Even though we have a big upright freezer out in our garage, it is much more convenient to keep as much as possible in the freezer that is part of our refrigerator.
Especially when it is the cold of winter or a rainy day, I don’t want to run outside to the “big” freezer. It was the same when we had a freezer in the basement. The kitchen is much more convenient! And then, of course, there were the many, many years where the freezer compartment of our refrigerator was our ONLY freezer space and then we really had to work to make everything fit in there.
No matter what your freezer situation is, there is one simple tip I have used for a looooong time that really helps to keep space waste to a minimum. This tip is specifically for frozen foods that you purchase in a box at the grocery store – everything from waffles, to mozzarella sticks, to taquitos. Basically everything that is a bag inside of a box.
Those boxes already seem to come with a lot of empty space in them. Once you use up part of the package you are left with a great big box with only a little bit of food left. So, the best thing to do is to get rid of the box!
All you need to do is remove the inner bag from the box (or put the remaining product in a zip top bag). Then cut the instructions portion off of the box before you discard it. Use a rubber band to seal up your bag of food with the instructions attached to the bag. Now you have your food securely stored and you know how to prepare it the next time you’re ready to cook.
Another option that I will sometimes use, especially if it is something very easy to prepare and basically all I need to know is the cooking temperature and time, is to note it right on the plastic liner bag itself. I keep a black Sharpie in a kitchen drawer and just write it right on the bag.
For the package above, another trick I did was to cut off the section of the plastic tray holding the food that was empty, which made it easy to fold over and tape the edge of the plastic bag AND it again saves even more room.
Do YOU have any helpful tricks for saving freezer space?
Sam says
The heavy rubber bands from asparagus, etc., are perfect for this – they’re very sturdy and don’t get brittle in the freezer. Just give them a good rinse and reuse them. We use them to close frozen vegetable bags, flour bags, bagel bags, …
If you’re tired of getting flour beetles or cereal moths in your food, put rice, flour, noodles & cereal in the freezer for a few days when they come from the store, then afterwards store them in airtight bags or jars. No more bugs.
Chrysa says
Great tips, Sam! Thanks!
Gina Gibson says
Great idea! I think I would take it a step further since I don’t generally have rubber bands around but I do have a vacuum sealer. After taking the instructions off the box, I will insert them into the plastic bag with the product and then just seal it. Not vacuum it, but seal the plastic. I am having a total forehead slapping moment. Doh! Thanks for turning on the light!
Betty says
I sometimes do this, but recycle the empty box by x’ing out (and re-labeling) with a permanent marker the original text, and storing some odd-shaped “other” – such as two-four garlic bread slices in their original plastic bag (from the huge garlic bread box). The huge garlic bread box can then be recycled in the same way. Messy-looking? Yes, but inexpensive. Garlic bread doesn’t last long at our house. I suppose the more crafts’y-types than I am could find ways to decorate the boxes. lol Tossing out the oversized texas toast garlic bread box would free up considerable freezer space. Texas Toast garlic bread is a favorite of my husband’s, and he only wants one slice with a meal since he is watching carbs, so I “dry grill” it on a hot nonstick skillet, thereby using less oven wattage.
Tracy says
The rubber band would so disappear in my house. I think if you put the bag from the box in a large ziplock then put the directions inside the ziplock but outside the food bag would work better in my house.
Chrysa says
That’s a good idea too. And you could keep reusing the ziploc with other freezer packages in the future.
Jennifer says
This is a really nice tip. Thanks.