What's in your freezer?

So times are hard...we can all agree on that. Economy is bad...business is slow...jobs are scarce...things aren't looking so good. I am always pretty careful with our money. I shop at grocery outlets, dollar stores and almost always buy items on sale. I admit I make exceptions on occasion...there are certain things I won't compromise...like mayonnaise, for example. And if I'm out...and it's not on sale when I need it...I place it in my shopping cart and move on. I don't LIKE to pay full price...ever...but I will if I have to. But I'm not wanting to talk about name brand vs. generic...or even brand comparisons. I do want to talk about using what I already have.

So I took an inventory of my freezer last week. Yes I did. And who knew so MUCH could fit in that little freezer?! I am amazed at what I had crammed in there! Some of it I'd forgotten about! Some of it needed to be tossed. (Not much...I'm going to use it ALL, but a few items needed to go...some items I couldn't figure out due to the freezer burn! Yikes). And the rest just needed to be organized. I literally inventoried. I made a list and it is hanging on my fridge. And...I am going to share my list with you. Here goes...

(1) whole chicken
(1) salmon fillet
1/2 bag shrimp
(1) 4 lb. turkey breast (on sale after Thanksgiving!)
(4) smoked ham hocks
(4) chicken half breasts
(2) 1 lb. tubes ground turkey
(3) trout (thanks to Dad)
1 lb. cooked ham
(3) boneless pork chops
1 lb bacon
1 bag ravioli
1 package pitas
(4) roasted green chiles (from the farmer's market)
(2) bags edamame
1/2 bag chopped spinach
1 lb. shredded cheese
1 pack turkey lunchmeat
1 pack salami
2 lbs. butter
(4) packages waffles
(1) roll of dough
(2) packs guacamole (leftover from a party at a friend's...I usually mae my own)
(2) packs peaches in syrup (packaged by me last summer)
sandwich bag of walnuts
sandwich bag of pecans (from our monstrous tree!)
sandwich bag of fresh ginger
(1) bag blueberries

Um...yeah. We are NOT starving, that's for sure. Last night I made club sandwiches and frozen fries for dinner...you'd have thought my family died and went to heaven! The only sounds at the table were "mmmm's". And I had everything here but the tomato!

I am going to use what I have before I buy anything else. I will only buy what I need to add to the menu...such as fresh veggies, salad stuff, bread and milk, rice and pastas, etc. I've got a pantry shelf in the garage that is overflowing, too. I'll inventory that later today. It's mostly items to turn something else into a dinner...tomatoes, cream soups, stocks, etc. We don't eat a lot of prepared canned foods. I usually make my own soups and chilis and stews. The canned just isn't that good...and it's so full of additives. I can almost taste them. I can definitely taste sweeteners...especially aspartame. That's why I do my best to avoid it. I have the occasional diet soda when visiting friends or whatnot...but I don't choose it. I can also taste aspartame in yogurt. So I don't buy yogurt with fake sugars...I stick with the real thing and just eat it in moderation.

Can you believe all of that was in my freezer? I can't. But I'm glad it was! I came across this cool web site...just plug in your ingredients and it gives you a list of recipes you can make using what you've got. Just what I needed.