'Cuz I Get On Your Nerves

Do you have any idea what this is? Hmm... looks like a freezer. Even better, it looks like a freezer that hasn't had any thought given to what lies in that freezer. Looks pretty.. desolate, right? Needy? Wanting? Yearning?

I just spent 10 minutes freezing my fingers off by poking around in this poor freezer just so I can get on my sister's nerves. She hates me for being somewhat organized, I know she does. When I told her that I make menu's for every week, then a grocery list, and stick to it.. she told me I was stupid. When I told her that I purposely buy double what I need for the week.. she told me I was stupid. And when I unveiled to her this afternoon that I actually prepare, seal, and freeze the double portions for later meals.. she told me I was stupid.

This post is to show her what a happy freezer looks like. And do you know what happens when you have a happy freezer? You have a happy dinner. 'Cuz your smart ass only cooks it once, then freezes it, so you don't have to cook again. Journey into my happy little freezer, won't you?

Now this is a happy little freezer! You can almost hear some angel that is sitting on a nice chunk of ice with her harpsichord singing Hallelujah! when you open my freezer. It's such a beautiful place, that sometimes I wish to be a frozen ice cube just so I can snuggle up next to all of that perfect harmony in there. Just what do I have in my happy little freezer? Why, I thought you would never ask!

Just under that spiffy little space that holds my oddly girly looking ice cube trays on the upper left, is hidden the greatest gem in my freezer! Okay, I lied. It isn't the greatest, but it sounded good! For my menu almost 2 weeks ago, we had Bruschetta burgers. These call for store bought prepackaged burgers. I bought a box of 20 from Wal-Mart for $6 (unbelievable, right?), used half, and froze the rest after sealing them. Food Sealers are nifty gadgets, and well worth the price of the appliance and bags. So, look at that! I have a spare meal of burgers. Voila. Moving on...

There are actually 3 of these bad boys lounging in my freezer. These are my failed attempts at Stuffed Cabbage that we had tonight (I made them all last week). I did manage one tray of Stuffed Cabbage before the whole process fell to bits right before my eyes. Stuffed Cabbage and I don't get along, obviously. I'm still trying to figure out what I did to it for it to treat me this way. Maybe it will be revealed to me in a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia® in the near future, disguised as a nice and plump black cherry. Yup, that made no sense. But you're still here, so we must be on the same wave length somewhere. Ahh, yes. What is this stuff then? Why, it's Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole! Always great to have a back up plan when it comes to Stuffed Cabbage gone wrong. I think I've looked at the Unstuffed stuff stuffs for too long, I think we should keep going....

Remember that nice tall stack of things on the top right part of the freezer? Here it is, all unraveled so we can marvel at it. We have (1) Creamy Mashed Potatoes, (1) Turkey Noodle Pot Pie, (1) Lasagna, and (2) Chicken Spaghetti Casserole. Umm, forgot to mention that they are in clockwise order, beginning with the bottom left of the picture and going around. Wouldn't need my precious readers getting all dis-com-bobulated on me! And of course, there was (1) Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole in the mix, but I set that in the freezer because I was sure that you really didn't need to see yet another of my failed attempts at Stuffed Cabbage.

On the bottom of my freezer, on the left, was a second pan of lasagna. I actually made 1 big thing of lasagna, and 2 small things of it (and I didn't have to buy anything more than I normally did to accomplish this amazing feat!). Of course, we demolished the first pan, between dinner, lunch, and T-Bone's lunch, that thing didn't stand a chance

Last night, we had Sausage Gravy over Pancakes. I already had a thing of frozen sausage in my freezer from some time back, so I purchased another and made a huge double batch. This is what was left afterwards. Man, this is going to be a nice, quick, super easy Sunday breakfast that I won't have to put any effort into at all. Want to know why? 'Cuz I was also smart enough to do this....
Uhhhh hhhuuuhhhh. Dat's Right. Those are spare pancakes. All freshly made last night, cooled, bagged, sealed, then frozen. You can award me with any of those nifty time saver trophies right now. I will gladly accept. Since I menu plan I know approximately a week and a half before I want to use anything, and have more than enough time to thaw it out. Ha!

Last, but certainly not least, is my freezer door. I didn't showcase this with the empty freezer, because I literally hauled everything out of it and threw it into the rest of the freezer so that it didn't look completely barren. The emptiness of it had me near tears, so I figured that I would spare my readers and fill the space. We have, in general, hashbrowns, italian meatballs, bacon, hot dogs, butter, and one of those freezer mugs. And down on the bottom rack, starting at the left, is a big bag of Turkey Noodle Soup (it was rolled up while unfrozen so that it would spare some freezer space), and next to it, a bag of chopped onions, green peppers, and red peppers. They all had to be used, so I diced them quick, then froze them. Next time I need them, all I have to do is thaw them out. Ta-da! Sometimes, I love being me.

Still thinking that you don't have the time to do this? Think again. Think really really really hard. If you are already making it, it will not kill you to make a little bit more, then freeze it. Can you imagine the time you saved making two pot pies at once, instead of 1, then another, at two different times? Man, that has to be harsh. The amount of time lost that you could have spent doing something totally useless! Use your head, get quick, get smart, get prepared. Your freezer will thank you.