As you'll recall from my blog last week, I've become a big fan of Costco, and of buying big quantities of our favorite foods to portion out and freeze.

Unfortunately, a few days after our last trip, our freezer and refrigerator went on the fritz. Faced with the loss of hundreds of dollars of food, we naturally freaked out. All of those flank steaks I'd cut up and vacuum sealed, the three half-gallons of milk, the strawberries I hulled and put in a vacuum-seal canister for quick access for smoothies—we were in jeopardy of losing them all.

Luckily, even though it was Sunday, we were able to find a repairman. But while I was transferring everything into coolers, I realized how addicted to freezing I've become...and how little it is actually helping me in terms of efficiently and cost-effectively planning my meals.

I pulled container after container of unidentified substances from the freezer, in various stages of frostbite. Half-used bags of frozen corn, a quart container of what looked like some sort of soup, butt ends of bread loaves—there was even a foil-wrapped packets of lasagna brought over by my mother-in-law after we had Sadie in November. (That would've come in handy when I was scrambling to fix a quick meal before the Wilco concert last week!)

Cleaning out the fridge and freezer is always cathartic, but I took the opportunity to make a list of everything that was stashed in the freezer (throwing out all the unidentifiable packets, natch). My goal is to keep the list on the fridge (you can take a peek at mine, above), so I'll easily be able to see what's inside, without having to rummage around, letting precious cold air escape, and messing up my orderly shelves.

When I'm planning my menus for the week and making my grocery list, I'll be able to base my dinners on what's inside, and I'll know quickly if I have buns and veggie burgers, if there's leftover chili to heat up, or if I need to stock up on more shrimp for stir-fries. As I use stuff up, I'll cross it off, and I'll also add to the list as I stash away packages of leftovers or new buys.

Another resolution is to label everything that goes in there with a Sharpie I keep in the drawer next to the fridge. No matter how identifiable I think the item might be, I'm going to write what it is on the package, as well as the date. I'm also going to use an old trick from the restaurant and grocery world, which they called FIFO, or "First In First Out." This refers to storing items so that you use the stuff that'll go bad first-for instance, when I buy more yogurts, I'll put the new ones behind the ones that are still in the fridge from last week, so that we'll eat those first.

This week I only spent $69.18 for groceries, much less than in previous weeks. Pretty much all of the proteins I used were already on hand, so I really just had to buy some basics and my produce for the week. I've found that buying fresh produce every week is key to making meals that I assemble from the freezer, a little more interesting. And I am never without a big bag of salad greens, whether it's baby spinach, romaine lettuce, or arugula. With nearly every meal, I'll serve a simple salad topped with a white wine and garlic dressing that I can throw together in two minutes with stuff I already have on hand.

After a few weeks of spending a ton on groceries, it was great to see my menu planning and budgeting pay off. Plus it's nice to put a dent in my freezer stash. Another meal or two, and we'll even have room for an extra tub of ice cream!


In My Kitchen
Every week, I tally my grocery bill, and give you a peek at what's on the dinner table at our house.

Groceries: $69.18

Meals Prepared:

• Steak with Caramelized Onions, steamed asparagus and microwaved sweet potatoes
• Panko-crusted cod, mushroom, corn and millet salad and sautéed zucchini and fennel
• Grilled Buffalo Burgers with artichoke topping, grilled asparagus
• Calzones with mushrooms and spinach, arugula salad with White Wine and Garlic Dressing