Harvesting My Freezer

 

As I pursue grocery shopping, driven by a mixture of Trader Joe's staples and discounts from the weekly Shop-Rite ad, my purchasing has changed for the better the past few months.  I sometimes follow a list, though usually not.  But to offset that, when I put something in the cart I know what I want to do with it.  Good price on salmon means gravlax.  There are shabbos dinner staples like chicken breasts or sometimes a cut-up chicken, or cubed beef bought for that purpose.  Recently I've been getting fish on sale, nature's fast food that I can freeze thaw a day or two before needed and make a quick dinner.  Some things are made in bulk.  Macaroni & Cheese or spinach lasagna lasts about four meals, two that week, two frozen for later.  Pierogies, ravioli, hot dogs or even Beyond Meat Burgers are also just pop into some cooking method shortly before needed.  Alas, I buy more than I eat.

Periodically I need to harvest usable leftovers or things I've not eaten.  I was looking for some frozen tilapia, packaged in serving sized portions, to put in a skillet later in the week but couldn't find them on the lower freezer compartment.  What I found instead, long forgotten by me, were some hash browns that make for a quick breakfast, hamburger rolls that when thawed add to the authenticity of the Beyond Meat Burgers.  Two minichallot, that I now do not have to buy for this shabbos, two serving sized mac & cheeses sitting in the freezer for two months, some unopened frozen vegetables, some opened with enough peas or brussels sprouts for one more dinner each.  And I knew about frozen cholent which will get used for a pre-Thanksgiving shabbos.

And I still have the upper compartment.  Tilapia probably there.