Today I finally tackled the chest freezer. It actually wasn’t that bad due to the “Freezer Thawing Episode of Fall ’11”. We lost everything in our crammed to the gills freezer during a laundry room remodeling oversight so I was only dealing with stuff I’ve managed to toss in over the past couple of months. Here are the photos (if you go to the links below each one, you can see the items I’ve labeled):
Before:
I need a better container for the meat but this will do for now:
Flickr link
After:
Flickr link
I now know exactly what is in there and can find everything. I need some more plastic boxes so that as I add more things I can keep them organized but that can wait until after this month of no shopping. I was pleased to discover that I had a lot more vegetables than I had thought. We eat a LOT of veggies around here.
So for those keeping score, I’ve now organized my refrigerator, freezer compartment of fridge, chest freezer and not long ago, my baking cabinet and upper pantry. I did the spice cabinet a few months ago and it’s still in decent shape. Tomorrow I will do the lower pantry and then I’ll have all my food storage areas in order.
Having a good idea of what I have on hand means I can do a better job of planning meals and utilizing what I buy. It’s also a good start for my larger plan of organizing my whole house this year. We have way too much stuff and I want to start weeding out the things we aren’t using. I know there are people who could use these things and it’s selfish of me to hang on to them. Plus, I’m feeling a very strong need to simplify my life in many ways. I’m not sure where I’m heading with all this but I feel as though I’m on the cusp of some big changes.
I SO need to do this! Good job!
I have those same baskets to use in my freezer. I lose a bit of space due to the way they slope outwards and the handles, but it's so much easier for me with my height challenge to reach into the freezer bottom and pull out a basket, lol. I also like keeping things organized in such a way that I can say "Here's beef, there's vegetable, there's peas and beans…"
Your freezers look great! This post inspired me to clean out my entire refrigerator and use of those odds and ends that are taking up valuable space.