is the same color as the ones we use for ground pork, take a strip of washi tape, and place it on the side of the container. By doing so, I'd be reminded that that particular container has ground beef and not ground pork.
 |
| Label your containers with washi tapes. |
Store
Probably this is the hardest part of the process if you're trying to squeeze all of those meat inside the freezer.
Remember the story of the glass container, rocks, sand, and water? That's pretty much how you should store.
First, put in the fridge the BIG containers.
Next, the medium ones. And then the small containers.
It's easier to browse in your fridge if the small containers are on top and the bulky ones at the bottom.
Sometimes I make columns. Like the left portion would be all beef, and then pork in the middle, and then chicken at the right. But I've always find it more useful to store them by size. Since the containers are labeled (color coded), it's easy for me to spot what I'm looking for.
 |
| Another way of stacking meat in the freezer - columns |
On the door of our freezer is where we place frozen veggies, whole chicken (yes, it fits there), and other frozen food.
We've been using this system for months and it's working well for us.
How about you, do you have any organizing ideas to share? I'd love to learn from you!
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