I always appreciate those photos, when somebody thinks Im crazy, I can always show them that Im not the only one. :)

trsinc, I too really recommend going with the "upright" freezer (with door in front). It's changed our lives, literally --- it's easy to find what I want. (If I had to dive into a chest freezer, I KNOW I wouldn't use the frozen stuff regularly the way I do --- I would find it a hassle to dig out what I was looking for, and the whole point was to be able to grab some veggies ready to go, or a frozen portion of a stew I'd made in a big batch, on a night when I was tired or busy.) Small ones do exist --- there's a second-hand appliance place nearby where I've occasionally seen one. It's definitely true that it costs much more than half the price of a big one for half the size, but if all you have room for is small, look around --- it can be found. (What we ended up with was a small full-sized one.) As for containers, I do use freezer bags, for things that don't "flow" to fill a container (fruit, veggies, meat) --- like you and others, I re-use them, though anything that's had raw meat in it I either toss or rinse with a bleach solution. For soups and stews and things, I did experiment with using canning jars, and I found that it took care --- in my fridge's freezer it works fine, and on the shelf in my upright freezer that is just a wire shelf it works fine, BUT jars that I put on the shelves that have cooling tubes in them (three of the four shelves) sometimes had the bottoms break off. Rather than worry about what shelf to use, I mostly go with plastic containers of various kinds. I reuse yogurt and cottage cheese tubs (though I have a strict rule of ONLY keeping one kind of container --- the 2- and 3-cup ones that take all the same size of lid, because it makes me crazy not to be able to grab a tub and lid that fit easily --- again, for me a lot of the joy in freezing stuff is in making my life easier). inexpensive ones are a good compromise between pricey Rubbermaid containers and use-just-a-few-times bags. I have some of the new(ish) Ziploc containers (Glad also has a line of them, and there are no-name ones too), meant to be tough enough to reuse and put in dishwasher, but inexpensive enough that it's not too bad if they get ruined or given away. (I loved the hilarious commercial they had where they "tested" them in freezer, microwave, dishwasher --- and wood-chipper. ;-) ) And I have two sets (given to me) of as-seen-on-TV freezer containers that came with a supposed "easy store" spinny thing, which was a piece of @#*!, but the conatiners are fine, and again, I like that they come in different sizes but *all use the same size of lid*. When I put up something, I try to put it all in one kind of container --- again, this helps me sort & grab at a glance (I know the blue-lidded ones are all chicken stock, the yogurt tubs are currently all chili, the Ziploc ones are either broccoli soup or Mexican Pork Stew, etc.). And I have pricey Rubbermaid containers, which I try to keep out of the freezer so they are available day to day for leftovers in the fridge. One general tip: given the choice, go for containers with a SQUARE cross section rather than a ROUND one. I do use some yogurt tubs, as mentioned, since they are free and a useful size, but generally I find it amazing how much more room one can make use of when things are SQUARE so they fill the space more fully. Happy freezing, and good luck! Z

After posting on the Microwave cookware thread, I thought I'd add the best freezer/storage containers I've found. They are Cambro clear polycarbonate,, NSF approved, and can go from freezer straight to microwave for reheating. (I don't actually cook in them, just reheat). They are completely clear including lids so food looks appetizing in fridge or pantry...I dislike those rubbery whitish plastics which never feel quite clean to me. Plus they come in all sizes from 1 pint to containers for 5 or 10 pound bags of flour, etc. I'd had a few for about 10 years and just ordered more this summer so everything stored in my kitchen is now in clear containers. No more leftovers getting lost or fresh herbs forgotten. The usual disclaimer applies...I have no affiliation with Cambro...just really like these products. They are used in commercial kitchens but I found online several places. josh

Like Dave and Kate, I've switched to ziplock freezer bags. Remember, though, that there's a difference in the regular bags and the freezer bags, the freezer bags are thicker material. Like Dave, I portion the squash into bags (mine is mashed), squeeze all the air out of the bags and place them on a sheet pan in a flat layer. After they are frozen they stack right up and I can get a lot into a smaller space. Good luck, I had a ton of squash this year and I'm still putting it in the freezer as it becomes compromised in storage. I think we've eaten squash twice a week for the last three months, and I still have piles of the stuff. I've made squash pie and put it in dinner rolls and made pound cake and muffins. Good thing the dog loves mashed squash... Annie