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"  Hot outside? Open the freezer, if you can... is it crowded and cluttered? Do you have UFOs (Unidentified Frozen Objects)? Organizing your freezer can save you time and money and cool you down all at the same time. Here&amp;#039;s how... If you have the type of freezer that needs defrosting, turn the freezer off and open the door so that it can melt while you work, and get some bowls and beach towels or whatever you need to tackle the icebergs that have grown. Start organizing by grabbing some heavy-duty garbage bags to throw away anything that you no longer would feel safe eating. If you are unsure, throw it out-- no need to risk your health! Here is a partial guide to food storage that can help with questions of food freshness and safety. Also throw away anything that is such a small portion that nobody would eat it, such as the last freezer-burned scrapings of ice cream or that lonely bunch of three onion rings in a bag. And anything with an expiration date that has passed needs to go! Next, sort what&amp;#039;s left by category. You might have sections for meats, breads, breakfast foods, vegetables and fruits, juices, meals, pizza, and desserts. (If you are defrosting, you can put the food you&amp;#039;re keeping into a cooler while you sort it out, since the freezer has not yet returned to its ideal temperature.) Wipe down the inside of the freezer before returning things to their new homes. The main goal of organizing your freezer, as in all organizing projects, is visibility. You want to be able to see what you have so you can use it. Visibility can be gained three ways:   Arrange the food so that it&amp;#039;s more readily seen and easy to maneuver. See this article about the freezer of Good Housekeeping&amp;#039;s kitchen-appliances director, Sharon Franke, for some great tips on arranging! Plastic bins to corral like items can be helpful. Avoid packing your freezer so tightly that you can&amp;#039;t see what&amp;#039;s in the back.  Label the food and the shelves so that the label tells the story even if the food is not as obvious. You may be able to use my binder clip tip to label the shelves-- see my video here on how this works. Also keep a permanent marker within reach at all times to write dates and descriptions on items before you freeze them. Prevent UFOs! (Unidentified Frozen Objects)  Keep an inventory list of what is in the freezer so you have visibility to it without even opening the door. You can use a piece of paper and a pen, or a magnetic write-on-wipe-off board to write down everything you put in and cross it off as you use it.  If you have more than one freezer, put the more frequently used items in the one that is closer at hand (like your kitchen refrigerator&amp;#039;s freezer) and put less frequently used items in &amp;quot;the deep freeze&amp;quot;(that&amp;#039;s what my great-grandmother called her chest freezer here in Texas). When you put everything back, make sure you turn your freezer back on if you have been defrosting it. Save money and time by using your organized freezer to freeze extra waffles or pancakes or dinner leftovers for easy and inexpensive meals later. And if you&amp;#039;re trying to use up some random ingredients that you&amp;#039;ve found during your organizing project, use the Good Housekeeping Advanced Recipe Finder to search for a dish that requires it. Let us know in the comments if we&amp;#039;ve inspired you to chill out! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/decorating-ideas/a21455/organize-your-freezer/>