What's in YOUR Freezer?

Some days, I just don't feel like cooking.  Sound familiar? And sometimes, I get tired of moving random containers of unknown frozen leftovers around, trying to make room for other stuff.  At those times, I like to play "Guess what's in that container" with the family.  I got to that point last week, so I took out a few containers to thaw so that we could at least eat some of it up...to make room for more leftovers, which will also probably hang out for months.  Yeah, I know.  Don't judge me.

Here's what I found:



 Don't I have lovely Tupperware containers? I love Tupperware and have had a couple of parties (yes, they still have them!).  She doesn't know I'm doing this, but my Tupperware Lady rocks, so contact her if you want to get yourself some quality storage containers.  I'm not kidding.

But now you know why I didn't know what was in there. I didn't label. Rookie mistake, and I should have known better.




There are no recipes with this post, because, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) I don't even remember what was in the containers, much less how I made them, so you're on your own this time.  In two of the containers was some sort of mushroom-barley concoction that may have been soup at one time, but a lot of the liquid had been absorbed by the barley. I honestly can't remember if I made them both at one time or two different times.  One had bacon and the other didn't -- it was the only discernible difference I could find. The third container had some sort of green soup.  It had zucchini in it and...other green vegetables.  This container definitely had a freezer burn-y taste to it (I taste-tested a little from each container to make sure it was all still edible).  Again, I have no idea how long it's been in there.

To my family's credit, they did eat the leftovers, but I couldn't in good conscience make them eat this stuff more than once, so after everyone ate their fill, I chucked the rest.

Behold! My delicious lunch that day.  I took one for the team and ate the green soup.  Honestly, though, it wasn't all that bad.  Really.







So, what did I learn?  1) label and date your frozen leftovers and 2) have some sort of plan to use them in the near future, otherwise they'll just get lost, and leftovers aren't useful if you just throw them out anyway.

This cautionary tale and public service announcement has been brought to you by the National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association, Inc. (not really, but there actually is such an association.  I'm not kidding. Look it up.).

Happy freezing!