Delay your next grocery shop by doing a use it up challenge from your fridge, freezer and pantry. Begin this Mission today.
I started this just after Christmas and I have almost achieved an empty fridge and freezer. Granted I don’t store a lot in them anyway but using what is in there, and being inventive also with what is in the pantry, I am well on my way to clearing away all ingredients that won’t keep while I go travelling for six months very soon.
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About Colleen Madsen
Ooh where are you going?
Four weeks in Tokyo. Fours weeks through Spain and Portugal. Three weeks shared between Edinburgh and the Orkney Islands in Scotland. A short stay in Amsterdam. Four weeks through Scandinavia. Four weeks in Berlin. And then some weeks travelling into the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Austria. And finishing up with five days in London.
Are you willing to say where you are going? I’m happy for you to have such interesting adventures 🙂
When I want my husband to toss things out of the fridge, I tell him to put the stuff in the compost pile so the birds and squirrels can have a little snack. He likes watching those critters too so he usually complies 🙂 We have been making an effort to “declutter” stuff in the fridge by eating up our leftovers, buying less, making less… It’s a work in progress but better than it was.
My fridge is full of leftovers right now. We are eating them, but it seems to be slow. Even though I love some space in there, I guess it is good to have something ready to eat without cooking again!!! Very little gets wasted.
Wasting food is something I want to get rid off entirely in 2018. Even though I’m trying so much I just fail sometimes. But what upsets me is that I don’t live alone and as long as I can achieve my ‘no waste’ goal – my family doesn’t even seem to care about it or at least that’s the image I get. My parents (especially mum) like to overbuy food without using it afterwards and the biggest problem is that when I try to point it out she’s offended saying that I’m being bossy and all that kind of stuff. Any tips on how to change their attitude?
With kindness
In my experience food acquisition is a learned behaviour by parents with kids who then don’t adjust as the kids leave home. My mum always6 has a fridge full of so much variety and things lurking in the deaths and it freaks me out too. I am not sure if there is a way to encourage better behaviours without offending people.
As for using up stuff. I cook a curry once a week to use up all sorts of veggies.
I will take a chicken out of the freezer right now. I have a hard time remembering to unfreeze meat. So I got in the habit of keeping meat fresh and cook it ASAP.
I’m enjoying my Instant Pot…you don’t have to thaw most meat. It takes it longer to come to pressure, but it’s still tender and delicious. Don’t have to plan as far ahead. A whole chicken, roast, chicken breast, pork butt, etc.
Thanks for the idea!
Almost done with the ice cream carton!
Well, one of them. I threw out the coupons for ice cream that came. We have 2 unopened ones. It’s the middle of winter. No more ice cream!
(But I do like cookie crumbs on my ice cream and we have lots of cookie crumbs right now, so I’ll finish the open carton).
Hi Kayote, multiple ice cream no longer happens in my house because, although we are still very active, we are over 50 and sweets are best eaten in moderation or the middle age spread will take over and is much harder to declutter.
For years my family and I have “Eaten out of the cupboards ” each January. Now I live alone and am retired, so play a game each January to see how much money I can save by eating what is already here, and just buying fruits and vegetables. I have enough frozen desserts for another whole month.
It is great when good family traditions are handed down.