Bottom of the freezer...

[Constance]

I dug way down in the deep freeze yesterday and found a sirloin steak labeled '04, and a big 1-1/2" thick t-bone labeled '01, both frozen in ziplocks, then wrapped in foil. I thawed them both, thinking to make swiss steak out of the sirloin and give the t-bone to the dog. But the t-bone looked and smelled fine, so I cut the meat off, saved the bone for the dog, and added it along with the sirloin. I S&P'd, sprinkled with flour, topped with thinly sliced onion rings, quartered russet potatoes and sliced carrots, S&Ping them too.
Then I discovered I was out of tomato sauce, so I used a can of tomato soup and a can of diced tomatoes, juice and all, covered with foil and stuck in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and a half.
It was delicious...you could cut the meat with a fork and it had no "funky" taste at all.

Waste not, want not.

 

[GB]

That is great that the meat survived that long. Sounds like a wonderful meal.

 

[mudbug]

Way to go, Constance. I have a chunk of mystery meat that's been in my freezer so long I can't even tell what it is.

 

[Constance]

LOL, Mudbug! I often freeze leftover soups, stews and casseroles for another meal. I always think I'll remember what it was, but I don't.
Sometimes when my husband comes home from work and wants to know what's for supper, I say, "Whatever's in that casserole dish."
Why not thaw that mystery meat and think about making some BBQ with it? Throw it in the crockpot with a bottle of Maul's and slap it on a bun. On the other hand, if it smells funky, throw it out.

By the way, the dog loved the bone!

 

[Andy M.]

I have been burned more than once by taking something out of the freezer for dinner only to find that it wasn't what I thought! Most recently, I thought I was defrosting Hot and Sour soup and it turned out to be gumbo! It just doesn't go with egg rolls and spare ribs!

Now, I insist everything get labeled. I write on the tops of rubbermaid and gladware containers with a white board marker and always complete the labels on a ziplok. ...or almost always

 

[Russell]

I would never do that. It might be because I am afraid of getting food poisoning. I have some bad experiences...well I don't, but I know someone who got e coli and now I am afraid to use week-old salad dressing.

 

[Dove]

We defrosted the freezer yesterday and found lots of "what do you think this is???
The garbage can will be fed very well next Tuesday.

 

[buckytom]

i worked a double the other night, and got home about 1am, hungry and tired. i thought dw had left me a plate of crabcakes, but they were so good she finished them off. grrrrrrr.

since i was too tired to start cooking something, and wasn't interested in going out to get fast food, i dug in the freezer and found a quart of something strange looking, kinda orangey-brown. i put it in the nuker to get it out of the container, then reheated it on the stove. it was the last quart of daub provencal (lamb's neck stew) that i made a while ago. it was delicious (but then again a dog turd would have been at that time of the morning) with some italian bread and a glass of ice cold beer. i went to sleep in the recliner with a full belly...

 

[Alix]

(but then again a dog turd would have been at that time of the morning) with some italian bread and a glass of ice cold beer. i went to sleep in the recliner with a full belly...

Oh you wordsmith you.

 

[Ishbel]

Alix is right, BT - your evocative prose is .... well...... evocative!

 

[Constance]

Russel, you don't have to worry about that if the food has stayed frozen and is properly thawed. It just gets freezer burn and dries out after a while. Poultry is the worst...I never keep it over 6 months, except for the vac-packed turkeys and whole chickens, and those seldom last that long.
Dove, I cleaned my freezer out last fall...had to! The guys are hunters, and in 3 hunting seasons brought home 350 lbs. of venison. We made 2 kinds of bulk sausage (sweet and hot Italian) and brats. We had some made into venison salami, and that stuff is delicious! The rest, all hams and loins, my husband and I cut and packaged.
They are also bass fishermen. We freeze the fish in water in ziplocks, and it lasts a long time that way. The fillets are wonderful fried of course, but the larger whole ones are terrific on the grill.

 

[Shunka]

I agree with you Constance about packaging the right way and freezing. I always pay attention to the color and smell of whatever I take out of the freezer and very seldom have I had any problems, as long as it was packaged right. I'm glad that you did not have to throw out the steaks you found!! I hate waste!!!!