Creating a system that helps you label food in your fridge or freezer makes eating leftovers easy!
The average household in the United States wastes about 30%-40% of all the food purchased each year. For our family, that means thousands of dollars every year are getting thrown away!
I can’t afford to throw away thousands of dollars every year, nor do I want to!
The foods that tend to go bad are the fresh foods. The berries, potatoes, carrots, spinach, and lettuce, are the foods that end up in the trash. Wasting our hard earned money.
I created a labeling system for my fridge and freezer so that we could make sure that we were getting through those leftovers before they go bad!
Label your Fridge and Freezer for Organization
The first step to any successful system is to start labeling zones for organization. I discuss organizing your fridge and freezer this way in the linked articles.
Creating zones for your fridge and freezer makes it easier for everyone to know where to look for the food that needs to be eaten.
For example, my husband knows that the leftovers are either on the bottom shelf or the top shelf to the left. He doesn’t need to hunt for them around the fridge. The food I want him to eat is easy to see and easy to find.
If you haven’t created zones in your fridge or freezer for your family I recommend starting there! You may be surprised at how much food gets eaten, when it is easy to find.
Make Left Over Night, Day, or Week Part of your Routine
During my childhood our fridge was always so packed with food that we couldn’t find anything in it. My mother was constantly making new meals, until the fridge was full.
Once it was full we would have left overs a few times, but we had waited so long that a lot of it had grown mold or started to smell weird.
For my family of 3, I make a meal or 2 and then we have left overs for a few days before I make another meal. I try to keep my fridge stocked, but not packed so that it is easy to see everything.
How often do you make new food?
How often do you have left over night?
Is your fridge or freezer to full to use comfortably?
Every family will be different, so think about your family’s pace getting through food and try to match your cooking to that pace! Test out a plan, and see what you learn.
Label the Container
Label your with the amount in it, what the food is, and when you made it.
I didn’t start doing this until the last year or two and it has changed my freezer and fridge organization for the better!
When we moved I had so much random freezer food that I had thrown in jars without labels that it felt like a mystery every time we pulled something out.
Now I know exactly what the food is, how much, AND how old it is every time!
For the food in the fridge, I only label it with the date it was made, because I know what the food is because I just made it.
My favorite way to label freezer food is the mason jar labels linked above. My favorite way to label fridge food is with a dry erase marker or wet erase marker on the glass sides. I keep a few markers by the fridge for easy access.
Create a Labeling Center
I have gathered my labeling supplies into one bin that I can easily get out and store away whenever it is necessary.
There is a marker and both the wide mouth and regular mouth labels in this one bin. I keep a dry erase and wet erase marker near the fridge for easy labeling as well.
Create a labeling center for yourself that will help make labeling fast for you!
Not Sure You can Finish it before it goes Bad? Freeze it!
You may be surprised how many things you can freeze!
The USDA’s Website has an entire article for how to freeze and what to freeze that I have linked here.
You can freeze almost any food. Enjoying it after it is frozen may take some creativity. Dairy is the perfect example for freezing while it is good, but having to be creative when you thaw.
Milk separates when rethawed, so drinking it is not ideal. However, you can still use it in many ways!
We use it for baking once it comes out of the freezer. The baked goods taste delicious and you can’t tell a difference!
Of course you can do it in reverse too, you can bake the milk into a bread or muffin and then freeze the muffin for easy snacks and breakfasts later!
What Tips do you have for Labeling Food?
Let us know in the comments down below how you label food!
Other Articles You May Enjoy
How to Organize Your Freezer for Good
How to Organize Your Fridge For Good
Homemade Cleaning Supplies You Can Make Right Now
Pin For Later
Leave a Reply