Before you travel, there’s that pesky fridge you need to deal with. It’s just not possible for me to empty the fridge on purpose without a plan. So, here’s the 6 steps to clean out your fridge.
Just like at a buffet, I end up with too much “on my plate” – a fridge full of things we aren’t going to get eaten before we leave. It takes some work, but these steps help me conserve as much of my “already spent” money as possible.
1) Cook whatever you know you will eat
A couple of days out, really figure out what you will have each meal from what remains in the fridge. Write it down if you need to! At this point, I knew we would only need a couple of meals; so, I cooked the Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein (about 2 meals for 2 people).
2) Deal with fresh veggies
Not all fresh veggies can be frozen, but these bell peppers are perfect in a freezer bag. Chop and freeze what fresh veggies you can and share the rest with a friend or neighbor.
3) Freeze seasoned or unseasoned meats
If you buy chicken in bulk like I do, you can definitely freeze this. And you’ll save yourself some time if you go ahead and cut them into whatever sizes you want and even season them so they’re ready to go when you come back.
I do a lot of chicken fairly plain in the crockpot to use in casseroles, soups, or chicken salad. These I didn’t cut or do anything else to…they simply go straight into the freezer bag (I was out of vacuum sealer bags…ugh).
I have one grilled chicken seasoning recipe that I love. So, I sliced one set of breasts in half, seasoned ‘em, and then loaded them in the freezer bags. They are ready to defrost and grill when I return.
4) Brown and freeze ground meats
I only buy ground beef when it’s on sale in 3- or 5-pound rolls. This time it was a 5-pounder I was looking at. I split the roll into 5 segments and browned one at a time.
Of course, that needed to cool. So, while I was dealing with the chicken, I just let the ground beef all sit in a colander and cool all the way through. Then I loaded it into 5 freezer bags – eyeballing that they are about equal amounts is plenty fine for me.
5) Whip leftover eggs into shape
I had bought 7 dozen eggs a couple of weeks back, and try as I might, I still ended up with 6 left that I didn’t need. Enter research on if/how to freeze ‘em.
I whipped ‘em all up together, then poured ‘em into a freezer bag, and froze it flat.
6) Last night review
The night before you leave, go through the fridge one more time. Is there a serving of something that got left you could freeze? Are there more veggies left you thought you would use that now need freezing or sharing?
And give yourself grace to simply throw small things out if you can’t use them any other way. Just make sure you find a place to dispose of your last trash bag on your way out of town.
And a bonus!
You can make coming home less stressful by asking this one question – Do you have what you need for at least the first meal back in town?
For me that would be breakfast. Well, those frozen eggs will come in handy! I made a note to move them to the fridge to defrost when we got home. I had saved the last few chicken breakfast sausage links for just such a purpose as well.
I also had those seasoned chicken breasts and some frozen cauliflower if I couldn’t get to the store that first day back. Just plan ahead 1 or 2 meals. Your travel weary self will thank you.
Time to get to work!
Christmas (at the time I’m writing this) is only 4 days away. Chances are you’re packing and finishing wrapping gifts. Take a little time and use these 6 steps to clean out your fridge. It’ll save you money AND sanity during your trip AND after.
Wanna know the basics of browning beef or chopping veggies that can be frozen? Here ya go!
