 Well, this wasn't in the plan!
I'm supposed to be emptying the freezers, not filling them back up. But sometimes a bargain comes along that is simply too good to ignore — especially when it means saving at least 50% on food we regularly eat. And with food prices continuing to rise, I wasn't going to walk past these chicken prices: 🐔 Chicken wings — 89c/kg 🐔 Chicken breast fillets — $4.89/kg 🐔 Chicken drumsticks — $3.48/kg I hadn't planned a chicken stock-up at all. But when I was told about these prices, and realised I had to pass the butcher on my way home anyway, it was an opportunity too good to pass up. Apparently quite a few other people thought the same thing! The butcher shop was packed. It was very much a take a number and wait patiently situation, so that's exactly what we did. There was a 2kg limit on the wings and breast fillets, which was a little disappointing — but Hannah was with me, so she was able to buy 2kg of each as well. Home we came with 12 kilos of chicken, and then the work began. Everything was portioned, packed and labelled ready for the freezer. And the result? 💚 $47.64 spent on chicken 💚 12kg of wings, breast fillets and drumsticks 💚 15 meal-sized portions for five people 💚 $3.17 meat cost per meal 💚 Just 63 cents per portion I'm very happy with that. My meat allowance is $5 per meal, so having 15 chicken meals sitting well below that amount gives me room in the budget for the occasional more expensive roast, steak or other cut of meat. That's how I like to look at the grocery budget — not every meal has to cost exactly the same. The cheaper meals balance the more expensive ones so the overall budget stays where I need it to be. And yes, technically I've just added 12 kilos back into freezers I'm trying to empty! But the purpose of the Ditch the Freezer Challenge isn't to refuse good value. It's to become much more deliberate about what we keep frozen, how much it costs us, how quickly we use it and whether it genuinely benefits our household. When I can buy food we regularly eat at at least 50% less than the price I'd normally expect to pay, I'm prepared to make room for it. Especially now. When food inflation is high and household food security feels less certain than it once did, having good food bought at excellent prices gives us options. It means I don't have to buy chicken next week because we "need" it. I can wait. I can shop my freezer. I can build meals around what we already have. And I can protect the grocery budget from whatever the price happens to be on the day. So the freezer tally may have gone backwards by 12 kilos this week… …but the grocery budget and future meal plan have taken a very nice step forward. That's a trade I'm happy to make. 💚 Ditch the Freezer doesn't mean never putting food back in. It means making every bit of freezer space earn its keep.
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 Across Days 9–12 of my Ditch the Freezer Challenge, two more substantial batches of food moved out of the freezer and into useful, ready-to-eat storage.
This time I worked with sausage mince and roasting beef, creating easy breakfasts, quick family meals and another welcome patch of empty freezer space. Day 9: Breakfast Patties for the Pantry For Day 9, I took 1.5 kilos of sausage mince from the freezer and turned it into breakfast patties. I portioned the mixture into 75-gram patties — and yes, I weighed every one. Weighing them keeps the patties a consistent size, which helps them cook evenly and makes it easier to divide them into family-sized portions. I packed five patties into each pint jar, enough for one family breakfast, and finished with five jars for the pantry shelf. Breakfast Made Easy The patties are the perfect size for an English muffin, making them ideal for homemade breakfast muffins. They can also be served as they are with: • Scrambled or fried eggs • Baked beans • Toast • Fried tomatoes • Mushrooms • Hash browns Because the patties are already prepared and cooked, breakfast can be on the table quickly without needing to thaw a packet of sausage mince first. That will be especially handy on busy mornings, lazy weekends or those nights when breakfast-for-dinner sounds like the easiest option. Day 9 Progress Food moved from the freezer: 1.5kg sausage mince Pantry result: 4 pint jars Portion per jar: 5 breakfast patties Food wasted: None Day 12: Roast Beef Ready for Quick Family Dinners On the evening before Day 12, I pulled two pieces of roasting beef from the freezer and moved them into the fridge to thaw. Their combined weight was 5.1 kilos. After trimming and preparing the beef, I filled six quart jars. That is another substantial quantity of meat permanently moved out of the freezer and safely onto the pantry shelf. These larger jars are ideal for family dinners because each one holds enough roast beef for a generous meal. A Sunday Roast in Around 30 Minutes Having jars of roast beef ready to heat and eat will make Sunday dinners so much easier. The beef is already cooked, so while it heats I can prepare vegetables, make the gravy and have dinner on the table in around 30 minutes. There is no need to remember to thaw a roast several days ahead, wait hours for it to cook or keep checking whether it is ready. And the stock in the jar is far too good to waste. It makes the most delicious gravy, filled with all the flavour from the beef. With roast vegetables, mashed potato or steamed greens, it becomes a comforting family meal with very little last-minute effort. The beef can also be used for: • Beef and gravy rolls • Quick beef pies • Cottage pie • Beef with mashed potato and vegetables • Hot roast sandwiches • Beef casserole • A simple beef and vegetable soup Day 12 Progress Food moved from the freezer: Roasting beef 5.1kg before trimming Jars preserved :6 quart jars Food wasted: None Future meals: Roasts, pies, rolls, casseroles and soups More Than Empty Freezer Space Every batch moved onto the pantry shelf gives me more than physical space in the freezer. It gives us meals that are already prepared, reduces our reliance on electricity and protects more of our food from the risk of an extended blackout. The breakfast patties give me five easy family breakfasts. The roast beef gives me six generous meal starters that can become Sunday dinners, pies, sandwiches or casseroles. That is at least 11 future family meals made easier from food we already had. This is exactly why I started the Ditch the Freezer Challenge. It isn’t simply about emptying appliances. It is about using what we have wisely, preventing waste and building a pantry that can continue feeding us even if the power goes out. Little by little, day by day, more food is moving from the freezer to the pantry shelf — and our food security is growing with every jar.  Days 7 and 8 of my Ditch the Freezer Challenge are complete, and this time I worked on two very different freezer ingredients: beef mince and bananas.
One batch has moved permanently to the pantry shelf, while the other has gone back into the freezer in a much more useful form. Both are helping me use what we already have, avoid waste and make future meals easier. Day 7: Five Kilos of Mince to the Pantry Shelf On Day 7, I pressure canned five kilos of beef mince into seven quart jars. I usually use pint jars for smaller meal portions, but the quart jars are ideal when I know I’ll be cooking for more people or making a double batch. One quart jar can become the base for a large quantity of: • Spaghetti bolognaise • Taco mince • Red sauce for lasagne • Savoury mince • Beef pie filling • Chilli or a hearty casserole Having the mince already browned and cooked saves a considerable amount of time when I need to put dinner together. Instead of thawing mince, browning it and waiting for it to cook, I can open a jar, add the seasonings and other ingredients, and finish the meal. Quick Homemade Meat Pies The jars will be particularly useful for making double batches of beef pie filling. Normally, freshly cooked pie filling needs time to cool before it can be added to pastry. If the filling is too hot, it can soften the pastry and make the pie difficult to assemble. The canned mince is already cooked and cold when the jar is opened. I only need to prepare the gravy and combine it with the mince. Because the meat is cold, the gravy cools very quickly. Within a few minutes, the filling can go into the pie crust and the pie can go straight into the oven. That means homemade meat pies can be ready in around 30 minutes—perfect for a busy day when we want something hearty without spending hours in the kitchen. Day 7 Progress Food Used: Beef Mince Amount Removed: 5 kilograms Result: 7 quart jars Pantry result: 7 large meal starters Food wasted: None Five more kilos permanently removed from the freezer is a very satisfying result. Day 8: A Bag of Bananas Becomes Four Loaves Day 8 was a little different. I took a bag of bananas and turned them into four Fruit and Banana Loaves. Once the loaves had cooled, I sliced them, wrapped the portions and returned them to the freezer. They are now ready to pop into lunchboxes or pull out whenever we need something for morning or afternoon tea. You may be wondering how putting the loaf slices back into the freezer helps me ditch the freezer. The answer is that not every challenge day needs to end with shelf-stable food. The bananas had been sitting in the freezer waiting to be used. Now they have been turned into something useful, portioned and ready to eat. Don't worry, they won't last long, this banana loaf is a family favourite. Instead of an awkward bag of bananas that could easily be forgotten, I now have four loaves’ worth of organised snacks and lunchbox treats. That is still progress. Day 8 Progress Food Used: One bag of bananas Result: 4 Fruit and Banana Loaves, sliced and individually wrapped Future use: Lunchboxes and morning or afternoon tea Food wasted: None Making the Freezer Work for Us My final goal is to reduce our reliance on freezers, but that doesn’t mean I’ll never freeze anything again. By the end of the year, I hope to be down to one small chest freezer for foods that are best stored frozen or cannot be preserved practically in another way. The important difference is that I want the remaining freezer space to be organised and intentional. Prepared loaf slices that can go straight into a lunchbox have a clear purpose. A forgotten bag of bananas doesn't. This challenge is about more than simply making empty space. It is about using the food we have, preventing waste and choosing the most useful way to store it. Day 7 moved five kilos of mince permanently onto the pantry shelf. Day 8 turned a bag of frozen bananas into four loaves of convenient snacks. Two very different jobs, but both moved the challenge forward. I've updated the Freezer Challenge Tracker, you can see the progress here.
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Day 3 of my Ditch the Freezer Challenge is done, and another four kilos of mince have been moved from the freezer to the pantry shelf.
This batch gave me another 12 pint jars of shelf-stable, ready-to-use mince. That brings my total for the first three days to 12 kilos of mince removed from the freezer and 29 jars of convenient meal starters added to the pantry. I can see more empty space appearing in the freezer every day, and it is very encouraging. 
That is a very satisfying result for just three days.
Turning Bread Ends into Breadcrumbs I also finished drying the bread ends, crusts and stale rolls that had been taking up space in the freezer. The fire was already going, so I placed the bread on racks above it and let the gentle heat dry it until it was completely crisp. Once it had cooled, I whizzed it into breadcrumbs and filled a jar for the pantry. I’ve left the breadcrumbs plain. That makes them much more versatile because I can season them to suit whatever I’m cooking. When I want Italian-style breadcrumbs, I’ll add a teaspoon of my MOO Italian seasoning. I could also add garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, paprika, pepper or any other seasoning that suits the meal. Plain breadcrumbs can be used for:
Breadcrumbs Are Surprisingly Expensive Breadcrumbs are one of those basic grocery items that don’t seem particularly expensive until you compare the price per kilo. Generic plain breadcrumbs can cost around $4 a kilo, while branded plain breadcrumbs can cost as much as $18.50 a kilo. Panko crumbs can cost up to $14.50 a kilo, and seasoned crumbs can be even more expensive. When you look at those prices, saving bread ends doesn’t seem quite so silly. Bread crusts, stale buns and the odd slice nobody wants to eat can all be turned into a useful pantry staple instead of being thrown away. It costs very little to make, especially when the bread can be dried using heat that is already available. And because the bread is already paid for, making breadcrumbs helps us receive the full value from our grocery spending. Another Win for the 10 Cents a Day Challenge This is a perfect example of how small savings add up. Saving bread ends may only seem like a tiny thing, but one homemade batch of breadcrumbs can save far more than 10 cents. It also prevents food waste and means one less item needs to go onto the shopping list. Every jar made at home, every leftover used and every grocery item we don’t need to buy adds to the savings. That is exactly what the 10 Cents a Day Savings Challenge is about. We don’t need one huge, dramatic saving every day. We simply need to notice the little opportunities and use them. Make a batch of breadcrumbs and you’ve already saved more than 10 cents. Little by Little After three days, I have cleared 12 kilos of mince and a collection of bread ends from the freezer. In their place, I now have 29 jars of ready-to-use mince and meatballs, along with a jar of homemade breadcrumbs sitting safely on the pantry shelf. The food hasn’t been wasted. It hasn’t been thrown out. It has simply been moved from frozen storage into useful, shelf-stable pantry ingredients. Little by little, day by day, the freezer is becoming emptier and the pantry is becoming even more useful. Take a look in your freezer today. Do you have bread ends, crusts or stale buns tucked away? Turn them into breadcrumbs and add the saving to your 10 Cents a Day Challenge total.
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Days 1 and 2 of my Ditch the Freezer Challenge are done, and I’m pleased to say there is already a noticeable amount of room appearing in the freezer.
After Tuesday night’s YouTube Live on Debt Free, Cashed Up and Laughing, I moved four kilos of mince from the freezer into the fridge to thaw.
On Wednesday evening, I pressure canned the mince and turned it into 10 pint jars of shelf-stable, ready-to-use meat for the pantry.
That is 10 quick meal starters ready for those nights when dinner needs to be simple. The mince can be used for pasta sauce, tacos, savoury mince, cottage pie, soups, casseroles and plenty of other easy meals. The mince was also bought on markdown. I saved $6.09 on each packet, giving me a total saving of $24.36. Buying meat on markdown can be a wonderful way to stretch the grocery budget, as long as it is used, frozen or preserved promptly and safely. In this case, the mince went into the freezer when I bought it, and now it has been turned into convenient, shelf-stable food for the pantry.
Day 2: Meatballs for the Pantry
Yesterday, I took another four kilos of mince from the freezer and allowed it to thaw safely in the fridge. After dinner, I turned it into meatballs. Once the meatballs were prepared and cooked, I pressure canned them in stock and added another seven jars to the pantry shelves. That brings the total for the first two days to eight kilos of mince removed from the freezer and 17 jars of convenient meal starters added to the pantry. There is already so much more room in the freezer. I’m beginning to think emptying it may not take quite as long as I first imagined. Of course, there is still plenty to work through, but seeing that empty space is very encouraging. 
The Challenge So Far
Food removed from the freezer: 8 kilograms Jars added to the pantry: 17 Ready-to-use meal starters created: 17 Food wasted: None Extra electricity used to store these jars: None That last point is one of the reasons I’m enjoying this challenge so much. The food is no longer relying on freezer space and electricity to keep it safe. It is now sitting neatly on the pantry shelf, ready to be heated and used whenever we need a quick meal. And, unlike frozen food, I can see exactly what I have. There is no digging through icy bags or wondering what might be hiding underneath everything else. What Can I Make with the Jars? The jars of mince can become:
Today’s Job: Bread Ends into Breadcrumbs Today, I’m tackling all the bread ends that have been saved in the freezer. The fire is going, so I’ll place the bread on racks above it and let the gentle heat dry the pieces slowly. There is no need to turn on the oven or use any extra electricity. Once the bread is completely dry and crisp, I’ll let it cool before whizzing it into breadcrumbs. Those breadcrumbs will be useful for meatballs, rissoles, schnitzels, crumb toppings and all sorts of other meals. Best of all, the bread won’t be wasted, and there will be a little more room in the freezer. I’ll add the amount of bread removed to the challenge tracker once the job is finished. Little by Little This challenge isn’t about trying to empty the freezer in one exhausting weekend. It is about working through it steadily, one packet, one container and one meal at a time. Some of the food will be eaten straight away. Some will be turned into meals, and some will be preserved so it can be safely stored on the pantry shelf. Nothing is being thrown away or wasted. Everything will be used. Little by little, day by day, the freezer will be emptied. Along the way, I’ll end up with meals ready to eat, a better-organised pantry and far less food hidden and forgotten in the depths of the freezer. Eight kilograms out and 17 jars on the pantry shelf is a very satisfying start. I'll be turning off the freezer very soon. How are you going with your own freezer eat-down? Start with just one item today. Take it out, make a plan for it and enjoy seeing that first little patch of empty freezer space appear. |
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