31 Days: Day 20 - The freezer

The seasonal clothing exchange is still going on. I'll give you an update as soon as I have one. ;)


Today, though, we're moving on to something a little easier because yesterday was a teensy bit overwhelming. Today I'm starting to clean out my freezer. I say 'starting' because I have to work in little blocks of time. My girls are at a friend's house helping with a project and I've got just enough time to work on part of my freezer. The part I'm working on today is the actual belly of the beast. The inner sanctuary or the depths of hell, whichever way you want to look at it. 

This is where food goes to die. Actually, this is where I put food that I have no intention of ever touching again. Don't worry, it's not intentional, just something I'm not willing to candy-coat anymore. It's what I do. I keep things so I can continue to call myself thrifty, resourceful and frugal, but the truth is, I stick stuff in there because I can't bear to throw it out...just yet.

Some examples of my madness:


Leftover crusts and heels of bread that could be turned into yummy croutons. Really?!? Am I currently living in the depression? I don't even eat bread anymore.

Frozen corn. Another thing I don't eat anymore.

The great banana stock-up of October 2008. Maybe I was planning on having a giant smoothie party.

And apparently, at some point, I didn't even bother to prep the bananas, I just threw them in whole. Banana mummies, anyone?

Coconut shrimp. Was it so delicious, I had to give my family a future night of it? No, I was the only one who liked it, thus the large amount leftover. Why couldn't I just call it a fail and throw it out? Also, not eating spaghetti anymore.

Tomato juice leftover from canning tomatoes. It's basically tomato-flavored water. What could I possibly do with it? Obviously, I haven't come up with the answer to that, either.

There was a time when my dad was getting medication in the mail that needed to be refrigerated. My mom gave me all these cold packs because, evidently, she had a hard time with the thought of throwing them away, also. Why am I keeping them? To pack in my children's lunches, of course. My now home-schooled children? I think it's time for them to go. I may keep one.

This next one is not for the faint of heart. I don't mean to startle you, but I literally found 3 different bags like this. And I'm not collecting dead birds, I'm being a good mom by telling my son I'd be happy to prepare the dove he just shot in the backyard. Only problem is, who cooks 3 or 4 dove at a time? They're like chicken wings, in my book. They just aren't worth it. And he is onto bigger game, now. I think I'm safe to get rid of these.

Here are a couple of things I found as evidence that I've passed this madness on to my children.


A cut up apple and an ice cream sandwich with one bite out of it. I guess they just didn't feel like eating it at the moment. And this is where mom puts things to suspend them in time so that's what we'll do.

Glow sticks. This one is kind of endearing because I did this as a child and I don't remember who told me to do it. I remember getting home from a trip to Six Flags and putting my glow stick in the freezer so it would keep forever. It did keep forever, it just never glowed again. The funny thing is, I don't remember telling my kids to put these in the freezer. Maybe it's instinct.

And here's the drawer empty and ready to be scrubbed. Haven't started that yet, but since I threw out almost everything in there, it can wait until this afternoon.

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