Scary, huh? The last straw with this ridiculously cluttered up freezer occurred yesterday. Four cups of frozen vegetable broth in a Ziplock bag came flying out of the freezer and missed my son’s head by a few inches. Yeah, that would have left a mark.
It is sometimes difficult to prepare meals from scratch, but that is mainly fault only of my own. I bring these frustrations on myself because my cabinets and freezer are in such turmoil that I cannot see what is in there to prepare. Not good for a Scratch Mommy!
It was time to implement a permanent solution for my freezer debacle. Organization.
Step 1 – Step Away From The Freezer
I am trying to be very thrifty these days, so I first looked around my house for bins. I looked ALL around my house…there was nothing that would fit my needs, so out to town I went.
Now, I typically avoid the big box stores. I believe that I vote with my dollars, and I vote to support local businesses as much as I can. So, out I went to my favorite local store searching for bins/boxes/something; I found nothing. Well, a big box store was close by and called my name. I went in and they did have what I needed (and they were on sale – five bins for less than $10), so I made my purchase…unfortunately at the big box store. Hey, you can’t win them all, right!?
If you like to shop on Amazon, I found these and they are very comparable to what I purchased and they are working out very well…
Step 2 – Avoid Flying Pigs
It’s time…to unload! I tell you, there was flying ham, bacon, and sausage everywhere! Don’t worry, loyal readers, my sweet Oliver was preoccupied with his John Deere Tractor and not anywhere near the line of fire.
I just piled everything up on the counter and went to work…toss this, keep this, what in the world is this, place this in the pile of fruits, this goes in the meat pile, I think I should make a bin for all of my stocks, and so on. What started out as a daunting task slowly became liberating as I could see a system coming into place. A system …I’ve dreamed of having one of those.
Step 3 – Whistle While You Clean
Why, yes…I did, in fact, use my Homemade, Non-Toxic Household Cleaner to remove all of the gunk from inside my freezer ( how does that stuff get in there, anyway… ). If you are out, or if yours is still brewing, please just select a cleaner that is safe (non-toxic, no crazy chemicals, pure, natural cleaning). Your food goes in here, so let’s keep it clean from not only gunk, but from nasty chemicals.
Step 4 – Breathe Sighs Of Relief And Accomplishment
Ahhhhhhh …
Neatly sorted, easy to locate, healthy food all within my grasp. I really should have done this a long time ago. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll do my cabinets soon.
When will you breathe your sighs?
What big house organization projects have you tackled lately? What projects do you want or need to tackle? I love hearing from all of you! 🙂
xoxo,
Jess, aka Scratch Mommy
This post was shared at– Farm Girl Blog Fest, Better Mom Monday’s Link-up, Show Me What You Got, Frugal Tuesday Tip, Domestically Devine Tuesday, Simply Natural Saturdays, Tuesday Confessional, The HomeAcre Hop, Your Green Resource, Farm Girl Blog Fest, Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop, Simple Living Wednesdays, How To Tuesday.
Comments 18
Well done, Jessica!! It certainly is easier to plan dinner when you know what you have. I speak from experience. hehehe
Kathie
Thanks, Kathie!
It can be quite frustrating, huh? Nobody likes pigs flying out of the freezer at them. 😉
LOVE YOUR FREEZER! I am so inspired (and a little jealous). I am the queen of open and duck for cover whenever the freezer door is ajar. I might have to visit the big box store myself today. Great post!
Haha, the old “duck for cover!”
I’m glad that you enjoyed the post. I am so happy that I finally did this. Now I’m thinking, “Seriously, what took me so long!?”
Looks fabulous now! I’ve never been able to figure out how the freezer gets dirty either. Complete mystery!
What a major transformation! I really need to clean out our freezer, too. I’m one of those people who shove bags of veggie scraps, leftover bread heels, beef or chicken bones, etc., in the freezer… and then forget about them rather than using the things. Thanks for the reminder about how dangerous an overcrowded freezer can get. I wanted to invite you to join my How To Tuesday link party, if you haven’t already joined . It would be wonderful to have you!
http://housewifehowtos.com/linkage/link-party-2/how-to-tuesday-link-party-12-and-features/
I like the idea of the freezer baskets. I will try this myself.
I have seen the organizers used in closets and drawers, but never the freezer. What a great idea!
Thanks, Melanie! This has had such a positive impact on my adventures in the kitchen. 😉
My sister has a large chest freezer and she uses milk crate to organize and it’s super easy to remove when cleaning the freezer.
Good for you! I need to do a little organizing too 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this on The HomeAcre Hop!
Hope to see you on Thursday at:
http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/03/the-homeacre-h…iveaway-winner.html
I changed the starting time for the hop to Thurs morning and we’ll be announcing the winner of the seed giveaway!
I keep meaning to do the bins thing. I think it looks so great! I do keep a running list of what is in my freezer on one of those magnetic grocery pads. That helps a lot! I don’t even have to open the freezer to know what is in there.
Great idea. I need to do this in my big basement freezer which is truly an avalanche waiting to happen!
That looks great! You’ve inspired me to get some bins for organizing my freezer!
What a terrific idea, I am cleaning out my freezers tomorrow
Like your idea of the storage containers My solution is to put wide rubber bands around the frozen foods. .I save the rubber bands placed around vegetables in grocery stores. The rubber bands keeps the food pkgs from sliding out. I don’t have to use very many for it to work. No more freezer cascade.
Love this! We did something similar using wire containers that used to house potatoes and onions 🙂 I tear the poor fridge apart periodically and wash it just like the dishes with dish soap and water. Does the trick!
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