Freezer Cleanout Week
If you're anything like me, you really hate throwing out food. Anytime I see once-good food hit the garbage can or compost bin, I feel a little twinge of shame, because in a world where so many people don't have what they need, I should at least have the respect and humility not to take my resources for granted. So I try to plan, use things up, only buy what I will actually use, and store things before they go bad.
The end result is an often overflowing freezer full of garden produce, farmer's market finds, bulk-purchased products, and "froze-just-before-it-went-bad" leftovers. And a lot of that stuffs stays in the freezer for a long time, because I just keep on buying more groceries.
Starting today, however, I am declaring the first week of every month to be "Freezer Cleanout Week". I have even entered it in my calendar on the first Friday of the month so that I will remember not to buy groceries that weekend. For all of that week, the goal will be to cook and prepare meals made only from food already stored in our house, whether it's from the freezer, the OTHER deep freezer, the cupboards, or the storage room.
My hope is that this will encourage regular turnover of stuff in the freezer, as well as limit any waste from food staying in there too long. It will also be an interesting exercise in meal planning, since anything made will need to be made up of ingredients already in the house.
Tonight's meal? Falafel patties and home-fried potatoes, both of which we've had in the storage room and freezer for at least three months. Yum!
Do you ever call grocery-free weeks? Leave a comment!
The end result is an often overflowing freezer full of garden produce, farmer's market finds, bulk-purchased products, and "froze-just-before-it-went-bad" leftovers. And a lot of that stuffs stays in the freezer for a long time, because I just keep on buying more groceries.
Starting today, however, I am declaring the first week of every month to be "Freezer Cleanout Week". I have even entered it in my calendar on the first Friday of the month so that I will remember not to buy groceries that weekend. For all of that week, the goal will be to cook and prepare meals made only from food already stored in our house, whether it's from the freezer, the OTHER deep freezer, the cupboards, or the storage room.
My hope is that this will encourage regular turnover of stuff in the freezer, as well as limit any waste from food staying in there too long. It will also be an interesting exercise in meal planning, since anything made will need to be made up of ingredients already in the house.
Tonight's meal? Falafel patties and home-fried potatoes, both of which we've had in the storage room and freezer for at least three months. Yum!
Do you ever call grocery-free weeks? Leave a comment!
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