Practical Tip Tuesday
As we go through the meat that we had "processed" in the winter months for the year, our freezer becomes empty. When the gaps emerge, we fill up recycled sparkling water bottles with water and place them inside (making sure to leave a few inches from the top empty as the water will expand when it turns to ice).
Here are our five reasons to store frozen water bottles in the freezer:
1. Saves money. The fuller your freezer is with frozen items, the less energy it takes to run it.
2. Power outage protection. The more ice you have in the freezer, the longer your food will store safely in the event of a power outage.
3. Emergency water supply. In the event of an emergency, you have drinkable water in your freezer and bottled for convenience.
4. Instant ice. When taking family vacations and trips, you can cut into your frozen water bottles and use as ice blocks in the ice chest.
5. Convenient portable cold water in hot weather. When the weather warms, I send hubby off in the tractor with a frozen water bottle so he has access to chilled water during the day. This also doubles as an ice pack in his lunch box.
This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays, The Scoop, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop, Wow Us Wednesdays, Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, Shabbilicious Friday, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.
Do you have anything to add to this list?
This is an excellent idea! I'll have to remember to refill the bottles and freeze when we have them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another post that calls me to better homemaking.
Blessings,
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage
I think it's fun to get ideas from one another, don't you? Thank you for taking the time to comment Laura! :)
DeleteOur air conditioner is broke and won't be fixed till Fri.. I've been putting my frozen water bottles in plastic tubs and setting them in front of the fans. I was so glad I had them in the freezer!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Kathryn! Thank you for adding to these benefits! :)
DeleteGenius! Absolute genius!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like this idea! :) Have a wonderful week!
DeleteGreat idea and one that I think I will put into practice here at home. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou can't go wrong! Thank you for taking the time to share here today! :)
DeleteWe always put frozen water bottles in our picnic basket. They help keep the food cool and then we have nice cold water to drink.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Exactly! Thank you for sharing Amalia! :)
DeleteYes....we freeze water bottles too. We do all that you do and we also use them in our camper fridge to keep things colder without using more power or propane to run it. Another way I use them is rolling them under your feet, when your feet hurt and are hot! Works great for a cool massage. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting your tips! I love all your DIY ideas!
Enjoy your week Jes!
Amy
More great ideas! Thank you for sharing! :)
DeleteA friend shared with me this idea roughly a year and a half ago, her family of five only had a freezer and kept another huge cooler with raw milk to boot, cold all summer long via this practice.
ReplyDeleteWe are talking Tennessee summers! :)
I think they work better than any store bought ice pack. Also she would use large juice containers too. Ended up with large blocks of ice. :)
Great ideas!
-blessings JES
Wow, thank you for sharing! My father used to fill up large milk jugs for our summer ice chests. Talk about a nice hunk of free ice! :)
DeleteDear JES,
ReplyDeleteSuch a good idea with so many benefits. And free! It seems like I remember my grandma doing this very thing with gallon jugs.
I hope your week is going well!
Love, Kelsey
Thank you Kelsey! So far, this has been a good week! :)
DeleteWow, I hadn't quite thought of how many uses there really are for frozen water bottles! We often freeze it in empty milk jugs for many of the reasons you've listed here.
ReplyDeleteGreat! And now you have more incentive :) Thank you for stopping by Jamie!
DeleteThank you very much Marie! I appreciate it :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your ideas Jess. I never realized saving energy impact. Hugs. Monika
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome! Have a lovely week :)
DeleteI am glad I do this also! Last winter we had almost a week with no sun - at all! Since we run our freezer on solar panels with battery back-up, after five days our batteries were depleted, so we had to fire up the generator to replenish the batteries. The frozen water jugs kept the contents in my freezer cold enough so that we only needed to fire up the generator twice!
ReplyDeleteWow, that is EXCELLENT! Thank you for sharing your water "testimony" with us! :)
DeleteAnother great idea,Jess. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to share here today and sprinkle some kindness :)
DeleteReason #6 - freeze sideways and stand up (or vice versa) with a visible air bubble. If you are away and see the bubble is at the top when you come home, then everything defrosted and refroze. You can decide from there if the food is safe or not. I use 2L bottles, because they work great in the cooler and several of the smaller ones have leaked after a few uses.
ReplyDeleteThank you Crizzy! That is another excellent tip! Thank you for sharing!! And I also use a 2L size :)
DeleteI keep larger ones frozen for all the same reasons,
ReplyDeleteWonderful! Thank you for sharing Julie! :)
DeleteThose are great ideas! I especially love the one about using them as ice blocks in an ice chest while traveling! We don't buy ice often, and sometimes I find myself in a pinch for what to put to keep my food cold.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing! I always find you tips on homemaking a big help!
-Christina
Yes, my father did that when we were growing up so I learned that from him :) Thank you for stopping by today :)
DeleteSome great ideas, Our electric goes off from time to time. When the freezer is low I'll remember to do this.
ReplyDeleteYes, such an easy way to reap so many benefits :)
DeleteSuch a good idea. On hot days I send a large frozen drink with my husband as later in the day it is cool. All the reaons you mentioned make it sensible to fill every freezer space with water. So simple but helpful. Thanks Jess. xxx
ReplyDeleteAlways a pleasure to have you visit Annabel! :) Have a lovely weekend!
DeleteI didn't know about reason #1 but do it especially for reasons #2-5. I don't have much space in my propane fridge freezer but I try to keep at least four bottles frozen at a time. - Margy
ReplyDeleteDoing what we can is always the best thing! Thank you for sharing Margy! :)
DeleteSuch an obvious idea that hadn't occurred to me. It should have considering I've been through many a power outage during the extreme heat of summer. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, this will really help Pattie!
DeleteWhat great ideas! I never thought about it taking less energy to run the freezer if there are more frozen things in it. I always learn so much from you. Thank yo for all you do.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to share here today! :)
DeleteHello, my name is Angie and I am a frozen water bottle addict.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were moving from VA to UT, some friends came over to help us pack up. When it got time to unload the freezer, out came bottle after bottle of ice. My friend laughed and told me I had a serious problem. We pulled out 20 that day. Along with other containers with frozen water. I have gotten better, as the big freezer is too full to add bottles, but the other only has a bout 8...for now....
Blessings in Christ!
Angie
Cute! Thank you for the smile today Angie! :)
DeleteWe don't have room in our freezer on a daily basis to do this, but we've frozen gallon jugs before a long trip before, so that it will keep everything cold in our cooler while we're on the road all day and then we'll have water when we get there.
ReplyDeleteExactly! Thank you for sharing!
DeleteThanks for the reminder. We like to take water with us when we have to run errands.
ReplyDeleteExcellent ideas. I have a ton of water bottles that can now be put to good use! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGenius idea! Now why didn't I think of that? Thanks for sharing this little tidbit.
ReplyDeleteGREAT TIP!! Thanks for adding this to From the Farm..this is one of this week's favorites! Hope to see you again soon!
ReplyDeleteGreat Ideas, but you should never drink water out of a frozen plastic bottle. All the other ideas are fine. But plastic leaches into the water when freezing and then defrosting for drinking.
ReplyDeleteHi there! I would be leery of drinking water from water bottles sitting in the sun but the frozen doesn't bother me as much as I don't think there is the same amount of leaching. In the end, you have to decide if drinking from plastic is doable or not for your family. Our refrigerator consists of mostly glass products so the amount of time we use plastic, I don't worry too much.
DeleteThank you for sharing with us!