$2 Freezer Organization

I suppose you can say I've been doing a bit of nesting lately. When I had MZ #1, I didn't even know what freezer cooking was. Somehow we managed to eat without too much trouble. But this time around, I know someone else will have to be providing meals for him for a few days, and with two kids, I imagine dinner time isn't going to get any easier! As I began working on meals for the freezer, I realized how disorganized it is.

I decided I could easily inject some organization for myself and also for the family members who will be staying at my house to help out with our little man. The awesomely talented Jen at iHeart Organizing provided my inspiration with her freezer organization system.

She is lucky enough to have a Container Store in her town where she picked up the clear storage bins. Unfortunately, the closest one to us is about two hours away :-( I decided to search for other options. As I was measuring the space, I happened to glance upon the little "clean" and "dirty" baskets I use for bibs, wash cloths, dish towels and rags.

I had recently decided that they didn't work so well because of their curved shape - I can't really fold anything. On a whim I tried putting them in the freezer to see if they would fit. Lo and behold, they did. I decided I would go out looking for baskets to use as new laundry baskets. Dollar Tree came to the rescue with these fun green baskets.

I simply moved the tags and the towels over, and they were good to go!

Then it was time to put the white baskets to use in the freezer. I decided the two items that needed the most help were bags of veggies, and packaged foods like chicken nuggets and frozen tortellini. They went into the baskets and I added labels.

I also designated new homes on the door for breakfast and breads, ice packs, and sauces. This makes breakfast items easy to grab, and it's a much better use of space in the door with stacked sauces (I always freeze them flat so they take up less space).

Overall the freezer is much more organized. I'd ultimately like to get the bins from Container Store or something similar - the white ones aren't quite as big as I'd like, and I do have a few things hidden behind them in the back.

But for a total of $2 for the new little green baskets, this is a definite step in the right direction!