January= Freezer Month

This month I'm cleaning out our freezers for all our meals. I'm only allowing myself to buy dairy, eggs, bread and fresh produce for our family in the month of January. We have SO much in our freezers that needs to be used and January is the perfect month to eat it and start fresh on my stockpiles. I think it'll be a challenge toward the end and we'll have to have a few meatless dishes, but it's worth it to clean out, de-clutter and challenge myself. I like a challenge in the kitchen!

My biggest assets will be to continue to menu plan each week and to have a freezer inventory to go by when planning. I used to keep an awesome inventory on my fridge but it's gotten away from me in the past 4 or so months. One of my goals this years is to keep that inventory up to date so I don't waste our precious grocery budget money. Since our pantry is a little easier to glance at for meal planning I won't inventory that beforehand. Below you'll find an inventory of our freezers (fridge freezer and deep freeze).

Refrigerator freezer:

Meats:

boneless pork chops-4

chicken nuggets-enough for one meal

cheeseburger-1

1 cup chopped, cooked chicken-1

7 oz sweet italian sausage-1

Fruits & Veggies:

12 oz raspberries-1

32 oz blueberries-1

12 oz carrots-1

12 oz corn-1

12 oz green beans-1

6 oz bell peppers-1

16 oz veggies for soup-1

Bread:

italian rolls-5

homemade tortillas-5

buttermilk biscuits-8

Misc.:

whole pecans-1

1 cup chimichanga sauce-1

homemade vanilla ice cream-1

pan hashbrown casserole-1

white beans-1

pizza sauce (2-3 pizzas)-1

Meals:

bbq chicken pizza-1

leftover ham-2 containers

Deep Freeze:

Meats:

1.5 lb grilled pork loin-1

1 lb sweet italian sausage-2

1 lb. pork kielbasa

2 lbs. chicken wings-2

1 lb. ground turkey-1

1 lb boneless chicken breasts-13

Fruits & Veggies:

12 oz snap peas-2

12 oz green beans-2

12 oz carrots-1

12 oz mixed vegetables-2

16 oz spinach-1

bananas for bread-6 (will make 3 loaves of banana bread)

10 oz strawberries-1

10 oz fiesta fruit blend-1

Misc.:

phyllo dough- 1/2 package

Meals:

9 inch pan enchilada bake casserole

9x13 inch pan pasta dish

container of taco soup

That does it for my freezer inventory. I actually had more than I thought which is great news so we may be able to eat meat every night which is what I'd prefer. I think this will be a great challenge for our family. I'm still going to take out our alloted $200 for groceries this month and use it to buy extra meats down the road and a 25 lb bag of flour at Sam's Club.

What are you challenging yourself to this month?