We prefer not to eat spoiled food. Believe me, I'm sure that GD would be the first to let me know. Because I just started seriously canning (especially pressure canning) a few years ago, I've warned her "don't eat anything that doesn't look right, smell right or taste right." She heeded that advice very seriously, and at times I think she might be sniffing, looking, tasting a bit too much (LOL) but I do appreciate the seriousness that she attaches to her job. So - it is true that older folks probably tend to keep foods around a bit longer than they should - maybe because women are used to cooking in larger amounts when there are growing children, and then difficult to make adjustments when they have left the nest. Anyway - I am currently working on treating my kitchen chores with more attention, rotating the older foods - either canned, frozen or fresh - before they spoil or feeding them to chickens or worm bin-compost pile. Bejay

I haven't read what everyone else has done. But for me- I have an upright freeezer/fridge in the house and a chest freezer in the garage. I organize both of them to some degree- I don't use bins just because I don't think it would make it any better than it currently works. It works 'good enough' for me that I don't agonize about organizing it to the nth degree when I won't get anything more out of it than I currently do-- the ability to open the door and grab what I want easily and to keep a fifo rule going. Long term storage goes outside. Also frozen dinners, frozen leftovers, etc. I have three sections. The Left hold fruits and nuts and berries. The middle section left side holds frozen dinners, extra meals, etc. The middle section middle holds the frozen milk and bread. The middle section right holds shrimp and fish, in a box so it will stack nicely. In front of the box is the orange juice cans. The Right section holds vegetables. Then we do have a little hanging basket in there that holds frozen meats. My freezer in my house is organized similarly. The top shelf right holds the meat, the top shelf middle holds the veggies. As I plan my meals weekly and shop every other week, this usually empties out every two weeks which enables me to keep it fairly organized and keeps from getting old meat in there. (IF i hit a sale and buy lots of meat, it goes out side in the freezer, and when I plan meals, I bring in what I plan to cook in a two week period). The bottom shelf holds misc. items such as frzn green chile, cool whip, etc. The door holds frozen nuts, chips etc. Ginger

I was born in 1944 and I can just barely remember things like ration stamps and smushing a bag of white stuff and a bright yellow lump until it became margarine. We creamed coffee with canned evaporated milk--yuck! We ate Spam, and I will never again, for any reason, eat Spam. Portions were small. Four people ate a pound of ground meat made into "chopped steak" patties. We always had cheap bread and mashed potatoes. I used to gag on mashed potatoes until I went away to college and the food was so bad I was forced to learn to tolerate them. One can of vegetables fed the four of us. Hot dogs and beans were a frequent meal. I found beans a little more tolerable than mashed potatoes. By the time I was in high school all the bills had finally been paid off and we began to eat nicer food and larger portions. I am left with some quirky taboos regarding food because for so many years I was forced to eat foods that I absolutely hated. I will NEVER eat breakfast for supper, canned Dinty Moore Stew (something my mother fed us if my father didn't come home for supper) or Spam. I never had to eat reheated steak or lamb because we never had any left over. Both were special treats once they became affordable. I didn't encounter a lot of reheated leftovers until I began to eat my mother-in-law's cooking. They had been even poorer than my folks and nothing was ever wasted, even after they could afford to eat better. I never had access to a freezer in which to freeze extra portions until I was married. My ex would eat anything and everything he could get his hands on so I didn't have to eat anything I didn't enjoy. I do enjoy some foods reheated--home made beef or chicken soup, spaghetti sauce, chili, stuffed peppers or cabbage, lasagna, stew/Stroganof and tomato based casseroles. Once my kids (and all their friends) moved away, and my ex was long gone, I found myself stuck with left over food that I don't like reheated or frozen and reheated. When microwaves came out and I bought my first one, I was excited to reheat meat that was left over. I believed that if I bought a steak or prime rib in a nice restaurant I could now reheat leftovers and they would taste great. What a sad disappointment it was when I warmed up a beautiful piece of prime rib and took my first bite when it came out of the microwave!!!! Over the years I have tried various recipes and suggested methods to use left over meat and nothing I have tried has been acceptable. Calling myself picky makes me sound like a very difficult person. Maybe I should say I have super sensitive taste buds? No matter how I refer to my odd preferences, I have never learned to like certain reheated foods. If I were again so poor that I absolutely couldn't allow any food to go to waste I would force myself to eat it. However, I cook for only myself and choose to eat only tasty (to me) foods. If I do order a fabulous prime rib in a restaurant I order the smallest cut on the menu and yes, the dogs get the leftover meat. I have another issue to complicate my cooking for one and that is that many years ago I had a primitive form of today's gastric surgery to restrict how much I eat at one time. I can't possibly eat more than 2.5 to 3 ounces of any meat at one sitting. I guess I am not even cooking for one--I should call it cooking for half an adult. I appreciate all the information offered in your responses and have found some ideas I will try. I can make nice gravy if I have drippings but I don't know what to do for a baked chop or piece of chicken. I can make a roux, but I don't do well creating enough flavor without drippings. I also plan to buy a really good toaster/convection oven so I don't feel guilty about heating a big oven for one small serving. I will get one that allows rotisserie cooking and hold off on an earlier decision to buy a Ronco rotisserie.

I make my sons "Mom's Meals" for part of their Christmas present. Usually I do a batch of enchiladas then put 2 or 3 enchiladas and sauce in each freezer container. You can make chicken enchiladas or ground beef with black beans, finely diced onion, and cheese. Another thing I make is a chicken and stuffing casserole: 1 (3 pound) whole chicken (cooked in water, meat removed) 8 ounces dry bread stuffing mix 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup 1 1/4 cups chicken broth (from boiling the chicken) 1 cup evaporated milk Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Layer the deboned chicken meat in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle stuffing mix over the chicken layer. In a large bowl mix together the soups, broth and evaporated milk. Stir well. Pour this mixture over the stuffing mix, making sure it gets to the bottom of the baking dish (poke around with a fork to let it saturate into the bottom layer). Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until it starts to bubble in the center. Can be frozen before baking as everything is already cooked. I served this at an office lunch yesterday and it is very tasty - I think it will freeze just fine. Chicken Crunch Casserole 1 cup chopped celery 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 3 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts 1 1/2 cups cooked rice 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted 3/4 cup mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip) 1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained (Cut each water chestnut slice into quarters if you prefer them in smaller pieces) 1/2 cup sliced almonds 2 tablespoons chopped onions salt & pepper TOPPING 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine 1/2 cup crushed corn flakes Directions 1In a skillet, saute' the celery in butter until tender. 2Remove from heat and add the next 8 ingredients. 3Spoon into an ungreased 2 1/2 quart baking dish. 4Combine melted butter& cornflakes. 5Sprinkle on top. 6Bake 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.