How in the world did I accumulate so much food? This is the question I asked myself after having to rearrange the freezer to accommodate newly purchased food after my last trip to the grocery store. I took several items out of the freezer and realized that I had enough food in there for three weeks of meals. Some of the items were duplicates. Two whole chickens. Two packages of swordfish. Six packages of frozen vegetables. On and on it went.
After rearranging the freezer so that it held everything and taking inventory of what was actually in there, I had an "aha moment." Better known in military circles as a "PCS moment." We're moving later this summer and one of two things will happen; I will have to give a lot of food away, or I will throw a lot of food away. Or both. Not good options.
Not this time, I vowed!
"Operation Empty Freezer" was planned and the weather conditions were right on Saturday evening to launch the offensive.
Frozen pizza doesn't sound like a glamorous meal, but Saturday night, I broke out the pizza, dressed it up with some fresh veggies and red pepper flakes and that was Saturday's meal. One of two whole chickens met their fate Sunday evening when I made Chicken and Dumplings. And on Monday evening, out came the stuffed chicken breasts, which I smothered in a white wine creme sauce.
Tonight, I'll use two of the ten pounds of ground beef to make a meat lasagna. Operation Empty Freezer will be a battle of attrition. The war-gamers tell me that I should be able to declare victory in under a month. I can't wait for the victory parade to begin. I want to ride in a bright red convertible and wave at onlookers.
Yesterday, my husband (the one who is supposed to be a staunch ally) tried to interfere with the operation. The conversation went something like this:
Where are the the leftover Chicken and Dumplings?The garbage disposal.
Why would you do that, I was looking forward to leftovers.
Because I don't want Operation Empty Freezer to turn into Operation Full Refrigerator
Winning. I'm totally winning....
