So it's the 3rd of January and time for me to take stock of all the food that we have in the house. I hate, hate, hate the thought of food going to waste and it feels good to shelf by shelf give the fridge a good hoick out and see what we have leftover from the Christmas and New Year shopping and hamper contents.
I think you can tell from the photo which two shelves I have already tidied 😉
We already had a lot of cheeses in stock ... and then the hamper came with even more tempting ones for Alan to sample. So there is a lot leftover. Firstly I double wrapped a couple of still sealed up wedges of Stilton and popped them straight into the freezer, then I set to grating a large block of Cheddar that had a use-by date of just one week hence.
Although you can freeze cheese in a block, it thaws slower and is much more crumbly once defrosted if you do it that way, so I always prefer to grate cheeses like Cheddar. This way they can be used straight from the freezer in the exact quantity you want for a sandwich or a topping for something.
Never overfill your tub or bag as the little bit of air room means you can give it a good shake after it's had an hour in the freezer to keep it super free-flowing.
I had a little bit over after leaving my air space ...
... so I grated it and popped it into a tub to go back into the fridge. I doubt it will last in there long once Alan spots it there and ready to use. Perhaps a baked potato might be a good idea for lunch and he could use half of it then.
Anyway, now the little tub is in the fridge and the larger old ice-cream tub is in the freezer, as soon as I've posted this I'll be going downstairs to give it a shake and put the kettle on. All this talk about food has made me thirsty ... and as you can see in the top photo there are still more shelves to sort through in the fridge so while the kettle boils I'll be doing another shelf.
Sue xx
I like my fridge to be organised, I did mine on New Years Day, I prepared all my salad veg into containers, all chopped ready, it has been so quick and easy to assemble different salads to have with meals, also made a huge pot of hummus ( lovely stuff ), need to tackle the freezer next ! Looking at the larder cupboard too ,we should only need to buy fresh fruit and veg for a while, which is good news for my sanity and my purse ( shopping is becoming a chore, so frustrating ). Wishing you a very happy and peaceful 2020, a year for people with vision, (ha ha?!!! )
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful project.
ReplyDeleteI too, hate to have to throw food out!!!!
Thank you for the tip... Grate and freeze cheese!
Best of luck with continuing your wonderful project.
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I only buy cheese on offer now, this is cut into 150g pieces and frozen. Any Christmas cheese is grated mixed together to use in crustless quiche or baked potatoes. Like you I hate waste so any food near its sell by is chopped and frozen. Last week it was half a pepper and some mushrooms. They'll come in handy in savoury rice next week.
ReplyDeleteSorting the food has been my project too since the holidays have ended. Christmas and New Years seem to fill the fridge to the brim with goodies and leftovers. I feel blessed but I don't want to see it go to waste plus the fridge looks like a disaster! We usually have several leftover meals after the holidays and now I am down to sorting and organizing just as you are doing.
ReplyDeleteI have not frozen cheese. Do you have any special hints on doing so? My husband loves cheese and it would help to be able to buy ahead and freeze it when on special.
My main tips are in this post.
DeleteAs you are using up your grated, frozen cheese make sure you exclude air before you put it back into the freezer. So squeeze the bag or decant the cheese into smaller boxes, frozen air will dry out the remaining cheese much quicker.
Thnak you Sue!
DeleteGood tips about cheese Sue - thanks for that. I bet there is a lot of cheese thrown away after Christmas.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year and thanks for the tips.
ReplyDelete