This was a cool project. Literally. I'm a week behind in posting my success in this department, but I didn't really get the project TOTALLY finished until just tonight - and that was only because I was in bed for 2 hrs, couldn't sleep a wink and decided to get up and finish it.
On Thanksgiving Day my goal was to clean out, sort and organize our 2 chest freezers. They are not the great big kind, but neither are they the tiny-winy little cube kind, either. The freezers themselves have been a blessing to us - they were both given to us within a year after we moved here. They are getting pretty old and we need to start thinking about replacing them with newer, more efficient models, and ones that aren't starting to rust and won't risk konking out from old age :)
Anyway, I was quite successful with this project, with the help of my amazing, stud-muffin husband who eagerly helped me with the hard parts. He lifted the coolers of food around so I didn't have to, he pulled the bottom layer of food out of the freezers so I wasn't standing on my head or squishing Baby George trying to do it myself, and he even volunteered to wipe them out once they were defrosted. The final surprise of all surprises! We had planned to move the meat freezer from the shed to the cellar, but after we (mostly "he") moved it, he said "we can move the vegetable freezer, too." I think I fell in love with him all over again! I knew moving one of them was going to be a big enough deal, I didn't expect him to move BOTH of them! I am SO in love with the fact that I no longer have to traipse over the river and through the woods, barefoot in knee-deep snow, up-hill both ways (ok, not really...) to get to the freezers. Instead, I can go out the back door, down the steps, make a U-turn, go down 3 more steps into the cellar and VOILA! there are my freezers!!
This evening I went through the refrigerator freezer and inventoried it. I found several things to move to the chest freezers, and then when I was typing up my inventory list, realized I could've put a few more things down there, but I didn't feel like making a trip in the middle of the night just to suit my organizational side. My menu planning is going to be so much easier now that I have these lists, and I really hope that I will keep them current, as well as use up some of the odds and ends that get put in the freezer and forgotten about.
One thing we found we have an abundance of would be Green Beans - we have 26 quarts (all from this year's garden)! If only my peas and corn would do so well! We also discovered enough cherries to feed an army, it was 31 quarts in all, both sweet and sour. I rediscovered our large stash of jellies - Strawberry, Grape and Peach. I forget it's in there and don't eat it. Guess what I've been eating on toast and biscuits this week :)
I'm glad this project is done. It was one I knew I wanted to do, and wanted to get done before I got much more pregnant, and definitely wanted to get done before the baby comes or who knows when it would happen after that? I am enjoying (do I sound crazy?) getting these monster projects accomplished. Not so much the doing part, but knowing that I have a week (that's my goal, anyway) to get X done, and just working on it and really enjoying the results.
I have started whittling away at this week's project. I really hope to have it completely finished by the end of this week, when I will blog about it for sure :P Hint: it involves our bedroom and the "exploded mountain of clothes," as Daniel called it the other day.
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5 comments:
Wow-whee! This is really impressive! Can you come "monster project" at my house? I hope to get some "monster projects" going after I get NY stuff done.
Do you have plans to move your freezers to the primary residential unit after you build the addition, or will they stay in the cellar?
We also have been using up "forgotten" foods around here. I need support! When I do that, I am finding that usually I get to eat nearly all of it BY MYSELF!! I don't think my husband considers himself a cat (to eat "slop"). And, the food isn't BAD, it's just not the highest preferred. But, we are NOT wasting it, I declare!
Sally - unfortionately, I will always have the opportunity to get a breath of fresh air as long as we have chest freezers. When we built the pantry/utility room, it was a choice between lots of shelves or having a chest freezer inside the main house. I chose shelves, of course!
There were def. some "forgotten fossils" that I did throw away. We had a "bad experience" (aka it tasted HORRIBLE and was a waste of the other ingredients!) with trying to salvage things before. My odds and ends are things like 1/2 cans of cream soups, partial bags of frozen fruit, etc. I dunno, if I've forgotten it long enough that eating it will not be enjoyable, as wasteful as it is (my own fault for forgetting it!), I do not keep it.
Taking a small break from elec. accounts here.
We play the "Grocery Game" at out house to use up food before it gets undesirable. We do this about once a quarter. We only make food that we have all or mostly all the ingredients for and buy eggs, bread, milk, butter, flour, sugar and tea along the way. If we are going to buy other ingred. it has to be in order to make something that will use up many items. There is a running contest who can empty the most containers out of the fridge or freezer in one day.
This "Grocery Game" was invented out of financial necessity the first winter we were married when we had to cut everything except utilities and gas. It was a wonderful learning experience and now we do it to keep spending down as well as keep our food supply from getting out of control and stale.
Obviously we don't have little kids to work menus around, that would make some difference.
Mini, can I please have some of that jelly and sour cherries? I love them!! I'm glad you got that big project done.
Remember I told you Glad cling wrap for plastic wrap? I mistyped (if there is such thing). It is Glad PRESS and SEAL which works wonderfully!
You are going to feel so good about your completed tasks when your little bundle arrives because not much else gets done or feels like it does. : )
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