What's in your freezer?

[otto]

My freezer looks like this:

Freezera.JPG

• otto
• May 10, 2013

The top shelf has two rows of bags containing one ounce portions of various proteins. Meat is weighed out into one ounce portions and stored in doubled freezer bags. I have them in alphabetical order for ease of choosing. Beef, chicken breast, chicken gizzard, chicken thigh, cornish hen, turkey breast, turkey thigh, turkey gizzard. Currently, since some bags are full, there is not room for all of them and the extras are stacked on the bottom.

The row behind the front top row are the same. Everything is labeled with type of meat, when it was frozen and whether it is bag 1 / 4, 2 / 3 and so on. The bottom shelf only has room for one row because the motor compartment is behind. The white plastic bucket contains the bags I use every day: Rad Cat portions, and their liver. It's just easier to pull out a little bucket with everything in one place. The Rad Cat portions are also all one ounce, with the bags labeled with the numbers off the tub packaging and the use by dates.

This table top freezer has turned out to be too small for my needs and I have had to turn to a friend who has a large chest freezer for my over flow. I keep a box in their freezer with the extra bags of portioned out meats, uncut up meats I bought on sale but haven't used yet, and the Rad Cat tubs. Taped to the front of my freezer door is a list of what is stored at my friend's house.

All meats are double bagged. When I use the last contents of a bag, I reuse the inside bag as the outside 'cover' the next time around, and throw the old 'cover' away since it has been used twice now. Even if they still look solid, they tend to lose their seal after repeated openings.

 

[ritz]

This is interesting, Otto, thanks for sharing.  I hadn't thought about double bagging the food, or stacking/storing the meats in alphabetical order.

I'm getting ready to make another batch of food.  I use small tupperware-type containers, each has one days of:  protein/liver/kidney/Alnutrin.  (I fed frankenprey.)  I too label each container with the type of protein and date I prepared it.  I group the same proteins together, i.e., one row all beef, one row all chicken.  I mix proteins within the same meal, e.g., venison and chicken breast, so alpha might not work for me. 

I portion out liver and kidney into an ice cube tray (each roughly one ounce) and then once frozen, pop out the 'cubes' and store in baggies (labeled). 

I would *love* to get a small freezer to take advantage of sales on frozen food for me and meat for Ritz.  My freezer has to hold both my food and Ritz'; I tend to eat the same things day in day out, so when the supermarket is having a sale on a certain item, I like to stock up.

I don't have a small freezer because the only place I could put it is in the garage, and I'm not sure I have enough electrical wattage to handle the load.

 

[otto]

My only freezer is an "ice box" freezer inside my refrigerator, that's why I had to buy the table top freezer. I wish I had room for a small chest freezer but I just don't. I've gone over and over my apartment and there is just no place to put one, so I got the table top one hoping it would be sufficient, but it isn't.

I use ice cube trays to portion and freeze too.

They eat Rad Cat, Stella&Chewy's, PMR and some canned.

I don't mix proteins in individual meals, but rotate throughout the week. I take out the Rad Cat portions and the PMR portions for the next day and store them in the refrigerator in small glass pyrex containers.

I keep track in a cat journal. I also have a list on my fridge door to mark down which PMR protein I have taken out for the next day, or I forget which it is when I go to open the container. :lol3: The three Rad Cat proteins are marked on the lids, but there are too many PMR proteins to do that.

This shows the rest of today's PMR meals (Rad Cat has already been eaten) and tomorrow's Rad Cat and Prey Model portions

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• otto
• May 10, 2013

The day list of what is on the menu for the PMR

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• otto
• May 10, 2013

the cat journal which records much more than just food

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• otto
• May 10, 2013

 

[ritz]

Boy, you're really organized.

I have a paper calender (letter size) where I track what protein I feed Ritz; what days I give Bone (in RED) and when she Poops (GREEN) (usually the day before or after....); when I supplement with Krill oil; how much Prozac she gets and how bad her FHS symptoms were (at 1.0 ml, affected her appetite, now usually around 0.5 to 0.6 oz), and how many servings of treats she gets/begs for.  She is hungry on 3 oz of protein, and even at 3.3 oz of protein she still wants her treats.  I struggle with this issue.

That's an idea about putting an icebox freezer in your refrigerator.

I think I'll try plugging in a really small freezer in my garage and see what happens (when my trusty handman is doing some work in case I get into trouble).  I go to estate sales and garage sales frequently, so maybe I can get one cheap.

 

[chandra09]

Wow I love how yours and Ritz' freezers are so organized!

I would like to be that organized but I also only have one small freezer and have to somehow fit mine and my kitties food in it. A little tabletop freezer could possibly be an option for me though, I should look in to that!

I make three batches of Dr.Pierson's ground recipe with different proteins every two weeks for my three kitties. So I buy most of my meats right before cat food making day to save space.

In my freezer right now I have a batch of ground chicken thigh and pork heart food that's made. Also, I have chicken livers, chicken hearts & gizzards, a little bit of chicken breast, a little pork chop tenderloin and a whole cornish hen. I'm excited to try out the cornish hen in my kitties next batch of food...they've never had it before so here's hoping they love it!

 

[otto]

That's an idea about putting an icebox freezer in your refrigerator.

You've misunderstood. That is all I have ( had I mean, until buying the table top freezer.) The refrigerator that comes with the apartment is small, and doesn't have a separate freezer like normal size refrigerators have, it has an ice box (which needs to be defrosted monthly) inside the refrigerator.

Inside of fridge, the top part was the only freezer space I had until buying the small upright freezer that I call a table top freezer

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• otto
• May 10, 2013

..

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• otto
• May 10, 2013

 

[otto]

Wow I love how yours and Ritz' freezers are so organized! I would like to be that organized but I also only have one small freezer and have to somehow fit mine and my kitties food in it. A little tabletop freezer could possibly be an option for me though, I should look in to that!
I make three batches of Dr.Pierson's ground recipe with different proteins every two weeks for my three kitties. So I buy most of my meats right before cat food making day to save space.
In my freezer right now I have a batch of ground chicken thigh and pork heart food that's made. Also, I have chicken livers, chicken hearts & gizzards, a little bit of chicken breast, a little pork chop tenderloin and a whole cornish hen. I'm excited to try out the cornish hen in my kitties next batch of food...they've never had it before so here's hoping they love it! :cross:

My organization evolved over time.

This is the freezer I bought. But I wish I had bought the next size up.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Haier-1.3-Freezer-White/5733501

Cornish hen is Mazy's favorite. They get chunks though, rather than ground up. No grinder here. No place for it! :lol3:

 

[ritz]

Oh, okay; nice size freezer.  Thanks.

 

[otto]

What? I'm confused. Or are you? :lol3: You think that is a nice sized freezer, really? It's tiny. I can't even make more than one batch of...anything....at a time because there is no room in it for the left overs. I can't even stand a water bottle up in it. It's just a tiny ice box, that has to be defrosted monthly, and even more often in summer, because it is exposed to warm air every time I open the refrigerator. And the refrigerator is tiny too. I have to go to the store way more often than I would like, because there is just no room.

Oh well, at least I have one, right?

 

[andrya]

What? I'm confused. Or are you?

You think that is a nice sized freezer, really? It's tiny. I can't even make more than one batch of...anything....at a time because there is no room in it for the left overs. I can't even stand a water bottle up in it. It's just a tiny ice box, that has to be defrosted monthly, and even more often in summer, because it is exposed to warm air every time I open the refrigerator. And the refrigerator is tiny too. I have to go to the store way more often than I would like, because there is just no room.

Oh well, at least I have one, right?

Have you checked out the smaller uprights. Some of them are not much wider than yours at the base, but stand taller (obviously 

 ).

Here's one: http://www1.thebrick.com/brickb2c/jsp/catalog/product.jsp?prod=MF183

l got the next size up, 9 1/2 cu ft, and it would have fit into a corner of the eating area, but l put it in the basement. So far l'm using 2 of the 7 drawers, lol, but l'm getting a half-pig in Fall.

 

[otto]

I would love something that size, but I have no place to put one. That's why I got the little Haier, because it fits on my kitchen table. I wish, now that I had bought the next size up, which still would have fit on my kitchen table. But there is just no place for anything larger than that.

What I really wish is that I could fit a small chest freezer some where. I would keep the table top one for daily use, and use the chest for the long term storage. That would be ideal, but I just have no place to put one without taking away Mazy's favorite Spot, and I just can't do that to her.

 

[andrya]

Too bad they didn't make the uprights small enough to fit under a table and open at the front - that would be ideal.

l thought since the upright's footprint is roughly the same, the height would be good for kitties to sit on.

Just clicked the "next size up" link, yeah that looks perfect.

 

[otto]

What's your freezer situation Andrya?

That freezer I have would fit under my table. So would the next size up. But do I want to crawl under the table two or three times a day? Nooooooo! LOL! I don't need a lot of table space, that is not a problem. The problem is there is no place in my apartment to put a small chest freezer for more long term storage.

The cats sit on top of the freezer often.

Jennie for example, finds it a very good location to keep a close eye on my meals

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• otto
• May 10, 2013

 

[andrya]

Aw cute, she's protecting her food 

l'm the opposite, l'd rather have space on a surface and have the floor covered in stuff. l often call my floor "the bottom shelf" lol.

l use under tables to store stuff, and here at my desk, in the footwell there's a stack of books, some paperwork and a box of pens 

My freezer is too tall for the kitties, and l don't let them in the basement often anyway. lt's a hike though, trekking up and down 2 sets of stairs with batches of food and grocery items. lt would have been nice to have a smaller one that could have stayed in the kitchen.

 

[otto]

Well, yes, I would have to move all the books stacked under the kitchen table, and the two boxes of books, if I wanted to keep a freezer under there. :lol3:

Jennie sits in wait, hoping I will get up and turn my back for one second (that's all she needs) so she can swoop in and steal my food. She is often successful, since I don't sit still very long during meals, and I somehow always forget that she is lying in wait.

 

[ldg]

There's really no point in my taking a pic of the chest freezer outside, it's the fullest it's ever been. We just stocked up on kitty meats and people meats.

For those not familiar with my freezer story, in the RV, we just have the little ice box kind of freezer otto has (though I think ours is bigger). It's nearly impossible to keep defrosted, and it's a constant battle. Here, the frost was winning. :lo3: This is when we were transitioning. We were using Nature's Variety.

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• ldg
• May 10, 2013

We bought a chest freezer on Craigslist for $35. It's pretty darn big! We put it on a small deck out in the back of the RV, and cover it with a tarp.

This is when we first got it:

Freezer Bday! 120217.jpg

• ldg
• May 10, 2013

And this was the first delivery of Hare Today we got - 20? 30 pounds? A taste-test smorgasbord at the time.

Freezer Bday 2 120217.jpg

• ldg
• May 10, 2013

People food goes on the left (in and under the basket). We bought stacking plastic boxes with handles to put on the right side. Four fit in there.

My meal portions are 11 ounces each (8 cats).

Pork and extra other proteins (usually chicken, duck, and turkey hearts) go in the bottom box.
The next box up has venison and turkey breast with turkey thigh on the side.
The next box up has beef, lamb, and chicken breast, with chicken thigh on the side.
The top box has gizzards, tripe, chicken, duck, and turkey hearts I'll need for a couple of weeks in it.

Because the boxes only take up 2/3 of the space on the right side of the freezer, the space in front of the boxes is where I keep meat that needs to be portioned, the 2 pound chubs of ground whole animal (llama, goat, rabbit), and when I have them (which I currently do), whole rabbits and whole quail. When the ground stuff is portioned, I smoosh the baggies flat, and they get stacked under the basket (because the human food side is usually not full LOL).

I always mix the red proteins (well, lamb, beef, and venison) with either turkey breast or chicken breast at meals (but not in frozen bags), because Shel can't eat a meal that is more than 50% red meat without throwing it up.

This is the weekly menu:

LDG Menu 130109.JPG

• ldg
• May 10, 2013

I just keep it taped to the fridge, and bring what I'll need for 3-4 days inside every 3-4 days. :lol3:

The liver and kidney are given in small portions daily; those are bagged up in those portions in small "snack" bags, and kept inside freezer bags in the inside freezer.