I did a freezer purge yesterday and I was was totally shocked to find how many things were hidden away that I had completely forgotten about. I laid the entire contents of my freezer out on the kitchen floor and realized that I had enough food to feed my family for almost two weeks. I only had to throw away a couple of bread rolls with severe freezer burn, but aside from that, nothing will be wasted and I have decided to try not to visit the grocery store for the next couple of weeks (with the exception of a quick walk or bicycle to get milk and eggs). Inspired as I now am, I shall hit my pantry next and tackle the endless packets of half-eaten pasta,rice and flour – I’m bound and determined to use the whole lot up as I am becoming so horrified about waste and with food prices rising – it makes sense to cook from scratch as it’s so much cheaper! Granted, I’m going to have to get a bit more creative as I can’t just fall back on the good old favorites, but I’ve realized through reading the small print, that a lot of my staples are heading towards their sell-by date – so cookies, cakes, breads, fancy risottos filled with stuff from my garden – I’ll keep you posted. Have any of you girls done a freezer purge lately?
It’s taken a while to get the family talking about our three fridges and our deep freezer. But we’ve had a discussion as to our eating habits and how we do not need a mini-fridge for beverages or a whole fridge for beverages and leftovers! So we’re making meals out of what we have, and (since we make large meals and have enough leftovers for a whole meal) we’re using up leftovers for the next night’s dinner. This keeps us from having a lot of leftovers taking up room in the fridge, as well as keeping us from tossing out all the un-eaten stuff at the end of the week.
As for the freezer, I’ve got it half done. My visiting cousin is eating the tv dinners that we wont eat (she refuses to eat our dinners anyway). Now if only I had something to do with those 15 lbs of walnuts.. I’d be ok. 🙂
Oh my goodness Sophie! I’ve recently been doing this too! It is such an eye opener to see how much food just sits in the freezer and pantry. Before I became aware of waste I would have rummaged through and thrown out all of the expired food. Now before going to the market I dig out my fridge, freezer and pantry and make a little something we would have wasted before… Everyone should definitely try this! You’ll save a trip to the grocery store, time, money and your family will likely try a NEW meal.
Hilda
As a matter of fact, I not only cleaned out my freezer, I got a magnetic dry erase board and listed everything in my freezer. Now,I know at at glance, what I have and what I need. I buy a lot of milk and bread to put in the freezer so I don’t have to make as many trips to the store.
i do it once a month to make sure that im not wasting food and because i hate clutter!
How great for you to find all those food treasures. I have doing a freezer and pantry purge myself. I am surprised to hear that you would buy milk and eggs. The dairy industry just adds to the meat industry. I am only to chapter 6 in your book. If you look at what is in our milk I am sure that you will abandon it as well. The egg industry is just as bad. They pollute the earth and are cruel to the chickens. Personally I have found that a small backyard flock of my own is the way to go. I found a great resource, backyardchickens.com, it is easy and good for the earth. Also the eggs are healthier than store bought eggs. 1/3 of the cholesterol, and the vitamin content is superior. I love my chickens and am the envy of all my friends.
I just did the freezer purge last week. I had a very similar experience to you but I did have to throw many items out. I was horrified at the waste! So, I made an inventory list of the food in my freezer and included expiration dates. I am hoping to minimize the waste and enjoy the food instead. I am also utilizing online recipe sites to find new ways to cook the food that I have. It has definitely been an enlightening experience.
We’re in the process of moving. I had no idea my freezer could hold so much! I’m determined not to allow it to get that full again.
Right now, the freezer in our new place only has a whole free range chicken in it which we purchased at the local farmer’s market today.
Yep I have and I also just cleaned out the underneath of my sink! I found half empty containers of cleaning products that were way old. Cleaned out the lot and replaced with ECO friendly products. But this time I bought the big 5 litre containers which work out cheaper and then have kept the small bottles (1 litre containers) and just poured from big container to small container. Got my fabric softer – washing up liquid – laundery liquid and floor liquid all sorted for at least 4 months! Much less under the sink now. :))
We just moved into a new house and we had to do one. I found so many items that, had I known we had them, I would’ve cooked. Unfortunately we weren’t as lucky and had to throw quite a bit away. We also had some items in our pantry that were a bit old and had to be tossed. There was some stuff that was good, however, but we had the same products but they were newer. The older stuff (not expired, just older) we took to a local shelter. That we wouldn’t have an overabundance that we’d forget about again. From now on, we’re going to buy only what we need, and we’re going to check to see what we already have before we make a purchase.