Never, ever apologize for doing what needs to be done to take care of your family! My husband and I are the only 2 in our household (empty nesters) I have a large garden, purchase half side of beef, four fruit trees, 10 berry bushes, bees, two strawberry beds, I forage off the land, I preserve pretty much year-round, AND we have three standalone freezers and a fridge/freezer combo. No need to explain or apologize. Any of that to anyone. You do you. You’re doing a great job.
Thank you ☺️ I know some people just don’t get it and others need some insight on how much it takes! I try to be an open book for whoever it might help 🤍 blessings friend ☺️
I have 2 freezers and am about to buy my 3rd. I’m a 30 year old newlywed, but I believe that food insecurity is a crisis that I never want me or mine to ever experience again.
Girl, YOU are the CEO of a household! You manage finances, health & welfare, entertainment, transportation, etc, etc, etc!! Then there's logistics of food management - from growing to preparation! You are incredible!!
Another tip for people is if you are not freezing things individually and then combining them into a bag that can change shapes, freeze flat. It can be liquid, hamburger, chicken breasts etc, freeze it flat. When it comes to storing them in the freezer they can now stack which saves space and makes it much easier. It also takes much less time to defrost flat items over lumps. You will thank yourself later.
I know this comment is way late to the game, but for freezer inventory. I got one of those magnetic dry erase calendars that you stick on your fridge. Instead of putting the dates in, each block has a food and the quantity. Quick cheat sheet for what's in there.
one of my favorite recipe for dips: Dill Cheese dip: 1 cup cottage cheese, 2 tsp. dill chopped, tomato wedges, cauliflower florets and potato chips Recipe Instructions: Put in your bender container of cottage cheese, blend until consistency is creamy! Stir in dill. Let stand overnight. Serve with tomato wedge and cauliflower florets or potato chips
Call me weird, but I love freezer organization videos. I envy you the multiple places to store the food your family eats, I love in a tiny apartment with a small fridge/freezer combo.
I completely understand your system with four freezers. My husband and I have 2.5 freezers, and I am considering buying another small freezer. I have a large garden. I also can and try to make everything from scratch. Happy that I found your channel.
Isn’t the taste of raising a Cornish Cross rather than buying whatever it is we are buying in the store so much different?!? I’ll never go back either!! Our chicken is so tender and flavorful. We used to do it 20 years ago and finally went back this year. So thankful I did. Also, I cannot wait to try your gnocchi recipe! I’m 62 yrs old. I’ve never had gnocchi and I’ve been wanting to make it. This is the year for that. 😊
You are ABSOLUTELY not the only one! 😄 Our drawer-style freezer seals get SO nasty! I don't know what it is. Why do they capture tiny bits of every food or beverage thats ever been anywhere in their vicinity?! Thanks for being real about it though. I'm still working on my confidence to not hide that kind of thing from the camera, or creatively cut it out in the editing. I deeply admire your authenticity, Kelsey!
One thing I wanted to mention you made it look easy but I'm sure it wasn't. When working in the deep freezers your hands can get super cold.. I was going to buy freezer gloves and my friend suggested just a pair of winter gloves would work and it actually does. I keep a pair right by the freezers so when I am in there sorting my hands don't hurt. Anna In Ohio
No….not obsessive…..practical and smart. My hubby and I have three freezers and the fridge freezer. We live fairly remote and only go to town every couple months. So keep a well stocked freezer and cold room. You are so smart. When I organized our freezers I did the same thing. One for fruit and vegi and misc, one for meat, beef, moose, pork and chicken and one for dried fruit, nuts, milk,butter etc. it works great for us. Thanks so much for sharing this. 🌷🇨🇦
I appreciate that you are willing to show an overgrown late in the season garden as well as freezers that need organized....looks just like mine!! Love your channel!!
In my humble opinion you are contributing a lot more to the bottom line by doing the things you do instead of going out and getting another job. I'm sure you feel the kids need you the gardening the preserving all adds to the bottom line and that's by your hand. It is a job well done and when you can be proud of not mentioning raising two adorable kids
That’s exactly how my mom was. I remember her telling me when I was soooo excited to pay my car off, she said ”don’t stop paying your car payment! Pay Yourself every month that car payment. Put the money in the bank, and you will always be able to but a new car paying cash”. Now..that was 50 years ago…but she was right!!
Another plus for having surplus is the ability to be a blessing to others. There have been times when we got a call or a message, and put together a box or two of needed items for folks who were in straits.
I love your channel and love seeing your littles helping you in the kitchen. Memories being made that are priceless. My daughter is almost 23 and I still love cooking and baking with her.
Kelsey, you are such an inspiration! I have six deep freezers, one upright freezer and 3 refrigerator/freezers, and all have to be organized and inventoried! I will look for the inventory sheets you used on line. Had I known I would be cooking for 32 people daily, I would have built walk-in refrigerators and freezers! Currently I am canning, freezing, freeze drying, fermenting and cold storing every available minute when I am not working. By mid- October I should have time to clean/organize them all. I use coolers and heavy blankets to hold my goods while defrosting each of the freezers. Your end result is beautiful. I look forward to the same relief of having such a job behind me. Thank you for sharing this task. Side note.....due to having post-polio syndrome, I make a turmeric/black pepper/ginger kombucha ("golden booch") which I drink daily, to help with inflammation. Kombucha itself is an amazing gut-healing component to my diet and it's so easy to make!
When cleaning the freezer, my mom taught me to wrap everything in the freezer in a duvet (or better multiple). It really keeps stuff significantly cooler. And to be energy efficient, to switch off the freezer while thawing the ice and then add a pot of hot water to make the ice melt as well as a towel to catch the melted water. Perhaps thats useful to you too. I am from Europe so energy efficiency is important since energy prices are really high.
I am really enjoying your channel, you’re doing a great job preserving! I have one tip that worked for me when we had chest freezer for many years, I used cloth tote bags with handles. It was easier for this vertically challenged mom.
You remind me of my mom. She had two full freezers. My dad hunted, so I grew up on wild game. It was good, I didn’t really know anyway different. Yes…we ate hot dogs and hamburgers, but one freezer was all meat, her second one was all garden growen fresh veggies that was all gone by the next garden year. I had to help her clean out the freezers and I liked it. It was a fun project working with her and she was teaching me things too….
What a lovely memory, I think that’s something most kids today miss, there is such a disconnect from where are food comes from. I know it’s unavoidable for some with the way the world works today but I hope my kiddos look back and have those same memories and appreciation as you do 🤍
Scrapple is a regional thing. We never had it growing up in upstate New York but we heard of it in Maryland. I thought it was more of a southern thing but I think farther south uses liver mush. I need to defrost and clean up my freezer. I know I have to to make broth and probably some breadcrumbs and stuffing cubes to use up some things. I do a freezer inventory monthly to update my list I used to make our monthly meal plan off of. I know you are trying to make room for your chickens but it would be best for the meats to store them in the deep freezers because they don’t thaw every day like the ones in the fridge freezers. You did a great job organizing everything. It is one of the hardest thing to get put together with all the different sizes.
Kelsey, you are not alone in finding grunge in fridge/freezers... I don't know *how* it happens, but it just does! Around here, if there was a mess, I can pretty much bet my hubby had something to do with it though he never seems to know how it happens either 😅We just ordered a commercial freezer, I think its like 48 cu ft, that is supposed to be delivered next week. Like you, we've added a freezer here and there (currently running 2 uprights, 1 chest, 2 fridge/freezer combos). The last freezer finally gave me the space to reorganize like you just did, and we've amazingly kept it organized since then. That said, we're getting half a cow, which we don't have room for, so we bit the bullet and ordered the commercial freezer with the intent to eliminate at least 1 of the smaller freezers *fingers crossed*. But we're also processing more meat birds in 6 weeks... so I know I have to soon process a bunch of chicken bone broth and if the tomatoes would ever stop producing, I could almost empty the chest freezer. I think I'm up to 16 gallon sized bags of tomatoes that need to be converted into shelf stable sauce very soon. I totally agree with you that there are enough normal reasons to be prepared, without even considering the state of the world. My son, now 22, still lives at home and I feel just as compelled to provide for him if/when the world falls apart as you do for your little ones! In a world of chaos that I cannot control, I can at least control how I react to it and prepare for it. It gives me peace of mind to know that if my hubby lost his job or anything major happened, we'd still be able to eat. Btw, I didn't see any freezer alarms in your video... if you don't already have them, I can tell you they are $ well spent!!! Twice now they have saved us from losing everything because someone didn't close the door properly and once when a freezer had a malfunction. Worth every penny!!!
@@seedandsparrowhomestead When picking freezer alarms, be sure to get the kind that will send alerts to your phone. The day the freezer had mechanical issues, we were not home to hear the audible alarm. And having a hubby is sometimes like having an extra kid around the house 🤣
That happened to me when my son didn’t close the upright freezer in garage because of something that was on top of freezer fell down and blocked the door. We lost a lot of food, mostly fruit and veggies thankfully not much meat.
Thanks for being real and sharing stuff with us. Hope your health is doing better. Very nice to hear you getting excited about doing things you live to do. Summer didn't go as planned for some of us but we are still here. Pray the fall is wonderful
Thank you so much! I’m pretty much an open book! I am doing ok health wise, currently doing a detox and healing my gut before I can address other things, it’s no fun! I’m pushing through and determined to get my health back. I appreciate you so much, blessings 🤍
😂😂😂 maybe I should have shown the snack and coffee break and the few times I stopped to check socials because I didn’t want to keep going. Next time LOL 🤍
This might be helpful, In January I go through freezers, canned goods, and dehydrated goods. I will work at using the older stuff to make meal ready products. If needed I will purchase veggies/meat to make it work. I'm only interested in being able to can the meals or freeze dry them (for long term storage). I have three goals I'm working on at this time . . . 1, Cleaning out freezer (ready for the coming veggie/meat harvest); 2, getting stocked up on quick meals that I can use in summer when growing and harvesting are crazy; and 3, noticing what we are running short on and adding it to the list of what I need to grow out in the garden.
Kelsey, you are a wonder woman! No need to apologize for things that happen. I have had freezerburn happen and have no idea how the pavkage was left open And I live alone LOL You did an amazing job reorganizing and inventorying your freezers. Your family is lucky to have you.
We had one upright freezer u til our daughter moved and didn't want to take her small upright. I defrost and organize the meat freezer every year before we get a quarter of beef and do the same in the spring for the fruit and veggie freezer. Then all set before the new harvests come in.
To help with the fridge or freezer seals take a Q-Tip dip it in vinegar and clean the seals weakly it is quick easy way to keep on top of the yuck. Hope this helps❤
There is little more beautiful than a stocked pantry…which like you said, includes the freezers! We have been working on creating a new pantry in a room off the kitchen (which is taking WAY to long to finish) that will allow us to move our freezers from the shop to inside the house. I am looking forward to that so much. I so understand the chaos that comes with the garden and preserving season, albeit for good reasons, the chaos is real and I need to get off ‘the struggle bus’! The time invested in preparing the freezers to be ready for adding too them, I imagine will make the meat processing project all the more efficient too. We are hoping to get the new pantry project completed in the next couple weeks which hopefully means it will be done in time for us to get the freezers moved into the space and I can get them cleaned and organized before our beef is picked up late October. This was a timely reminder and inspiration to be ready to tackle that project! Well done! Have a wonderful weekend, Kelsey. God bless you.
Yes to your first statement! LOL I sit back and stare sometimes. How fun to have a new space dedicated to a pantry! I’m sure that will be a wonderful addition to your home and so fun to fill and use! Blessings friend 🤍
I have been making a freezer inventory for about 2 years now, and things still can get lost. Probably my biggest problem area is all the little bits. There are just the two of us, so I will freeze half a boned rotisserie chick or 4 cooked sausage patties, etc. The inventory keeps me rotating and realizing how long something has actually been cooling it's heels. It has been a great education. Those inventory sheets look very beneficial. FYI: I started a notebook of what I have home canned as well. Great video!
We are tight on freezer space before we butcher this fall. I just purchased our tenth chest freezer that also has a refrigeration option that will come in handy when butchering.
Awesome job! Thank you for sharing that. No you aren’t the only one, with the freezer seals like that. You do a wonderful job taking excellent care of your family. Well done! Side note I use a bucket of hot water and my favorite nontoxic cleaner to clean out freezers, frig. Also turning off the freezer (couldn’t tell if you did or not) and putting a fan in front of it helps them to thaw more quickly. Now I need to do this too 🥴❤️🙏🏻Val C
You gave me the courage to attack my deep freezer and it was bad.... but I feel so much better now and I can meal plan. I might not have to go shopping for a couple of months...LOL. Thank you! As for your chickens... Freeze dry it. I am proud of you and myself! Hugs from Esquimalt!
I have been trying to organize my deep freezers too.. I am a recent widow and things that we would have ate together as a meal are now being converted in to single servings and put in the deep freezer in nice trays my brother in law has been picking up for me at Sams Club. I love how you explained at the beginning about why you stock and hopefully people listened and thought about that there are so many things that can and do happen especially in todays world of uncertainty. When my husband had to finally quit working in March this year ( cancer) we were just fine with having plenty of food in our pantries and freezers. Keep stocking everyone. Anna In Ohio
🤍🤍🤍 my heart goes out to you. May the Lord give you comfort and peace. I take these reminders of just how fragile and uncertain life is and remember to cherish those I love most even more purposefully, thank you. I believe stocking up and growing food if able will be important in the coming days but regardless at any time I believe it is wise to do all you can with what you have and prepare. Thank you Anna, blessings 🤍
Oh - and as far as finding random muck… I have a homemade island in the middle of the kitchen - I am CONSTANTLY amazed at the muck and mire I find under there. And on it even. Life is messy and fun :)
I bought a second freezer for garden produce this year. As I was loading it with frozen tomatoes, I realized that my power could go out in just one area of my home, or one could be accidentally unplugged (it has happened). I would not want to lose all. my meat in the larger freezer, so I shuffled some meat into the smaller freezer too. If the food is lost in one freezer, I will still have the protein to carry on until I can replenish what is lost. You may want to consider throwing some beef into the produce freezer as well. Be well.
I need to organize my freezers too. I have 2 uprights and 2 fridge/freezer combos. I'm always putting it off because I'm paranoid about basically having to play a fast game of tetris while making sure my stuff doesn't stay out too long and melt! I keep telling myself I will wait till winter when the garage is much colder.
I guess I would first figure out the cost of running so many freezers vs. storing just enough and cost to get the food. The food is charging interest to be stored. I understand some live far away from grocery stores and most of us want to grow our own. If I had solar or not, a generator would be definitely be something to have. You did mention a generator. Last year we got an upright with automatic defrost and it’s been fantastic and a bigger energy saver than a chest type. By having to unstack things in a chest freezer and defrosting and losing track of what is in the freezer was a definite energy and cash robber.
YOU ARE GOOD AT THIS AND I REALLY AM TAKING ALL YOUR IDEAS IN. I LEARNED SOMETHING THIS WEEK, FOR USE OF AN ABUNDANCE OF BERRIES IS ADDING THEM TO CREAM CHEESE FOR BAGELS, YOU PROBABLY THOUGTH OF THIS ALREADY. GOOD JOB, I NEED TO PROBABLY PAY MORE ATTENTION TO MY FREEZERS. THANKS FOR YOU DO.
Aw thank you! I appreciate you! That’s sounds lovely, I was thinking of maybe adding berries to the bagel dough and making a honey cream cheese! I thought it sounded delightful. Blessings 🤍
I only have one upright deep freeze along with the fridge/freezer and I am dreading cleaning it out and organizing. Thanks for the motivation to get it done
Beautiful! I've never been able to consistently keep freezer inventory sheets updates but I do keep things in specific areas so I can see more or less. I did keep an inventory of how many home canned foods and which kinds we used for 6 months to roughly estimate what a year's worth would be for my family.
Well to be perfectly honest, neither have I 😂 but I keep trying! I always seem to have good intentions and then life gets busy. But it is nice to go through every once in a while and write it all down to get a better handle of it 🤍
I can’t do inventory sheets either and had hubby start to organize the freezers because she is good at getting things to fit. Then when I need something I will ask him to get it or ask him where it is so I can retrieve it. Putting the chicken in one place, beef in another, etc.
When I do my freezer inventory, I use my voice memo and just talk while I reorganize the freezer and put things back on. Then I transcribe the voice memo onto my iPad. I tried voice typing, but I had to go back and fix so much, it was easier to just do it this way.
When I organize my freezers ice chests are my best friend. It’s funny I have 2 upright and a chest freezer and 2 refrigerator freezers like you do and it’s a mess to organize it all. But boy it sure feels good when you get it all done. Also taking inventory I use freezer inventory sheets I’ve found online and bought clip boards and these magnet hooks to put those on each of them. That works great.
I just cleaned out my two deep freezers about a month ago. It had not been done in over a year! The mess was just as bad. I canned a bunch of stuff! Canned fruit in simple syrup and canned chicken! I found 4 pounds of butter that I did not know I had! It is amazing and a hot mess at the same time. I still have to clean out the refrigerator freezer! I just don’t want to! 😂 Just a idea on the yeast, I keep mine in a recycled jar. Not the canning jar but a pickle or a pasta sauce jar. It is easier than ziplock bags and doesn’t take the space or make the mess
Great video! Thanks for the inspiration! About 1/2 way through this video, I started to clean out a kitchen drawer and as I was putting the last of the items back into the drawer, you said you hoped that you gave us some inspiration to clean something. Well, it worked for me! :-)
I'm so happy you did this video - if anyone says anything about the before - tell them to go look inside their freezer and get back with you - LOL. Next week will be a big canning project for tallow and chicken which will be very satisfying, also. You did GOOD! I followed Jessica's 3 rives homestead and made her recipe for tongue. Never in a million years did I ever think I would but it really was tender and good. Since it was sliced to serve and everyone said it was good - then I told them and they were surprised also. Good luck!
In the Appalachian region of NC we have “livermush” I think it’s fairly similar to scrapple in concept. There’s even a festival! (Everyone I know says livermush is better than scrapple 😜)
You are just sooo amazing ❤ cleaning and organizing my freezers have been on my to do list as well,,, speaking of list I can't seem to find the one that you copied off,,, I really like that one. Do you remember where on google that you found it? ❤❤❤❤
Hello. First time here. I was sent here by a subscriber of another channel. She said you were sister to Laura and Lisa both of whom I follow. After watching I’m not sure. Either way you’re delightful and I subscribed. Still on hunt for this third sister if anyone knows who I’m referring too
Nobody ever said cleaning out the refrigerator/freezer was pretty. My mom used to do it on the hottest day of the summer and the dogs would enjoy chunks of ice in the yard. I was recently asked why I don’t have a vacuum sealer. 😂 I said “I can turn off my spare refrigerator and freezer by March cause we eat through everything.” I started organizing my box freezer, but there was a landslide inside so now we just eat from top down. 😂
I have always understood Scrapple was a regional thing up your way. I live on the Pacific Coast and even though I know what Scrapple is I have never heard of it around here.
Wait until your son is a teenager, whoa. Just a heads up if you feed his buddies they’ll keep coming back. Feeding my son and his friends all football players put a big dent in the old budget. 😅. Especially during the season
You are so organized. Great video. It was so good. Just subscribed and hit like button. I am looking for defrost free freezer. What is name of your freezer. Thanks
Do you use your chicken feet? It grosses me out.... 😵💫 but I eventually sucked it up some time ago and use it to make my broth. It makes super super gelatinous broth.
can you please tell me how long meat and produce can stay in the freezer? Internet says only 1 year and that seems really short to me. Especially if you harvest alot of your own stuff.
Sooo I personally think it’s gross, it’s literally scraps of pork, cornmeal, flour and spices all cooked into a mush and thrown in a loaf pan. My husband is the one who likes it, around here it’s eaten with maple syrup.
12:10 It sounded like you said “fish steaks? sticks? from the deer my husband harvested”. Help! I cannot figure out what you actually said, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t include both deer & fish. 🤔 😆
Never, ever apologize for doing what needs to be done to take care of your family! My husband and I are the only 2 in our household (empty nesters) I have a large garden, purchase half side of beef, four fruit trees, 10 berry bushes, bees, two strawberry beds, I forage off the land, I preserve pretty much year-round, AND we have three standalone freezers and a fridge/freezer combo. No need to explain or apologize. Any of that to anyone. You do you. You’re doing a great job.
Thank you ☺️ I know some people just don’t get it and others need some insight on how much it takes! I try to be an open book for whoever it might help 🤍 blessings friend ☺️
@@seedandsparrowhomestead absolutely! The above that I mentioned lasts us for a year(ish). Guess I should have mentioned that😉
Your freezers look awesome...great job!
I have 2 freezers and am about to buy my 3rd. I’m a 30 year old newlywed, but I believe that food insecurity is a crisis that I never want me or mine to ever experience again.
Girl, YOU are the CEO of a household! You manage finances, health & welfare, entertainment, transportation, etc, etc, etc!! Then there's logistics of food management - from growing to preparation! You are incredible!!
Such a high compliment, thank you for the kinds words 🤍☺️
That is an excellent way to describe it! Is she was working in a huge corporation she very well might be paid a million dollars for all she does
Another tip for people is if you are not freezing things individually and then combining them into a bag that can change shapes, freeze flat. It can be liquid, hamburger, chicken breasts etc, freeze it flat. When it comes to storing them in the freezer they can now stack which saves space and makes it much easier. It also takes much less time to defrost flat items over lumps. You will thank yourself later.
I know this comment is way late to the game, but for freezer inventory. I got one of those magnetic dry erase calendars that you stick on your fridge. Instead of putting the dates in, each block has a food and the quantity. Quick cheat sheet for what's in there.
one of my favorite recipe for dips: Dill Cheese dip: 1 cup cottage cheese, 2 tsp. dill chopped, tomato wedges, cauliflower florets and potato chips
Recipe Instructions: Put in your bender container of cottage cheese, blend until consistency is creamy! Stir in dill. Let stand overnight. Serve with tomato wedge and cauliflower florets or potato chips
Call me weird, but I love freezer organization videos. I envy you the multiple places to store the food your family eats, I love in a tiny apartment with a small fridge/freezer combo.
No way is that weird! I love them too ☺️ I’m very thankful for all we have 🤍 blessings!
I completely understand your system with four freezers. My husband and I have 2.5 freezers, and I am considering buying another small freezer. I have a large garden. I also can and try to make everything from scratch. Happy that I found your channel.
Isn’t the taste of raising a Cornish Cross rather than buying whatever it is we are buying in the store so much different?!? I’ll never go back either!! Our chicken is so tender and flavorful. We used to do it 20 years ago and finally went back this year. So thankful I did.
Also, I cannot wait to try your gnocchi recipe! I’m 62 yrs old. I’ve never had gnocchi and I’ve been wanting to make it. This is the year for that. 😊
You are ABSOLUTELY not the only one! 😄 Our drawer-style freezer seals get SO nasty! I don't know what it is. Why do they capture tiny bits of every food or beverage thats ever been anywhere in their vicinity?! Thanks for being real about it though. I'm still working on my confidence to not hide that kind of thing from the camera, or creatively cut it out in the editing. I deeply admire your authenticity, Kelsey!
One thing I wanted to mention you made it look easy but I'm sure it wasn't. When working in the deep freezers your hands can get super cold.. I was going to buy freezer gloves and my friend suggested just a pair of winter gloves would work and it actually does. I keep a pair right by the freezers so when I am in there sorting my hands don't hurt. Anna In Ohio
No….not obsessive…..practical and smart. My hubby and I have three freezers and the fridge freezer. We live fairly remote and only go to town every couple months. So keep a well stocked freezer and cold room. You are so smart. When I organized our freezers I did the same thing. One for fruit and vegi and misc, one for meat, beef, moose, pork and chicken and one for dried fruit, nuts, milk,butter etc. it works great for us. Thanks so much for sharing this. 🌷🇨🇦
I appreciate that you are willing to show an overgrown late in the season garden as well as freezers that need organized....looks just like mine!! Love your channel!!
I promised real life and authenticity over here, I think the internet needs more of it and I’m happy to provide 😂
Lol mine too! Really enjoying the content here
In my humble opinion you are contributing a lot more to the bottom line by doing the things you do instead of going out and getting another job. I'm sure you feel the kids need you the gardening the preserving all adds to the bottom line and that's by your hand. It is a job well done and when you can be proud of not mentioning raising two adorable kids
That’s exactly how my mom was. I remember her telling me when I was soooo excited to pay my car off, she said ”don’t stop paying your car payment! Pay Yourself every month that car payment. Put the money in the bank, and you will always be able to but a new car paying cash”. Now..that was 50 years ago…but she was right!!
So true! That’s our mindset as well and it’s helped us stay debt free 🤍
I cleaned and organized my freezer while you did yours. Thank you!
wow those freezers look great now. It's hard to organize and all the rest when you've not been well.
Another plus for having surplus is the ability to be a blessing to others. There have been times when we got a call or a message, and put together a box or two of needed items for folks who were in straits.
I love your channel and love seeing your littles helping you in the kitchen. Memories being made that are priceless. My daughter is almost 23 and I still love cooking and baking with her.
Thank you so much! I cherish my time with my babies, I know it goes by so fast. 🤍
Kelsey, you are such an inspiration! I have six deep freezers, one upright freezer and 3 refrigerator/freezers, and all have to be organized and inventoried! I will look for the inventory sheets you used on line. Had I known I would be cooking for 32 people daily, I would have built walk-in refrigerators and freezers! Currently I am canning, freezing, freeze drying, fermenting and cold storing every available minute when I am not working. By mid- October I should have time to clean/organize them all. I use coolers and heavy blankets to hold my goods while defrosting each of the freezers. Your end result is beautiful. I look forward to the same relief of having such a job behind me. Thank you for sharing this task. Side note.....due to having post-polio syndrome, I make a turmeric/black pepper/ginger kombucha ("golden booch") which I drink daily, to help with inflammation. Kombucha itself is an amazing gut-healing component to my diet and it's so easy to make!
When cleaning the freezer, my mom taught me to wrap everything in the freezer in a duvet (or better multiple). It really keeps stuff significantly cooler. And to be energy efficient, to switch off the freezer while thawing the ice and then add a pot of hot water to make the ice melt as well as a towel to catch the melted water. Perhaps thats useful to you too. I am from Europe so energy efficiency is important since energy prices are really high.
I am really enjoying your channel, you’re doing a great job preserving! I have one tip that worked for me when we had chest freezer for many years, I used cloth tote bags with handles. It was easier for this vertically challenged mom.
You don't have a problem. 😊
😂 thank you 🤍
You remind me of my mom. She had two full freezers. My dad hunted, so I grew up on wild game. It was good, I didn’t really know anyway different. Yes…we ate hot dogs and hamburgers, but one freezer was all meat, her second one was all garden growen fresh veggies that was all gone by the next garden year. I had to help her clean out the freezers and I liked it. It was a fun project working with her and she was teaching me things too….
What a lovely memory, I think that’s something most kids today miss, there is such a disconnect from where are food comes from. I know it’s unavoidable for some with the way the world works today but I hope my kiddos look back and have those same memories and appreciation as you do 🤍
My whole house needs you!!!
Scrapple is a regional thing. We never had it growing up in upstate New York but we heard of it in Maryland. I thought it was more of a southern thing but I think farther south uses liver mush. I need to defrost and clean up my freezer. I know I have to to make broth and probably some breadcrumbs and stuffing cubes to use up some things. I do a freezer inventory monthly to update my list I used to make our monthly meal plan off of. I know you are trying to make room for your chickens but it would be best for the meats to store them in the deep freezers because they don’t thaw every day like the ones in the fridge freezers. You did a great job organizing everything. It is one of the hardest thing to get put together with all the different sizes.
Kelsey, you are not alone in finding grunge in fridge/freezers... I don't know *how* it happens, but it just does! Around here, if there was a mess, I can pretty much bet my hubby had something to do with it though he never seems to know how it happens either 😅We just ordered a commercial freezer, I think its like 48 cu ft, that is supposed to be delivered next week. Like you, we've added a freezer here and there (currently running 2 uprights, 1 chest, 2 fridge/freezer combos). The last freezer finally gave me the space to reorganize like you just did, and we've amazingly kept it organized since then. That said, we're getting half a cow, which we don't have room for, so we bit the bullet and ordered the commercial freezer with the intent to eliminate at least 1 of the smaller freezers *fingers crossed*. But we're also processing more meat birds in 6 weeks... so I know I have to soon process a bunch of chicken bone broth and if the tomatoes would ever stop producing, I could almost empty the chest freezer. I think I'm up to 16 gallon sized bags of tomatoes that need to be converted into shelf stable sauce very soon. I totally agree with you that there are enough normal reasons to be prepared, without even considering the state of the world. My son, now 22, still lives at home and I feel just as compelled to provide for him if/when the world falls apart as you do for your little ones! In a world of chaos that I cannot control, I can at least control how I react to it and prepare for it. It gives me peace of mind to know that if my hubby lost his job or anything major happened, we'd still be able to eat. Btw, I didn't see any freezer alarms in your video... if you don't already have them, I can tell you they are $ well spent!!! Twice now they have saved us from losing everything because someone didn't close the door properly and once when a freezer had a malfunction. Worth every penny!!!
I agree with all this 100 percent, even the bit about the hubby causing the mess 😂 ok, I’m shopping for an alarm now! Good call, thank you friend 🤍
@@seedandsparrowhomestead When picking freezer alarms, be sure to get the kind that will send alerts to your phone. The day the freezer had mechanical issues, we were not home to hear the audible alarm. And having a hubby is sometimes like having an extra kid around the house 🤣
That happened to me when my son didn’t close the upright freezer in garage because of something that was on top of freezer fell down and blocked the door. We lost a lot of food, mostly fruit and veggies thankfully not much meat.
Thanks for being real and sharing stuff with us. Hope your health is doing better. Very nice to hear you getting excited about doing things you live to do. Summer didn't go as planned for some of us but we are still here. Pray the fall is wonderful
Thank you so much! I’m pretty much an open book! I am doing ok health wise, currently doing a detox and healing my gut before I can address other things, it’s no fun! I’m pushing through and determined to get my health back. I appreciate you so much, blessings 🤍
5 minutes in...I already want to procrastinate, and it isn't even my project 😂
Same!
😂😂😂
😂😂😂 maybe I should have shown the snack and coffee break and the few times I stopped to check socials because I didn’t want to keep going. Next time LOL 🤍
😂
This might be helpful, In January I go through freezers, canned goods, and dehydrated goods. I will work at using the older stuff to make meal ready products. If needed I will purchase veggies/meat to make it work. I'm only interested in being able to can the meals or freeze dry them (for long term storage). I have three goals I'm working on at this time . . . 1, Cleaning out freezer (ready for the coming veggie/meat harvest); 2, getting stocked up on quick meals that I can use in summer when growing and harvesting are crazy; and 3, noticing what we are running short on and adding it to the list of what I need to grow out in the garden.
Kelsey, you are a wonder woman! No need to apologize for things that happen. I have had freezerburn happen and have no idea how the pavkage was left open
And I live alone LOL
You did an amazing job reorganizing and inventorying your freezers. Your family is lucky to have you.
Thank you so much 🤍 blessings friend ☺️
Trick from hubby, place a fan in front of freezer and in no time flat that ice will melt and just fall off.
Such alot of work but like you say so muchthat you know whats what congrats and a relief to have it done thumbs up
We had one upright freezer u til our daughter moved and didn't want to take her small upright. I defrost and organize the meat freezer every year before we get a quarter of beef and do the same in the spring for the fruit and veggie freezer. Then all set before the new harvests come in.
I love that your real… real life this is what it is…life gets busy and we can’t get to everything… thanks for sharing!
To help with the fridge or freezer seals take a Q-Tip dip it in vinegar and clean the seals weakly it is quick easy way to keep on top of the yuck. Hope this helps❤
Good tip! Thank you 🤍
There is little more beautiful than a stocked pantry…which like you said, includes the freezers! We have been working on creating a new pantry in a room off the kitchen (which is taking WAY to long to finish) that will allow us to move our freezers from the shop to inside the house. I am looking forward to that so much. I so understand the chaos that comes with the garden and preserving season, albeit for good reasons, the chaos is real and I need to get off ‘the struggle bus’! The time invested in preparing the freezers to be ready for adding too them, I imagine will make the meat processing project all the more efficient too. We are hoping to get the new pantry project completed in the next couple weeks which hopefully means it will be done in time for us to get the freezers moved into the space and I can get them cleaned and organized before our beef is picked up late October. This was a timely reminder and inspiration to be ready to tackle that project! Well done! Have a wonderful weekend, Kelsey. God bless you.
Yes to your first statement! LOL I sit back and stare sometimes. How fun to have a new space dedicated to a pantry! I’m sure that will be a wonderful addition to your home and so fun to fill and use! Blessings friend 🤍
I have been making a freezer inventory for about 2 years now, and things still can get lost. Probably my biggest problem area is all the little bits. There are just the two of us, so I will freeze half a boned rotisserie chick or 4 cooked sausage patties, etc. The inventory keeps me rotating and realizing how long something has actually been cooling it's heels. It has been a great education. Those inventory sheets look very beneficial. FYI: I started a notebook of what I have home canned as well. Great video!
We are tight on freezer space before we butcher this fall. I just purchased our tenth chest freezer that also has a refrigeration option that will come in handy when butchering.
You cleaning out your kitchen fridge freezer was making me laugh. Mine is very similar 🤣
Awesome job! Thank you for sharing that. No you aren’t the only one, with the freezer seals like that. You do a wonderful job taking excellent care of your family. Well done! Side note I use a bucket of hot water and my favorite nontoxic cleaner to clean out freezers, frig. Also turning off the freezer (couldn’t tell if you did or not) and putting a fan in front of it helps them to thaw more quickly. Now I need to do this too 🥴❤️🙏🏻Val C
The freezer print off inventory lists are a fabulous idea … thank you
Freezer and fridge seals get gross so quickly! You are not alone.
I like your preparedness and I appreciate that I am not the only one that my freezers get disorganized.
LOL real life over here. I wish I could say these will stay this way but it probably won’t last long 😂
You gave me the courage to attack my deep freezer and it was bad.... but I feel so much better now and I can meal plan. I might not have to go shopping for a couple of months...LOL. Thank you! As for your chickens... Freeze dry it. I am proud of you and myself! Hugs from Esquimalt!
Thank you for the motivation!! I have needed to do it for a while now is the time !!!
Good for you! This is daily life for most busy mothers. I enjoyed watching you👍
Thank you so much 😊
I have been trying to organize my deep freezers too.. I am a recent widow and things that we would have ate together as a meal are now being converted in to single servings and put in the deep freezer in nice trays my brother in law has been picking up for me at Sams Club. I love how you explained at the beginning about why you stock and hopefully people listened and thought about that there are so many things that can and do happen especially in todays world of uncertainty. When my husband had to finally quit working in March this year ( cancer) we were just fine with having plenty of food in our pantries and freezers. Keep stocking everyone. Anna In Ohio
I'm sorry for your loss.
🤍🤍🤍 my heart goes out to you. May the Lord give you comfort and peace. I take these reminders of just how fragile and uncertain life is and remember to cherish those I love most even more purposefully, thank you. I believe stocking up and growing food if able will be important in the coming days but regardless at any time I believe it is wise to do all you can with what you have and prepare. Thank you Anna, blessings 🤍
@@kdonor Thank you. Anna In Ohio
@@seedandsparrowhomestead Thank you. Anna In Ohio
Oh - and as far as finding random muck… I have a homemade island in the middle of the kitchen - I am CONSTANTLY amazed at the muck and mire I find under there. And on it even. Life is messy and fun :)
lol, so true! Its amazing how things get dirty so quickly but thats a lived in and loved space
I bought a second freezer for garden produce this year. As I was loading it with frozen tomatoes, I realized that my power could go out in just one area of my home, or one could be accidentally unplugged (it has happened). I would not want to lose all. my meat in the larger freezer, so I shuffled some meat into the smaller freezer too. If the food is lost in one freezer, I will still have the protein to carry on until I can replenish what is lost. You may want to consider throwing some beef into the produce freezer as well. Be well.
Ok, that’s a good thought. Perhaps I need to shuffle a few things! I appreciate it. Thank you!!! 🤍
Thank you .
Thank YOU! 🤍
I’ve been needing to clean mine out and you really inspired me to get started!
Good job taking care of your family’s needs and maintaining all those freezer!❤
I just went through our freezers too. What a good feeling. I am getting ready for the vegies from harvest to go into mine.
Awesome! Such a satisfying feeling 🤍
Your freezer inventories are a thing of beauty, I do love a comprehensive inventory 😊 great job Kelsey, a lot of work for you but so worth it ❤
Wow, that was a big job.
I need to organize my freezers too. I have 2 uprights and 2 fridge/freezer combos. I'm always putting it off because I'm paranoid about basically having to play a fast game of tetris while making sure my stuff doesn't stay out too long and melt! I keep telling myself I will wait till winter when the garage is much colder.
LOL fast game of Tetris is sooo accurate! I wish it could have waited until cooler weather!
I guess I would first figure out the cost of running so many freezers vs. storing just enough and cost to get the food. The food is charging interest to be stored. I understand some live far away from grocery stores and most of us want to grow our own. If I had solar or not, a generator would be definitely be something to have. You did mention a generator.
Last year we got an upright with automatic defrost and it’s been fantastic and a bigger energy saver than a chest type. By having to unstack things in a chest freezer and defrosting and losing track of what is in the freezer was a definite energy and cash robber.
I have every confidence that you'll make the freezer space work for your chicken harvest day!! ❤
YOU ARE GOOD AT THIS AND I REALLY AM TAKING ALL YOUR IDEAS IN. I LEARNED SOMETHING THIS WEEK, FOR USE OF AN ABUNDANCE OF BERRIES IS ADDING THEM TO CREAM CHEESE FOR BAGELS, YOU PROBABLY THOUGTH OF THIS ALREADY. GOOD JOB, I NEED TO PROBABLY PAY MORE ATTENTION TO MY FREEZERS. THANKS FOR YOU DO.
Aw thank you! I appreciate you! That’s sounds lovely, I was thinking of maybe adding berries to the bagel dough and making a honey cream cheese! I thought it sounded delightful. Blessings 🤍
I only have one upright deep freeze along with the fridge/freezer and I am dreading cleaning it out and organizing. Thanks for the motivation to get it done
Sure thing! You can do it, and it will feel so good when you’re done!
Thank you for the motivation. I've been meaning to clean out my freezer for too long. Time to defrost and reorganize it.
Beautiful! I've never been able to consistently keep freezer inventory sheets updates but I do keep things in specific areas so I can see more or less. I did keep an inventory of how many home canned foods and which kinds we used for 6 months to roughly estimate what a year's worth would be for my family.
Well to be perfectly honest, neither have I 😂 but I keep trying! I always seem to have good intentions and then life gets busy. But it is nice to go through every once in a while and write it all down to get a better handle of it 🤍
I can’t do inventory sheets either and had hubby start to organize the freezers because she is good at getting things to fit. Then when I need something I will ask him to get it or ask him where it is so I can retrieve it. Putting the chicken in one place, beef in another, etc.
When I do my freezer inventory, I use my voice memo and just talk while I reorganize the freezer and put things back on. Then I transcribe the voice memo onto my iPad. I tried voice typing, but I had to go back and fix so much, it was easier to just do it this way.
We live in central/ne pa. My boyfriend goes to a big scrapple making party each year. I think it's a coal region/Amish country thing.
Great job with organization and inventory list.😊😊.
When I organize my freezers ice chests are my best friend. It’s funny I have 2 upright and a chest freezer and 2 refrigerator freezers like you do and it’s a mess to organize it all. But boy it sure feels good when you get it all done. Also taking inventory I use freezer inventory sheets I’ve found online and bought clip boards and these magnet hooks to put those on each of them. That works great.
Right? Such a satisfying feeling. I wish I could say they’ll stay this way but in fact they will need this again in just a short while 😂
Girlfriend! You amaze me! Kudos to you!!
Thank you so much 🤍
Scrapple is regional, I believe. I live in Arkansas now but my family is from just south of Philly. I miss scrapple!
It seems so! I’m not actually a fan but my husband loves it with maple syrup.
I just cleaned out my two deep freezers about a month ago. It had not been done in over a year! The mess was just as bad. I canned a bunch of stuff! Canned fruit in simple syrup and canned chicken! I found 4 pounds of butter that I did not know I had! It is amazing and a hot mess at the same time. I still have to clean out the refrigerator freezer! I just don’t want to! 😂
Just a idea on the yeast, I keep mine in a recycled jar. Not the canning jar but a pickle or a pasta sauce jar. It is easier than ziplock bags and doesn’t take the space or make the mess
It’s just the two of us but I keep my freezers full. I would like to have another one but don’t have the room.
Like to clean my freezers in the middle of winter
That would have been nice to wait for a slower season but it just had to be done! I love winter projects 🤍
Great video! Thanks for the inspiration! About 1/2 way through this video, I started to clean out a kitchen drawer and as I was putting the last of the items back into the drawer, you said you hoped that you gave us some inspiration to clean something. Well, it worked for me! :-)
I need to pull out older meat packages and can them so I won’t lose them to freezer burn.
I'm so happy you did this video - if anyone says anything about the before - tell them to go look inside their freezer and get back with you - LOL. Next week will be a big canning project for tallow and chicken which will be very satisfying, also. You did GOOD! I followed Jessica's 3 rives homestead and made her recipe for tongue. Never in a million years did I ever think I would but it really was tender and good. Since it was sliced to serve and everyone said it was good - then I told them and they were surprised also. Good luck!
Thank you ☺️ have fun canning! I’ll be doing it right along with you 😂
That must feel so good to have done. Well done!
In the Appalachian region of NC we have “livermush” I think it’s fairly similar to scrapple in concept. There’s even a festival! (Everyone I know says livermush is better than scrapple 😜)
You are just sooo amazing ❤ cleaning and organizing my freezers have been on my to do list as well,,, speaking of list I can't seem to find the one that you copied off,,, I really like that one. Do you remember where on google that you found it? ❤❤❤❤
Hello. First time here. I was sent here by a subscriber of another channel. She said you were sister to Laura and Lisa both of whom I follow. After watching I’m not sure. Either way you’re delightful and I subscribed. Still on hunt for this third sister if anyone knows who I’m referring too
Hello from Louisiana 😃 New to your channel!
Portable fold up tables would probably make your basement organizing a little easier.
We need to invest in some of these! They’d come in handy for lots of projects around here. Thank you ☺️
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Scrapple is a local to PA and surrounding areas. A lot of people in other areas don't know what it is. I love in Levittown PA and love scrapple.
🤍🤍🤍 it’s definitely popular in our neck of the woods!
I do as you do, I stock for a year and there is only my husband and myself. But we have children in the area that we also need to help in a crisis
Awesome! I love to hear it. I do believe there is wisdom in it and I too won’t ever stop taking my kiddos into consideration no matter their age 🤍
Nobody ever said cleaning out the refrigerator/freezer was pretty. My mom used to do it on the hottest day of the summer and the dogs would enjoy chunks of ice in the yard. I was recently asked why I don’t have a vacuum sealer. 😂 I said “I can turn off my spare refrigerator and freezer by March cause we eat through everything.” I started organizing my box freezer, but there was a landslide inside so now we just eat from top down. 😂
I have always understood Scrapple was a regional thing up your way. I live on the Pacific Coast and even though I know what Scrapple is I have never heard of it around here.
Seems to be the consensus! That’s so interesting to me, I love learning about new foods 🤍
You are not the only one! Freezers get gross☺️
Wait until your son is a teenager, whoa. Just a heads up if you feed his buddies they’ll keep coming back. Feeding my son and his friends all football players put a big dent in the old budget. 😅. Especially during the season
LOL! I might need another freezer then 😂
My freezers are a hot mess too. 😅
You are so organized. Great video. It was so good. Just subscribed and hit like button. I am looking for defrost free freezer. What is name of your freezer. Thanks
Canning chickens, and making bone broth😂
I live in Louisiana never heard of scrapple😊
Seems to definitely be a pa thing! If you don’t know it pork scraps, cornmeal, flour and spices cooked into a mush and baked in a loaf pan ☺️
Do you use your chicken feet? It grosses me out.... 😵💫 but I eventually sucked it up some time ago and use it to make my broth. It makes super super gelatinous broth.
My freezer gets gross too!
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can you please tell me how long meat and produce can stay in the freezer? Internet says only 1 year and that seems really short to me. Especially if you harvest alot of your own stuff.
Super satisfying to see the end result 😄 also I have a question: what is scrapple?
Sooo I personally think it’s gross, it’s literally scraps of pork, cornmeal, flour and spices all cooked into a mush and thrown in a loaf pan. My husband is the one who likes it, around here it’s eaten with maple syrup.
Interesting! I had no clue what it was either - from TX. 😊
how long is the meats stay good in items like chest freezers?
What is chili starter? I love chili so it sounds like something I need to make haha
It’s a mix of bell, jalapeño, onion and celery! I like to have it chopped and ready to throw in the pot ☺️
@@seedandsparrowhomestead oh cool! Thank you for explaining 😁
12:10 It sounded like you said “fish steaks? sticks? from the deer my husband harvested”. Help! I cannot figure out what you actually said, and I’m pretty sure it didn’t include both deer & fish. 🤔 😆
You heard right! The back straps or tenderloin is referred to as the “fish” ☺️ at least around here!
Diverticulosis is a pain. So I have be careful what I eat.
Ugh it is, I have issues with seeds due to ulcers which I’m hoping to heal! Blessings 🤍