Are Frozen Tomatoes Safe to Eat?

Hubby and I shared a good laugh the other night when he was rifling through the fridge for something to feed our 3 yr old.  “There’s some tomatoes at the back that are frozen, do you think they’re safe to give to him?” he opens the container and holds it quickly away from him “Oh, I guess they’re not frozen after all!”

You get the picture. 

Sadly, this has become a common occurrence at our house.  Milk, lettuce, grapes, block cheese, leftover crockpot chicken, yogurt, Lunchables, bacon, bread, cheese dip, salsa, mac and cheese, chili, mashed potatoes.  There’s plenty more, but I’ll stop there.  What should have been a decent amount of staples for a week has gone to waste in my fridge or pantry in the last 6 months.    I’m hoping I’m not the only one with this problem of not being frugal.  I’m trying to combat my wasteful nature with these ideas:

• Cook only 4 or 5 meals each week so the fridge isn’t overflowing with leftovers.
• Divide leftovers immediately into appropriate containers to freeze or take for lunches. If leftovers are already packaged for lunches Hubby is more likely to grab them instead of make a sandwich, or worse- eat out!Plan meals around the leftovers I have in the fridge or freezer.
• Plan meals around the leftovers I have in the fridge or freezer.
• Check package dates on uncooked foods regularly.  
• When we’re about to go out of town, clear out the fridge/pantry and use prepackaged foods that I’ve picked up inexpensively if I need them to stretch us without cooking a big meal.  It’s also a nice break from cooking.
• Don’t stray from my meal plan for the week.  This is when I end up with too much extra food.
• Keep cooked foods at a minimum in the fridge.  The more selection we have, the longer it will stay there, and the more likely it is to go bad.  Instead I try to freeze almost everything, even if we unfreeze it a few days later to eat.  I freeze meals in containers appropriately sized, whether its a meal for all of us, or just me. 

I cringe at the thought of all those resources that I’ve lost over the past few months.  I pride myself on the $$ that I’m able to save my family while I’m staying at home with the kids, but I am still wasting aplenty, thus canceling out some of my savings.  Double waste.  Just one of the many things that I’m striving to do better about….