What’s In My Fridge?

After returning home from vacation, I went to the grocery store for a few things like fresh veggies and fruits, milk and eggs.  Other than that, my freezer and pantry had what I needed to get through a week of meals.  Bulk shopping when things go on sale keeps me from having to buy a long list of items every single week.  I love that!

I thought I would give you a peek inside my refrigerator and small freezer so you can see the standard things that are in there and how I organize it all.  

I use the top shelf for dairy items and leftovers.

• Yogurt – I use this for my Two-Ingredient bagels
• Sour Cream
• Cottage Cheese
• I have a rotisserie chicken up there ready to use to make Chicken stock.

The next shelf will have small containers of leftovers.  Right now there just is a dish of hummus, made by a friend who is a fantastic cook.

Then next tall shelf is for

• Iced Tea
• Salsa
• Ale-8 (our favorite soft drink made in Winchester, Ky!)
• Another yogurt for breakfast is stored here because the chicken carcass is taking its place at the moment.

Then I keep fresh fruits in the left drawer.  Containers of cut up strawberries and pineapple make it easy to use the fruit for snacking or morning yogurt.

The wide, narrow drawer holds

• tortillas
• cheeses on the left
• butter and cream cheese in the middle
• meats – bacon (kept in a Tupperware container), pepperoni and cooked chicken breast for Quesadillas or salads on the right.

The shelves on the other side of the fridge from top hold extra coffee creamers.  We buy them when they”re on sale and store the extras up there.  I also keep my large container of Mixed Salad Greens there.  **If you buy the large container of Mixed greens here’s a tip – Put a paper towel in the lid of that salad mix container; it will keep it fresh longer!

I store some bread on the half shelf because we don’t eat it up too quickly.

The bottom shelf is for the current coffee creams and eggs. The OCD in me is wondering why I didn’t turn all the containers facing the front?!

The right door holds things like milk, BBQ sauce, lemon and lime juices, soy sauce, salads dressings and jams.

The left door has condiments – Mayo, mustard – Dijon, Yellow and spicy.  My Sour Dough Bread starter is in the Mason Jar, and there is also some hot fudge sauce for ice cream!

I love that my freezer has two narrow drawers above the deep part.  In Drawer #1 I keep…

• Baked goods -Pizza crusts that I grilled
• cookies
• brownies and other treats.

Drawer #2

Containers of

• fruits, vegetables
• tomatoes – If I open a whole can of tomatoes or tomato paste or sauce and only need part of it, I put it in a ziplock bag and place it here.  This is so helpful!-
• tomato sauces
• meats – mostly cooked meats that are ready for pizza, pot pies or other recipes.

The big, deep drawer has…

• Bags of frozen vegetables
• Frozen fruit
• Waffles
• Pancakes
• Yeast
• GF flour
• Marshmallows
• Rolls, Hamburger/hot dog buns

I have a large freezer in the garage as well. It holds the large part of my meats bought in bulk.  I also keep extra loaves of bread, ice cream, desserts and homemade rolls or muffins there.

I know that I can go to my stockpile – either in the fridge or freezers (plus my pantry) and pull out a meal in a short amount of time.  With cooked meats, pizza crusts, vegetables and fruits, I have the basics on hand usually all the time.

I try to cull through every other week or so and get rid of what is not good, and then replace it.

Having an organized fridge and freezer really helps in knowing what I need to buy, and keeps me on top of meal planning.

I hope this was helpful and inspires you to clean out the fridge and get it organized and ready for serving your family more effectively!

Do you stockpile any items? How do you organize your fridge?

From my country kitchen,