How To Prep Your Freezer This Fall To Save Time During The Holidays

Getting through the holiday season can be stressful for everyone. Even if you're not entertaining, the flurry of activity can mean that your regular routines fall to the wayside. The trick to staying sane is in the preparation — and fall is the perfect time to start. Not only will you be more relaxed, but you can make use of all that great fall produce for food prep.

The freezer does plenty of heavy lifting over Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it's best to start the holidays with a clean slate. The first step is, of course, to toss whatever you need to: items past their use-by date, mystery produce, or anything with freezer burn. This is also the time to consolidate any duplicate items, such as half empty bags of peas. It can be worth organizing this around your trash day so that you don't have a bin full of old food in the kitchen. As you're emptying the freezer, clean it by wiping down the shelves with a mixture of water and vinegar to help prevent mold. If your freezer has built-up ice, you'll need to prepare a cooler with ice to store your food while you defrost it.

Before you put everything back into place, ensure everything is labeled and take an inventory. This will prevent you buying duplicate items, and give you a list of what else you need to eat to make room before the holidays arrive.

Now that you've cleared some room, it's time to stock up on make-ahead meals and sides while still maintaining a sense of organization. How exactly you arrange things will depend on your needs and whether you have a bottom freezer, side freezer, or chest freezer, but there are a few tips that always apply. This includes freezing items flat where possible, investing in matching containers for better stacking, and using plastic bins to store small or loose items. When adding new items to the freezer, stack from the back so that older items are always eaten first. If you will be hosting over the holidays, consider any large items you'll need to store, like turkeys, and fill this space with food you know you will use before then.

Freezer-friendly sides and appetizers will allow you to concentrate on main dishes on the big day. Sausage balls, cheesy gougeres, stuffing, and mashed potatoes can be frozen fully cooked, while dishes like candied yam casserole can be prepared and frozen, then cooked after thawing.

You don't need a lot of space to make the most of advance planning. Preparing sauces, stocks and cookie dough will save you hours on the day without taking up too much room in the freezer. Even if you're not hosting, you'll appreciate having meals on hand during the busy holiday season. Stock up on these high-protein breakfast burritos, or make use of fall veggies for freezer-friendly casseroles and chilis.