A few weeks ago, my fridge freezer broke.
A few weeks ago, my fridge freezer broke. I woke up to find a puddle all over my kitchen floor which was quickly soaked up by my slippers and then looked in my freezer to find everything had gone mushy. I picked up a few tips during this terrible disaster that may help you out, should your fridge freezer break and your landlord be inefficient (it took two weeks to get a new one).
1. Do not panic and throw everything away. Even if your fridge freezer has broken, it will still stay cold for another 18 hours. This means that all meats and frozen veg will be fine to eat over the next day.
2. Invite round a couple of hungry friends. While your fridge freezer will remain cold for nearly a day, there is no way one person can eat that much food and, eventually, it will have to be eaten or thrown in the bin. If you invite people over for a lunch or dinner, nothing goes to waste and your generosity won’t be forgotten.
3. Cook the breaded stuff first. If, like me, you have a certain soft spot for fish fingers, these should be the first things to cook. Similarly, chips and battered products should be cooked first and perhaps used in sandwiches or wraps.
4.Make a soup. If our ancestors can tell us anything, it is that you can chuck any old thing into a soup. Provided you have chicken stock, an onion and a bit of seasoning, any frozen vegetables and meats can be made into something delicious.
5. Cook a batch of something spicy. The Mexicans taught us that the best way to preserve meats is to put it in something salty and spicy. Chilli con carne is probably the best example and is something that can be easily shared out between friends.
6. Use your resources. If you’re lucky and your fridge freezer breaks over winter, put all your goods outside where they will stay cold (and hopefully not be eaten by any racoons).
7. Be safe. While no one wants to waste food, it is important to be safe about what you eat. If a meat has been out of the freezer for over three days, it is probably not safe to eat. Milk also, can go rancid pretty quickly, along with any dairy products. When it doubt, throw it out.
8. Buy wisely. So you’ve made good use of all your left over food. Now what? I’m sorry to say that the meals may get a little boring, but the best way to save money is to buy non-perishables including beans, tinned foods and things like pasta and rice so you don’t have to worry about things going off.
9. Do mini-shops. Rather than buying everything you need for the week, go to the shops every other day so you can consume all the food you buy before it goes off.
10.Eat out. What better excuse than to go out for dinner all the time? It may be pricey but you can always play the sympathy card with a few friends after you’ve provided them with a delicious meal of leftovers!
