How I organize frozen food

My post last week about how I do monthly grocery shopping got quite a few comments.

One was from Manuela at A Cultivated Nest 

She asked if  I had any tips on how to organize a chest freezer.  

I don't know if the way I do it is the best way but for now,  it is working for me. 

Let me say that when we bought our current freezer,  I was feeling very frugal and picked out a chest freezer instead of  an upright.  And I so regret it!  Chest freezers do cost less to operate and to purchase than  upright freezers but they are a bother to keep organized and to get things from the bottom.  

So,  my advice, if you are  about to buy a freezer - get an upright!  

Ok,  on to my freezer.

It is quite full because I have heard predictions that meat prices could increase significantly from the drought that dried up the corn and hay crops.

Several stores in my town have had great sales on meat and you all know about my cheese score. 

So,  here is how I do my freezer right now.  

Things are stored in layers

Bottom layer
on the right are some canisters holding wheat to be ground
(my parents brought me their older Vitamix and some wheat 2 weeks ago but I have not yet  used any of it)
the orange and white boxes are bacon, turned on their end to fill that space
in the center are stacks of chicken breasts bought on sale -
On the left - rolls of sausage in a fabric shopping bag
and butter bought on sale, stored in gallon ziploc bags just to keep them a little more airtight than just the wrappers they are in.  

Middle layer
I use cloth shopping bags to sort food - they are heavy when full but the handles make them easy to take out and put back in.
 more bacon- stacked on top the sausage rolls
a shopping bag full of more chicken in the front left
center- a sack of ground beef and smoked pork loin
also a shopping bag full of cheese
on the right,  2 shopping bags,- one is beef and I think the other is more chicken

Top layer
big bags of fish filets and bulk vegatables
bulk yeast - bought at Sams,  a huge bargain there
The basket on the right holds small one of kind things like some chicken sausage  as well as garden  seeds.  

So when I need things from the bottom,  I pretty much just remove each layer until I get to what I need, then replace it all.  It is not the easiest thing but it is not that bad either.

When I am working at it,  I just tell myself  to be thankful I have so much food to move around.

Besides the chest freezer,  I have 2 refrigerators.

One is a small fridge and the other is a family size fridge but not a huge fridge. 

 I use that freezer space too. 

You can get a lot in a fridge freezer if you try.   

In the small fridge freezer,  I stack plastic containers holding cooked food-
taco meat, pasta sauce, chicken broth, refried beans, etc.
Also my grandsons milk 

In the bigger fridge freezer,  this is really assorted stuff-
jars of baking ingredients,
ice packs
apple juice cubes for my grandchildren
partial bags of vegetables

that empty space on the top shelf is where I keep milk- the half gallons I buy on sale and in bulk.


but I thawed out the last one and will need to re-buy them soon.

the door has lots of storage too
for big cans of orange juice
and odd ball baking ingredients.  

So,  I don't know if this the best way to store frozen food,  but it is what currently works for us.  

linked to Blissful and Domestic Sunday blog hop

linked to Sunny Simple Sundays