A 2nd Fridge and Freezer

I am blessed to live in a home with a huge walk-in pantry. Pantry Living would be nearly impossible without the extra space it provides me. I am doubly blessed to have a second fridge and freezer.

These are many of the items I keep in the basement freezer:

1. Meat of all varieties. 
2. When I buy a pack of chicken breasts I freeze each separately in ziploc bags and write their description and date on it.
3.  I also love to buy giant pork loins. I cut it up into several pork roasts, and lots of pork chops. Each pork chop is bagged separately in a small bag and I combine enough chops in a big ziplock bag for one meal for our fam. 
4. With ground beef, I prep a bunch of burgers and bag them the same way I do the chops. Also I prepare several meatloaves and bag them.  I cook the rest of the ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic and onions. Once cooled I bag it in smaller quantities for either tacos, for pasta or whatever.
5. Whole chickens are a fav around here. I cook them in the crockpot and they are delish! The best deal on those are $0.99 lb at Sam's. For about $10 you get 2 whole Perdue chickens. Great for Sunday dinners.
6. Kid pleasers: hot dogs, fish sticks, chicken nuggets
7. Lump Imitation Crab Meat- Real crab is a bit too pricey for us. And I have a killer recipe for crab cakes. I'll need to add that recipe to my list of things to share with y'all.
8. Ice Cream and Popsicles - no explanation needed. I just buy whatever is on sale and I frequently have a coupon for yummy novelties. We never buy from the ice cream truck cause I have ones just as awesome hidden away downstairs. I also keep a large box of cones in the pantry for the regular ice cream we buy.
9. Butter. No need to call a neighbor and borrow butter when I have at least 6 packs frozen.
10. Breakfast meats- sausage and turkey bacon. Sunday night is brinner at our house. (breakfast for dinner) And the best part is that Daddy cooks it!
11. Fries and frozen potatoes. 
12. Frozen veggies
13. BREAD! This is one of my fav reasons for the freezer and fridge. I buy up about 4 loaves at a time. One goes in the cupboard, two go in the fridge and one in the freezer. Its also great to store hot dog and hamburger buns, and bagels too.
14. Lunch cheats- My hubby takes a lunch to work everyday of the school year. Frozen burritos, pot pies and occasionally hot pockets make their way into our freezer to make those lunches a little easier for me.
15. Ravioli- another fast favorite here

Fridge favorites:

1. Extra 3 gallons of milk. Yup, we drink about 4 a week.
2. Bread
3. Extra dairy products: sour cream, cream cheese, shredded/block cheese, cheese singles. All of these items last a really long time as long as you haven't opened them, sour cream especially. 
4. Eggs- these are great to keep on hand, they last a long time and they are a cheap meal. Now I need to add quiche to my list of recipes to share.
5. OJ is our juice of choice. Most juices I treat like a specialty drink. They are full of sugar and if I'm gonna serve up sugar I'd rather it be in cookie or ice cream form.
6. Extra fresh veggies, just don't forget they're there!
7. Whipped cream- the basement fridge is a great place to store items you don't want your kids asking for on a daily basis.

Pantry Living is a time we can follow the Lord's counsel to eat food that's in season and meat sparingly. We are so blessed to have a beautiful home, clean water and fresh food. If you want to give Pantry Living a try I would love to hear about your experience, even if you only do it for a few weeks. Thanks for following my adventures! Happy Summer!