Cleaning the fridge and freezer

[Michael in FtW]

Originally Posted by babetoo

...cooking only for one, lets out big pots of stuff or the leftovers just get funneled into the fridg. and the same cycle starts.

Well, I must admit that I have the luxury of cooking for a much larger crowd of 3 ... me, myself and I.

I make up pots of stuff and freeze it in meal sized portions - and then eat what I have previously prepared. It is something that I learned to do from watching the "Frugal Gourmet" - SPEND ONE DAY COOKING ... spend a week eating.

[MexicoKaren]

Babetoo, I have to admit that I sometimes do the same. Although we have people over for dinner often, usually there are just the two of us. Sometimes, when I make a big pot of something that I KNOW we aren't going to finish, I tuck the rest in the freezer. I did that not long ago with some albondigas (mexican meatballs) that were delicious when I made them, but they didn't freeze well. The seasoning just did not survive. Fortunately, we have three enthusiastic dogs who absolutely love everything I cook. So I seldom throw anything out - I either compost it, or supplement the dogs' diet. Little bits of bags of vegetables go into soup or a pot of beans, even if they are freezer-burned a bit, they seem to plump back up. Right now, a plastic container of baked french toast is staring at me from the freezer, taking up alot of room and I'm pretty sure we are not going to want to eat it EVER - we didn't really like it the first time around. Any day now, it is hitting the garbage. Too much of a sugar high for the doggies. I really try hard not to waste anything, but sometimes you just have to face the inevitable..................

[Saphellae]

I'd absolutely love to make things in advance to put in the freezer - but we have a tiny apartment sized fridge and freezer that doesn't allow it.

So, I try and plan our meals for the week. For example, this week we're having chicken wings, ribs, homemade pizza, and a couple of quiche pies to get rid of the eggs and cream in the fridge. If I notice some food is about to go bad I try and get my S.O to eat it, he is usually the garbage can around here as we call him lol.

[DaveSoMD]

I clean out the fridge every Saturday morning, that way I know what I have for the week to cook with and what I need to put on the shopping list. I usualy end up tossing questionable veg into my compost pile.

I keep my bits of frozen veg unless they look freezer burned. I usually end up using them on pot pies or stews. I usually don't have them around more than a few months so that's not been a big problem.

I vaccume seal my chicken/turkey carcuses or ham bones so they will last until I am ready for them. I can keep them 6 months if they are sealed.

I try to plan my week's menu to use up stuff in the fridge/freezer or reuse parts of previous meals from the week, and I alway plan in a leftover meal. Since I started planning a menu every week I have found that I don't have a lot of stuff left that needs to get thrown out and I ended up spending less on groceries than I used too. Now I admit I do end up tossing out some food but not as much as I used to.