So how is it that in a home of two (my husband and I) we ended up buying, and completely stocking up, a chest freezer??? Yes, you know, one of those deep freezers that large families or small restaurants usually use to store their grocery overflows. Well, I discovered that it does wonders to streamline my routine and overall just simplify my life! It has been one of the smartest ideas I’ve come up with.
Here’s why.
Stock Up Your Chest Freezer with Proteins on Sale!
This is one of the greatest benefits: not having to worry about cramming stuff into your kitchen freezer when you want to take advantage of discounts on beef, poultry, and fish. You can freeze any of these things for months, without worrying that they might go to waste. This is a good way to make sure you’re fully stocked up, but never pay full price or overpay!
You can also search for seasonal stuff that you know you’ll crave later, and freeze it. For us, it’s the bounty from the gorgeous mango tree in our yard. Two months of the year, it bears the most delicious, mouth-watering mangoes. We’re hooked, and eat them every day. Then, without any notice, the cruelest thing happens: they vanish! :'(
Well, it won’t happen this year! Now that I have the space, I’ll make sure to take the time to slice them, put them in freezer bags, and stock up!!! Best idea someone ever gave me! 🙂
Enjoy Easier Weekly Meal Planning
Forget about having a freezer full of frozen meals ready to burst out every time you pull it open! With a deep freezer, you can easily stock up your “freezer meals”, and then move them to your regular fridge to thaw before cooking. (Or microwave them, as the case may be).
For example, last year I started doing slow cooking and saved a lot. I began making 15-20 entire recipes in freezer bags. I would freeze them and take them out as needed the night before eating (to thaw in the fridge). The following morning, I would literally dump my freezer meal into the slow cooker, set it up for 6-8 hours, and leave for work. At the end of the day, I would come back to a home filled with the smell of yummy food, and dinner was ready to be served. To simplify my life even more, I downloaded Lauren Greutman’s 20 slow cooker meal recipes, and learned some awesome meal planning tips!
If you have kids that are old enough to know what they’re doing, you can give them recipes and make preparing the bags one of their chores! It’s a great way to make them earn their allowance. It’s also danger-free in the sense that there’s no electricity, fire, or appliances involved; all they have to do is drop the ingredients in the bag…well, and clean up afterwards. LOL.
Be prepared for mixed reactions like these two here: 😉
Less Dreadful Trips to the Store
You can also skip the shopping trips altogether by having groceries delivered by Shipt. We love ordering up lots of delicious Alpine Valley Organic Bread (the best bread on earth) from Google Express for ~$5, delivered to our door. We order like 8-10 loaves at a time. Once the bread arrives, we prepare it for freezing by separating the slices manually, and then stash them in our chest freezer! Here’s a step-by-step way to do it. No more spoiled bread!
Finally, Choose a Chest Freezer that’s Right for You
Are you sold on getting a chest freezer? Well, another important thing is to decide where you would put such chest freezer. You need to make sure you have enough space and, most importantly, an outlet nearby! Luckily, we have a good spot in our garage perfectly suited for that. I ended up getting a Danby 7.2 cubic feet chest freezer for $204.10 (pre-tax), and it has given us no trouble in 10 months.
The Lowdown
Getting a chest freezer can save you tons of time and money, and help you streamline your daily routine. It eliminates decisional fatigue by letting you do some serious weekly meal planning, and cutting down on those dreadful trips to the store! For me, it’s worth the money and it frees up my time to do the things I enjoy.
That’s my take!
Do you own a chest freezer or want one? Have you tried weekly meal planning? Do you have any tips on saving money with a deep freezer?
I’m Lily, a lawyer and aspiring Miami fashion entrepreneur sharing life hacks and my favorite tidbits on lifestyle, shopping, and fashion.
Hi Lily, Some good tips here. Meal planning is the way to go or we end up eating like crap.
I do think freezer stuff has a shelf life. It might not go bad, but taste and freshness can wane with time. So, it’s important to rotate the stock.
10 years in the frozen pizza industry taught me that that leaving the pizza in the freezer for to long is not good.
Tom
Thanks Tom! Interesting thing with the pizza. I guess I’ll never know how long is too long for it to go stale, since I can’t resist the temptation of not eating it after a couple of days from buying it. LOL. Thanks for the tips!
Absolutely agreee!!
There is nothing more satisfying then heading to the grocery store for snacks (I usually use grocery delivery except on weekend nights) and checking out the meat clearance.
I STOCK UP on those expiring meats and throw them right in the freezer. It saves so much money in the long run and makes my mealing much easier!
Great tips. Now that I will have room, I would love to get a chest freezer and do some meal prep.
Hi Alex!
If you do you’ll get hooked! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Great advice! Unfortunately, I just sold my chest freezer haha, wish I would have waited until I read this article. =/
Haha Cristy! Well, I guess you have the cash to enjoy then! 😛 Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Lily!
We are a deep freezer lovin’ family too!
We had two at one time for a few years! Our first was Mr. DS’s $20 garage sale deep freezer find when he was in college. He lived with 3-4 dudes at a time, so you can about image the food stored in that thing!
Then when I was breast feeding, I didn’t want to store all my milk in one freezer (that was older than me) so we bought a nice deep freezer as well and I kept half my supply in there.
We figured the old freezer wouldn’t make the move so we got rid of it. But still have our new unit!
I love freezer meal prepping! I think the most I’ve made at a crank was 30-35? I asked for a food sealer for my birthday (crossing fingers I get one!) as I found even if I double bagged the food in 2 freezer storage bags, it still got a lil’ freezer burnt.
Your mango tree sounds awesome and delicious btw!
Hey Mrs. DS! Wow, $20 is pretty unbeatable! and wow 30-35 frozen meals at a crank! I need to go to a boot camp with you! My average is 17 and I end up spent! LOL
Hopefully someone’s listening and you get that food sealer!! 🙂
I do get that freezer burn sometimes, but it doesn’t seem to have any impact on slow cooked meals…at least for now! Who knows, maybe I end up wanting a food sealer too! LOL
I REALLY need to get on the freezer meals for slow cooker train. Having your kids assemble the meals is an excellent idea, but mine are sadly too young to put to work. Lol. Maybe in a few years. Love this article.
We don’t have a deep freezer 🙁 And , while I wish I did, except for our spaghetti sauce I don’t prepare meals ahead of time. I just never seem to have the time on the week-end (poor excuse I know). It would save me time during the week and $ too.
I don’t have a deep freezer but I love using my freezer.
I’ve been blending my babies food and freezing it into cubes and then preparing it by steaming it.
I would love to freeze mango slices that’s awesome you have a mango tree in your backyard!!!