No post yesterday.  I really have a hard time getting anything done when the kids are here.  After two snow days last week, Tuesday & Wednesday were snow days this week and then yesterday they had a planned half day.  Fingers crossed that next week’s Nor’Easter doesn’t materialize so we can all get back on track!

Some background on the freezer challenge:

• I kicked it off in November and updated the status in January.
• The goal was not to stop shopping, but to use up things that had been in the freezer for a while.  I’m allowed to make new purchases and buy things to complement what I’m using up.

Items on original meat list left after January update:

• 6 packages (3-4 per pk) of chicken thighs with bones & skin
• 1 5.5-lb package of chicken thighs with bones & skin (1 meal for us)
• 8 5 packages (2-3 per pk) of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 9 packages (4-5 per pk) of thin-sliced chicken breasts
• 3 lbs chicken wings (These are probably waiting for summer smoking.)
• 3 1 3-lb chuck roasts (We need two for a meal so I’m hoping this goes on sale one more time before summer so I can grab one more to use this up.)
• 4 salmon fillets
• 4 lbs of tilapia fillets
• 5 lbs 1 lb of ground turkey (We always use 2 lbs so I’ll purchase another 3 lb pack from BJ’s to use this up.  Then everything will be fresh.)

New meat that has appeared since January:

• 5 salmon fillets (I purchased a new bulk bag because there wasn’t enough for us in the old one.  But, I plan to use these this weekend so the salmon will stay freshly turned over.
• 4 lbs pork loin chunks cut for stew
• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1 bag of beef bones for stock
• 1 package of chicken nuggets

As you can see the picture on the left is pretty organized, but the freezer on the right is where the remaining trouble is!

Obviously we still have a bunch of chicken to eat up.  I’ll supplement this with other proteins.

Ingredients left after the January update:

• Partial BJ’s bag of sliced almonds
• Partial BJ’s bag of walnuts (I have used some of these, but there’s still about half a bag left.)
• 7 1-cup packages of blueberries (these are ones we picked and I froze in vacuum bags)
• 9 basil-in-chicken-broth cubes
• 12 bags of egg whites, mix of 4-ct and 8-ct
• 3 8-oz blocks of cream cheese

Clearly I used next to nothing in this category, probably because we were sick for most of February.  A lot of these will be used for desserts which don’t make the top of the list when you’re sick.

Miscellaneous items left after the January update:

• ½ box of popsicles (these are waiting for summer)
• 13 7 loaves of banana bread
• 18 17 servings of butternut squash ravioli (I might be off on this count as I didn’t remove everything from the freezer, but its a lot.  These will be lunches for me.) I did eat a few, but I obviously didn’t count them all because there are still this many left!
• 2 loaves of gingerbread

I did slightly better here, but most all of these need to go before summer as they won’t get eaten then.  Obviously the popsicles can wait.  And, a few of the butternut squash ravioli would be fine.  But nothing here will age really well.

I’ll do a final update in June before we switch to the summer diet.  I better be done with all the meat (except maybe the wings) and all of the miscellaneous (with the few exceptions mentioned) by then!

Next week I’ll update the pantry situation, although nothing there is nearly as critical as the freezer was.

When I kicked this off in November, I mentioned that my goal was to use things up but not necessarily stop shopping.  I’m attempting to meal plan around what I already have first and purchase what might be necessary to flesh this out.

So, how are we doing?

Meat:

• 2 packages of breakfast sausage (1 meal for us)
• 1 package of bacon
• 6 packages (3-4 per pk) of chicken thighs with bones & skin
• 1 5.5-lb package of chicken thighs with bones & skin (1 meal for us)
• 11 8 packages (2-3 per pk) of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 9 packages (4-5 per pk) of thin-sliced chicken breasts
• 3 lbs chicken wings
• 1 pork butt
• 1 package of pork tenderloin (thawing as I write for dinner this weekend)
• 3 3-lb chuck roasts
• 6 NY strip steaks – plain (we ate these with pesto last week)
• 1 package (6-8 per pk) 4 of salmon filets
• 4 lbs of tilapia filets
• 7 5 lbs of ground turkey

This freezer does look better.

I’d say meat went pretty well as roughly half of it got used up.  Considering it was the holiday season with special meals that don’t necessarily come from the freezer, this is not too bad.  The other categories didn’t go as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 box of puff pastry This went with the salmon.
• Partial BJ’s bag of sliced almonds
• Partial BJ’s bag of walnuts
• 7 1-cup packages of blueberries (these are ones we picked and I froze in vacuum bags)
• 1 cup diced red pepper I made a batch of sous vide eggs with these.
• 9 basil-in-chicken-broth cubes
• 12 bags of egg whites, mix of 4-ct and 8-ct
• 3 8-oz blocks of cream cheese

Miscellaneous:

• ½ box of popsicles (not sure what is going to happen to this given that its about 20° outside now)
• 8 13 loaves of banana bread (since counting I thawed 2 and sent them as school snacks) Yes, I did use some as school snacks.  But, I also got a container of yogurt for a Friday Freebie and this is my best use for yogurt.  So, I made some more!
• 1 pan of sausage stuffing (was eaten for Thanksgiving)
• 18 servings of butternut squash ravioli (I might be off on this count as I didn’t remove everything from the freezer, but its a lot.  These will be lunches for me.) I did eat a few, but I obviously didn’t count them all because there are still this many left!
• 2 loaves of gingerbread
• 1 package of fudge

I’m going to continue chipping away at this list, and like the pantry will provide another update in March before spring sports kick off.

Like the pantry, the freezers need a refresh.  Now, this is not a freezer challenge where I’m not allowed to buy anything.  This is a “see what’s been in there a long time and plan a way to use it up,” mission.  So, I’m not auditing everything.  And, I’m not going to stop buying groceries either.

I actually did the inventory just before Thanksgiving and was going to write about it last week, but life got in the way and that didn’t happen.  So, here goes.

Meat:

• 2 packages of breakfast sausage (1 meal for us)
• 1 package of bacon
• 6 packages (3-4 per pk) of chicken thighs with bones & skin
• 1 5.5-lb package of chicken thighs with bones & skin (1 meal for us)
• 11 packages (2-3 per pk) of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 9 packages (4-5 per pk) of thin-sliced chicken breasts
• 3 lbs chicken wings
• 1 pork butt
• 1 package of pork tenderloin (thawing as I write for dinner this weekend)
• 3 3-lb chuck roasts
• 6 NY strip steaks – plain (we ate these with pesto last week)
• 1 package (6-8 per pk) of salmon filets
• 4 lbs of tilapia filets
• 7 lbs of ground turkey

Ingredients:

• 1 box of puff pastry
• Partial BJ’s bag of sliced almonds
• Partial BJ’s bag of walnuts
• 7 1-cup packages of blueberries (these are ones we picked and I froze in vacuum bags)
• 1 cup diced red pepper
• 9 basil-in-chicken-broth cubes
• 12 bags of egg whites, mix of 4-ct and 8-ct
• 3 8-oz blocks of cream cheese

Miscellaneous:

• ½ box of popsicles (not sure what is going to happen to this given that its about 20° outside now)
• 8 loaves of banana bread (since counting I thawed 2 and sent them as school snacks)
• 1 pan of sausage stuffing (was eaten for Thanksgiving)
• 18 servings of butternut squash ravioli (I might be off on this count as I didn’t remove everything from the freezer, but its a lot.  These will be lunches for me.)
• 2 loaves of gingerbread
• 1 package of fudge

So, its not everything.  You will definitely see things in the pictures that are not in this list.  But, it is what has been around for longer than maybe I’d like and should be moved along.  I’ll plan to update this and the pantry status at the beginning of January so you can see how we’ve been doing eating things up.  In the meantime, watch the menus to see what appears!