Ditch the Freezer Challenge: Days 7 and 8

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.