I think I have enough meat...

Today was the day. I pulled out our 2 coolers and the 2 I borrowed. I lugged them down to the shed, along with a pair of gloves, and started digging away in the meat freezer (we have 2 small chest freezers - one is meat, one is everything else). I tried to sort it out by type of meat while I emptied the freezer into the 4 coolers - beef, pork, poultry, random.

It was so hot today, it didn't take long for the ice to start melting. There wasn't too much ice, either, so getting the ice out went pretty fast. I let the rest of it melt for about an hour, then wiped it out and plugged 'er in (and hoped it came back on - they are both old and were given to us). I waited several minutes to make sure it was making cold before I started loading it back up.

I tried to organize as much as I could. I had a few boxes that some things fit in just right, so I kept those of course. As I loaded, I made a list of everything I put in, along with what date was on it, so I know what I need to use first.

I promise my blog won't always be lists! But, I was surprised at what I found: (remember that all of this is either from a huge sale, marked-down, home-butchered, or given to us)

Beef:
Ground: 10 (1 lb) pks
1 Bottom Round Rump Roast
2 Rib Eye steaks

Pork:
Sausage: 19 (1/2 lb) pks
Ground: 5 lbs
Roasts: 7 (2 are huge)
Ribs: 4 meals worth
Pork Chops: 13 (2 pc) pks
Ham, thin sliced: 2 gal. ziplocs
BBQ "roast": 1 (to crockpot w/ sauce)
Tenderloin: 1 small

Poultry:
Whole Chickens: 4
Thighs: 3 (4 pc) pks
Boneless/Skinless Breasts: 2 (4 pc) pks
Drumsticks: 2 (6 pc) pks
Wings: 1 bag of 12
Ground Turkey: 3 lbs
Smoked Turkey Thighs: 9 (2 pc) pks
Turkey Sausage: 8 (6 link) pks
Turkey Wings: 2 (2 pc) pks

Misc:
HUGE venison shoulder roast (any recipe ideas, anyone??)
1 1/2 Polska Kielbaska
Sliced Turkey Ham
Sliced Pastrami
3 ham bones for soup
3 pks hot-dogs (from a butcher in PA, not your reg. hot-dog)

I did have to throw some stuff away. I found several packs of chicken thighs from 2004 on the VERY bottom, along with alot of frozen potatoes from '04 when my sister's potatoes grew extra well. I was tempted to try and do something with the potatoes, but figured I'd just regret having to throw away time, effort and ingredients since they would probably taste super freezer-burnt.

I plan to print off a list of all this stuff, and keep it handy for my menu planning. I will cross stuff off as I use it, that way I know when I need to start looking for sales or mark-downs again.

The zucchini patties are in the oven for supper, and Daniel will be home shortly, so I need to get the table ready for supper. It smells so good in here!