Keeping Track of the Season’s Frozen Bounty!

If you’re one of those people making the switch to organic or locally grown food, your freezer is probably playing a more important role than ever in your food preserving efforts. All it takes is one garden in overdrive and a few visits to a U-pick farm to overwhelm your freezer, especially if it’s attached to your refrigerator.

But perhaps taking the next big step to purchase an upright or chest freezer causes you worry. After all, how will you keep track of all that food? Will growing or u-picking your own fruits and vegetables really be cheaper in the end? What about food waste? How can you be sure you’ll use all the food you pick and prepare?

As with most things, the best advice is to “Keep it simple.” You don’t need any fancy record books to keep track of your freezer bounty. Just make a list of what goes in and what comes out. Whether you keep the list on the freezer door or on an Excel spreadsheet doesn’t matter. Just record what goes in, and when you take something out, cross the item off the list. It’ll look something like this: Spaghetti Sauce (6). When you remove one container, cross off the (6) and write (5). Sorting alphabetically and adding storage dates would be a great idea too, but keep things simple to start.

Next group like things together. If you have six containers of sauce and another bushel of plum tomatoes lands in your lap, go ahead and make more sauce. When it’s ready to freeze, take the time to put your new containers next to the ones you already have. If space allows, do what your grocer does: put older things within reach and the newer items at the bottom of the shelf or pile.

The next tip has to do with choosing a convenient unit size for what you’re storing. Whether you’re single, part of a two-person team, or feeding a family of six, think in terms of portion size when you’re packaging food for the freezer. The mantra here is “Smaller is better.” For example, soup saved in two-cup servings allows you to control portions. If everybody’s home, go ahead and toss four to six packages of minestrone into the sauce pan. But if it’s just you having an afternoon lunch, one package will do it, and the leftovers (if there are any) will be manageable.

As a final space-saving, waste-not strategy, preserve your meals, side dishes, condiments, sauces, marinades, cookies, etc., in like-size containers. This practice will make them easier to store and locate. Even more importantly, you’ll have better control over waste once the item’s out of the freezer. For the best seal, consider a vacuum sealer or good quality freezer bags. Simply spoon in whatever portion works best, squeeze out the air, and seal. Once these packages are frozen through, (do it in your regular freezer), stack them flat to save space.

Oh, and don’t forget to add them to your list!

By Daniel Offer. Daniel owns and manages the Facebook tool Chit Chat. Chit Chat makes it possible to make use of Facebook messaging from this popular Facebook addon.