Y’all already know: food prices are soaring right now. The hefty grocery bills and threats of food shortages made me rethink how I shop and store food. That’s how I ended up starting a depression-era pantry last month. The pantry is incredible! I spent less money and got more food by buying ingredients instead of premade. Brandon liked the change so much that he surprised me with a new deep freezer the other day. God, I love that man!

I grew up with a deep freezer in the house. Mamaw and Papaw’s was so big it could store enough food to feed us throughout the year. It was always slap full. On top of our monthly grocery store trips, we picked our own berries every year and purchased veggies by the bushel, Papaw fished, and Daddy hunted. Plus, we lived on a cattle farm – so when a bull was slaughtered, it went into the freezer, too.

Brandon had a chest freezer in his house also. Of course, they did things a bit differently since they lived here in the city. Mama Clark shopped grocery store sales and loaded up when she found deals. For meats, Papa Clark went to Kinlaw’s and IGA.

We’re combining our family’s methods for filling our deep freezer. Brandon has already gone to Kinlaw’s and IGA to raid the meat sections. Meanwhile, I’ve been looking for local U-Pick fields and buy direct farms.

I’m taking a page out of Mamaw’s book for the actual freezing. She was a genius when it came to storing food. She broke everything down into meal-sized portions in freezer containers, then labeled them with dates on tape. Unfortunately, I have no freezer containers – but Ziploc freezer bags and Sharpies work just as well.

I have no idea how Mamaw kept everything organized – but I can’t ever remember cleaning out the deep freezer and needing to toss items. She just knew what was in the freezer. I don’t trust myself to remember, so I created a dated list to help me keep track of what’s in ours.

All the changes around the kitchen make me feel like a kid again. It’s nice not to stress about something as basic as what’s for dinner tonight. There’s no shopping required – whatever you need is right there in the kitchen.

Did y’all grow up with deep freezers too? How did your families keep them stocked and organized? Drop a comment below and tell me all about it!