And also because I am regularly going in there and pulling stuff out for challenges, I have a better mental idea of what's in there.

Which means I used up some other random stuff in these last two weeks, aside from what I officially added to the challenge.

Ok!

Let's run through the stuff from last time around. First up, this poor, sad-looking flank steak that was at least 3-4 years old.

Had it been a cheaper cut of meat, I miiiiight have let it go. But I really, really hate to throw away beef.

I read through all of your suggestions, and I decided to go with the idea that many of you had: to marinate it with spices and oil. I think Kristin from Going Country suggested a southwest type of twist, and that's what I did, using cumin and chili powder along with garlic and salt and pepper.

And oil, since America's Test Kitchen has taught me that oil is a very good carrier of flavors.

Not gonna lie, when I thawed this thing out, I felt not-that-optimistic.

But I forged ahead, trusting that time + salt + spices can work magic.

I let it sit in the fridge for a solid 24 hours because a 4-year-old flank steak is not a candidate for a quick marinade.

I cooked it in some hot oil, flipped it, browned the other side, and then let it rest for ten minutes before slicing it thinly.

The first night, we ate it as tacos, because I figured if it was gonna taste a little off, tacos would help a lot!

But the meat was actually surprisingly good. I credit the salt + time equation, honestly.

I ate taco leftovers as a salad.

I also used some leftover meat to make a taco-ish quesadilla for breakfast.

And I used the very last of it to make a small Swiss cheese/steak quesadilla, which was super tasty. I wished I had one more to eat!

So, I give myself an A++++ on the flank steak. It was a very successful save.

Hot dog buns

I thawed these and used two of them to make some garlic bread for Zoe and me.

That leaves four still, and I might use them to make croutons.

Sun-dried tomatoes (except not really)

Remember my jar of sun-dried tomatoes?

Well...I thawed them and quickly realized that the contents were actually roasted red peppers. Whoops!

THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD LABEL THINGS.

But no matter. I added them to some breakfast mashed potatoes for two days, and all was well.

A+ on this.

Pineapple chunks

I used them up in smoothies and they are alllll gone. Yay me!

Another A+.

Peaches

I did use some of these in smoothies.

But they are not all gone, so I cannot give myself another A+.

I think I'll have 'em all blended into smoothies by the next go-round though.

Beef Jerky

I have been snacking on this, but it's not all gone yet.

Next Set of Freezer Items

Okee-dokee. Time for a rundown of what I'm gonna try to use up these next two weeks!

Leftovers from last time:

• four hot dog buns
• the rest of the bag of peaches
• the rest of the beef jerky

And let's see what new stuff I want to tackle.

Ham pieces

These are left from a Christmas ham, I think?

Apple Slices

I think I froze these a few years ago when I was getting tired of making bruised apples into applesauce. I ran them through my apple peeler/corer/slicer, and chucked them in the freezer.I could make them into applesauce.

I could make an apple crisp.

I could fry them up in butter at breakfast to add to oatmeal.

Hmmm.

Sweet potato fries

Nothing odd here; just a bag that should be used up.

And you know the drill; I'll work on this for two weeks and report back.

Is this is an extremely slow way to eat down a freezer? Yes.

Is it maintainable? YES.

Slow and steady is my approach to life. 😉

The post Chest Freezer Update | the flank steak story! appeared first on The Frugal Girl.

Here's how things are going with my last collection of frozen food.

Bread Cubes

When I have bread odds and ends, I usually cut them up into cubes and add them to a bag in my freezer.

Which is a good plan but the cubes do eventually need to be used when the bag is full.

I used most of them to make a half-pan of Pioneer Woman's overnight French toast when Zoe had a friend sleep over.

And I used the rest of them to make some homemade croutons for a salad we had with dinner.

Homemade croutons are so good. And they're so much easier to eat than the ones from the store, which are impossible to poke with a fork!

I started these on the stovetop and then put them in the toaster oven for their final crisping. A toaster oven sure is handy for small batches!

Pineapple

Here's what I started with.

I suppose there are creative things one could do with this, but I've just been faithfully using it up in smoothies!

So many smoothies.

I also had a smoothie on the go...

By the way, if you ever need to disguise something like kale in a smoothie, pineapple helps a lot. It has a flavor that comes through pretty strong!

Anyway...I have less than half a pound of pineapple left.

Peaches

Last time around, I still had a pound and a half of peaches in this bag.

But I am happy to say, I used up every last one in smoothies! Yay for an empty bag.

Banana Slices

Next up, a bag of banana slices, which I am sorry to say I have not touched at all.

Squash Rolls

I think there were around eight in this bag to start with, and I'm down to one!

Here's what they look like freshly-baked. And here's the recipe if you want to take a peek.

Mostly I just ate them toasted and spread with butter, but I also used some to make sort of an avocado toast sandwich.

Of course I put an egg on my avocado toast. We would expect no less from me. 😉

So, overall I did pretty well! I used up everything except for the bananas and part of the bag of pineapple. Oh, and the one butternut squash roll.

____________________________

Batch #3 of freezer food

Allllrighty. Time for another collection of things to use up.

In addition to the bananas, pineapple, and the one squash roll, I have a fresh set of frozen food to tackle.

Beef Jerky

I think I had frozen this because I bought a big bag and I knew Zoe and I wouldn't eat it in time. So, I'm thawing it and she and I can both snack on it. This should be easy!

Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I found a partial jar of these in the freezer, and since I've been adding them to my mashed potatoes of late, they should be simple to use up.

Peaches

Ummmm....as I was searching through my freezer yesterday, I actually found several more bags of peaches!

OH NO.

I think I must have grabbed them from the freezer at my other house, because I know I didn't freeze this many peaches last summer.

I see more peach smoothies in my future. 😉

Hot Dog Buns

I do not know why I have hot dog buns; I never buy hot dogs, and I can't think of anything else I make that requires hot dog buns.

So, hmmm. I could use these to make garlic toast.

I could cut them up into bread cubes.

I could make small pizza subs with them.

Flank Steak

Guys, this is a VERY old piece of flank steak.

It's from the freezer at my other house, and I know that it had been in that freezer for quite some time.

Soooo, I'm thinking it's gonna need some serious marinade to be tasty. What would you do with it?

Got ideas for me? I'm open to suggestions!

P.S. Thanks for following along with my freezer challenges. I am 1000% more likely to actually follow through on these when I know I'm gonna give you all a report. I appreciate the virtual accountability!

The post Chest Freezer Update #2 | I have a REALLY old flank steak appeared first on The Frugal Girl.

But I am trying to use up odds and ends...those things you throw in the freezer so you don't let them go bad. 

That's a good strategy, but unless you actually eat those things, the freezer just ends up being a pit stop on the way to the trash can. 

So. I'm eating down odds and ends and I'm also trying to eat up things that have been in there for a while. Chest freezers are good for storing things on a long-term basis, but long-term does not equal forever. 😉 

Since I don't like my freezer challenges to be miserable or overwhelming, I do them by pulling out just a few things to use up each week. And I give myself permission to buy other ingredients as necessary, to help me use up what's in my freezer.

SO!

Let's see how I did with the stuff I pulled out last week. 

Frozen peaches

These are peaches I'd sliced and frozen from those boxes of bruised peaches I buy from my local produce stand, so they were pretty inexpensively obtained. 

Here's a YouTube video I made about how I freeze peaches, in case you wanna see me talk about it!

I made a smoothie with some of my peaches (after I banged the bag on the floor a few times to loosen the peaches, which had somehow gathered together into one large lump.) 

I also added some of the OJ concentrate from my previous challenge. 

Also in the smoothie: homemade yogurt, and some pineapple chunks that I'd frozen from an overly ripe Hungry Harvest pineapple. 

So, I felt pretty good about the frugality of this smoothie! 🙂 

After my first one, I made several more peach/orange/pineapple smoothies, and my peach bag is now down to 1 pound, 12 ounces.

Chicken 

Once I thawed my two packages of chicken, I realized that one package was chicken tenders and one was boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

This is why we should always label things.

But, I don't always do everything that I should. 😉 

I decided to forge ahead and use both types of chicken to make a batch of chipotle chicken kebabs; I prepped the chicken as usual, and then I just made sure to thread the breast pieces on separate skewers from the thigh pieces.

Thigh meat generally takes longer to cook, so I didn't want to mix the two on a single skewer.

And I'm happy to report that chicken thighs work just fine in this recipe; in fact, I might actually prefer them.

 Good to know for the future! 

Chicken Bones

I had three rotisserie chicken carcasses to use and I opted to pull out my slow-cooker for the broth-making process.

I started it out on the stovetop so that I could brown an onion and the chicken bits.

And then I transferred it all to the slow-cooker, which I parked out in my carport.

(July is not the time of year to have a pot of simmering liquid on your stove all day. In January, it's delightful. In July, it's torture.)

When I was pouring the broth into the containers last night, I noticed a growing puddle underneath one.

And then I realized why!

Whoops.

Regardless, now my bones have been transformed into chicken broth, which was my end goal. Chicken broth is in a usable form, and I know that I will always use it up over time.

I'm probably not going to make a big dent in my broth stash until the seasons change, though. Most broth-centric recipes are for cold weather!

Here's my method for making chicken broth that tastes really good.

Mozzarella

I opted to leave the sealed bag of mozzarella in the freezer for some future use. But I thawed the bag with just a bit of cheese in it, and I'll add it to my scrambled eggs this morning.

Next Week's Freezer Items

Well, of course, I will continue to work on my bag of peaches.

And I have another batch of freezer goodies (baddies?) that are up this week.

This is a bag of pineapple chunks, and I seriously had no idea it was in there. But this is perfect because pineapple is a great addition to a peach smoothie.

And we know I'm gonna be making more of those.

I could use these banana slices in smoothies, or maybe I will make the strawberry-banana "ice cream" I posted about some years ago.

These bread cubes are destined for a French toast casserole, I think.

And lastly, this is a bag of butternut squash rolls. I'm not sure what I plan to do with them...heat and serve with dinner? Toast and make egg sandwiches for breakfast?

Stay tuned to find out. 🙂

The post Chest Freezer Challenge | in which I spill broth appeared first on The Frugal Girl.