Did you ever try to do that? Eat the refrigerator empty? Well I am trying to. Not that I am excessively hungry, it is just that since I am leaving for Florida and I live in ice storm territory. I think I will rest easier if I have little to nothing in my fridge and freezer to go bad should the power fail.
My goalSo for weeks now, I have bought nothing at the grocery store beside milk, bread and toilet paper. Everything in my freezer section is either being eaten or thrown out. For once in my life, I am rejoicing when I find a freezer burn pack. Phew, throw-it-out.
Now I need to clarify here that I am a Cancer (born in July) and one of our traits is a fear of starvation. Look in any Cancer's pantry and you will realize they will live longer then most when famine strikes. I am not quite Mormon with a years supply of food stocked up, but close.
When I lived in Florida, my freezer clean-outs occurred prior to hurricane season. But even with the best of intentions, I can never get it all eaten in time. I am just too thorough a stocker upper. If I were smart, I would shop once a year and then eat my way through to the bottom of the freezer section. I would be a good candidate for buying a half a cow in March or April. Unfortunately, I don't have freezer space for that so I just keep it stocked to overflowing on a weekly basis.
It is not all meat in there. Lots of veggies share space with the chickens. Then there are all those Tupperware items. I do enjoy cooking so I will make large portions of a favorite, and freeze individual portions. Somehow, I never finish off the original batch and there are some dishes that hold, who knows what. Of course there are the "why again am I saving these three slices of ham??"
I never indicated that I wasn't seriously flawed.
That my refrigerator, "ole icy", is also making sounds suspiciously like death throes, this purging may be more important than just ice storm prevention. Pretty sure it is facing a time frame here. Keep toes crossed for me that "ole icy" at least lasts till the new year when I will be back.
Anyone interested in 4 oz packs of chicken breasts or one cup servings of mac and cheeze or beef stew?
Sorry I can't help with freezer contents at bargain basement prices.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lost everything in the great 1000-yr Ice Storm (my title-100 yr is more correct) I didn't restock as heavily. Further I was so stupid-several people with more survival instincts than I, just put their fridge/freeze contents in containers out in the ice--and saved everything! I merely got $500 insurance claim.
The old timer's signs of winter say we'll have TWO ice storms this year. I pray the wooly worms, persimmons and almanac have wacky data.
You're right about Cancerians. My dad is one and you can imagine the state of our food stocks! Everything is always bought keeping in mind a few rainy "years" (not days mind you)!
ReplyDeleteI'm vegetarian otherwise I'd have definitely helped you with the excess ;-) have fun un-stocking the fridge.
Patti, I just went through the emptying of a side by side refrigerator/freezer. We lived for a month with an empty freezer that had questionable coldness, so had emptied it into another freezer, many walking steps away from the kitchen. That was not fun when cooking. Then it was apparent the refrigerator side was faltering too. Thankful it all happened a few weeks before Thanksgiving and not during! :)
ReplyDeleteBecause of living out in the sticks we stock our freezer for the winter and eat it empty. (This is a free standing freezer, not the one with the fridge.) Last year right after I stocked it, we had a huge ice storm and lost power for 7 days. We didn't open the door and amazingly we only lost a few things.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this will be a kinder winter.
Sunny :)
We have 2 big freezers, 2 refidgerators with freezers and all are full! We also have 2 generators as we live in Hurricane land.There really is NO sense in this but it is what it is......
ReplyDeleteGood plan you have there Patti! :)
Yes, in order to defrost our RV frig we will have to eat it empty. Our last frig went out twice during the summer and we didn't have a backup frig (sold it to get a new one and the woman who bought it said it worked perfectly, sometimes old things are better than new) and we lost two freezers and frigs full of food before we moved, that cost us a fortune and the frig a Samsung was only 3 years old - we got a whirlpool after that.
ReplyDeleteI like your goal. I need to work toward something similar even though I will not be wintering in Florida!
ReplyDeleteNitwit,
ReplyDeleteI did that last year with coolers outside and lost very little. It was a bit like camping out. However if it happens when I am in Florida, I can't expect my
cat-litter-cleaning young men to clean out my refrigerator. That is beyond their job description.
Boy I hope you and the wooly worms are wrong about the ice storms. Perhaps I will finally buy that generator.
lostworld,
You are so smart being a vegetarian. That really is my goal but I keep back sliding.
Tell you dad, I understand. It is our nature and we just can't help it.
Wanda,
Oh dear, that is scary. Have you tried putting milk jugs 3/4 full of water with the caps off in the freezer side? I hear it is hard on freezers to run empty. Mine is a side by side also and I plan to put water jugs in mine when I leave.
Sunny,
You were smart not to open the freezer, they do a good job. I usually move the things I use often from the refrigerator like milk and eggs to a cooler and keep the refrigerator door shut. I have my wish in for a kinder winter also or that it will at least wait till I get back.
Carol,
That is on my list this year,a generator. I can do with out a lot for I have gas heat, hotwater and stove. Generator would be nice for the refrigerator.
Kindle, book lights, and my MP3 will take care of entertainment.
Linda,
Doesn't it kill you when you sell something that keeps on ticking much longer than you thought it would. I once sold my VW bug, got a brand new "lemon" that left me on the side of the road and I had to watch my old VW fly past me.
There is karma in there somewhere.
Pat,
Eat away Pat, Nitwit says we are getting 2 ice storms this year. Yikes.
When you start pulling stuff out,it does make you wonder just why you thought it necessary to freeze some of those left overs.
There will be a trip to the land fill in my near future.
I always try to do that too, patti, when we're about to go on the road. I do leave a few jars of things that I won't mind tossing if we lose electricity. We always had way more stuff in our freezer when we were growing our own food. We're looking forward to getting back into that soon.
ReplyDeleteNo need for water filled jugs Patti, I forgot to mention a new fridge had to be bought!
ReplyDeleteinteresting read
ReplyDeletelike the pic
Send the beef stew my way :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, boy. We are eating out the fridge and freezer now before 3 months in Florida. I've used the jugs of water before and it does seem to save electricity.
ReplyDeleteAfter my mother died, I opened one of her closets and found it full of paper products, TP, paper napkins, paper towels, along with Reynolds Wrap, Saran Wrap, etc. I didn't have to buy any of those products for a full year.
ReplyDeleterobin,
ReplyDeleteDo I hear in your comment that you may have found a place? That would be so wonderful for you and Roger have been looking for a long time. I know you want to get back to gardening.
Wanda,
I should have figured that out since yours had been ailing since before Thanksgiving. Glad you are good to go now with a new one.
sm
Thank you so much for visiting and welcome to TNS. Kind of a lonely lemon wasn't it?
Amanda,
Thank you so much, finally some help here. The stew was good, just hard to make a little bit.
Olga,
I learned about the water jugs when I worked for the power company. It makes it easier on your refrigerator or freezer. Glad you use them also.
betty,
When I bought this place the previous owners were hoarders. I have been here five years and still can't use up all the foil they left. Not complaining though.
I really need to eat my freezer and refrigerator empty. They are both crammed full of stuff. I usually stock up on things when they are on special. I must have 10 boxes of shrimp and at least 10 packages of hot dogs in my freezer.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a cancer and I'm not Mormon but I do believe in stocking up and since I AM a little, well maybe a lot, obsessive compulsive, I would surely panic at the thought of an empty freezer or refrigerator! blessings, marlene
ReplyDeleteHi Patti, Even without the possibility of losing electricity--I think it is good to clean our the freezer every once in awhile. Since I freak out at the possibility of eating food that has freezer burn--and/or has been in the freezer WAY too long, we bought a Food Saver Machine last year at Sam's. It's great and sucks the air out of things before freezing them. That does prevent freezer burn ---but we still leave things in there too long.
ReplyDeleteI'm much more willing to throw things away --bits and pieces of left-overs, but my hubby hates to waste ANYTHING. SO--sometimes we eat 'stuff' which I would prefer NOT to eat.. ha
I know you will enjoy your trip to Florida. Are you looking forward to it????/
Hugs,
Betsy
I try to eat mine down so I can clean it out before I go to the store again, but somehow, it never works well for me. Mr. kenju hates left-overs and that makes it hard to get rid of things. Hope your fridge lasts a long time.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a plan. That's way more than I can say for me. We didn't bring the ol freezer this last move. Then the neighbors gave us their old one, which waited til I got it stocked to die. Now we have the problem of how to disposed of it. Hmmm, maybe the neighbors down the lane...
ReplyDeleteSVB,
ReplyDeleteOh,I can so relate.It is those sale items that soon fill the freezer.
SBTL
You have the soul of a Cancer for our food hoarding is a bit compulsive also.
Betsy,
I also bought a devise that sucked the air out of freezer bags but my manufactuerer went out of business and I can no longer find the bags.
Rats.
kenju,
I do understand Mr. kenju. So far, holding breath, the refrigerator is still working. Hope it will hold off till after the 1st.
Brighid,
Even unworking freezers make good rat proof grain bins. Someone will put it to use. Good luck.
I have only a small freezer on top of the fridge. But it's a great idea to eat it empty!
ReplyDeleteLOL, LOL...I am a Cancer, too..And I can relate! Much good luck to you getting through all the food in your Fridge...And if you are anythiug like me, you will find all sorts of "Out Of Date" stuff that can go 'bye bye'...!
ReplyDeleteReader Wil,
ReplyDeleteI guess if we did it regularly, it wouldn't be such a chore. Might be a good new years resolution.
OOLOH
Lots of stuff is going to the land fill I fear. We Cancerians just can't help it can we?
My freezer needs serious attention, too. It has taken me some time to realize that I HATE FREEZER BAGS! I need to go back to container freezing. The frozen bags slip right out when I open the door sometimes. Let me be the first to tell you that a direct hit can break a toe.
ReplyDeleteI went to grocery store today to get stuff to make cookies. Did not realize the weatherman had said the S word. Holy cow. . . the bread and milk battalion were there. Glad to know you're stocked.
Have you read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers? The guy in it fed the stranded dogs of New Orleans with his thawing freezer food. You can ask folks to send their dogs to your house in the event of a hurricane. :)
I'll pass on the handouts. I'm thankful I'll be at home if the power should go off and if it's that cold outside, I will set the stuff in large plastic containers, and lord knows we have plenty of those around, Abe laid in a supply to store things in. Some have about two items so all of the containers with two items can be dumped into one container and I would have about four LARGE Rubbermaid containers with snap on lids. And I would sit them out in the cold/freezing shed till the electric came back on.
ReplyDeleteHave fun in Florida.
Hi Patti,
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed to say that, when ever it was that we last dug our way to the bottom of our freezer we were finding things that were more than 3 years old down there, considerably more.... If the truth be told, there were some frozen gooseberries that were probably 6 or 7 years old!
This is what someone should do, they should make a freezer that stands in the middle of the room, and has doors on all four sides so that you can dig at the contents from all sides. I am sure that remove the, "help there's a woolly mammoth buried in the ice!" situation when going after frozen peas! Mind you, life wouldn't be so interesting if we really knew, and could get at, the things we had in our freezers!
Nice To Read about it !! Interesting..
ReplyDeleteMML
ReplyDeleteI do understand the freezer bags---ouch.
Thanks for the heads up on Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Sounds like my kind of read. What a wonderful idea for not wasting food.
Patty,
I did that too last year for our ice storm. Works really well except here, our temps don't stay cold during the day and dry ice had to be incorporated also. Still it is a workable situation. Hopefully we don't need it this year.
Peter,
Ah you funny fellow. Please let me know what woolly mammoth tastes like. I keep throwing mine out. You should patent that 4 sided freezer.
Unseen,
Thanks so much for stopping by. I enjoy your visits.