Did you clean and organize your refrigerator yesterday? Good! Today we’re moving on to the freezer! And we’re going to move fast!
Step 7 :: Clean and Organize Your Freezer
Dump the ice
Every once in a while I like to clean out the ice container. Liquids spill making a mess and people sometimes grab ice with dirty hands, so it just makes me feel better to occasionally clean the ice container.
Plus, dumping it in the sink and placing your frozen food in it helps to keep it cold while cleaning out the freezer!
To clean the ice container, dump the old ice out and wash in the sink or wipe down with an all-purpose cleaner.
By the way, if your ice has an odor or bad taste, it could be caused by food odor, bad water supply or an old water filter. One way to tell if it’s caused by food or water is to dump the ice and clean out the freezer. If the bad taste comes back, you should probably check your water.
Scrub away
Clean the shelves and freezer walls just like you did the refrigerator. You just need a good cloth or sponge, an all-purpose cleaner, and a handy dandy scraper for tough to remove gunk.
My best tip for this is to work fast so your food doesn’t thaw!
Re(Stock) the freezer
It’s time to put everything back!
Take note of the food you have when you’re placing everything back in the freezer. I usually just make mental notes but I’m sure a truly organized person would write down the exact food, how much they have and what shelf it’s on! Either way, it’s good to know what you have so you can begin to incorporate the items into your meal plan.
Do you’re best to categorize the food you’re placing back in the freezer: veggies on one shelf, meat on another, etc. It will help tremendously when you’re looking for something specific.
By the way, if you need some ideas on how to stock your freezer with meals, you can find lot of healthy “real food” recipes in this freezer cookbook, double up on your eMeals menu, or you could finally try once a month cooking! I’m a big fan of all three options!
Have fun cleaning your freezer today! I’d love to know, though, do you keep an organized list of what you have in your freezer, a mental checklist, or neither?
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the clean and organized kitchen series!
iDreamOfClean
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I have a side-by-side freezer and I try to keep food types together in their own shelf. I have a shelves for meat, veggies, snacks, breakfast foods, and meals. I keep frozen lunches and ice cream in the door.
Tips are really helpful. Making your freezer clean and organized helps you to get quickly what you need inside for food preparation. You should place the items where should it be.
I bought dollar store plastic bins. I sorted the contents of my freezer into Pork, Beef, Chicken, Fish, frozen Fruits, Frozen Veggies. I tagged each bin. Now it is easy to find what I am looking for and to keep track of what I need to purchase.