Thread: Do you have a chest freezer?

Or an extra freezer that is an upright? If so... What do you put in it?

I got a little chest freezer for my birthday in 2011. I got it mainly
because my husband eats an insane amount of ice cream and other frozen
treats. He is particularly fond of some things made with strawberries. I
dislike having to go to the store daily to supply him with these things. So
I got the freezer and was able to get him some of the things at places like
Winco and Costco where I could buy in bulk.

I just partially cleaned out the side by side. Probably should do a really
good job of it. Threw away tons of frozen treats. Somebody took all of the
Popsicles out of the boxes and mixed the regular and sugar free so we
couldn't tell which was which. And then there were things that I bought for
my husband who will likely not be back here in time to eat them before they
go bad.

I cleaned out and defrosted the chest freezer. I did find a few things that
were either old or that we can not eat. Threw those out. So what I am left
with is a huge box of Coscto crinkle cut fries. I must have really lost my
head when I bought those because I don't eat many fries. At the time that I
bought them, Angela could eat them but she can't now. I had intended to use
them up while husband was home but that didn't happen. I have part of a bag
of Tater Tots, part of a bag of some kind of crispy fries and a large bag of
hash browns which expire in Nov. and Dec. Also two bags of sweet potato
fries. Also a box of cooked hamburger patties, a bag of cooked chicken that
Angela didn't much like (but is going to have to eat), and a few boxes of
single serve cheese enchiladas. Also part of a loaf of bread for stuffing.
Also a Costco bag of strawberries that was likely a foolish purchase. I
bought them when Angela was eating smoothies like mad and now she has gone
off of them. Neither of us like strawberries very much and although I know
there are other things we could do with them, they do not appeal to us. And
a ton of ice that was packed with my insulin.

So my plan for next week is to feed Angela the chicken (if I can get her to
eat it), the few remaining cooked turkey patties that are in the side by
side. She will have the sweet potato fries with those. I will have
hamburger patties and either the Tater Tots or the fries unless it seems
that my stomach can't handle that. My mom seems to think that fries are
causing my stomach problems but I am not so sure about that. I think it is
salad. We will also have either salad or raw veg.

The week after that I will work on the hash browns which I will attempt to
cook with some bell peppers, onion and bacon. Sort of like O'brien but not
in dices. And Angela can have the enchiladas, the few remaining tamales
that are in the side by side, and if need be, perhaps a sandwich or soup.
And of course fresh veggies.

That will allow me to use up or at least partially use up what we have and I
won't have to buy too much else. Just some bread and fresh veg. Fine.

But... That will leave my freezer pretty empty. And I want to fill it.
But what to fill it with? We don't really eat a lot of meat and I am not
really keen on frozen meats. I don't mind keeping a spare pack of ground
beef. I guess I can make a batch of meatloaves. Maybe some stuffed bell
peppers since Winco still seems to have a good price on the peppers. And I
have plenty of foil pans. I assume it would work to do them that way. Oh
and I suppose it might pay me to buy a lot of extra bell peppers while they
are cheap and cut them up and freeze them. That is what my husband's aunt
does. Angela tends to eat more raw ones but I do use them for things like
chili and Spanish rice. Might even pay me to do the same with some onions.
Since I think they are probably at a good price right now.

I could get some more turkey patties since Angela likes them. But... I
think it would be best to buy them fresh, cook then freeze. The frozen ones
just didn't work well. It said to grill them from frozen but we have no
grill and I couldn't get them apart. When I tried to thaw them, I just had
a big mess. I cooked it all up anyway and Angela has been eating it.

Angela does eat some whole wheat waffles but she doesn't eat them very often
and she has enough for a while in the side by side because I used a coupon
for them when Albertsons had the Twice The Value coupons one week. She
chastised me for that but... I try to get things when they are cheap or
free assuming we will eat them or in the case of non-perishable things I can
donate to the food bank. So I don't really need those.

I can get frozen veggies cheap or for free with coupons but so far the ones
that we tried just didn't taste good and we didn't like them. I grew up
eating only canned or fresh veggies so for me, frozen ones just don't seem
right. And apparently Angela doesn't have a taste for them either. I can
get away with them if I put them in a soup or casserole so long as they are
cooked really well.

Angela used to eat some little breakfasts because I could get them for cheap
or free with coupons but... She can't eat them now. Does anyone make just
an omelet that comes frozen? Perhaps one with some meat or cheese or veg?
She would probably eat that. But the ones she used to get had potatoes in
them and she can't have those now.

I do not eat any kind of frozen treats and Angela seems to have gone off of
them for the most part. She might eat something frozen if she has a sore
throat. But mostly she doesn't eat them. And neither of us has an interest
in frozen fruit of any kind. Except for those times when she goes on a
smoothie kick and then she eats them like mad.

So... What else am I not thinking about? I have a nice freezer out there
just waiting to be filled. I don't usually like cooking things and freezing
them but I don't mind with a few things like the meatloaf and the peppers
because they are rather time consuming to make. But with other things like
soup, I don't usually like to freeze them. The thought of making a
casserole in a foil pan and freezing it does sound appealing but the problem
there is that due to our differing food intolerances and diets, it is hard
for me to come up with any one thing that we can both eat. But maybe I will
do some research on that and try to come up with something.