Nearly half of Americans, or 46 percent, say they’re dining out less frequently, according to a 2009 Nielsen survey. Also reflecting a trend toward meals served at home, household spending increased on deli items, fresh seafood and meat, and produce for the year ending September 2009. And, as any kid will tell you, some meals at home include leftovers — at least once a week in 77 percent of households, according to a 2010 report by the National Grocers Association.

Regardless of what you’re putting on the dinner table, a key ingredient is convenient food storage. New GE Profile and GE Café bottom-freezer refrigerators not only help preserve your favorite foods for home cooking, they also make it easier than ever for your family to serve themselves — thanks to convenient storage features and an improved ice-and-water-dispenser.

Refrigerators with the freezer on the bottom are increasingly popular, in part because of the convenience they offer in organizing and accessing both fresh and frozen foods. Having the fresh food compartment at eye level allows family members to easily help themselves to frequently used fruits and vegetables, deli items and drinks. In the freezer compartment, slide-out drawers and baskets allow a variety of frozen food packages to be seen at a glance and quickly retrieved.

“Another advantage is that the freezer is wider than in a side-by-side refrigerator,” says Dan Capelle, GE Appliances product manager. “The freezer area is the full width of the refrigerator, providing room for larger items, such as a whole turkey, pizzas, a tray of frozen appetizers, or extra bags of ice.”

Sales of bottom-freezer refrigerators increased more than 40 percent in 2010 alone, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. “Consumers love not only the convenience, but also the style and appearance of these models,” says GE’s Jeff Cooksey, marketing manager for refrigeration.

The new line of GE Profile and GE Café models also features more capacity for ice storage, thanks to a new design that places the water and ice dispenser in the door of the refrigerator. In addition, this frees up more usable space in the fresh food area.

The new line of GE Profile and Café bottom-freezer refrigerators will be available to consumers on May 11, 2011.

Models are available in freestanding, counter-depth, and armoire styles.

Pick any 5. Get $500
Pick any 4. Get $300
Pick any 3. Get $200
Pick any 2. Get $100

Check out the GE site for entry and more details.

Refrigerators:

The counter-depth styling allows the appliances to blend seamlessly with the surrounding cabinetry, achieving a built-in look without the added expense of a built-in model.
The new counter-depth 25-cubic-foot side-by-side refrigerator is available with ClimateKeeper2™ technology, featuring a dual-evaporator system to create two zones of air circulation that help foods stay fresh. Because air is no longer circulated between the fresh-food and freezer compartments, the freezer’s cold, dry air won’t prematurely dry out foods, and odors won’t transfer between the compartments. Suggested retail price for this refrigerator is $3,249.

For home chefs who prefer the convenience of keeping produce and meats at eye level, GE will launch the 21-cubic-foot GE Café counter-depth bottom freezer with French doors. Now available with an internal water dispenser. Suggested retail price is $2,899.

Offered as a free-standing, slide-in range, the new GE Café Electric Range offers consumers without a gas line the ability to have a restaurant-inspired range. The range includes a fifth center burner and cast-iron griddle on the cooktop, a PreciseAir™ convection oven, and a double-oven configuration with a drawer that heats up to 450 degrees for added cooking flexibility. An optional stainless steel backsplash is available (model JXS80SS). The GE Café electric free-standing range (model CS980SNSS) will be available November 2008 with an estimated retail price of $2799.