Using up everything out of the freezer.

I also have blackboard film on the fridge integrated door panel.
When we have enough food listed, I do a screen shot to refer to in the supermarket.

I think once a year is fine to defrost a freezer. Think we've maybe not even done it that frequently!
Most food is safe even after a very very long time in the freezer, although it might not taste as good .
We did stock up a bit over the last couple of years - partly concerns over Brexit consequences - so have full freezers now.
I have started attaching lists of contents to the freezer and cupboard doors , including dates and the number remaining, so that we can easily see what's there, can choose the oldest tin/pack when taking something out, and refer to them when preparing a list for shopping.
Probably what comes of having been a maths teacher who also enjoys spreadsheets - can't help it!

My grandson just says "Random", when I dish up a dinner made from freezer contents.

I remember when my brother went to serve his two years National Service they sent him on a special course to ‘build him up’. He was 5’9” and less than 9 stone. Little did they know that, although you could play a tune on his ribs, he had an enormous appetite. After four weeks in Blackpool, being fed large meals and taking part in body-building exercises, he was still as skinny as ever. When he was de-mobbed two years later he still hadn’t put on any weight.
One of my sons is the same. He was so light, as a baby, that the doctor was worried about him, but he was as fit as a fiddle, and was walking at eight months!

Sounds appetising ?

I think I must be unusual as don’t possess a proper freezer. We .have a small area on top of the fridge which contains ice cream and peas and an emergency loaf and milk. We eat fresh food every day and when I had a freezer the food just used to icily sit there for years until it got thrown away, as unidentifiable.,I’m sure a freezer is invaluable for large families of course
and I do rather wish for one during current episode. But I know from previous experience that it would not be utilised to best effect .

2 years ago my electricity went off while I was on holiday and everything defrosted. I came home to puddles on the floor from both freezers and everything had to be discarded. I added up the value of everything and realised I couldn't even claim on the insurance as it was below the excess! I couldn't believe how much was frozen bread which went in just because it was stale and only fit for toast! After the clean up I decided to see if I could manage with just one freezer. I managed fine until the run up to Christmas in 2019 when I put the second one on to cope with extra supplies for family visiting for Christmas. I had hoped to empty one afterwards and go back to just using one but in the first lockdown with panic buying and queuing for shops I ended up stocking up in case I had to isolate. The good thing is I'm more organised than I used to be. I no-longer buy a bargain in the reduced section, stick it in the freezer then forget it's there. I make homemade dishes to freeze for quick meals and try to use things fairly quickly so they're in the best condition. Now I'm retired, batch cooking works well so wouldn't expect too many surprises now. When the pandemic is over I may try going back to a single freezer again but now I do more home cooking it may not be possible.

Such a good idea. Going to copy it but may need to persuade dh. I do have a couple of resolutions already; wear more jewellery and to use random emoji's. ?

Same, I seem to have bags and bags of savoury mince , along with portions of pies, pastry and a variety of mostly bags of mystery items!

I’ve found two plastic bags labelled ‘Chick bits’ with little foil parcels inside (leftover roast chicken) so one of those will be added to egg fried rice tonight, after marinating in soy sauce.

I’ve ordered a small ceramic flan dish, to replace the one that dh broke, so I can use some of the pastry in a just-enough-for-two quiche, rather than chucking it out for the birds. Which is not much help with the More-Frugal-January aim, but I dare say there will be some scraps for the birds anyway - they’re very keen on uncooked pastry.

The easiest thing to do is just to buy a frost free freezer. I have a large fridge freezer and a tall freezer and they are both frost free which means they never I've up. They might be a bit dearer but they are worth it.

My freezer will be emptied. I ordered meat for Christmas, I thought in lbs but it was kgs! I find it hard to relate to kgs of anything! Note in diary for next Christmas!

Mine’s frost free, so no ice to thaw - it’s just a question of using up random bits and getting shot of sundry crumbs and spilt frozen peas, followed by a wash.

I found some homemade garlic bread I’d forgotten about, so that will go nicely with the tub labelled SPAG (bol sauce).

I have a small under the counter, frost free freezer. Instructions tell me to check it annually to see if there has been any frost built up. I did a few weeks back, and there had been none. I just took out the two drawers and put, them one on top of the other in my spare bedroom next door to my kitchen and placed the other items from the top shelf on top of those. Only took me about ten minutes to wipe down the internal part of the freezer. Then I checked each drawer etc. and have a typed list on the front of that.

Before I moved into my flat I had a very large upright frost-free freezer in my Utility Room. TBH, being so large it encouraged me to fill it up with all sorts of things that I purchased knowing I could store them. A lot of these items eventually ended up getting thrown away - and whereas, I do miss the room I had in that big one, I am much more disciplined now that I have the small one, and do not not just purchase food items for storing in there, so have far less waste.

My frost free freezer did ice up when the door left open overnight. I had to empty out and shroud contents in blankets then defrost using saucepans of very hot water. Took ages as the ice was behind a solid panel at the back. But better than replacing the freezer!

Why would you ever throw out useable food?

The only time I have ever thrown out food was when my 37 year old chest freezer died a death when we were away.

DD has strongly advised me against getting a frostfree freezer because she says it dessicates the food in it, even when thoroughly wrapped. And I must stay when we lived with her for several months after her accident, emptied her freezer, we had to dispose of some food because it was inedible, it was so dry and shrunken.

Oh, that's interesting.
I have been thinking about a new fridge freezer so, in ten years time when I finally decide to buy one, I'll remember that.

Has anyone else noticed that they haven't had their daily email from Lara for a few days? I'm wondering what's happening or have I been banned.

MOnica, I have had frost free freezers for years and have, genuinely, never had that problem.

I too have had frost freezers for years and I haven’t had the problem you mention M0nica
Something which would have changed my decision when purchasing a freezer.

I got my first FF freezer some 30 years ago and have never had that problem. It’s happened occasionally that something has got pushed to the back and it’s a bit frayed around the edges after spending two years deep frozen but with normal usage, never.

DD had a really bad problem with it. Food only in the freezer for 3 or 4 weeks was OK, but anything longer than that and it started to suffer.

I cleared out her freezer when we ran her house for 2 months and threw a lot of food away. Her freezer was a fridge freezer so the freezer part was not large and she kept an eye on the stock, so none had been frozen for more than 6 months.

Think I must have been a rogue one MOnica. Please don't put others off buying one!!

I just made a quiche with leftover pastry out of the freezer, and some streaky bacon ditto, that was left over from Christmas, plus cheese and onion.
The few scraps of pastry that were left over went out to the birds, and disappeared in 5 minutes.