It was about a $300 investment up front, and it was a pain to get it into our basement because of our skinny stairs, but it was totally worth it. We even loved it so much that we moved it to our next house!
how to organize your deep freezer
Let me preface this organization part by stating that our deep freezer is ONLY used for meat. Yes, only meat. Yes, we DO have that much meat to store. Remember how I said that I am an avid Costco shopper and have a hunter husband? Well, in addition to those two budget friendly meat sources, we also belong to a few meat CSAs. In my opinion, buying meat in bulk from a CSA is the absolute BEST option when it comes to getting high quality meat that doesn't break the bank. By buying directly from the farmer, you avoid the middle man. Buy buying in bulk you save even more money. By buying local, you're helping out a small business and doing you part to make a difference in the world. You can read more about the number crunching I did about CSAs in this article.
SO, the ability to BUY AND STORE MEAT IN BULK is why a deep freezer is so life changing. Maybe this will sound like you: You are trying to eat healthy, so your meals are centered around a protein, vegetable and/or starch. Meat is the most expensive part of your meal, so it seems like it's the hardest thing to keep on hand, especially when you are limited to only a small freezer. You plan your meals based off what meat you buy at the store every single week, maybe even multiple times a week. You worry about those small sized packages going bad in the fridge if your social plans change throughout the week (like going out to eat unexpectedly), etc. Maybe you can store some bulk items in your small freezer, but you quickly run out of space and get frustrated. With a deep freezer, all you would need to do is take a trip down to the basement (or wherever you put it) and it's like you have a fully stocked meat counter at your fingertips. Sound nice? I promise, the investment up front will pay off in the long run both financially and mentally. On to the organization part. Our deep freezer is 7.0 cubic feet... That's BIG. Luckily, it came with two baskets that slide across the top rail. These baskets were a big selling point for the freezer because it helps to keep all the small items from falling down into the depths of the freezer. I will say though, my freezer is not the best organized at the moment and some extra bins would be nice! Maybe that will be another blog post some day? I think it will!
LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING SO FAR? SIGN UP BELOW FOR MORE!
Currently, I store small items in the two sliding bins. One contains breakfast meats (bacon from Costco, sausage from CSAs) and smaller cuts from our CSA, while the other contains smaller cuts of meat that I have portioned out on my own (either from CSAs or Costco). The bottom of the freezer is where things are currently the most disorganized and where I do need to improve! What is down at the bottom is venison (from my husband hunting), large cuts from our CSA, and bags of seafood from Costco. Ideally, I would have shallow stacking bins that I could pull out easily and see my entire stock. But like I said, that organization overhaul will be a post for another time!
main takeaways:
If you struggle to eat healthy because you feel like time is working against you and that making multiple trips to the store in a week is just NOT convenient (it's not, no shame there) then I strongly urge you to consider a deep freezer BECAUSE:
Who doesn't want all those things? Do you already have and love your deep freezer? Comment below if you have any organization tips! Pin now and come back later!
7 Comments
1. get in the zone
The first thing you need to do is accept the fact that this might be a very big change for you and your family. Emptying out a fridge and only keeping the good stuff is hard and can be emotional. So, I ask you to turn up your favorite music and plan at least half a day to embark on this journey and just get excited! Yes... cleaning out the fridge is a lot of work, but it will be so worth it in the end! Being an appliance we see and use multiple times a day, it’s easy to overlook what piles up in it and just let it become the norm.
So, maybe this idea of clean eating is new to you, maybe it’s not. Either way, the health benefits you will gain from it cannot be found in any other health habit. 2. empty it out
Out with the old and in with the new right? You can’t start fresh without seeing all you have to work with. A lot of times, we get frustrated with our fridges because they just seem to fill up so fast! The reality is, they are probably just poorly organized and full of things we don’t need...
I am probably the biggest anti-food-waster out there, it makes me physically hurt to throw out food, but sometimes, it just has to happen. If you’re like me, ask yourself something like this: “would I rather have a half full jar of store bought Alfredo sauce OR space to fit a block of grass fed butter?” I think you know the answer to that one. While you are emptying out the fridge, make two piles on your counter: 1. Food that came from grocery store aisles 2. Food that came from grocery store perimeter 3. Leftovers That's it for now, leave the food on the counter and proceed to step 3! 3. start fresh
Now that your fridge is totally empty, it's time to deep clean. You don't want to put your sorted and nice fresh food in a dingy fridge right? Here's some tips to make that process suck a little less:
Like what you're reading? Sign up below for more!
4. sort
Now that the interior of your fridge is clean and your bins are drying in the sun, it's time to tackle those piles of food. You currently have three piles (food from grocery store aisles, food from the perimeter, and leftovers) and it's time to refine those further.
Before we begin, think about the real purpose of a fridge: it keeps food with a short shelf life COLD. Again, it's for food with a SHORT shelf life. Haven't we heard the advice of staying at the perimeter of the grocery store while we shop? All the foods at the perimeter NEED the fridge right off the bat right? The following organization will help to solidify this notion:
5. organize
Now that you are left with only the “good food”, it’s time to organize so that you can make the most of it! You want your fridge to be visually pleasing so that when you open it up, you’re not left feeling overwhelmed. I organize my fridge similar to how a grocery store is organized, and these five categories are: PRODUCE, “DAIRY”, DRINKS, LEFTOVERS and “CONDIMENTS”. Each category has its own space and I try to keep similar shapes of items together too. I encourage you to stick to these categories as best you can and I will explain the quotes later. Let’s start from the bottom of the fridge and work up.
6. restock
This is the fun part! Take inventory of what you have and plan a few meals using what is already in your fridge. If there is anything else you need, buy it and take a second to see if there are ways to make some parts from scratch, like sauces or sides. If that is overwhelming, just remember that the more you cook, the better you get!
what about the freezer?
Congratulations, you tackled your fridge!!! Freezers are just as important, so stay tuned next week for the next part of this post!
Pin now and save for later!
weights are heavy... and expensive...
You've probably seen all the other pins on Pinterest talking about building a home gym with "no weights", "minimal equipment", etc... But what if you LIKE using the big stuff? This is the exact issue I had. Weights are fun, but because they are heavy they are also pricey. I started out with all the "typical", "cheap" things that you see on those Pinterest lists like a mat, stability ball, mini bands, etc. But I knew deep down that I NEEDED more.
The list below shows the exact order I purchased things and the prices I paid!
1. DUMBBELLS:
Dumbbells were priority number one for me, and they were one of the most intimidating purchases too because of the expense and because there's just so many types! To not clutter our basement, I decided to find a set of adjustable dumbbells. To not break the bank, I also decided to buy these dumbbells USED because really, a weight is a weight. It doesn't matter if it's scuffed, rusty etc, all it's doing is weighing you down. On average, you will pay AT LEAST a dollar a pound for the most basic dumbbells (new), but when buying them used, I was able to get about 200 lbs of weight for only $100. I found this deal by scouring Craigslist (Facebook marketplace didn't exist back then) until I finally found a used set of dumbbells really similar to these. Once I brought those home, I thought I would be set for awhile, until I decided to bench press with them. 2. BENCH At first, I thought I could get away with benching on my stability ball, but there was just no way for me to keep my neck in a comfortable position for that long. So... next on my list was a flat weight bench. I am pretty sure I tried to find a bench like this on Craigslist, but when I couldn't find anything used, I went to Amazon. I still have this bench today and it works great, but every so often I do need to retighten the bolts. 3. BARBELL (#1) I love barbells. Working with them makes you feel like a bad ass, and they are just so convenient when you want to pick up heavy stuff like I was used to doing. My college gym had beautiful Olympic bars, plates and racks and I had no idea that there was any other type. I looked up these Olympic barbells (2" diameter on the ends) online and was shocked by their price. So, I then discovered standard bars and plates (1" diameter on the ends). These bars would be a perfect fit for the weight plates that I already had from my adjustable dumbbells, so I decided to buy a bar for deadlifting. The bar I chose was the cheapest I could find and also the shortest (in order to save space). 4. SQUAT RACK So I could bench, I could deadlift, I could do any accessory work I wanted with dumbbells, but I couldn't really squat like I wanted to. Sure I could put dumbbells up on my shoulders, do goblet squats, or overhead press the bar up on my shoulders, but my shoulders then limited how much weight I could use. This dilemma really got to me (to the point where I just couldn't take it anymore) about 3 months after buying my dumbbells and so my quest started for a rack. This was definitely going to be my biggest purchase, so I made sure to do my research. I didn't need anything fancy, but I wanted something that would keep me SAFE. To me, that meant a power rack (four corners that "box" you in) rather than just a squat rack (only two supports for the barbell). At the time I purchased my rack, it was NOT available on Amazon, but here it is now, even with free shipping (which I didn't get 5 years ago). This specific power rack from Titan Fitness was easy to assemble and HEAVY, a great safety feature. It has a pull up bar, safeties, and was easy to assemble for my husband and I. I have even taken this rack apart and moved it to a new basement, and we had no issues at all! This was definitely the biggest purchase, but it was also the most useful and paid for itself easily. Right now you can get it for $335, so let's do the math. At the time I am writing this article, Goole says that the average cost for a gym membership is $58 per month. $335 / $58 = 5.77 months. Say what? You can make up the cost of that squat rack in 6 months??? Even if you live somewhere that a gym membership is HALF that, you could still make up the cost of the squat rack in a year. And who knows, maybe you can even find a used power rack near you for cheaper! 5. BARBELL (#2) Remember how I bought a short barbell in step 3 to save space? This decision bit me in the butt really... Please keep in mind that you need a 7' barbell (not 6') in order to make it span the width of a squat or power rack. This is the exact reason I now have two barbells (this is the 7' bar I bought). One stays on the floor for deadlifts, and one stays in my power rack for benching and squatting.
LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? SIGN UP FOR MORE!
Signup here: Thank you!You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
6. PULL-UP BANDS
Without an assisted pull up machine, how was I supposed to work up to a full pull up? Bands. Simple as that! Again, I did my research on these bands and based off my bodyweight (around 140 lbs) and ability, I decided on a green, purple and red band. These are way cheaper than an assisted pull up machine right??? 7. SUSPENSION TRAINER Notice how I didn't say TRX here? That's because I was NOT going to pay the price for a name brand system. Although the exact brand I have is not available on Amazon anymore, there's lots of great options that my clients have found, like this one specifically (same price as what I paid for mine, and way cheaper than a $200 TRX!) 8. BOSU BALL At this point in my fitness journey, I knew I was lacking in the area of stability (because I was going through my personal training certification)... Once I learned what a bosu ball is and learned how they can change almost any exercise and turn it into something totally new, I was sold! It is now one of my favorite pieces, even more used than my stability ball! total damage:
Total damage (over the span of 9 months or so) = $1,200
Let's go back to that calculation from before. If Google says that the average gym membership is $58 a month... $1,200 / $58 = 20.7 months to make up your cost. That's under two years! I bet that you have been lifting in a gym for at least 6 months if you're reading this, so you're a quarter of the way there! Wouldn't your money be spent in a better place (like your own home) rather than a gym? what's next?
Now I am not going to lie and say that I do not want anything else for my home gym... In fact, I have upgraded my dumbbells (but I still bought them used through Facebook marketplace!), and I do dream of buying Olympic barbells and plates... But until that day comes, I am perfectly happy with the home gym I created because it has given me all the tools I need to progress in my fitness journey!
Do you have any specific things you love in your home gym? Leave me a comment and let me know! Pin now and come back later!Are you new to exercise?
1. bent knees
2. kickstand
3. "regular" side plank
4. star
yes, you CAN use all these variations, no matter your skill level!Even though I can do the hardest variation of side plank (not for long though...), that does NOT mean that it is the only variation I perform! The way I determine which variation I use is by figuring out how long I want to hold side plank. Do I want to hold it for 2 min? 1 min? Only 30 sec? Basically, the longer I want to hold plank, the easier variation I use and vise versa. You can read more about that theory here and you apply the theory by using these workout cycles to build your strength each week! |
AuthorMy name is Laura and I help overly tired 20something women overhaul their lives, energy and confidence without overwhelm. Categories
All
DISCLAIMER:
Although I am a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and write to the best of my knowledge on fitness, nutrition and lifestyle practices, I cannot be made liable to know all information on a particular subject. Knowledge gained through this blog is to be used at your own risk and all lifestyle changes should be discussed with a doctor before starting. I am also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. I do receive a small reimbursement for sales made through the links provided on my blog. |