How long to leave it in your freezer

groceryshopping

Here is a guideline by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration for safe storage. Frozen foods can be stored indefinitely, but the flavor can change when food is stored past the time limits below. Print this out and tape it to the inside of a cupboard close to your freezer.

Raw Beef Roast and Steaks: 6 to 12 months
Raw Pork Roast and Chops: 4 to 6 months
Raw Veal Roast and Chops: 4 to 6 months
Cooked Meat: 2 to 3 months
Soup: 2 to 3 months
Raw Chicken Pieces: 9 months
Cooked Chicken Pieces: 4 months
Pizza: 1 to 2 months (In our house it doesn’t last more than a week!)
Luncheon Meats: 1 to 2 months
Raw Fatty Fish (Salmon, Tuna, etc.): 2 to 3 months
Raw Lean Fish (Cod, Flounder, etc.): 6 months
Cooked Fish: 4 to 6 months

A list of fact sheets you will find very useful can be found at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp

For a printable version of safe food storage times, go to http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/store/texas_storage.pdf

Recently on “Good Eats” on the Food Network, Alton Brown explains in an entertaining way the why’s and how’s of what causes freezer burn and how to make the most of your freezer’s capabilities. He suggests that you first wrap your freezer-bound food in several layers of plastic wrap, then in well sealed heavy duty foil. After watching ‘Freezer Cache’, you’ll agree it’s worth the extra packaging. You can always re-use the foil.

If you haven’t discovered this educational nugget on the Food Network yet, it can make a great 30 minute fill-in for a homeschool day that is headed for disaster. One serving of practical education with a dash of entertainment can equal 30 minutes of recovery for mom! Here’s a link to a video on broccoli that will motivate you to add it more often to the menu: http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/broccoli-with-butter/18870.html. For access (free) to their entire library of videos, go to http://www.foodnetwork.com/video-library/index.html

One of the top ways to save money on your grocery bill is to buy in bulk, but if it goes bad before you use it, you’re throwing money in the garbage. Let’s not do that.