Freezer Down! Let's Have A Buffet!

What in the world am I going to do?

I just received two months' worth of meats from ButcherBox! The main freezer is slap full! The fridge freezer is rising in temps every hour. It is now 37 degrees!  Removing all kinds of meats, bread, and vegetables! 

Oh, and I have ice trays in that freezer! Ice trays you may say, yes ice trays!  Oh, the horror I've had to revert back to early days living at home growing up refilling ice trays! That's like saying you think I Should Cut My Hair?  No Marsha Brady & Dolly won't do that! But I will and have been doing that with the hair and ice cube making! 

The ice maker has been replaced twice and repaired at least that many times. I wasn't going to invest any more money into that one, it has been broken for almost two years.

Be aware large appliances are not what they were 40 years ago!  Unless you're lucky they won't last and will always need repairs! If you are independently wealthy you can call the repairman out a Lot! We know all of their names with our favorite company!

I guess it may be time to wait for 3 to 6 months for a new refrigerator to come in. This time not researching the heck out of one just ordering one that fits our space!  

After all the newest appliance the stove is such a comfort, like a member of the family.  You know the kind that is contrary!  Just because she is a pretty prima donna and stands out in the kitchen,   Only works when she pleases changes her own temperatures and just turns off when she pleases!  She has been known to turn herself back on!  

Gosh, how did we ever get along without these "Smart Appliances"?  😌

Okay Moving On and With A Smile On My Face

What do you make when you have sliced eggplant, homemade from scratch Italian Meat Sauce in a freezer that may be dying?  Your fridge although holding its own for now may quit at any time and is full of cheese!  You make Eggplant Parmesan!  Yes!  It was delicious!  Recipe here.

SQUASH CASSEROLE

You have zucchini and Pepperidge Farm Stuffing mix in the freezer that is going down.  Not to mention you have boxes of crackers and can after can of cream of chicken soup in the pantry, loads of cheese as I mentioned before, now add the sour cream in the fridge that may go down soon.  What do you make?  A squash casserole silly!  

So I made one of those and topped it with Ritz crackers instead of French's Fried Onions. You can find good recipes  Squash Casserole #1         Squash Casserole #2         Squash Casserole #3 

FROGMORE STEW

I had two small bags of corn on the cob and shrimp in the freezer.  I couldn't let those go to waste. I had potatoes that were starting to eye out they needed to be used.  A small Frogmore Stew came to mind.
So I made that.

PINTO BEANS COOKED IN THE SLOW COOKER

One last thing that I just had to do something with was the smoked ham slices from a recently baked ham. I sure didn't want to waste that.  We'd been eating deli ham in lots of sandwiches so that was out of the question. Then it hit me I know what to make dry Pinto Beans with the ham that would be delicious. 

I mean what the heck we only had two casseroles and a Frogmore stew sitting on the counter.  Lol, I could see we needed more to eat! (not).  Definitely a southern buffet line.

BACK TO THE FREEZER/FUTURE

I shut off the power to the refrigerator and then turned it back on.  I reset to default and went to bed.

The next morning it was down to 0 degrees!  Yay time to celebrate because it had been two nights and one day it must have reset itself!  I was so excited washed the freezer and put the food back into it more neatly than before.  I was so thankful!

It wasn't an hour and the temperature began climbing.  Well within two I have to move food out again and back into the crammed chest freezer.

The next morning the fridge freezer had gone back down to 0 degrees! Well, by now I'm talking to it telling it to straighten up and stop picking at me!

After a while, I filled the ice trays put them into it, and left them overnight.  The next morning the trays were frozen!  Well, I'll trick it and little by little put things back into it. That's what I've been doing for the last two days.  I now have butter, homemade chicken broth, and a few more things.  

I think right now I'm going to put my last year's frozen strawberries into it and see if it goes down or stays up!

Meanwhile, I'm searching for a new one just in case.

Have a great weekend!

I don't know what the weather holds for us here in South Carolina 

Today is in the 70s and I have the windows open sheers blowing and enjoying the wonderful feeling!
Snow or rain and ice were predicted as possible but now I think that changes minute by minute.

I hope you don't have to make your own buffet for the same reason but if you ever do have fun!