Freezer burn

So mundane, but I finally emptied out my freezer today. Somehow it seemed easier to buy more meat than to reach into that cold, cold box. I finally took the plunge.

It's surprising how quickly frozen food spoils. I'm throwing out expired mini waffles, mini pizzas, and a Lean Cuisine entree; two mostly-empty freezer-burned tubs of ice cream; a piece of breaded fish in an unmarked baggie; and a half-full bag of frozen beans that tasted like dust.

Happy discovery: a bag of Mediterranean mixed veggies that I must have bought when I wanted to spoil myself. Perfect for tonight's supper.

To ensure that we eat all of this soon I'm making an inventory to print and post on the freezer door:

• Ground beef (2 unlabelled freezer bags, about 3 pounds total).
• Stir-fry beef strips (2 packages each >1 pound).
• Rib roast.
• Boneless pork chops (5).
• Bone-in pork chops (2).
• Pork roast.
• Boneless chicken breasts (6).
• Mini hamburger buns (11).
• Regular hamburger buns (4).
• Mini hotdog buns (10).
• Regular hotdog buns (6).
• Bagels (5).
• Waffles (4 2).
• Lean Cuisine entree (1).
• Pie shell (1).
• Mini tart shells (12).
• Vanilla ice cream (unopened).
• A tiny amount A full container of my husband's favourite ice cream.
• Homemade beef stock (4 x 2 cups).
• Cooked pasta for J's lunches (5 x 2 cups).
• Chopped spinach (500 g and 300 g).
• Peas (about 500 g).
• French fries (about 300 g).
• Blueberries (about 300 g).

An embarrassment of riches in our kitchen. Looks like it's burger time.

Food clutter

Sometimes I do the stupidest things.

I had a full day of tasks ahead of me. The first was grocery shopping. I got that far.

But when I started to put the groceries away I had a sudden urge to clean the fridge. And I listened to this urge, even as I knew that it would derail my other plans.

Of course I told myself it wouldn't take long. Of course I knew that everything takes longer than I expect. And this took even longer than that!

Once I got into it I had a lengthy conversation with myself about my bad habits. I mean, who cares if the inside of the fridge is dirty? I didn't.

But when chilled food covers every inch of counter-top, and half the fridge-racks are washed and drying in the sun, there's nowhere to go but onwards.

The only point at which I thought that cleaning the fridge might have been a good idea was when I found a dead mosquito in there.

Anyway, my fridge is now sparkling, my to do list is barely off the ground, and (silver lining!) I've continued my small steps de-cluttering.

There weren't many expired things in the fridge, which is good news, but they're gone now.

Then our junk-food bin caught my de-clutterring eye. Yes, we had run out of room in our cupboards and started storing junk-food in a bin on top of the fridge.

This got inconvenient when my husband brought home a vat of protein powder with nowhere to go but on top of the junk-food bin. It's hard to enjoy good chocolate when you have to lift a vat of protein powder to get at it.

So, I am happy to say that the junk-food bin is now history! I started by tossing all the leftover Easter, Christmas, and yes, Halloween candy. This left nothing in the bin but pumpkin seeds and chocolate-covered almonds (his fixes) and dark chocolate bars (mine). And then I realized, there's room for those in the kitchen cupboards. Bye-bye junk-food bin!

Next stop, clothes...

The plastic drawer

Today's de-clutter turned out to be more of a re-organization than a purge. It wasn't sexy but it did lighten our load a little bit.
As often happens, our big drawer of plastic food-storage containers would not close today.
As rarely happens, I decided to respond without the use of force.
Instead:

1. I spread a clean blanket on the floor, and emptied the drawer onto the blanket. 
2. I picked out the containers that belong to my mother-in-law and moved them to the front entry.
3. I picked out the things that belong elsewhere and put them away.
4. I picked out the broken and orphaned pieces and recycled them.
5. I tried to find other pieces to recycle, and realized that we do use most of this stuff. So, I picked out three containers that don't stack, and grouped them at the back of the drawer. If we don't use them in the next month then I'll give them away. 
6. I put everything back neatly and found I had room to add our Pyrex food-storage containers to the same drawer. Having all the food-storage containers in one organized place will make them easier to find and might even reduce the number we need. 

As soon as I was done our dog Charley moved in and enjoyed a nap on the empty blanket. Sorry, no pictures of drawer or dog.