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.

”Now that ENERGY STAR® appliances are recognized by 75% of American consumers, the next step is to reshape when energy is being used,” said Kevin Nolan, Vice President Technology for GE Consumer & Industrial. ”Peak hour energy demand is growing faster than total energy demand. It is imperative that we begin to shift some of the energy load from peak hours to other parts of the day – – helping to avoid the need to build new power plants to meet the demand,” he explained.

For example, the automatic defrost feature on GE refrigerators is initiated by the internal electronics based on the number of refrigerator door openings and other input signals. If the refrigerator can delay the defrost cycle from occurring during peak energy usage hours, consumers will save money by paying for the same amount of energy later in the day when the rates are lower.

In addition to ”smart” refrigerators, GE will enable ranges, laundry pairs, dishwashers and microwave ovens to receive and respond to communications from the utility company. Consumers will be notified of a rate change or of critical peak pricing by the display on their appliances letting them know when higher rates are in effect. Appliances will be programmed to avoid energy usage during that time but consumers may choose to override the program – giving them ultimate control.

LG Electronics has entered into a cross licensing agreement with GE Consumer & Industrial that will allow LG and GE to use one another’s patents for refrigerators and cooking appliances without paying licensing fees.

“We believe that this licensing arrangement with GE will enhance our ability to deliver winning products and move us further toward our goal of becoming one of the top global brands in consumer electronics and home appliances,” said Young Ha Lee, president and CEO of LG Electronics Digital Appliance Company. “Our long history of working together with GE will help us take advantage of this agreement even more quickly.

“This agreement is part of a win-win strategy for both GE and LG,” said Lynn S. Pendergrass, president and CEO, GE Consumer and Industrial—Americas. “We expect the synergies resulting from the strong relationship between our two companies will contribute substantially to the success of both GE and LG.”

LG and GE have collaborated on cooking appliances since 1999, both in technologies and product development. The companies say the new agreement will help the companies strengthen their competitiveness worldwide. It will be especially helpful to LG, it said, in its push to expand its presence in digital appliances globally. The company currently sells its products through all three of the top retailers in North America: The Home Depot, Sears and Best Buy.

LG has previously entered into key partnerships with other top companies to build its technology and customer base. In 2000 the company partnered with Matsushita’s air-conditioning division and in 2001 LG allied itself with both Microsoft and Intel in the home networking sector.