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Saturday in Anneliese's Kitchen - the fridge freezer


Do you like the idea of snooping through someone's fridge or freezer just to see?
Well, today I've cleaned up the freezer section of my fridge 
to let you see what is important for me to keep close and handy.
We have found a side by side to be a good fit for our kitchen space.
It's been nine years now and I like how the baskets work well for organizing.
especially smaller items.



On the top shelf I keep an assortment of herbs.
When possible, I prefer using fresh as opposed to dried herbs.
so having them on hand in the freezer makes it just as easy
and another thing not to have to think about when doing my weekly shopping.


Parsley is one of the first herbs I ever froze and it keeps very well.
I wash it, let it air dry and then chop it up fine.


I've used ginger more often since I've had it in the freezer.
It's so easy to grate as much as you need and put the root back in the freezer.


You will see here I have parsley, jalapenos, basil. thyme, rosemary and dill.
The one I probably replace most often is basil, which keeps the least amount of time.
(to use, chop quickly while frozen - easiest when in that frozen/brittle state)
Freezing herbs will change their color, but the flavor is still there
and once cooked, you will not know the difference.
If I am using basil in a salad (as opposed to a tomato sauce)
I prefer to use fresh/not frozen, for its nice green color.


Obviously this is not a herb, but having some cooked bacon on hand is also
very convenient to quickly put into a sandwich, salad or cream soup.


On my next shelf I keep a container of mixed frozen berries
and a container of fruit crisp crumbs for the easiest, quickest dessert around.
( for two people, place two cups of fruit in a small pie plate,
cover with a few handfulls of crumbs and bake 20-30 mintues.
Serve hot with ice cream.)


I replenish the container with frozen fruit from my big freezer
and make up a new batch of crumbs when this one is empty.
I also like to have an assortment of nuts, such as pecans and almonds on hand.


The next shelf is my bread box.  Bread for toasting and
any started bags of buns or pizza buns from my big freezer, land up in here,
Right now, there is a box of eggo waffles and a bag of 
frozen unbaked croissants underneath the bread.


The bottom shelf ends up mostly with started bags of frozen vegetables and hash browns.
Cubed cooked chicken, a bag of meatballs and a few fish fillets
are hidden underneath for a quick meal or addition to something. 
(I keep pretty well all meat in my big freezer.)
Deep underneath I have some baking ingredients such as wheat bran and  flaxseed.


In the door, there is quick access to orange juice. 
A must have in our home.


Decaf coffee for guests. Our regular coffee is used up too quick to bother freezing.
(In case you are wondering,
in the jar is some fruity balsamic sauce for grilled pork.)


And breadcrumbs. I keep them frozen.
That is about the gist of it.
I'd love to keep ice cream in here as it's something we get out a lot
but the pail is sort of on the big side.

This post has made me consider what makes the big freezer and what makes the little one.
Although it varies at times, mostly I like the quick access to items I just need a bit of,
before returning the rest to the freezer.


12 comments:

  1. This makes me want to clean up and out my fridge freezer - yours is so neat and tidy! I have too many half bags of veggies and fruit in mine right now. I love the idea of keeping some crumbs and frozen fruit, ready for making a "crisp" dessert!!! The containers of frozen herbs is brilliant!

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  2. You are so organized. I have a bottom freezer and absolutely hate it. The fridge came with the house and I have to get down of the floor to arrange everything and it is so hard to get up as I age, lol... I do use a foot stool if I am going to be arranging and not just getting something for a meal. Hugs, LJ

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  3. Great organization. I have a bottom freezer and love it. It has a pull out drawer I use for meat (I dont have a separate big freezer) and I use baskets and ice cube boxes to separate and store similar to the way you do. The only issue is no room for a "whale of a pail" which is what our ice cream is sold in LOL

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  4. Very interesting! Do you grate the ginger root, peel and all? If that works, I'll do it, too, as it seems I waste a lot with peeling.

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    Replies
    1. I don't peel it: tough peel stays back and soft peel seems to disappear right into the grated part - you can't see it.

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  5. I for one love seeing how you organize your fridge freezer. Mine usually gets cluttered up with things I don't want to run out to the big freezer to put away. I think I'll re-organize mine now!
    For the question about peeling the frozen ginger - you can grate it without peeling but I find it quick and easy to scrape off the peel with a sharp knife or the edge of a spoon. Either way, freezing the ginger means never having to throw any away.

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  6. There are some good ideas here, Anneliese, especially the various herbs! Thanks for letting us "peek" into your freezer. I've tried freezing parsley but didn't let it dry first, so it didn't freeze well. Next time I will wash it and air dry it before putting in the freezer.

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  7. I admire your organization! I have one small chest freezer, and I clean it out in the autumn so I can line the bottom with 8 gallons of local apple cider to see me through to the next Spring. It takes a lot of planning to keep the rest of the area organized enough that things don't get "lost," but I try.
    Very good tip about freezing the fruit crumb topping - I'd bake more fruit desserts if all I had to do was put fruit in a pan and reach for the premade topping in the freezer! Thanks :)

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  8. I admire your organization also. My question is when you freeze your herbs do they stick together and do you have a problem separating them? I usually chop mine up and put them in ice cube trays and then put water over them and freeze but I like your way better. I think I have a lot of work ahead of me to straighten my upstairs and downstairs freezer out. I did put an erasable board on the downstairs freezer so I can keep track of what I put in there. Thanks for the help.

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    Replies
    1. As long as the herbs are dry or mostly dry when you put them in the freezer they are totally fine to separte while frozen. It is best not to thaw them, just take a frozen twig or handful and chop while frozen.

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    2. Chop around tough stems, of course, or use scissors for cutting off fine tips of thyme, for example.

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    3. Thank you very much for answering me. I would leave you my E-mail address but I truly don't know how to do that. Thanks again.

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