For a while now, I have been on a mission to clean out the freezer. I seriously dislike throwing good food away so I am trying to find creative ways to use up items in the freezer instead of having to do that. Some of the foods in the freezer are ready-to-eat meals like soup, other items are random like enchilada sauce and half of a corned beef package.

I want to make more room for two reasons:

1. My goal is to make a bunch of fresh and delicious freezer meals in the next 2-3 months to have around once our little bundle joins us and for times when I don’t feel like/am too tired to cook.

2. I 100% plan to breastfeed and plan to store extra milk in the freezer.

This weekend I used up the rest of our shrimp that I had used for Valentine’s Day, in kabob form on the grill. I also used up some tomatoes as a sauce for black beans and quinoa that I had frozen from 2/2014.

Last night I used up the rest of the corned beef in the form of corned beef hash. I had used the other half in corned beef and cabbage soup for St. Patty’s Day. I decided I definitely am not a fan of corned beef. But hey, I tried.

What is still left in the freezer?

A lot of this is for my own good so that I can take inventory and so that I am fully aware of what is left in my freezer, but if you have any fun ideas on how to use any of my random items, feel free to comment! I do have some intentions on how I’d like to use some of these foods, it’s just a matter of actually doing it.

• Enchilada Sauce
• Cauliflower Sauce
• Butternut squash cubes
• A whole bunch of Olive Garden breadsticks
• Quinoa chili
• Veggie soup
• Butternut squash soup
• Corned beef and cabbage soup
• Taco meat 
• Hot dogs (which I won’t eat but hubby and guests might)
• Hot dog buns (how long do these last in the freezer? It might be time to throw those out)
• Shredded zucchini—zucchini bread needs to happen before I get my next bunch from the garden!
• Garden tomatoes—again, I should really do something about these considering my next batch is starting to come in!

I clearly have a problem with making WAY too large of batches of soup. I enjoy leftovers but seriously it’s gotten out of hand. I can continue to chalk away at the soups, but they are enjoyed so much more in cooler weather am I right?

Now, I know that some of these items will still be in the freezer when babes arrives and that is totally okay as long as I eat them this fall or winter, but I would like to make room for NEW stuff too. Ya know?

I have some work to do. And yes, this could definitely be part of my “nesting” tendencies I have going on lately. I’m okay with this.

In the meantime, I will continue to pin meal ideas to my Pinterest “Freezer Meals” board. Today I only have five things pinned so I have some work to do there too!

Btw are you following me on Pinterest yet?! Find me here:  http://www.pinterest.com/NuttyMelanie/

Alright, off to take on the week. I can’t believe we are more than halfway through July. Where is the time going?! Ahhh!

Is your freezer as packed as mine is? Have you ever needed to take on a mission freezer clean-out?