Cleaning out my pantry
 

I've been undertaking this long-neglected project for the past few days. It's upsetting, to say the least. Lots and lots of stuff past (way past) the expiration dates. It's upsetting on MANY levels.

It's upsetting simply because I was raised not to waste food. Letting so much stuff get away from me is like throwing dollar bills out the window.

It's upsetting because, even though I joke about my vintage cooking supplies, it's really pretty embarrassing.

And mostly it's upsetting because it reminds me how long it's been since I did any serious baking. I found seven (yes, seven) jars of maraschino cherries.

Apparently what happened was this: every year since I first got sick I sincerely believed I was going to make spritz cookies for Christmas, and bought a jar of cherries. The next Christmas I couldn't remember when I bought the other jar, so I bought a new one. And couldn't garner the energy to make the cookies AGAIN. For seven years. :(

Petrified butterscotch chips. Rock-solid flaked coconut. Corn syrup from a grocery store that went out of business years ago. At least some of the stuff the chickens will eat. The rest, just another reminder. *sigh*

I hate wasting food too! I try to only buy what I am going to use within a year (for canned stuff).

On things that don't have an expiration date, take a piece of masking tape and put the date you bought it on there. I even do this with spices as some don't come with a date on it.

It's my refrig that gets me. I will buy food and forget I bought it and it goes bad. It makes me so mad when I do that. Just recently we had to throw away a cantaloupe that had gone bad and the price was so good on it (buy 1 get 1 free). We ate the one but I forgot about the other one.

I hate wasting food. Hate it!! I will eat something for lunch or dinner that doesn't sound good to me simply to keep it from spoiling and being thrown out. My Mom would absolutely be very unhappy with me if she knew I had wasted something. :o She even used the end pieces of a loaf of bread!

My pantry isn't very big so not too much gets left over in there but the door to my refrigerator is embarrassing. I found a jar of horseradish from 2007 in there not too long ago. Does that stuff ever go bad?? :p

I've been researching to find out the shelf life of various things. It's frustrating. I want to know the difference between "might lose some quality of texture" and "don't put it in your mouth!"

I know that medications, both Rx and OTC, can actually change chemically when they get old, and you shouldn't mess with them after the expiration date. But what about baking cocoa? Jelly? Dry pasta? Molasses?

Different websites give different information. Add that to the fact that half the stuff isn't even dated! It serves me right that we used to snicker at my mom for writing the date on everything with a grease pencil when she brought it home from the store.

Make it a "good Thing" as opposed to a depressing task by combining the expired goods with wet newspaper and potting soil....and soon you will have mulch for your plants, which in turn will grow food!

Alas, you were not wasting food after all, you are just making it better.:)

-Vic

Unless it is green when it is not supposed to be, I say eat it. Make a batch of spritz cookies and send them my way. Maraschino cherries are not natural, how could they go bad?

I try. that is try to clean out my pantry about once a year. I am not always successful at getting to it. I am amazed when I see stuff that expired 4 years ago. I go to the store, and since I dont always feel great I stock up. I will buy 6 instead of just 1 and that way I dont have to go out unless I run out of staples. I get it into my head that I want to try this or that recipe and will get the ingredients and then forget that I wanted to try it. A year later I am digging out the stuff from the back of the pantry.

I have learned to rotate my stock. I try to put the new stuff in the back and pull the old stuff to the front. its all just a reminder of how much I used to do, and how much I used to be able to get to.

Dear Blessings,

Your post is about way more than just having to dispose of out of date pantry items. At least that is what struck me about your message. Then again, I may be taking it way deeper than it should be taken.

Here is what was brought to my attention causing me to think:

• Yes, it is a waste of food and money.
• It confirms the adage, "Use it or lose it!"
• On the good side it shows optimism for the future by believing we are going to use them.
• Then again, it shows our deficits in not ever getting around to it because of what we are dealing with on a daily basis.
• Even worse, it accentuates the fact we simply "forget" we bought something, so we go out and buy is again, regardless of the fact 4 of them are in the pantry now.
• We don't pay attention to what really "IS" in our pantry.
• We don't connect the dots to cause us to clean out the pantry at least once a year.
• Send me the Maraschino cherrys because I don't believe they can go bad if the jar is unopened.
• This thread is a sad statement on what we deal with daily, but at least you didn't find any still fresh Twinkies.

Blessings, I believe this is something new people applying for SSDI should make a point to list on their application regarding the question, dealing with daily living tasks.

No matter how you look at this, at least I received several good points from the message. It reminds me, I need to ask my wife if we have any Maraschino cherrys.

I just did this with my freezer, fridge, and pantries. OMG! I found DH has been putting fresh stuff in the front, and leaving older stuff in the back, and this means we have been using fresh, and the old stuff has slowly been clicking out of date. I found mush for zucchini in the fridge, beacause lettuce was stacked on top of them, and peppers that were still in their grocery wrappers, and the little plastic bag as well, so they were a bag of water. ICK!

I have vowed to be better organized. I guess I have been hoping DH would pick up the torch and help when I am down, but clearly that isnt going to happen. If I am the only driver in this car, then I better get organized. I now have a menu for the next 10 days, and it will eat up a great deal of what is left behind. I told DH that he WILL eat whatever is put in front of him, and when its all gone, I will go to the store with a meal plan in mind.

I hate the food game, but we must eat. :cool: