Don’t Just Stuff Food in Your Freezer!

I went grocery shopping this morning and while unpacking the groceries realized how much I’ve improved from being an absolute noob in homemaking to a relatively capable one.

When I got married and started running the household, I used to just haphazardly dump meat and other food products in the freezer. They went straight from the grocery bags to the freezer. Until I was quite frankly told, “Don’t just stuff food in your freezer! Learn to organize and handle food properly.”

With two little kids to feed in the family, I doubled my effort in learning how to cook and handle food.  My mom, other mom friends and the mom magazines I’ve subscribed to all contributed  to my homemaking skills.  I’m still so far from being able to run the household perfectly but at least now things are running smoothly – and I’m not calling dear Mom every hour to ask what I’m supposed to do.

What have I learned about unpacking fresh meat? Here are some of them:

• I wash, cut, and pack meat according to the meal plan before placing in the freezer.  This makes defrosting faster and avoids having to re-freeze meat(which I also found out should never be done).  I also put labels on the packs so it’ll be easier to take the correct pack out.
• Ground meat is best used straight from the grocery. Freezing causes its quality to deteriorate. If a trip to the grocery is inconvenient, you may opt to brown the ground meat first before freezing.
• If barbeque, fried chicken, or anything else that entails marinating is included in the week’s menu, I marinate the meat right after unpacking the groceries.  I allow the meat to soak up the marinade first before placing them in the freezer.
• I buy only a week’s worth of meat, fish and vegetables. This ensures that the food we eat are relatively fresh. Other vegetables, especially the leafy ones, we buy on a daily basis as needed from a nearby “talipapa”.
• Squeeze air from the bags before placing items in the freezer. This minimizes ice crystals from forming, optimizes freezer performance, and also saves space.

Oh, and I’ve also been told that the best day to do your grocery shopping is on Wednesdays.  This is because most stores replenish their goods on this day.  However, I can’t always go out on Wednesdays, so more often than not, I still go to the grocery on weekends.  I make sure though that I go as early as possible to get fresh produce and meats and also to avoid the weekend crowd.

Do you have any kitchen tips you’d like to share with me? I’d love to know how you run your house also.  I’m sure to learn a thing or two from you as well.