I haven’t ever bought specific freezer bins. I just use whatever storage things I have handy. The freezer is pretty bare right now because we’ve eaten down a lot. I’m mostly using drawer divider bins I got from ikea. They are like, cloth covered cardboard for the sides and just cloth with a zipper on the bottom (the fold flat when unzipped). When I have a bunch of meals frozen in ziplock bags I stack them upright front to back, not up and down. I can fit a bunch in a bin that way.
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Thanks for all the freezer storage ideas everyone! It looks like I just need to expand on the bin concept to include any container that will hold something and is okay in the freezer.
I must admit we didn’t have much luck with freezing soup in canning jars. I left over an inch of headspace, but still the jars cracked and broke in the freezer. I had to toss 4 quarts of soups and get rid of the 4 broken quarts. It didn’t look like the soup had expanded to put pressure on the lid. I’m guessing I should have left the lids off until it froze solid, and then put them on.
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We’re trying to make it to Saturday before making a big grocery run since I try and only go to the store as soon as they are open to hopefully inhale less of other people’s covid. And… we are going to make it but it’s not going to be all that enjoyable.
I’m tired of bean-based meals. We have no cheese whatsoever in the house. We have nothing that might be construed as a snack. We won’t starve but I’m bored and annoyed.
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Finally finished (I hope) entering last year’s receipts. I have 3 to catch up on from this month, but no more 2021 that I know of – finally!
Should be caught up now. Yay!
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I have no idea when we’re supposed to update, but it doesn’t matter since I have a horror of stickers (shudder). I haven’t grocery shopped this week, and don’t intend to.
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Aldi run today in 11-degree winds, wooooo. At least we didn’t have black ice this time. We spent $101.54, which may be the most we have ever spent at Aldi, but we got a fuckton of stuff and do not need to do further grocery runs for January.
Though we do need a few additional items that Aldi was out of stock of, which, this trip, were the following: chili powder, hand soap, dishwasher detergent, kleenex (we are now going on 2 months of Aldi never having kleenex, I think I give up).
This means that our total for the month is $188.61. That is EXCELLENT for us!
what we bought today
2-liter bottle of coke
taco shells
pasta
crackers
flour tortillas
brie
maple syrup
butter
2 blocks of cheddar cheese
store brand rice krispies
3 avocados
strawberries
store brand raisin bran
2 packs of mushrooms
2 cans tomato paste
trash bags
goat cheese
dark chocolate bar
chocolate hazelnut bar
eggs
hamburger buns
tofu
lettuce
almond milk
a huge thing of pork chops
a huge thing of chicken breasts
2 gallons of milk
spinach
bag of onions
bananas
raspberries
peanuts
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We’ve been making good progress on our food stash. We do have some kimchi that’s gone uneaten way too long: what are your favorite ways to eat kimchi, that are either traditional or not? I am a very lazy home chef, so especially appreciate anything easy. We do eat meat and not a ton of beans/legumes/tofu, if that changes the answers.
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Month to date groceries are 336, eating out is still 60.
We bought good cheese twice, stewing beef from the butcher, and $32 of butter because it was on sale.
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Budget update for the week…one ‘fancy’ takeout dinner with alcohol while I was out of town, one ill-advised and very hurried grocery trip on my way back into town in which I grabbed several things I didn’t need and forgot everything else, and then one actually useful grocery order where I theoretically covered everything for the rest of the month (albeit with a larger than normal tip since I didn’t realize white stuff had started falling from the sky when I put it in…if I’d checked the weather I’d have waited).
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It seem like i have a pattern in buying food 
I bought some fruit purrees last weekend in Hamburg (I can only get it there), this will be supplement for müsli and porridge over the next few month.
Overall I am happy with my spending for food. 
| January | Week 01 | Week 02 | Week 03 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Produce & fruit | 29,01 | 22,01 | 41,78 |
| Meat & processed meat | 17,37 | 0,00 | 2,49 |
| Dairy & cheese | 15,87 | 0,00 | 8,88 |
| Bakery | 3,22 | 8,35 | 4,45 |
| Snacks | 1,80 | 0,00 | 6,16 |
| Chips | 1,99 | 0,00 | 3,12 |
| Dry goods | 1,49 | 0,00 | 7,06 |
| Beverage (incl. Coffee) | 0,00 | 5,46 | 8,88 |
| Eating Out | 21,90 | 23,70 | 8,50 |
| Total | 92,65 | 59,52 | 91,32 |
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Kimchi fried rice! We use whatever meat we have around usually and just stir fry the eggs right in too! Its super easy and tasty
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But you like badges…
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Yes, give them all to me. I earned them, and deserve them.
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I’ve remembered that I can pretty quickly sautee up some onions, and I’m counting that as a win! I was a bit nervous about my grocery budget because I had to replace a lot of staples, but now that I’ve entered in all the receipts… I’m fine. Going to make it in under budget. I’m slowly whittling away at the stock cubes…
I’ve got to get out the instapot this next week. Last chance, let’s goooo
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Kimchi jeon (aka kimchi pancake). About 1/2 c white flour, enough cold water to make it paste like (about 1/4 c.). Add 1/2 c to 1 c chopped kimchi. The kimchi will make the batter more liquid. Stir. Oil in pan (I really like it with coconut oil, but canola oil is fine), press into pan to fill pan bottom. Cook on med. low for 5 - 10 minutes, pressing firmly to make a dense pancake. When the bottom is golden brown and the top is no longer sticky, flip the entire thing…hopefully without breaking it. It takes some finesse and I’ve eaten many a broken kimchi pancake, but they still taste good!
I am really guessing at amounts in this recipe because I never measure the ingredients. I was taught to make it by the texture and feel of the batter on the spoon and in the fry pan.
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Not sure I have done enough to deserve stickers here, but I have just combed through all my income and expenditure, and planned out the general household costs for the next six months or so, including food. I spend about £55 per month max on items for the house, me, or small food items I can’t get from Olio/the Food Bank. Things like the particular brands of mouthwash and toothpaste I prefer, or toothbrush heads, shower gel and light bulbs. Then I get some food or vitamin items each month. Things like protein bars for when I don’t have the oomph to mix up powder, or some decent instant noodles for when I want something warming but don’t have the oomph to cook, plus multivitamins, etc. It’s a simple system. But it works.
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Check-in time:
The week went quite well, only skipped cooking on Monday and had bread, cheeseand cold cuts instead. In the end, the Szechuan beans didn’t happen, but will be moved to this week.
I’m planning two takeout days because my kitchen will be worked on on Wednesday (yay!), so everything needs to be empty by Tuesday evening.
Sat: Pomelo Salad with shrimps and rice
Sun: Chicken noodle soup
Mon: Pasta with gorgonzola & Radiccio
Tue/Wed: Takeout (prob. pizza and Vietnamese food)
Thur: Szechuan beans with silken tofu
Fri: Roasted chicken drumsticks with parmesan crust
Sat: Tunisian couscous with lamb
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Oh man, I almost forgot to do this until Anomalily mentioned it on the livestream! This whole month is just effed! 
My shoulder went out this weekend for the first time in a while so my food planning and grocery shopping went out the window!
I’m still under budget on everything and it will end up just fine, but this is definitely not the low spend month I was hoping for. Lots of eating out and getting things like frozen pizza and ramen from the store. At least I made a really good sausage and kale pasta dish last week while I was feeling good!
Sorry this isn’t a very detailed check in. Mental energy is looooow. 
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We went to a farmers market! Even though I had to work later and it felt like it would take too much time/effort. It was smallish, but we got pomelo, oranges, Asian pears, broccoli, snacking carrots, and some early strawberries picked this morning one county over that looked quite good! Also coffee (beans and 2 cups drip), pastries, fancy yogurt, and fancy foccacia. Spent more than we would at a store, but glad to support local farmers! And expect better pickings when it’s not late January. Maybe we can go 1-2x a month 
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Still haven’t bought work snacks. Have consumed many many crappy xmas chocolates.
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