Let's Sort It Out By Deb

The Well Stocked

Refrigerator and Freezer

 

We all have so much to do throughout the day.  Whether it’s errands outside the house or a stay at home day, one thing that remains a constant is feeding our families.  Keeping a Well Stocked Refrigerator and Freezer, just makes that task so much easier to accomplish.

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Having A Well Stocked Refrigerator and Freezer helps me answer that question that often sounds like nails on a chalkboard;  “What are we having for dinner tonight?”  It’s such an innocent question, yet it wreaks such havoc on us when we haven’t thought about it in advance.  But if you’re home and haven’t thought about dinner in advance, but you have stocked up by using this printable Refrigerator and Freezer list combined with my printable Stock your Pantry list you’ll definitely be covered.

On a side note have you ever tried the website Supercook.com?  It is so great, you just enter any ingredients that you have on hand and it starts suggesting different dishes for you to prepare. It’s amazing!!

Make sure to take a look at my other post  The Well Stocked Pantry so you can be fully stocked.  When you shop for your items, many of the pantry items start there until they are opened and then move to the fridge.

Okay, so let’s get going, next time you’re at the grocer get all or most of these items and save yourself that last-minute trip to the store with all the kids in hand.  You can also print out the Refrigerator/Freezer checklist with this FREE PRINTABLE DOWNLOAD.

Refrigerator 

Staples

• Milk
• Orange or Apple Juice
• Eggs
• Unsalted Butter — Get the stick, cut it in half and put the rest in the freezer
• Salted Butter — Get the stick, cut it in half and put the rest in the freezer
• Cream Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Deli Meat — Your Favorite, Turkey, Ham, Bologna (start with 1/4 lb or 1/2 lb and see what amount is best for your family)
• Sliced Cheese — Your favorite, American, Swiss, Pepper Jack (start with 1/4 lb or 1/2 lb and see what amount is best for your family)
• Shredded Cheese for Tacos
• Sour Cream
• Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
• Hummus
• Yogurt
• Hamburger Buns
• Hotdog Buns
• Garlic Paste in the Tube — It’s life-changing
• Ginger Paste in the Tube — It’s life-changing
• Lemon Juice
• Salad Dressing

Fruits

• Bananas — Of course not in the fridge
• Oranges
• Apples
• Grapes
• Lemons
• Limes

Vegetables

• Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes — I keep my store-bought ones in the fridge.  If they’re from my garden then I keep them on the counter
• Onions — People have some strong opinions on keeping these in the refrigerator or the counter, I’ll leave that to you
• Potatoes — Same as Onions above.  But I do know that wherever you store them, don’t store them next to each other.  The Onions emit a chemical that makes the potatoes sprout faster

Freezer

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast — I wrap mine either individually or in portions of 2 or more
• Chicken Wings — Wrap them straight in the package with some freezer paper.  Make sure to label it with a freezer pen
• Ground Beef, Turkey, Chicken — Great for Tacos
• Frozen Veggies — Broccoli, Corn, Mixed Veggies
• Skirt Steak — If you like steak, this cut is so tender
• Lamb Chops
• Hot Dogs
• Hamburgers
• Frozen Shelled Uncooked Shrimp — Buy them frozen and pop the bag in the freezer, take out a portion at a time.  Just run them under cold water in a colander to defrost
• Frozen French Fries or Tator Tots
• Bread — Freezes so well, it’s great if your family doesn’t go through a loaf quickly
• Frozen Berries, Peaches or Mangos — Great for smoothies
• Bananas — If you have any that are going bad, put them in a Ziplock bag and freeze them flat for smoothies
• Ice Cream
• Frozen Cookie Dough

And there you have it.  You’ll be able to make so many family dinners by having these staples in your Refrigerator and Freezer. 

It doesn’t take much effort if you buy these things, stock your fridge and freezer and keep an ongoing shopping list of what you are running low on.  NOT, I repeat NOT, when you run out!  Please, please….when you are running low, just add it to your list.

Did you know that Alexa Echo and the Alexa Dot can make a shopping list for you and you can bring it up on your smartphone or other electronic devices when you’re at the supermarket?  It’s the greatest thing!!  Now my family helps me with the shopping list just by saying “Alexa, add grapes to the shopping list.”  It’s as easy as that.  Now they don’t have the excuse that they ran low but couldn’t find the shopping list.  It’s honestly my new favorite thing.

Another thing to think about is having the correct staples to save leftovers. In addition to storage containers, you might want to keep some of these on hand.  Here’s a picture of my kitchen drawer, if you don’t have a drawer to dedicate to these kinds of things, you can use a holder and attach it to the back of a cabinet door.  Check out my post on Kitchen Organization for other storage and kitchen ideas.

Food Storage

Tin Foil

Saran Wrap

Parchment paper

Ziplock freezer bags – gallon and quart size

Ziplock sandwich bags

Check out my Pantry list here and my Refrigerator/Freezer list here.  Print out and combine both of these lists and you’re good to go.

What do you keep in your Refrigerator or Freezer that I don’t have listed here?  I’m always peaking into other peoples carts at the supermarket, please tell me I’m not the only curious one!!

 

 

 

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