Eating out of the Freezer/Pantry for January

[100AcreWood]

Curious if other folks do this. I read about this on a blog a few years ago. I'm a couponer so I tend to stock up on food we normally eat. Usually by January our cabinets are pretty full. I'm planning to eat out of the freezer and pantry (making food only from what we have already) in order to clear out cupboards and save some money. I'll still buy perishable foods like milk, cheese, fruit, etc.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

We do it. Our local IGA has a truckload sale every other month so I stock up on meats during that week. We should have our next one some time on February so I need to catalog what we still have and use it up.

 

[Jerseymomof2]

I usually do this. The only problem I have is that there are sometimes such good sales in Jan that I have to go out and keep my stockpile up.

My unemployment has run out this year so more then likely we will be doing this for 2014.

 

[danygirl]

Did it last month because we had a giant unexpected car repair (3000). Just bought dairy and produce all month

 

[supergoofy]

I may have to try this.

I am in the construction field and winter time we slow down and even have weeks of no work. So I stockpile all summer when work is good in the event we don't have work.

Well its January and I have yet to get laid off and looks like we have a couple jobs ahead of us.

A nice purge may be a good thing.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I don't stock pile for certain time of the year.

We've been eating out a lot and junk food around all the parties and get
togethers. We are ready to start eating homemade food-lol! DD15 requested baked ham, mash potatoes/gravy and corn for New years dinner. Boy was it delicious!!! So we will have ham, eggs(leftover from baking treats) and hash browns. Then for lunch we will have ham sandwiches, Dinner ham, mash potatoes/gravy and corn. Once the Ham is gone , then I will hit the freezer and pantry . I want to use up as much as I can and only go grocery hopping for lil odds and ends.

I also bought a kitchen aid so I plan on using up stuff to make rolls and pizza dough

 

[tryin]

I need to do this. i have way too much stuff in my pantry. i also need to do more menu planning.

 

[pocomom]

I'm in! I always keep a large amount of food on hand, from sales but also because our weather and our schedules sometimes make it hard to get out. Like to make sure I have a good assortment of stuff I can make if my trip to the store is delayed. But we have no income for the next month due to a gap in contract start and end dates, so I would like to keep expenses right now as low as possible!
The problem for me is we eat a lot of fresh vegetables etc., and I don't want to eat less healthy so I'll need to get creative and substitute frozen when I can. Today I'm cleaning out the fridge and cooking and freezing anything that won't get used in time ... I'm going for no waste too!

 

[100AcreWood]

I'm in! I always keep a large amount of food on hand, from sales but also because our weather and our schedules sometimes make it hard to get out. Like to make sure I have a good assortment of stuff I can make if my trip to the store is delayed. But we have no income for the next month due to a gap in contract start and end dates, so I would like to keep expenses right now as low as possible!
The problem for me is we eat a lot of fresh vegetables etc., and I don't want to eat less healthy so I'll need to get creative and substitute frozen when I can. Today I'm cleaning out the fridge and cooking and freezing anything that won't get used in time ... I'm going for no waste too!

That's a great idea too! I feel like we throw out too much food. Such a waste.

 

[WAHkoMom]

I have a side-by-side fridge in the kitchen and a Trio fridge with a small freezer in the garage. Both freezers are full and I am going to go inspect both now, so I can come up with some menu ideas for January.

 

[mommajo143]

We try & skip the grocery once every 6-8 weeks. We use up what we have, and it helps us save $$. I tend to accumulate lots if extra stuff with coupons, sales, etc.

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[Priorityonecb]

We do this a few times a year as well. Dh spent the morning doing a deep clean/purge of the freezer and fridge. It makes us sick to throw away things we never got to. Our freezer and pantry are filled, so why do I keep spending $100 a week in new things? Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Sadie22]

How are you deciding what to throw away? A BEST BY date does not mean toss the food after that date.

 

[Priorityonecb]

I threw away things that I bought that no one wanted, that was just sitting in there forever. Also, I'd portioned out meats for future meals that were in the back and I'd forgotten about. Some had freezer burn so those got tossed. Just things like that.

 

[lucyem]

We have been doing this all fall. We are moving and our house is for sale. The move is too far/too involved to worry about perishables. Besides food I am trying to go through all kinds of random things, extra shampoos and cleaners etc. The hardest has been all the ground beef my DH ordered with our 1/2 cow last year, I really do not know what he was thinking. I have run out of ideas and we are all so sick of it. Hamburgers, meatballs, meatloaf, spaghetti with beef sauce, tacos, …… repeat.

 

[Sadie22]

I threw away things that I bought that no one wanted, that was just sitting in there forever. Also, I'd portioned out meats for future meals that were in the back and I'd forgotten about. Some had freezer burn so those got tossed. Just things like that.

I would try a different recipe to make unfamiliar foods more palatable to the family. There are some veggies that DH does not prefer, so they get hidden in casseroles or served to company. It would have to be some pretty bad freezer burn for me not to be able to salvage the food by stewing it in a sauce or making a soup with it with other ingredients. I won't say I never throw something out, but it's very, very rare.

 

[supergoofy]

A tip I found for "old" or "freezer burn" meat is to toss in the crock pot for 12-14 hours.

There is no way to go wrong here. Toss in some cream style soup or enchilada sauce.

 

[tavettava]

I can do this with my pantry but not my freezer. I have 2 packs of cube steak, 3 packs (6 in each) pork chops, and a small pork tenderloin in my freezer. Need to stock up on meat.

 

[dreamin_disney]

How are you deciding what to throw away? A BEST BY date does not mean toss the food after that date.

I have a box of jiffy indivual cups that expired in June 2013 brand new box that I found in back of my pantry. Is it still good or can I toss????

I have a large bag o French's fried crispy onions that people use for green bean casseroles but we don't like green bean casserole. I bought to make chicken. What else can it be used for besides for hamburgers and breading chicken?

I also have a new bag of sliced almonds

Dh didn't know about this challenge but he went into the freezer and pulled out some frozen breaded chicken strips and told me to make a breaded
chicken salad because he bought a bag of salad. lol!

He didn't know I went through the freezer earlier and made a list. heres what I found

Freezer completed Meals
1. Chrispy chicken salad-Completed- made chicken strips, onion rings, canned corn and salad
2. Asian night- found mini egg rolls, stir fry veggies and frozen brown rice packages

Freezer Single items found so I need to pick up items to complete meals
1. frozen min corn cobs- maybe in a soup or as a side with chicken
2. new bag of onion ringsonion rings completed and 1/2 serving of crinkle frozen fries- Thinking of making Cheeseburgers
3. box of frozen mozzarella cheese sticks
4. Box of fish sticks- fish tacos

Pantry items
1. 6 cans of evaporated milk
2. 1 can of baked beans
3. bag of rice
4. 3 cans of hominy- pozole
5 .3 large cans of pinto beans- tosadas, nachos and as a side
6. 4 cans of chicken both
7. 5 cans of tuna
8. 2 large cans of enchilada sauce
9. 2 cans of cornused up one can
10. 3 cans of green beans
11. 2 boxes of scallop potatoes
couple of other stuff too

Baking stuff
1. 3 packs of chocolate almond bark and 1 pack of white bark
2. large Costco size bag of chocolate chips
3. bag of flour all purpose
4. large bag of regular sugar
5. 5 boxes of cake mix
6. 2 packages of cookie mix
7. large container of hersheys cocoa- need ideas for using this up please
8. bag of brown sugar and powdered sugar
9. large container of oatmeal
10. 3 boxes of brownies
that's all I got to see before being interrupted

I just need to go buy some chicken some type of beef

When I go back to work I plan
I baking some goodies for Holiday potlucks
Jan just because- oatmeal cookies
Feb- sugar heart cookies (use up some flour and sugar)
March- cupcakes( cake box)
April- Easter- cake pops (cake box) Plus for family gathering

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

We did this for several months. After being out of work for 18 months and recovering from back surgery, we have depleted out freezer/pantry stockpile. Things are getting back to normal. Our extra freezer is actually empty and it panics me. lol I'm not used to that.
An easy way to stock up the freezer is to cook double and freeze the extras. I always over cook for that reason.