Well, don't know about the rest of you but September is the time to clean out the freezer here to make room for the new - always a challenge what to do with those "brand-new" products that got put in the freezer when we couldn't use them fresh - so what to do now?

Discovered some chicken thighs/legs and created a new way to cook them that got great reviews - well, probably not a "new" recipe - but new here using a 3 quart baking casserole pan and Reynolds Oven Roasting Bags which I had on hand.

You will need chicken, carrots, onions, potatoes, seasoned salt, Rosemary and Thyme leaves, chicken broth, lemon juice and a very small amount of white wine.

Wash chicken (I used 3 legs/3 thighs), pat dry and sprinkle all over with seasoned salt, set aside. Peel 3 carrots and slice into 2" sections, 6 potatoes (slice once lengthwise and then 3 times the other way) and 3 onions, quartered. Preheat oven to 350, toss some flour in the bag and place the chicken pieces in it.

In a small mixing bowl, mix a can of Swanson's Chicken Broth, the juice of one lemon (concentrate is okay!) and some white wine ~ 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Set aside.

Add the onions, carrots and potatoes into the bag plus the liquid - sprinkle all with Rosemary and Thyme leaves. Tuck it up tight, make six 1" cuts in the bag and set the timer for 65 minutes. Go have a bubble bath or read a good book - dinner with be ready 65-75 minutes!

Finish it off with some bread/bisquits and maybe a green salad. Enjoy!

I've been doing the same thing too. Just used up some chicken, beef and soups that were frozen. Also got rid of some stuff that was too old. I really need to do this more often.

Sounds good! I generally clean my chest freezer out in the spring/early summer to make room for whatever produce I may put in later.

Right now I'm going through pulling out meals I cooked and froze myself. I think there's one batch of gumbo left and one batch of chicken pot pie filling. Then it will be time to start all over stocking up for cold winter evenings.

I don't do a lot of freezing, but I did actually pull out some sauce for Pasta Jambalaya tonight. 'Twas spicy.

I have 2 freezers & mine stay fairly full year round. In Jan. each year I defrost them both...and they are frost free but still get a build-up. I have one chest & one upright. Meats, milk & fruits go into the chest. Veggies, breads, made ahead meals & misc. go in the upright. Misc. are things like nuts for baking, made ahead pie crusts, OJ, lunch meats, butter, etc.

Funny you mentioned it. I cleaned out and defrosted my big freezer, along with cleaning my inside fridge and my outside fridge today. Feels good to have that done.

I have a tiny freezer about the size of a dish washer. I clean and defrost it in the dead of winter, usually during a snow storm. To keep the food from thawing I put it in laundry baskets or boxes on the deck while the freezer is defrosting. Its a trick I learned from my grandmother.

My freezer is small, so I rarely have to clean it out. It mostly holds various kinds of nuts that I use in holiday baking, ice, a few chicken breasts, and popsicles.

Found a Foodsaver at a yard sale. Since then, don't find frozen "bargains" at bottom of freezer that are freezer burned to point that only pets would enjoy.

In a perfect world, would have enough freezer space to maybe have separate bins... chicken, pork, beef, sausages, etc.