Monday, December 3, 2018

Freezer Challenge - Week 2

I did reasonably well with the first week of my freezer challenge.

  1. Lasagna. Pan 1 of 2. This will sub in for a couple of dinners this week. Done. Ate on busy nights, and M finished the rest for lunch. 
  2. Edamame. We have a bag of shelled edamame that will go well with dinner this week, so I'll add it in Done. Served with dinner. 
  3. Chicken chowder. I'll defrost a bowl & eat it for my lunch on Friday. Done. I had this for lunch on Saturday & Sunday. 
  4. Pot stickers. I'll serve them with dinner this week, although this will certainly not empty the bag. Done, and it actually finished the bag!
  5. Wontons. Same as the pot stickers. This will maybe take care of 1/2 the bag.  Done. This finished 1/2 of the bag, as expected. 
  6. Rotisserie chicken. Use one bag for risotto. - I ended up using a different kind of chicken for dinner, so I polished off that bag, but the rotisserie chicken remains. 
  7. Chicken broth. Ditto the rotisserie chicken. I'll have to get creative in finding recipes that will move more than one ingredient at a time! - Same as above. Didn't get to this during the week.
I also used a few bonus items that I hadn't expected to get to this week:
  1. Remainder of a bag of chicken strips
  2. 2 packages of chicken breasts
  3. Over ripe bananas (turned into banana bread that I made for a friend).
So, with the bonus items considered, I'm feeling good & enjoying the challenge. Breaking it into manageable chunks definitely helps.

Here's my menu plan for the week, as well as the freezer items:

  • Friday - we were all on the go with soccer, so lasagna
  • Saturday - date night, and a friend fed the kids
  • Sunday - chicken artichoke bake
  • Monday - Tacos (meat from the freezer)
  • Tuesday - leftover chicken artichoke bake
  • Wednesday - Taco quesadillas
  • Thursday - spaghetti & meatballs. Meatballs from the freezer, along with homemade tomato sauce (freezer)
  • Friday - chicken risotto

So, here's what's on this week's challenge:
  1. 1 container of taco meat - dinner for Monday/Wednesday 
  2. Container of homemade tomato sauce - dinner for Thursday
  3. Rotisserie chicken - dinner for Friday
  4. Chicken broth - dinner for Friday
  5. Tortillas (won't use all of the bag, maybe 1/2) - dinner for Monday/Wednesday
  6. One container of soup - lunch on Saturday/Sunday

What about you? Are you doing a freezer challenge? What's on your menu for the week, and are you weaving in any freezer challenge items? 

3 comments:

  1. I am loving your posts about the freezer usage. I am trying to do the same, but am not having as much success as you are. Nonetheless the freezer is down by 4 items this week, but I did have a use up all remaining Thanksgiving foods last week. Now I have to plan a purposeful freezer menu. Thank you so much for the inspiration.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks - I'm enjoying the focus. Typically I've just done "use freezer stuff" as my plan, which hasn't been quite as effective. ;- )

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  2. You did well filling the freezer and now equally strong using up the items. I am so far behind in cleaning out the freezer and refrigerator, and ended up buying too much this weekend.

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