If Your Fridge Was Broken What would You Eat?

[badmisterkitty]

*sigh* I should be able to figure this out, but I'm coming up blank. Inspire me. lol

Our fridge is on the fritz. We lost quite a bit of what's inside but were able to save most of the freezer stuff.

Fridge probably won't be fixed or replaced until the weekend and it's only Tuesday.

What am I supposed to feed my family? So far I've got chicken nuggets and fries from the freezer. My pantry is fully stocked, but I guess the kicker is that I don't have a way to deal with leftovers, so even though I am ABLE to make a lot of things, I don't know what to do with leftovers.

Yes, you could say I'm having a hard time dealing with the obvious today/this week. lol

Somebody talk me through this!

[tuxgirl]

I guess its obvious, but I'd start by going through everything I had saved from the fridge/freezer, and finding some way to combine those with items in the pantry, or items that don't require the fridge/freezer, and make as much as I could from that.

Then:
Spaghetti w/sauce
Pb&j
Rice & beans
Split pea soup
Canned soup
Etc

[rumblepurr]

Bummer on the fridge! Having been there, I pulled out my camping cooler and did a mini fridge in the cooler with ice for things like milk products and leftovers and things that had to be cooled. If you didn't have a cooler per-say you can use a plastic tote with a blanket over it full of ice or even a laundry basket in the tub with ice in the bottom and a blanket over it.

Many veggies do not need to be refrigerated just kept in a cool place, so salad is a given or steamed/cooked veggies, using a lot of stuff from the freezer and pantry to supplement .

A neat way to freeze ice is to reuse plastic milk containers filled 3/4 of the way with water and frozen. They take up more space, but they last longer than cubed ice and are less messy. If you get a quantity of them you can put them in the top rack of your fridge and use your refrigerator as an old fashioned ice box. Keep a thermometer in there and check the temp to make sure it's in the right range, and rotate out the melting ice containers.

[badmisterkitty]

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, we have a small cooler with milk and juice for the kids.

We've been eating out of the freezer. I did make spaghetti & sauce one night, being careful not to make leftovers. I was thinking grilled cheese, then remembered we don't have cheese anymore. Breakfast for supper is popular, but we don't have any eggs anymore. I didn't realize how heavily we relied on the fridge!

Tonight it's waffles & sausage and then I'm back to the drawing board.

[beyoung]

Originally Posted by badmisterkitty Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, we have a small cooler with milk and juice for the kids. We've been eating out of the freezer. I did make spaghetti & sauce one night, being careful not to make leftovers. I was thinking grilled cheese, then remembered we don't have cheese anymore. Breakfast for supper is popular, but we don't have any eggs anymore. I didn't realize how heavily we relied on the fridge! Tonight it's waffles & sausage and then I'm back to the drawing board.

Actually, eggs don't require refrigeration. We're in Sweden and eggs are kept out on the shelf in grocery stores, not in the fridge. I think they do keep longer in the fridge but keeping them at room temperature until your fridge is fixed it replaced is fine - might give you some more options.

[rumblepurr]

Eggs that never have been refrigerated can be left out, but since refrigerated eggs will 'sweat' when left out you, can actually breed bacteria if your not careful. I don't know why wiping them down periodically, until they stop sweating, wouldn't prevent that from happening, but they recommend not leaving refrigerated eggs out . We always left our fresh eggs out on the farm, and never had a problem with them.

[Rdesonia]

Peanut butter & banana sandwiches for the kids.
I'd use powdered milk for baking. I'd make lots of baked goods. Rolls, muffins, etc because they don't require a fridge for storage.
Salad with an oil/vinegar based dressing that is made at home. I might used can tuna or can salmon as the meat if making the salad a meal.
Potato casseroles with cream of mushroom soup from a can & can veggies (like green beans)... This is good if you have hashbrowns/tater tots in the freezer to use up.
Crock pot soups... Just leave it on low in the crockpot till it is gone. (So have it for lunch and dinner!)

Things that do not require a fridge:
butter
eggs
vegetables
fruit
Peanut butter
Baked goods (breads, muffins, cookies, granola bars)
Powdered milk (Shelf stable milk too if used quickly after opening. These come individual & quart sizes. )
Individual juice boxes
Hot sauce like Tabasco
Yellow mustard (Plain... some of the deli types do require it of they have lots of stuff added but plain yellow is fine)

Just think your Great Great Grandmas never had a fridge and they managed! You can do it for a week!

[badmisterkitty]

Thank you again for all the suggestions!! We were able to borrow a small dorm fridge for the short term. I've been dyin' without my sour cream!

New fridge won't be here for 2 weeks.

[photocowgirl]

Aw, hugs that stinks! I would bum off my neighbors and borrow some fridge space from them, but we are blessed with many close lovely neighbors... I think I see most of the things I would suggest listed... Peanut butter, fruits, veggies, canned tuna... McDonalds $ menu Walmart has large bags of Tilapia pretty reasonable... they are individually frozen so you can dethaw and blacken in frying pan in a matter of minutes...

[Kshoo Design]

We ate out alot!