Dawn, you do have a lot of food. hehe

I'm pretty lazy, disorganized and shut the freezer door, already. You're letting the cold air out. That was my Dad's voice, btw. In my head. Speaking of my head, sometimes it's not so much being 'organized' as it is the symmetry. Call it the art of being lazy, if you will. Freezer Food Extra Sensory Perception Abilities? I ain't got.

Congruent containers or taking the time to flash freeze a bag of squishy goodies flat so they can stack symmetrically helps. But what happens to me is: the symmetrical layout helps me remember what is where. Well, better than if I just threw it in there haphazardly or if I had used just any old container in the cabinet to freeze them. It's better than when I sat a baggie upright full of corn kernels instead of flash freezing them in a flat position before storage. I mean, come on. That bag was HUGE. How'd I lose it?

With the old containers, I kinda figured I'd identify the odd-looking containers from all the other weirdly shaped containers and remember clearly. But clearly isn't what happened. It was chaotic and cluttered. The symmetrical layout with congruent containers and flat baggies helps the old brain neurons connect. Memory muscle precognition? I thought they would all look adding to confusion. This helps me.

That and a whole bunch of reorganizing the brain neurons by forcing myself to put things back the way I found them each time I dug something out. Hard for this mental loafer. My neurons are usually amiss. Results are not a-typical.

Of course, there's always the serious problem of insufficient room whereby you mimic master gardeners, like Dawn. You'll have a house freezer, a garage freezer and who knows where else. I bet she has a chicken coupe freezer! (Just playing, Dawn. We all know you donated that one to the dogs to score a Brewsky while in the mouth of Hades.

Thanks, guys. I have a small chest freezer. It has been full to the top almost since we bought it. Only one sliding basket. I am not strong enough to lift a full milk crate (my old method). There are reusable shopping bags in there now, SUPPOSEDLY with like items in them. There are a lot of flat bags with home made chicken broth in there SOMEWHERE, but must be in the bottom. I think there are tomatoes in there still from last year, and maybe blackberries. How can they ALL be in the bottom?

I had an upright freezer, it lasted about 2 years. It is much easier to find things in them, but I thought the chest would be more ecconomical, and nobody can leave the door ajar, like they did when my upright died.

Bon, When we first moved here, I don't believe there was a Sam's in Sherman TX like there is now, or one in Denton, TX, so we had to drive to Fort Worth or Lewisville, TX. Back then, we only made that long drive to do bulk buying monthly, so I learned to buy a lot or to do without it. Hence, the freezer mania......

For a while, after the only actual grocery store in town closed down a few years ago, the nearest actual grocery store (as opposed to a gas station/convenience store) was either in Ardmore or Gainesville. So, we learned not to run out of stuff or it was a long, long drive to get whatever it was. You learn, particularly in the era of skyrocketing gas prices to stock up or do without whatever it is. Once I got so used to stocking up on everything, it just became our normal routine. You just have to be really good at "rotation", moving older food forward in storage and putting newer items of the same time behind it....and you watch your food's expiration dates.

Amy, How they all end up in the bottom is a good question, but it happens. I do have to go through the freezer regularly (quarterly is nice, but at most I probably manage it twice a year) and check dates and make sure older stuff isn't sinking to the bottom.

One year when we were visiting Tim's parents in PA in the 1980s, she dug into her deep freeze and pulled out frozen blueberries that had been in there, frozen inside a jar, for 7 or 8 years, and we ate them and they tasted great. I'm not sure I'd eat anything that old found in my freezer though. I do remember that Fred and Jo gave us some frozen cherries and frozen Apricots from their freezer that had been in there 5 or 6 years and they tasted great. That was at least a decade ago. Still, I like to eat food before it has been in the freezer too long.

With chicken broth and chicken stock, I freeze it in the plastic freezer cases and keep it in the deep freeze inside the house because it is so easy to grab it when I need it.

I have to add that when we are having constant wildfires, like in 2005, 2006, 2008-09 and 2011, I shift all my frozen veggies out to the garage deep freeze and convert the one inside to a Firefighter Food Freezer. I spend my spare time in between fires baking mass quantities of muffins, cookies, cinnamon rolls, sausage balls, soups, casseroles, bacon-wrapped chicken bites, etc. and freezing them. Then, when we have big fires and need lots of food, I have stuff prepared and can defrost it in the microwave while we load up the SUV with cold drinks, ice and snacks. A woman who lives in the country has to be flexible, so I can shift from being a food gardener/gatherer/preserver to being a baker/cook in no time flat, with just a little strategic moving around of all the freezer stuff. Other than a few weeks of bad fire weather here and there, we haven't had a prolonged bad fire year in a long time. I hope I'm not out of practice!

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the incredibly bad fire years (down here, at least, I'm not sure about points further north) of 2005-06 and 2008-09 followed the incredibly wet years of 2004 and 2007. Oh, and the horrible 2011 followed a really wet 2010. This is why I cannot enjoy a wet year, because I have a fire chief husband who watches all the incredible green growth, shaking his head and saying "when this dries up, it is just gonna be more fuel for fires". I don't care if he is right. I just don't want to have the wet year ruined by focusing on the inevitable coming dry year with fires fueled by all the growth from the wet years. I always hope for 2 wet years in a row, but it almost never happens.

I won't even mention the dorm refrigerator left over from Chris' college years, except to say that if some gardener needs all the space in the garage fridge to temporarily hold a big harvest for a day or two while she processes it, then all she has to do is plan ahead, plug in the 4.3 cubic foot dorm fridge, and she can move the beer, bottled water and Gatorade to the dorm fridge, and fill up the bigger fridge with broccoli, cabbage, spinach, carrots, corn or whatever.

A long time ago we visited my aunt and uncle's retirement place in NE TX. We'd been there before but not in a few years. In the interim, they bought several more lake lots and expanded their garden. They bought a tractor. They added a big metal shop building (tractor needed a home!) and my uncle built in great storage bins for sweet potatoes and such. They had several freezers. I didn't really "get it" when I saw those extra freezers, but I still lived in the city with a tiny garden back then. I surely do get it now. (grin)

Dawn

Reminds me of my paternal grandparents. The depression ended, but their stubborn frugality continued. Payed out very handsomely for my grandparents. My parents lost the remaining in 2008. Some kids never learn ...

I was watching my grandmother as she sifted through containers in that deep freezer. I was the only one willing to eat stuff from that freezer. They had one in the garage. It was full, too. I only wished I could have spent more time with memma in the garden.

What Is it with freezers? I am so careful and orderly when I put stuff in, but everything ends up all catywampus in the bottom. I stopped worrying about it a long time ago. I just go dig. It doesn't matter if it's the side freezer inside or the chest freezer in the garage.

Yes my mother could pull miracles out of that big ole freezer.

I have a small fridge with a freezer compartment at the top. Not much space, so organization is a must.

Or at least, have your stuff marked so you can find what you are looking for.

I copied my younger sisters system.

Every container is numbered. Then the number is listed in the book with the content, and the last column has the date.

I generally look at what I want to eat in my book, and then pull the corresponding numbered container out.

Works for me.

Moni

Freezer accounting. I think my neurons just fizzed out.

I need to organize better. I am not the gardener that Dawn is, but I still shop in bulk in addition to gardening. Some years we also buy a beef (or half), but we haven't for a few years. I was gone a lot during the last two years so things that once stayed organized aren't any longer. I have a side-by-side (which I hate), in my kitchen and a dorm fridge in the safe room, which hold drinks, Gatorade, and extra eggs. Then I have another refrigerator, a small chest freezer, and a large upright. That just sounds like too many, doesn't it?

Moni, You are so much more organized than I am. What would happen here is that if I made a list in the first place, then I'd either lose it, or the dog would eat it, or something.

Carol, You never can have too many. When one is empty and not needed, I just make sure it is totally empty and then I unplug it. Easy peasy.

I wasn't as fond of a side-by-side as I thought I would be, That's the kind of fridge we had the entire time here until we bought our new fridge around August or September of 2013. The new fridge is a French door refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom. It is huge (either 33 or 34 c.f......I never can remember) and holds tons and tons of stuff. I love it. In fact, I love it more than I thought I would. You can put almost anything inside of it, and during the peak harvest periods I can have bags and bags of fresh produce in it and still have plenty of room for the usual normal refrigerated foods.

If I had an empty freezer or fridge in today's heat, I might open the door and sit inside of it to cool down.

Once when we were at a Bass Pro Shop store in Texas, they had huge walk-in freezers for several thousand dollars. I assume their target customers for that item are serious outdoorsmen with tons of fish, fowl or game to preserve. I thought to myself that it would be great to have a walk-in fridge or freezer in the garage, but quickly discarded that idea. If I had something that big, stuff would get lost in it and I wouldn't find it for 20 years.

Dawn

I'd get lost. Bill would neva find me, again.

Dawn with a walk in freezer that's scary. If that ever happens I am assured we are ready for the apocalypse. Just kidding'!!!!!!

Ha, my husband would just fill up a walk in, sigh, he's kind of a food hoarder. I had to laugh, I would loose a book, too. Years ago, I was much more organized. I was pretty good at keeping a list, but a book would be too much. I did index cards, menu on the front, groceries needed on the back. Then I would pull out the menus and turn them over for the grocery list. Half the time DH doesn't label what he freezes and I couldn't get him to cross off what he takes out. But he COOKS, and he does it well, so I guess I will just live with it. Maybe I will get more freezer containers.

walk in fridge.. aka beer cave in some convenience stores are AWESOME, when I am out riding and over heated.

All I need to do is go in there for a few minutes and I am all cooled off. :)

I used to offer the 7-11 folks I would stock their shelves in the fridges. LOL

Moni

Last week I was doing some volunteer work at the local Christian Help center and the sink has a sprayer that is quite high above the sink and the front of my shirt was soaked. Everyone told me I was going to get cold, but instead, I was still hot. I went into the walk-in refrigerator and stayed about 5 minutes until I could cool down before starting another project. If I had a walk-in at home I could probably keep cool. My sister is worse than I am and is always hot.

Moni I love that system but I too would lose the book or littleman would take it thinking it was his map. He loves maps. My two freezers are in for a cleaning since I am moving and will be putting them at my sons house. I will get to see whats really in there!