A PROJECT UPDATE

THE DEEP FREEZE PROJECT

 For at least 33 of the 35 years we've been married, I've had a small chest deep freezer.  I've found it invaluable in the ways you'd expect:  baking & freezing bread, keeping a selection of frozen meats and veggies, taking advantage of sales to stock up.  At best, chest freezers don't lend themselves to finding things easily:  what you want is always at the bottom of the pile.   I've compounded that inherent problem by ignoring any semblance of organization and letting WILLY-NILLY rule.   Yep, 33 years of digging and wondering what a "freezer surprise" might reveal when thawed.

Until now.  This is the kind of Getting My Life In Order retirement was made for!

I was pleased when an Internet search revealed a number of options for organizing one's deep freeze, and chose one that appealed to me.  Given that inherent challenge of finding things, this one is simple and inexpensive.

The basic organization is to collect like items in some sort of bag.  I chose recyclable bags because they're inexpensive, readily available, easy to look into, and colorful.  I mined our existing collection of bags, purchased several for no more than $.50 each, and acquired some for free.  All the meats are divided into appropriate portions for cooking for two and (oh, my) even labeled with portion weight and date frozen.

Beef is divided into hamburger and "other":

 Chicken and fish:

 

Pork:

Veggies: 

 The bread I bake (these two bags made & given to me by Mom years ago):

 

Other breads (muffins, hamburger buns, pitas):

Tortillas:  

While there's still an element of finding, it's easy to grab the bags by their handles and lift them out to peer about underneath.

Our freezer lives its life on the back deck, exposed to the elements.  Last year we said goodbye to our original freezer when those 32 years caught up with it.  Since this freezer is new, I wanted some sort of cover that gives it protection while still allowing easy access.  This is the kind of job that makes my brain freeze (hahahahah), so I asked Ron to see if he could devise something suitable.  This is his tarp-and-tape solution.  It's working very well.  Eventually the sun will destroy the tarp, but it's inexpensive and simple enough (for Ron) to put another one together.

 Since I use the freezer daily, this project is constantly rewarding.  I'm giving it two thumbs up!