What's in the Bottom of my Freezer? Plus 2 Giveaways in 2025!

[@katiemcdaniel3063]

I use milk crates type baskets for my chest freezer. My chest freezer is our seafood freezer. So there is a basket (or 2! We live in Alaska!) for salmon, a basket for halibut and white fish, a basket of spot shrimp and then I keep smoked salmon in the little side basket the freezer came with. The crates make it easy for me to find and pull stuff out because 2 crates stack perfectly.

[@dianamilburn1743]

Your inventory sheets are an awesome idea!! You have inspired me to update my inventory! Thanks bunches!!

[@thehometownhomestead]

Pretty sweet! I'm growing more and more dependent on customizing my own sheets. Thanksfully Kittl makes it easy!

[@pamelaclayton-vg9me]

I used the hard sided shopping bag to stock my freezer they are easy to stack and move with the long handles

[@thehometownhomestead]

This is a great idea!

[@courtneymilburn3102]

Where do you get those bags?

[@pamelaclayton-vg9me]

@courtneymilburn3102 Amazon my freezers are about same size as yours foldable shopping bags baleine was the ones I bought

[@DawnDevine]

I use shopping bags too - and color coding the bags for the contents green is veg, red is red meats, yellow is fish

[@AshlieWalker3]

I have 1 freezer with meat, 1 with fruit and veg and I use plastic high sided baskets to store different meats in in the meat freezer. Chicken in one beef in another ect. I also have an inventory sheet I love it 😊 enjoyed watching this today as I enjoyed doing mine the other day. I look forward to the tallow video I'm curious as to how it's done. Happy new year to you and your family 😊

[@Kababy13]

This will be my first year participating! I am so excited! Thanks for all your tips! Always look forward to your weekly videos

[@thehometownhomestead]

It's a lot of fun, particularly when you can get the buy in of your family. We do make an exception for my husband's birthday at the end of the month, but that's about it!

[@pattyadams2338]

Collapsible hard sided totes from Amazon for freezer organization.

[@pattyadams2338]

I’m laughing at the boys casually walking through the kitchen with a rifle and crossbow!! That’s great.

[@thehometownhomestead]

@@pattyadams2338 it’s so natural here that we don’t even think about it, until it’s time to edit. 😆 While I’m sure some don’t share our values, teaching them to hunt and clean their own animals/fish is important to us. The younger of the 2 will shoot his bow for hours a day if we let him. Way better than being inside watching TV! 🤷‍♀️

[@pamelaclayton-vg9me]

I use the hard sided grocery bags to stock my freezer

[@thehometownhomestead]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@laurielyon1892]

This past year I took my potatoes and cut them like crinkle fries and canned them up. I can easily put them into my air fryer and have fries with the hamburgers. Sometimes I just use the cloth grocery bags and separate like items in my freezer. Now, I've never eaten deer meat, except for the summer sausage with jalapeño and cheddar, but if you have it ground for sausage, you could can it up to make easy biscuits and gravy. You may have already done this before, but I didn't know.

[@kathym2563]

Nice Video!!!!! I always wear winter gloves when I go through my freezers....keeps my hands nice and warm. I also use heavy duty plastic tote bags that have thick handles . I buy them for q 1.00 or 2.00 and they last forever. I am able to empty my huge coffin freezer in a matter of 4 to 5 mins. Love them. They last forever.

[@thehometownhomestead]

I’ve been looking at several options. I’d love to be able to pull things out rather fast. I needed some fries tonight, and they were down toward the bottom

[@DebBeeman-ir9eu]

Your videos are so informative and enjoyable! I love watching you

[@thehometownhomestead]

Thank you so much for the kind words! Sometimes I wonder if it's as helpful as I *think* it is! I was actually curious is anyone would care about my inventory. I guess that's a YES!! :) Thanks for watching!

[@crus5112]

When growing up my mom always saved leftover ham in the freezer. She would either use it in beans or she would make a scalloped potato and ham casserole which was a family favorite. Sometimes she would add broccoli in it and sometimes she would just serve it in the side. It was an easy, inexpensive and filling meal for our family of 8

[@thehometownhomestead]

@@crus5112 that’s an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@jenniferseher1559]

One of the best ham recipes I made, was after spiral slicing: top with a blended slurry of 1 orange, 1 can of pineapple, one small bag of cranberry. Top that with some brown sugar and cook until hot. It absorbs those beautiful fruit flavors with a hint of sweet. DELICIOUS!!

[@thehometownhomestead]

@@jenniferseher1559 this sounds delicious!!

[@brendahowell5946]

Adding a bottle of coke makes a huge difference! It makes it so tender!

[@brendahowell5946]

Always keep a yucky box hidden in pantry. When sick theirs nothing worse than going store. In mine is meds of course, jello, sprite, crackers, freeze pops, chicken noodle soup etc

[@ourvanlives4736]

My grandparents owned a farm when I was young and Mom would always get a cow once a year to have butchered. I remember her using the tongue diced up when she would make beef and noodles.

[@thehometownhomestead]

That's a great idea! I've had it at a Mexican restaurant a few times in street tacos, and it's awesome. My main probelm with this specific cut is the appearance. (YUCK!)

[@doriscondor1243]

Our coat closet was in the hall before entering the kitchen, we turned it into a pantry

[@kingdomrootedmama]

Do you have a video on how you make your laundry soap or can you share with my what you use for laundry?

[@iprincessirene]

Yes please

[@thehometownhomestead]

I don't actually make my own. I just buy the Oxy from Azure in bulk because it's a huge savings and lasts forever. Here is a link: www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/household-family/laundry/bleach-alternatives/oxygen-powered-bleach-powder/26872?package=NF1612&a_aid=2c8dc8a1b0 As for detergent, I have 2 that I love. I have used Puracy for years because it's very effective with clean ingredients only uses a tiny bit per load and costs 31 cents per load. Here is my favorite. I love their stain remover also. amzn.to/40eMBJK The other that I really like is Branch Basics. Also clean, and I can use the same concentrate to make every other cleaner in my house. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2fbhIyrd9eFipI As a side note: I love the Azure dishwasher powder as well and use it instead of buying anything else. Its a huge savings when you buy in bulk, because it comes in at 17 cents per load. Basically when I buy 50 lbs, it's 2.5-3 years worth of soap. www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/household-family/kitchen/dishwashing/dishwasher-detergent/powder/automatic-dishwasher-powder/21088?package=NF1021&a_aid=2c8dc8a1b0 Let me know if you have any more questions!

[@TrellisandTrails]

Freezer sanity bins on amazon have been my favorite! They are very sturdy and hold up well!

[@thehometownhomestead]

@@TrellisandTrails thank you! I’ll check them out. Do you use them in a chest freezer or standup?

[@TrellisandTrails]

@thehometownhomestead I use them in a 10 cu.ft. chest freezer. I have some other collapsible bins too but I wouldn't recommend because the handles have broken on some of them. I have a freezer tour video on my channel if you want to see the freezer sanity bins a little closer!

[@doriscondor1243]

I use freezer totes in my chest freezer

[@whitespringhomestead6089]

I am going to try freezing corn that way. This year was the first year I tried freezing cobs and corn and it is mushy when we reheat it.

[@miss.baptist394]

Our root cellar was a huge selling point for me on our property! It would be different as far as storage goes with our two deep chest freezers, and all our storage we keep out there. Our kitchen has a small pantry so it would be harder to try to "stock" up on things and keep rotating. It is a huge blessing to have one! LORD JESUS is KING of kings and LORD of lords!

[@SlowLivingWithAutism]

RE: Freezer baskets. When I used to use exclusively chest freezers, I'd organize with canvas or Trader Joe's plastic tote bags. Examples: all the ground beef in one bag, the strawberries in another, the cuts of beef in another, veggies in another, and so on. It was the most efficient system I found ... a different bag (color / pattern) per item(s). Now my daughter has one of my chest freezers, and one of my daughters-in-law has the other ... and I have a large upright. I purchased baskets separately for that and love them. I use painter's tape to label them. I'm participating in the challenge but can't do a video until my dad leaves - we were out of town for over a week and now he's here visiting. Busy times. I always look forward to this challenge!

[@thehometownhomestead]

@@SlowLivingWithAutism I’m considering wire baskets for everything to make it easier to see/move. I actually far prefer the standup for easy access and organization, but the chest freezers can really be packed tight! Enjoy your company, and good luck once you get started!

[@jenniferr2057]

I am so in! Loved this.

[@SlowLivingWithAutism]

Gardening 🎉 This upcoming season marks our 20th year of gardening. 2024 was our worst by far (no rain and our well couldn't keep up), but we're optimistic for a better 2025. We had a new well pump installed and dropped lower (our well is over 500ft deep but the old pump was barely to 300'), a new and stronger pressure tank, and my son is building a new greenhouse ... it's been several years since we've had a greenhouse, and we're excited. I actually started planning yesterday and have my January seeds and winter sowing seeds all ready to go. 🙏 ❤ (it's useless to get the cold stratification seeds ready before January where we are).

[@thehometownhomestead]

@@SlowLivingWithAutism that’s so exciting!!! I love the start of the garden season. We went through a round of pumps needing to be dropped a couple of years ago around here. That’s a rough go until it gets fixed!

[@sharonjennings1282]

Cube or chop the ham and make scalloped potatoes. Delish

[@Gina-de8gb]

Great video , THANK YOU

[@thehometownhomestead]

@@Gina-de8gb thank you so much! I wasn’t even sure if you all would enjoy this type of content, so glad it’s being well received!

[@aliviarichardson775]

Can you give more information on the canning and who to follow?

[@thehometownhomestead]

Here are the details! kzbin.infoUgkxk2ORPMUzt67n3wPNmoN1IYTpjB_nUhjO?si=mIvnioM4j7ZsPkhh

[@rachaelv1140]

I’m very excited to participate again. Goal is to go through a lot of my freezer stash. I’m keeping a $100 grocery budget for dairy/meat if I need to restock. I’m going to try to make it through February with the challenge. I’m going to try homemade yogurt and I’ve been trying different sourdough breads to try eliminate the need to buy bread.

[@thehometownhomestead]

Your $100 is for the month, or 2? We have actually started already because of my filming schedule and I made brioche buns for burgers tonight. They were really great! Bread products are one that we get caught buying more than I’d like, so I’m excited to push through for months without any!

[@rachaelv1140]

@ I’m giving myself $100 per month, which is not much these days. For two people we spend around $450 a month. I can and preserve as much as possible, so I couldn’t imagine what it would be if I didn’t garden.

[@glennagoss7335]

I love your kitchen

[@thehometownhomestead]

Thank you so much! It took years of living here to find the right spot. This used to be the dining room, and is the 3rd (and final) room to hold a kitchen since it was built in 1907.

[@jameyflleener747]

Do you have a backup for those freezers, if you lose electricity?

[@thehometownhomestead]

We have a generator, if the need arises. That said, we live in an area that hasn’t had a power outage of any major length for almost 20 years. I would love to have our generator installed to automatically kick on, but we aren’t there yet. Another option for us to move to battery backup of our solar panels that cover our electricity needs. At this time, we’re still hooked to the grid and haven’t made that purchase yet. The need to backup power sources really varies greatly across the US. For some areas this is a major need, and for others it’s a fluke occurrence.

[@precious1porvida]

Is the checklist that you use available in Kittl? I can't find it, or did you design this one yourself? I absolutely love it!!

[@thehometownhomestead]

I customized this travel checklist. It did not take me very long to pull it together, but I do think they should add in something similar. Very "soon-ish" I will also have my blog up and running and I hope to have some of the sheets that are super useful for me as downloads. Great things to come in 2025! www.kittl.com/design/Travel-Checklist-Card-Wer0ajVH?referral=jillgray

[@precious1porvida]

@thehometownhomestead How exciting!! I can't wait ❤️ Thank you for the link!

[@thehometownhomestead]

@ you’re welcome!

[@cathykillion6544]

Enjoyed the video 😊

[@thehometownhomestead]

Thank you, and thanks for watching! Hope to see you back soon!

[@heatheryarbrough702]

I’m going to join this year

[@thehometownhomestead]

@@heatheryarbrough702 it’s a lot of fun! My kids even get a kick out of it. Good luck!

[@lillianclark4608]

Good afternoon I just started watching your videos

[@thehometownhomestead]

Welcome! I hope you enjoy my little corner of YT! Feel free to ask any questions that might come up. 🙌🏻

[@missbow2009]

these boys are intense with guns and spears… so interesting

[@ilahaslife]

👍

[@carolynking1588]

Ugh, how often to you defrost your freezers. The job I hate most!