We’ve been so blessed with our abundant harvest! What’s more, this year I’ve even had the energy to preserve it, with the children’s help. All that’s left are odds and ends like kale, New Zealand spinach, and perhaps beets if we don’t eat them all before the ground freezes.
Now comes the next challenge: eating it all.
For the last few years, I have not been well enough to ensure that we empty our freezers appropriately, and a lot of hard work and electricity has been lost. This year, however, I made myself a ‘Freezer and Produce Chart’ that lists both what we will eat from the freezer each week and what other produce we still have available.
Here’s the top corner of the chart:
I have used charts like these in the past, but with all the foods listed along the top instead of along the side. Each week I would aim to check off one entire row, but it always felt clumsy. Somehow, checking off a column each week and having the foods listed on the side is much less cluttered and more appealing.
Now, all I have to do is ensure that the children consult the chart when planning meals and that they check off the appropriate boxes once they’ve finished cooking. And, of course, I must remember to do it too.
What do you do to keep track of the food in your home? I’m eager for any hints and tips to improve the organization of this part of our life.
See other tips at Homemaker Mondays, Tuesday’s Tip Jar, Works for Me Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Farm Girl Friday and Frugal Friday.
Wow – now that’s what I call organized! I keep mental track of what’s in our freezer and pantry. We can’t ever seem to preserve enough to last through to the next season, so even though my mental list is vague and subject to error, food rarely goes to waste. I do re-organize the freezers once in a while which helps keep my mental list accurate. I admit, though, that last year we had to throw out a number of squash that had sat too long in our cold storage. But that was not because I didn’t know they were there. It was just easier to grab a bag of frozen veggies. But I discovered a slightly easier way to prepare squash, and we plan to be home a lot more in the afternoons, so I’m hoping this year’s crop will get eaten up.
Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to have so much food stored up? All praise to God who blesses our efforts with sunshine, rain, and energy to do the work!
Oh Carmen, I try so hard to be organized, and occasionally I have a flash of inspiration like this time…. It’s funny because, to me, you seem very organized yourself. I’m still in awe about you visiting with 10 kids, in the winter, and not forgetting even so much as a mitten!
We do preserve enough to last all year, but we have an enormous garden, and our family’s half the size of yours. That makes a huge difference.
Blessings
Annie Kate
wow…this is great organization! I really need to do this myself. I love to stock up on things when I can score a good deal and I like to make big batches of stuff and freeze it for future meals but sometimes the stuff gets lost somewhere in our big freezer in the garage. Thank you for inspiring me to go do this today!
Stopping by from Works for Me Wednesday.
Oh, I’m so glad this post helped you out!
Blessings,
Annie Kate
Thank you so much for participating in Tuesday’s Tip Jar over on Blog Mommas. I also really dig it that you linked properly for the meme. Many do not and it can be a bit of a disappointment.
Thank you for hosting that meme! Keep up the good work.
Annie Kate
That is great that you have so much you can freeze it! http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/thrifty-thursday_21.html
Yes, we are very, very thankful!
Oh, I wish you could come do this for me. Here is how I inventory my freezer: I defrost it once a year and say, “I forgot I had all this!”
Thanks for linking up!
LOL That’s how I’ve been doing it the previous two years when I was still ill from Celiac Disease. I always felt so bad for wasting all that preserving time and freezer electricity! I really hope this will work.
And, no, the list doesn’t contain everything in our freezer, just the main veggies…as well as some of the things in our pantry…which right now is the living room floor. Sigh!
Annie Kate
Praise the Lord for the bounty of your harvest and now freezer! I can’t touch this one at all to help you, as I have no such harvest to freeze…but I’m just itchin’ to see what Christine ( http://indeedmyheritage.blogspot.com ) will say, she is gifted from God above at this sort of thing! I’ll send her here, but she’s part of Friday FarmGirls @ Heart, so she’ll probably get here on her own anyway…
Thank you for joining again this week, Annie Kate! May God bless you and your family this weekend 🙂
Love and {{{HUGS}}},
Lori