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Who doesn't hate it when you go to pull out meat from your freezer only to find that it is covered in frost bite and you have no clue how old it really is. Or maybe you thought you had something that it turns out was already used or thrown out. While labeling your foods before freezing can help, but sometimes labels get smudged or things get lost in the back never to see the light of day again.
Keep an Inventory
When my husband and I started buying large quantities of beef from a local butcher we quickly realized we needed a system to keep it organized and prevent waste. That's when we decided to keep an inventory next to our freezer. We sorted through all the meats and did a full audit of everything and noted quantities and use by dates. I created a stylish freezer inventory list you can download for free from Canva to keep track of it all. I printed it out and hung on the freezer with magnets. You could also laminate or get a plastic cover sheet for the list and use a dry erase marker to keep track. Every time we take something out or put something end we update the inventory as a real-time inventory audit. This allows us at any time to know exactly what we have on the freezer and what needs to be used soon before it goes bad.
Repackage and Freeze Meats
If you are putting meats from the grocery store directly into your freezer without repackaging, stop. The number one way to prevent freezer burn is to properly seal meats before freezing. I will typically remove the grocery store packaging and portion meats out individually or in quantities we typically cook in. If you haven't used a Food Saver or other vacuum sealer I recommend trying it as it is much easier that it looks and really does help meats stay fresh longer. Otherwise you can use Ziploc freezer bags to seal the portions needed.
Next up, reorganize the pantry!
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