This is one of those posts with nothing of any interest or value to say, so why am I even writing this? I suppose it is a self indulgence.
Most of the time I write about what we had for dinner (or supper if you live in Alabama) but I am using stuff from the freezer and not buying much this month, so my ingredient list is limited, and I am not going to buy anything outside of the regular fruit and salad fixings for the month. Let me be the first to admit we have had some spartan meals lately, and sadly I just don't care. I really just want everything left from last years freezer "fill" and canning sessions to be out of here by June. Around here, June marks the start of produce season and I want to can and freeze as much local produce as possible.
There are a couple of farms reasonably close to me that use no pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and though the farms are not certified organic they use safe and sustainable farming techniques. I love buying by the bushel from them, but it does mean I have to go into immediate processing mode. I want to make sure I have plenty of freezer space and lots of canning jars in time for the food onslaught.
Son3 is headed home from school in early June for a brief summer visit and is bringing 2 or 3 friends with him. This will be a great time to cook a gigantic pan of frozen pastichio, especially since it is one of Son3's favorite foods. It is delicious and I think they will like it. (Hopefully they like ethnic foods.) I also have a frozen ham I plan on cooking for them and between those 2 items a lot of space will empty. Yay! Maybe I need to start this annually and have house guests in late May/early June just to help eat the frozen excess.
The only things I am adding to the freezer right now are stellar poultry and meat buys. I am down to a very few packs of previously frozen proteins and should have them finished off by the end of May. Anything I add to the freezer goes on a different shelf so I won't mistakenly grab it, but since it is getting very close to Memorial Day I am seeing incredible sales on ground chuck, chicken breasts, and pork butts, so I am taking advantage of the reduced prices to stock up for later.
Freezer tip: Keep a pair of gloves by the freezer. (Mine hang from a magnetic clamp on the side of the freezer) That way you can move a lot of freezer foods without freezing your hands.
I'm cyclical in my efforts to clean out or stock the freezer. I try to keep it stocked with protein at all time, but like to clean out the produce. I have pesto from our first basil bush nearly three years ago. I've skipped pesto making until we can use it all up. I believe I'm in the home stretch. Same for strawberry jam. Use it up, and make no more until it's gone! :-)
ReplyDeleteI am still using jam I made 2 years ago. I think I finally figured out we are not big jam eaters, so this year I am only making hot pepper jelly and basil jelly (Some for Christmas gifts leaving us 2 small jars of each). I agree about the no more until it is gone.
DeleteA pair of dedicated freezer gloves is a great idea. I finally found some cooked chicken breast amongst all the ground pork. Someone is sending me a new canner, so I will be canning all the ground pork. Remember, I am allergic to beef. So, any recipe that calls for beef is made with ground pork.
ReplyDeleteIt seems pepper jelly from cayennes is the only thing I finish off. From now on, I will only make one canner of any jelly.
Sigh...no freezer to clean out since my large upright gave up the ghost and I lost all the food. The tiny one over the refrigerator is packed, though.
Mine was full, but I am slowly using things from it.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good idea! I have a tiny apartment size freezer so am constantly having to take a lot out to get to the goodies in the bottom
ReplyDeleteThe gloves are a must, at least for me they are
DeleteI suspect Son3 and his friends will make spectacular inroads into your freezer. Just in the nick of time.
ReplyDeleteI truly hope they do, for about as quickly as they leave silver queen corn will be in season and I will need the space!
DeleteThere is nothing as cold as a walk in freezer. We keep jackets and gloves in our lockers at work for when we have to go in there. And if it's at the end of the day after we've mopped the kitchen, our wet shoes will stick to the floor or our wet pants will freeze to a crisp. Good times. lol I just checked my wee little freezer at home. Inside is a loaf of bread, half a package of chicken fingers and a few frozen veggies. So sad.
ReplyDeleteI have worked in places with walk ins before. You are right about how blooming cold it is. I think the absolute worst is when you have to deep clean it.
DeleteCall me odd, but I actually like the challenge of making meals when we are getting low. However, both hubs and daughter seem to feel that without a full to bursting fridge, freezer, and pantry, life will cease as we know it. I had every intent of cooking don to nothing-clean sweep, and stat over, but too much intervention. Now I have th mess, and am sure there is throw aways food lurking and I hate food waste. Keep writing about the daily and th mundane-it is the stuff of life that I think blog readers enjoy the most. (I do.)
ReplyDeleteI like the challenge usually, but TheHub has been getting in from work so late that we have just been eating whatever I can make in 15 minutes or less.
DeleteIf it were not for the mundane I would not be living at all.
I volunteer to be a house guest who eats your offerings.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Just head to Alabama and I'll find something to eat!
DeleteGreat tip about the gloves. I'll do that. Thanks. I need to organize my chest freezer but just hate freezing my hands off. Getting full and need to see everything I've got and figure out some meal plans.
ReplyDeleteTake care and hope you have a great week.
The gloves are essential for me. Slowly but surely I am whittling down the frozen inventory.
DeleteI was not familiar with pastichio so I looked it up. If your son's friends don't like it, I will happily try it. Gonna have to put it on my someday I'm going to make this list which I keep right beside my list of books I'm going to read some day.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of those roundtuit lists also. To be perfectly honest I have never made pastichio. Every September I buy 4 huge pans of it during the greek Festival and we have it during the Thanksgiving holidays as well as Christmas. I always cut one in half (Herculean task because it is frozen solid) and freeze it in 2 separate containers for those times I need to run a meal to someone who needs a little help. The fourth one usually gets eaten sometime in late winter, but we didn't get around to it this year. I am glad they are coming because it needs to be eaten and I need the shelf space.
DeleteI understand it is a pain in the rear to make, but I intend to try it one day, maybe the same day I try and make koulourakia. I usually buy 6 or so dozen of them and wrap them in freezer paper labeled squash so I don't have to share them unless I really want to.
The gloves are a great idea!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to use up what we have in the freezer too. There were some great meat sales a while back bit they seemed to have tapered off. DJ may have his best friend stay with us for a few weeks this summer and the kid eats anything so I think that I will stuff him and get rid of a lot.
It says a lot when you are like me and counting on college kids to eat the excess. This coming freezer season I plan on being much more deliberate about using my freezer inventory. (Translation: Quit going out to eat so often)
DeleteSee? You had stuff to say after all! I went out for greek food Saturday night and a couple of my friends had pastichio; I haven't tried it myself. I stuck with my usual chicken souvflaki and greek salada. I'm so boring.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a little heavy so we have it only the 4 times a year, but I do love it. My usual order is Greek snapper and a salad. Maybe I am normal and not just boring!
ReplyDelete