One of the things I love about mid-January is the manageability of our food storage. While these spaces are by no means lean, I can actually find what I need easily again.
Earlier this week, I took a few minutes to take inventory and tidy up the shelves and compartments of both the pantry and fridge. I deliberately skipped grocery shopping for about 10 days so our stock would dwindle enough to quickly do this work.
I'll need to grocery shop again over the weekend, but I won't be buying as much as I did November through December. That's a win for tidy food storage as well as my wallet.
Meals we've gotten out of a leaner fridge, freezer, and pantry this week:
- chicken pot pie, using a chicken breast, garden carrots, celery, potatoes and herbs, topped with pie pastry, and a side of watermelon pickles
- homemade pizza, beet salad (canned beets in dressing), lettuce and avocado tossed salad
- chicken stir fry, sesame noodles, homemade egg rolls (my daughter was ambitious that night)
- pot roast and gravy (from the freezer, last week's cooking) over cubed stale bread, roasted yams, apple wedges
- frozen fish sticks (with homemade tartar sauce), roasted garden potatoes, roasted yams, sautéed frozen garden Brussel sprout leaves and onions
- vegetable-beef soup (garden vegetables from the freezer, pantry, and fridge), cheese biscuits
- bean burritos, carrot sticks, sautéed misc. garden greens from the freezer
In addition to a tidier fridge, we've been making room in the freezer, too. I hope to get the small freezer emptied later this winter so that I can defrost it.
My digestion thanks me for the return to more basic meals after a long holiday period of goodies and rich food.
How do you feel when you open your fridge or pantry in January and it's not as full as it was during the holidays? Does this spark creativity in your cooking? Perhaps a sigh of relief? Does it prompt a bit of anxiety over having less? Or something else? Tell me what you think in the comments.
Have a great weekend, friends!
Happy new year to you and your family ! Yes cleaning the frig and freezer really inspires me to create new frugal meal masterpieces lol
ReplyDeleteI think many of us frugalistas love to create something out of unusual combinations. I have been Christmas shopping the clearance sales. Today I was able to purchase fleece and sweatshirt pajama sets for $3.75!! As well as a host of other bargains I will use for Christmas gifts this year . have you done any after Christmas shopping?
Thank you for your inspiration throughout the year! Love Gaila in the NW
Happy New Year to you, too, Gaila!
DeleteThat's a real bargain on the pj sets. I haven't done any post-Christmas shopping this year. This has been a more tiring holiday season than usual for me.
Thanks for sharing!
I am never as fully stocked as you are, but we have ample food in our pantry and freezer. When significant snow was predicted last week, it was nice to not join the hoards in the grocery store getting supplies in.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI know that feeling -- not needing to go out to the grocery stores right before a big storm. Several years ago, I did need to pick up some laundry detergent the night before a storm was to come in. It was crazy how crowded the grocery store was at 8 PM on a weeknight! Never again. I'm glad you were well-stocked to ride out the storm at home.
We still haven't cleaned out the fridge, but yes, I look forward to a cleaner fridge. All the extra food is confusing to me and makes me slightly anxious. I like it when I can see and plan better.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteI can relate. I feel stressed when there are too many leftovers in the fridge -- fear of wasted food. Today I used the last bit of eggnog in a final half-batch of eggnog scones for my family. And I have my daughter finishing up some Chinese-inspired foods in her lunch tomorrow. I still need to go through everything in the fridge to make sure we have a plan for using it all.
Good luck cleaning out your fridge, Kris!
We don't have a full fridge with leftovers nor did we during the holidays. I had a few freezer meals but we used them early January. I now only have items in which to make a meal but nothing just ready to thaw and eat. That's more my style anyway. Pantry and freezer are still more than adequately stocked so that's good.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
DeleteIt sounds like you've got your fridge, freezer, and pantry working just how you like it. Much less waste when your fridge isn't jammed with lots of leftovers. Good work!