Organizing Your Freezer for Freezer Cookingby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 05 May 2009 10:01 AM While having an organized freezer is important for day to day living, it is even more important when you practice freezer cooking. Mystery meals wrapped in freezer bags, freezer paper or aluminum foil can repeatedly be rejected until they are little more than packages of ice. Here are some tips on how you can keep your freezer organized and your meals flowing forth from it. Organize for variety While humans love to categorize things in the simplest form, putting all of the same meal together can actually work to your disadvantage. it is much better to mix up the meals, whenever possible, in the order in which you should consume them. There is a good reason for this. Without the built in variety, you may tend to choose your favorite meals right away, leaving you with a bunch of the same exact meals at the end of the month. Designated shelves Within my freezer, I tend to organize meals by the shelves. Anything that is quick an easy to heat up, such as a homemade hot pocket or soup gets placed on the top shelf. Middle attention meals, such as those to place in the oven go on the middle shelf. Anything that requires a little more work, such as a sauce to heat up or raw ingredients gets placed on the bottom shelf. And then the pull out bin is generally used for uncooked frozen turkey and chicken. This allows me to see exactly what is left of what kind of meal in terms of preparation, and I can rotate through the shelves. Create a list You can also create a freezer inventory list that you post on the outside of the freezer. This lists all of your meals and ingredients. When you take something out of the freezer, you cross it off of the list. It is a good way to see what you have too much of and what is running low. Organized Home is a great website that offers a printable freezer inventory. Thanks to ST BRIDGIT for this topic idea. There is more about freezer cooking and organizing your freezer coming your way. Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right. Favorite Deal Websites: Related Articles: Things to Know About Your Freezer Flattening Your Freezer Cooking Incorporating Freezer Cooking into Your Life Making Your Freezer and Crock Pot Work Together Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments StBridgit (322) 05 May 2009 07:18 PMThanks for the shelf tips, that makes a lot of sense! We tend to lose leftovers in the freezer, so having it better organized will really help avoid those 'mystery meals' no one wants to defrost. Discuss this article
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