So what's in your fridge-freezer, then ?

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So what's in your fridge-freezer, then ?
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gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:04 pm Post subject: So what's in your fridge-freezer, then ?

What's in your fridge-freezer ? Could you live without one ?

Following on from Ken69's decision to get rid of his fridge-freezer, I've decided to switch off mine and see how I manage (before getting rid).

I've got a chest freezer for the home produce and bulk-bought meat, so the freezer section's contents went in there.

In my fridge, that left the following :
milk
marge
goose fat
various jars of preserves (mustard, jelly, chutney)
box of dates
jar of mayo (unopened)
jar of olives in brine
jar of gin-soaked damsons
glace cherries
bar of creamed coconut
jar of tahini
jar of tomatoes in oil

Very little of this needs a fridge. Most of it is already preserved in some way.

Milk, mayo, goose fat and marge do not justify an appliance the size of my fridge-freezer, nor one that uses so much electricity (I reckon about 2.5-3 units a day). The creamed coconut could be put in a jar so it doesn't make a mess if it liquefies.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28118
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:12 pm Post subject:
We have a couple of freezers that are easily justifified in terms of buying meat farm direct. But we also have a big and small fridge, where the large one is not really very well utilised

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:18 pm Post subject:

In the fridge:

6 cans of coke
6 pots of Jam (well, 8, but 2 are nearly empty)
Marge (for cakes)
Butter
Tub with cheese in
Tub with cured meats in
3 small chorizo
Kale
Half a leg of ham
Some apples (that are probably very soft by now)
Lemonade
Orange juice
Milk
Lemon juice
Baileys
1 lamb loin chop

In the Freezer:
7 chicken breasts
3 pairs of chicken wings
5 chicken thighs
1 drumstick (chicken)
4 home-made meat pies
1 lamb loin chop
1 burger
6 home-made bread rolls
Vodka
4 tubs of chicken stock (300ml each)
1 tub of black currents
1 tub of green beans
1 tub of braod beans
1 lamb neck
1 piece of lamb I filleted out of a leg
6 portions of sausages (mix of beef+tomato, pork, goat, cumberland and ostritch)
2 packs of home cured bacon, wrapped up in 4-rasher sections
Ice.

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:26 pm Post subject:

How do you *know* all that off the top of your head?

Er...What I Can Remember

Fridge
Lots of homemade low sugar jam
Peanut butter
Two (usually three) types of cheese
Milk
Eggs
Butter and Yeo Valley spreadable

Juices, not all open but being stored there cos I thought it was more efficient to have it full
Bacon
Litre bottle of maple syrup

Soy sauce (why?)
Tabasco (probably ditto)
Plum sauce (not opened see reason for juices)

Sometimes there is more I think. Our fridge is certainly much emptier these days as we buy so much less that needs chilling.

Freezer:
crumble mixture
ice
one drawer of meat including several unfortunate bunnies
kidney beans
black beans from a tin used in stir fries
vegetables including frozen peas
frozen fruit (will be cooked, jammed or wined) - blackberries, raspberries, maybe blueberries, blackcurrants, maybe plums, and a bag of bought experimental summer fruit
bread rolls, tortilla wraps
One of Gil's lentil loaves (oooh, could have that tonight with mash)
tomato sauce for pasta
sometimes ice cream

can't think of anything else but generally, meat, bread for lunches etc, and fruit and veg, and it's usually very full because if we empty it much I fill it with bread like things, again, because I thunk it was best kept filled

Edited cos Bernie reminded me of butter

Last edited by Bugs on Tue Apr 11, 06 12:38 pm; edited 2 times in total

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:32 pm Post subject:

Bugs wrote:

How do you *know* all that off the top of your head?

1: it's a very odd head
2: there's only me to take/add things.

I did forget some things though:
1 tub of home-made vanilla ice-cream
1 tub of home-made cinnemon ice-cream
1 pint of milk

bernie-woman

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:36 pm Post subject:

In the fridge

butter
milk
baking marg
lard
homemade plum jam
peanut butter
salad cream
mayonnaise
tomato ketchup
eggs
small bunch of thyme
bottle of champagne
2 cans of guinness
1 bottle of white wine
Tonights tea - coq au vin from freezer

In the freezer
Turkey
homemade steak pie
2 pork fillet
pork chops
sausagemeat
3 cooked chicken and sherry casserole
3 coq au vin
smoked haddock
coley
8 portions of homemade smoked bacon, mushroom and tomato sauce
stewing steak
2lb beef mince
6 chicken breasts
6 chicken thighs
bag of home grown peppers
bag of onion rings

frozen peas
frozen homegrown french beans
breadcrumbs
bag of homemade parsley, thyme and lemon stuffing

Could not do without my freezer as I nearly always bulk cook so we have a supply of homemade ready meals

jamsam

Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2560
Location: erm....i dont know, its dark.

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:38 pm Post subject:
whats in my frideg frezer??? ice and old tomatoes...thats it.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:46 pm Post subject:

I have no real idea off the top of my head - ummm

Freezer:
Breadcrumbs
Bones (for dog and stock)
Home made Sausages
Bit of Pork

I'm sure there's more, but I just can't think. We are waiting for meat delivery, which, with the sausages and breadcrumbs are really the only things we use it for at the moment. However, when we finally start producing from the plot, we hope to freeze a lot of produce, if we can't use it all fresh (or an I being hopelessly optimistic here

)

Fridge:
Various pots of jam
Mayonaisse
Ketchup
Bottles of Fruit Juice
Eggs
Butter
Bacon
Bread
Onions
Lemons
Celery
Cabbage
Sloe Gin

Pretty please: can someone post a recipe for home made ice cream, preferably one that doesn't need an ice-cream maker

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45515
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:47 pm Post subject:
the freezer has rest of meals i liked , gluts of stuff , flesh . i dont have a fridge but the coolbox has butter , cheese etc and is handy for marinading flesh or taking to the seaside for cold and salt fish . i need a bigger (and low energy )freezer or a larder ,a cellar and an ice house appropriate

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:52 pm Post subject:

Penny wrote:

Pretty please: can someone post a recipe for home made ice cream, preferably one that doesn't need an ice-cream maker

Heat 1.5 pints of creamy milk (50:50 full-fat milk and double cream) until it starts to boil. Add in the vanilla pods at the start, and a tea-spoon of sugar to help prevent splitting.
While that's heating, mix 3 egg yolks with ~50g of sugar
Pour the milk over the eggs, whisking as you do
Pour back into the pan and gently bring up to temp
When it starts to thicken and stick to the back of your spoon it's done, so take it off the heat.
When it's cooled down place in the freezer.
Take it out every hour or so, and whist thoroughly (early on you can probably use a hand mixer) until it's solid.

Can I claim my free t-shirt now?

Jenna

Joined: 30 Sep 2005
Posts: 263
Location: Away with the fairies

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:57 pm Post subject:

we seem to use the fridge mostly for beer! Never thought about not having it, even though it has been colder in the room where it lives than it is inside the fridge over the winter - it's main function is 'mouse-proof' storage, which is a bit energy wasteful if I think about it - but it doesn't use as much leccy over the winter with the compressor almost never firing up. Other than beer, it's mostly milk, butter and meat.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:59 pm Post subject:

Fridge..

Milk
orange juice from milk man
Yakult things cos the kids like them
Peri Peri sauce
couple of types of hard cheese plus mozarella and parmesan
jar of red thai curry paste
eggs
butter, block and spreadable
Mr Bump cool pack for when kids bruise.
ham for sarnies
pack of cheesestrings

(kids again)
homemade damson jam, and crab apple and elderberry jelly
bottle sheeps nose beer
large pot organic plain yogurt
small pot double cream
waitrose chocolate sundae puds for tea (as chosen by kids)
orange pepper
mushrooms
carrots
cherry tomatoes

Freezer - oh blimey an inventory of that?

Well roughly speaking

bread, pain au chocolat and croissants (not homemade I'm afraid but am aiming to do better once this wedding is out of the way)
salmon fillets
frozen prawns
chicken pieces
meatballs (supermarket

)
the remains of a 16th of a cow including mince
the remains of half a pig including bacon
couple packs of lardons
couple of frozen pizzas (for when I can't be arsed to cook)
ice cream homemade and bought
damsons, (H G = home grown or foraged locally)
red currants (H G)
black berries(H G)
courgette slices (H G)
sweet corn cobs(H G)
frozen peas (can't grow them, damned mice

)
couple of pints of home made soup ( there was 30 back end of last summer)
Small quantities of left over stews or pies that Himself then takes to work to reheat for lunch
filo pastry
and probably the odd mystery parcel at the bottom that the label's fallen off of.

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 12:59 pm Post subject:

Northern_Lad wrote:

Can I claim my free t-shirt now?

No, but you do get to try out the fabulous new recipe resource, aren't you a lucky, lucky boy?

There's a good one in Delia's summer collection, which is just cream, creme fraiche, and condensed milk whipped together with vanilla essence, and I have done some good ones from an ice cream book, notably lemon curd swirled in to whipped sweetened cream, but don't have the recipe handy.

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 1:06 pm Post subject:

I reckon my fridge has served as an excuse to keep food hanging around for ages, and for having an excessive variety of jars open at any one time (this is partly what comes of making one's own preserves).

I've already been trying to restrict myself to one kind of home-made jam at a time. Now I'll extend that to chutney and jelly. I also realise that I buy stuff that I don't use very often : either I should just not buy it, or buy smaller quantities, or I should make a determined effort to use it up in a short time.

I know what you mean about mouse-proof, Jenna

. Mouse-proof here is a couple of the kitchen units, or plastic boxes.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Tue Apr 11, 06 1:09 pm Post subject:

Northern_Lad wrote:

Penny wrote:

Pretty please: can someone post a recipe for home made ice cream, preferably one that doesn't need an ice-cream maker

Thank you my sweet - see message about t-shirts

You going to put it in the recipe data base then

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