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WELCOME BACK!

We’re on Day #4 of this 10 Day series, and I hope you’re gaining some new info and being inspired.  Feel free to ask questions, leave comments or jot me an email.

Today, let’s look at real food freezer essentials…

 A note on freezer space:  I’m grateful to have two large, upright freezers…and we actually do use up the space if I’m fully stocked up.  If you don’t have extra freezer storage, don’t despair!

Store what you can in smaller amounts.  As you’re able, put aside a few dollars until there’s enough for a small chest freezer.  If you’re like me, selling a few things on eBay (or Craigslist) should do the trick!

Here’s what we store in our real food freezer:

Poultry

Eating pastured, primarily grass-fed poultry and meat nourishes our bodies best, and ideally, we’d all be able to afford it! 🙂

I order all the chicken & turkey we eat from a local farm during the summer months (when the birds are free-range running around), and then we freeze them to enjoy the rest of the year.  I like knowing who raises our meat, and what the animals are fed.

I’m thinking of purchasing a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid to make ground turkey.

Meat

So far, we don’t eat much pork or beef, and when we do, I usually purchase cuts from our local grocery, so it’s not grass-fed meat.  I don’t stress about what we can’t do, instead I focus on eating well in other ways.

Once a year we have lamb (at Passover), and we haven’t done too much of game meat (deer, moose, etc).

**With both our poultry and meat, I am thinking of self-canning cooked meats to store on pantry shelves instead of using the freezer (a pressure canner/cooker is on my Amazon wish list).  This way, cooked meats are ready even FASTER for the dinner table – win, win! 

Fish and Seafood

Finding wild fish grown in non-polluted (or at least not heavily polluted) waters can be a pricey ordeal.  Canned salmon is almost always from Alaskan/Pacific waters, however, so I do keep this stocked in our pantry.

When fresh, wild salmon is on sale, I purchase what I can.  We also enjoy shrimp or tilapia here and there in our meals.

Bone Broths

The smell of chicken broth simmering on the stove, especially on a cold day, is sensory pleasure enough!  But broths are healing and nourishing food, and should be stocked in our freezers for cooking and adding to meals.

Organic Berries, Fruits

Berries are often heavily sprayed with pesticides, and strawberries are on the 2013 dirty dozen list, so we purchase organic for these fruits — they’re great in our smoothies and homemade ice cream or popsicles!  I make strawberry freezer jam as well.

Other fruits I usually purchase fresh in the summer months, and frozen other seasons of the year.  Sometimes, I’ll actually get around to freezing fresh summer produce for days ahead.  Sometimes.

Vegetables

I primarily purchase veggies from the store, using the same principle as fruit – fresh in summer, frozen other times.  Ditto on freezing too!

Ready-made Dishes or Ready-made Baked Goods

I’ll dig into this deeper tomorrow when I share on benefits of freezer cooking.  This practice of cooking and freezing for later is the biggest time-saver in the kitchen!

Whole Grain Breads

Sandwich bread, English muffins, rolls and more are all stored in our freezers!  I purchase extra when they’re on sale, or we make them ourselves.

Items to Keep Fresh

If we have extras of pantry items, they stay in the freezer until needed…such as flours, nuts & seeds, chocolate chips, dried fruits, and more.

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There will be some storage tips in an upcoming post – so stay tuned!

Note:  I am not a physician or medical professional in any field; all posts are for educational purposes alone and not intended to diagnose, prevent, cure, or treat any illness, disease or health concern.  Please read full disclaimer here.