Shop Your Freezer

Recently, I've started lurking on fashion/style blogs. One expression that the stylish writers use again and again is "shop your closet". It's about re-evaluating the clothing you already own and finding new ways to put existing pieces together. I think. I'm new to this whole fashion thing, but I'm pretty sure that's the basic idea. I like this concept. In fact, I like it so much that I'm going to expand it to the kitchen. For the next few weeks I'm going to "shop my freezer". 


We have two freezers in our home: a basic freezer atop the fridge and a compact chest freezer in the basement. Last week I braved the sub-zero temperatures and plowed my way through the contents of each. There were some interesting discoveries. Several unidentifiable items, apparently relics from the last ice-age, were sent away for further analysis. "Away" in this case means to the dump. I hate to waste food, but it had to go.  


Even after I culled the science experiments there was way, way more food than I realized. I don't know what I'm hoarding it for. Emergencies? Should disaster strike, hydro will be the first thing to go. Without an operational fridge, freezer, stove or oven I'll never be able to use everything before it goes funky. It's time to use this stuff. As Gretchen Rubin would say, it's time to spend out. 


When I plan our meals for the week I usually sit down with some recipes and the sale flyer. Then I look at what's in the fridge and see what needs to be used first. Then, if I think of it, and I have some meals left to plan, I look to see what's in the freezer. For the next while I'm going to start with the freezer and plan from that. It will be a challenge, but I'm kind of excited about it.  I'll let you know how it goes. I'm already looking forward to getting back to the food aspect of the blog.