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Food for Thought Friday: kick off ’22 with an organized freezer! ❄️
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Hello and Happy 2022!
I got back to my apartment in San Francisco after a month of being away and all week I've been like: "MUST. CLEAN. EVERYTHING!!!!"
I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who feels MUCH more motivated and at ease when my spaces are clean and organized. So before I can really jumpstart all the exciting things I want to work on (and cook) this year, I gotta get this place in order!
One area that really needs some help right now is my freezer. I opened it as soon as we got back to find something to eat and...
You know the feeling… you open up the freezer to find something you know is in there... The freezing mechanism hums and frosty air pummels your face, reminding you to proceed quickly. As you search for your targeted item, bags of mysterious stuff block your view. Occasionally disguised in freezer burn, the various odds and ends are jammed and crammed into this cold, cramped area. As you move them around, you think "What the heck is this?!" or "Dang, I forgot I bought all these frozen berries on sale!"
The freezer can often become the frost-bitten land of misfit foods, which become more mysterious the further they sink back into the dark corners of this frozen box. Foods are forgotten, frozen to death until you have no idea what they are or how long they've been in there, till they eventually get thrown away. (Darn! Avoidable food waste!)
Enter, my favorite solution to this: the freezer inventory list
It’s a simple practice AND it’s incredibly helpful - even when you only make the mildest of periodic efforts, like I do.
Ways the freezer inventory list comes in handy:
- Not sure what to make for dinner/need inspiration? a quick glance at your freezer inventory might solve the problem!
- Partner going to the store asks you: "Need anything at the grocery store?" You can check the inventory (or train them to use it and also check it themselves)!
Here’s how it works:
GPJ Guide to Keeping a Freezer Inventory
- If doing this for the first time, it will take 15-30 minutes, depending on the size and contents of your freezer. You must take everything out of the freezer so you can see everything you have and write down what’s inside.
- I recommend organizing things into categories such as: proteins, veg, fruit, frozen meals, pantry, or whatever other categories make sense for you!
- If you have multiples of the same item, write it down multiple times (for easy crossing off later), or just put a number in front and change the number as you go.
- I recommend writing it on a piece of paper and then taping it to your freezer, right by the door where you can see it. If you have one of those mini white-boards that go on the fridge, that works well too!
- Alternately, OR in addition - you can keep the freezer inventory digitally in the notes on your phone. The benefit of this is that you could check it while grocery shopping if needed. However - I’ve found I’m better at keeping up with the inventory practice when I write it down on paper and hang it right near the freezer door.
- As you eat up what’s inside, you cross the things off on the list.
- As you add things to the freezer, you add them to the list. (Label + date them as you add them to the freezer, see below.)
- As time goes on you’ll need to entirely rewrite the list periodically, depending how often you cycle through foods in your freezer.
^This is what the practice looks like, ideally. Realistically though, I often forget to cross off or add when I’m using up just one or two things at a time. What happens for me IRL, is that about a once a quarter, I have to finagle everything in my freezer to make room for a bulk-haul of something, say - new meats, a big batch of scrap-broth, or a bunch of slow-roasted tomatoes. When I do this ~quarterly finangling, I rewrite and update my entire freezer inventory list.
I couldn't wait any longer and just paused writing this email to do my own freezer inventory. (It was getting a little grimy in there so I also included a wipe down.) DANG IT FELT GOOD TO CLEAN UP THE FREEZER!
In my excitement to get started I forgot to take a "before" photo, but here's the "after" shot (It may not look all that great but this is a MILLION times better than it looked before I started!) and my current freezer inventory (which is still full of wedding leftovers and dessert, haha!):
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When you make it a habit of knowing what you have on hand (and making it easy to figure out when you inevitably forget), you feel more in control and at ease about cooking.
In addition to keeping a freezer inventory, I also highly recommend keeping painter’s tape and a Sharpie around for labeling food with dates, names, etc. This is especially helpful in the freezer when it can be hard to tell what's what... and you want to know how long it's been in there. (Painter's tape doesn't leave any sticky residue, sticks well and is easy to write on, so I recommend it over masking or other tapes! It usually comes in medium/dark blue but if you can find white, I prefer that for the kitchen. I haven't tried this one yet but it's what I would try next when I need some! Although - this light blue is also so cute!)
Happy freezer cleaning! If you write up your inventory this weekend, I hope you feel GREAT while enjoying the simple joys of better kitchen organization :).
Love,
Jess
PS. Any cooking goals, hopes, or dreams for 2022? I'm working on new classes and would LOVE to hear what you want to learn / improve on this year! Reply back with one area of cooking you'd love to improve on this year, or one area of your cooking you wish was easier!
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone when they reopen soon! Check out this article about them.
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