Too FREEZER dependent? How to PRESERVE food WITHOUT a FREEZER 

I am totally with you on the fear of not using up the things you freeze. I guess we put so much time and energy to preserve things, that when they start getting low, it's just hard to look in the freezer or pantry and not feel anxious. Thanks for sharing that.

Wow, that was a really nice list. I found myself playing back the video in slow motion so that I could take notes. I added a few things here and there that I do to preserve my harvests, but for the most part, I really got a lot of good ideas from your list. Final note: Cauliflower is really excellent when pickled, especially when pickled with peppers and carrots in recipes like a Giardiniera mix. It just makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Back in our hometown, we had a restaurant that would serve fresh in their buffet and as a self-serve during the meet and greet community meetings. They made theirs with Large Cauliflower pieces, pepperoncini peppers, celery, carrots, and pearl onions. The juice was a lot like the juice in the pepperoncini peppers or the Giardiniera mix that you buy at the store. At some point maybe you and I can have a talk about herbalism, I'd be interested if as a mom of a large family, you have delved into that realm or not considering how expensive the medical bills are these days. I had already raised my family before I found the opportunity to delve into homesteading and herbal therapy, but I continue to learn and prepare for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Thank you for sharing all that you have learned with us, you are so appreciated. May God always Bless you with good health for your family, safety, and prosperity in all you do. ~SuzyJC-in-Central-Southeastern-Ohio_11.05.2023~

I'm also trying to find ways to preserve food that isn't the freezer! We found the joy of freeze drying, which has been so useful!!! I'm using up the pumpkin in my freezer from last year, and freeze drying this year's, or canning it cubed, in jars. Been working well so far!!!

Very interesting topic! Love the plan you came up with. I am working on trying to eat a bit closer to in season this year too. Would love to see more of that kind of thing as you keep working on this project!

I have been thinking about this very topic a bit lately, trying to plan for our summer harvest and Fall hunting seasons. And I am guilty as well of having too much unnecessary items in the freezers. One other thing I have been considering is putting together a stand alone solar system/battery back up, completely separate from the one bolted to the house. That would give us the best security for all our frozen items, not including the freezers totally taking a dive - but we do have options in case that happens too. Thank you for the reminder to consider these issues!!

One of my most favorite soups is cream of broccoli with cheese. I'm planning to can a base for this during broccoli season this fall. I saw someone do this and it seemed like a good idea. They used a lite chicken broth and cooked down the diced broc stems in the broth w/ onions then put broc tops into the jars ( so she could control the amt in each jar ) and added the base & pressure canned. To serve, they put it in a pan, seasoned, immersion blended and added cream and cheese. If your family likes this soup normally, it may be another thing to do with broccoli that gets it out of the freezer. I'm thinking it would make a nice handy cold day quick meal for winter.

Love it, thanks for sharing

Great recommendations

You are amazingly well-organized and creative with preserving. Brava! I'd like to see in-depth videos on the process of canning from a basic standpoint. This is daunting for a newbie at preserving. Thanks for considering!

I LOVE your content! You have such a practical approach! I’m mostly in the same phase as you, so I can’t wait to see how you can all the meats!

This has been on my mind as well, thanks for sharing!

This video was very interesting. I only have one freezer but I always worry about long power outages and losing all my food. Your video gave us some great suggestions!

So interesting! Thanks for sharing! Learned so much!

I need to do the same!

I know this is an old video but maybe you will see this. I dehydrate broccoli and use it for broccoli and cheese crackers and in quiche.

We butcher 15 chickens every 4 weeks from May-October, we also don't enjoy whole chickens, we cut them up and freeze them that way, and make broth with the carcasses and save the fat for schmaltz.

Hello Staci- From time to time we clean out our freezers and create a running inventory clip board. We dedicated ourselves to filling our freezers during the pandemic. There are three. The main farm has the largest chest freezer for our grass fed beef. Your basement freezers are identical to ours at the farm cottage. I purchased coated wire " pull out" baskets for the uptight freezer. So much easier for me! They fit perfectly and allow for air flow. One is full of green beans. One is fish, etc. I'm creating an 8 1/2 X 11 recipe binder with our favorite meals, so I can plan out the best use of my freezer stash. We have a Honda 2000 generator for power outages. Thanks for all your ideas and the lovely cranberry and blueberry recipes. ~ Diane

This is a useful and insightful plan. I can adapt this for my family. Thank you for sharing. QUESTION: what are your thoughts about dehydrated eggs?

Thank you for sharing... new subbie from Tampa 🌴. Haven’t bought from azure yet. Would like to.

Thanks so much for this video! I have been procrastinating on this exact task because I didn’t have any great ideas for using or preserving many of the things in my freezer. Any chance that you would share your Stock Up Plan list for alternative preservation methods?

I was just wondering the same thing myself!! Do you have a link for your pantry and freezer organization video? I'm probably staring at it.🙈

Would you show how you freeze your disks and more canning?

Interesting. Please how are you going to use up that pumpkin? I have the same thing sitting in my freezer, but it’s Bennett there for years. Hopefully it’s still good.

Do you have a link for your blueberry jam recipe?

Can you please tell us the brand of your main fridge?

You need to get a freeze dryer.