It might not be the most sexy or exciting task to keep your freezer organised, but it can save you lots of cash in the long run, so it's well worth doing.
But how do you get started if the contents of your freezer are an absolute mess?
Labelling
There are two kinds of people in this world - those who like to label things and those who can't be bothered. Unfortunately, the labellers have one up on the rest of us as it gives them an immediate head start in the race to total organisation.
How many times do you remember rifling through the contents of your freezer, trying to find something you can rustle up into an edible meal in a jiffy? It's at least once a week for most of us and we'll probably end up eating fish finger sandwiches - AGAIN - unless we're more organised.
Putting leftovers in the freezer is a brilliant step towards saving cash, but if you're not labelling food as you put it away you're missing a trick. Once leftovers have been frozen for a while it can be difficult to work out exactly what it was, and remember when it was made.
Keep a stock of freezer bags close by and pens you can write on them with, so you don't forget. It's a really easy habit to get into and gets you on the right track to having an organised freezer.
Portion control
Almost everything can be frozen if you know what you're doing, but most of us will just bung our meats and veggies away in the freezer without giving any thought to how they'll be used.
A much better way to do it, and a vital step to freezer nirvana, is to start thinking about your frozen food in terms of portion sizes. So don't just freeze a job lot of leftover stew, soup, chili or whatever in a giant box and forget about it. Instead, separate whatever is left into the portion size you want and then freeze.
This saves loads of time when it comes to making quick meals out of your freezer bounty and saves you having to refreeze food over and over again - which is a waste of energy at best and a health hazard at worst. If you're doing this you're likely to have far more sensible portions than if you have a massive load of food to work through, so it's good for you as well.
These are just a few ideas to get you started on your quest to freezer perfection, but once you've got going you'll soon pick up momentum and learn your own tricks and shortcuts.
© Axonn 2015