My fridge, freezer and pantry are overflowing !

[audreyh1]

Oops - just made a cross town visit to the new Sprouts store!!!

 

[ohyes]

When our children lived here, I made weekly menus/grocery lists. It made my life so much simpler.

Now that it is the two of us, I enjoy not doing that. It makes me happier to figure out what to make about an hour before it is served.

Sometimes, DH and I will declare a 3 or 4 or 5 day no grocery buying rule when there is a surplus in the freezer and/or fridge. We are so proud of ourselves when we accomplish that.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Stockpiling groceries when they are at really good prices has saved us a lot of money in ER, but we also have to get better at controlling food waste. I never plan menus. We often make up random items like soup, roasted yams, chicken, garbanzo beans, red rice, fruit slices and salad ahead of time and then we mix and match for meals. We just buy what looks good or is on sale each week and then at home we cook it up or freeze / store as needed. We have a lot of meals that do not require recipes or specific ingredients, like crock pot stews, soups, salads and stir fries.

Here is a cute article on eating down your food stores:

"You have a hidden stash of cash in your house in the form of cans, grains, pastas and sauces: I’m talking about your pantry. Eating down the stores of food in your cupboard can save you money and help prevent some of the $165 billion in food waste that goes into U.S. garbage cans each year.....Why do I have four bags of quinoa? I’m not even sure I like the stuff. I have three open bags of flour, 27 servings of Miso soup and enough cans of beans, tuna and crushed tomatoes to open my own food bank"

Eating Down the Pantry: How to Save by Eating Just Whats in Your Cupboard - ABC News

We have a chest freezer that is manual defrost so we eat down the food in there every time we need to defrost it - which is every 4 - 6 months or so.

 

[brucethebroker]

I start my shopping at Aldi's, and they require a quarter to get a shopping cart. Trouble is I never carry one cent of cash, and someone in our family keeps taking my quarter out of the cup holders in my cars.

My trick to minimize food purchases is just buy what you can carry. Use no shopping cart. Just shop for a specific item--not looking at everything in the store.

+1. When we snowbird, we often ride our bicycles to the store. Hard to carry too much home when using those little baskets...

 

[euro]

We have 1 deep freeze, 3 fridges, a pantry, a cellar storage area, a 1400 bottle wine cellar, a home generator, and plenty of bullets.

We are not alarmists or wear tin foil hats, and it just worked out that way.
DW and I bought a deep freezer when we first got married, we have always bought a annual Black Angus beef from the same farmer, and occasional hog. I have mentioned in other threads that I have been making my own bacon, hams and sausage.
When dear MIL passed, we inherited her International Harvester fridge from the '40's.
It still keeps things ice cold and I used it for wine making and it keeps my beer kegs cold. My 3rd fridge came when my mother got tired of her old fridge and decided to get a new one. I also use it for wine making, when you have 500# of wine grapes from halfway around the world, you gotta keep 'em cold while you process them.
The wine cellar speaks for itself, when you make a 30 gallon barrel of wine, you gotta find a place for the bottles when it's ready.
A few years back, we lost power for over a week during the winter. We ate out of the little freezer in the fridge so we didn't have to open the deep freeze. We kept warm by the gas logs, cooked on the gas stove and grill. A few years back in August, dear MIL lost power for over a week from down South and she stayed with us. She was in her late '80's. Later, we moved her up here, and the generator was needed to insure her comfort.
Bullets are always cheaper in bulk, and to be a good shot, you have to practice. 100 rounds doesn't last long, between DW and I.
I will agree with you, it was very hard to pass up pork loins this week at $1.66/lb, but we already had 3 in the freezer.

Wow, sounds like you are running quite an operation up there in grapetown...

 

[euro]

I love this forum - it always brings to light issues I didn't even realize I had".
I too am a bit of a food hoarder and will take this as a nudge to "work on" my freezer. Part of the problem is my DS who seems to switch tastes on a whim. He'll, for example, consume pizza pockets as if they are going out of style so he always runs out. Then, I stock up, and then they really do go out of style in his mind.. and I have to cajole him into using them them up anyway
But the other part of it is that I'm a bit of a pack rat who has trouble passing up a good sale.

 

[Winemaker]

Wow, sounds like you are running quite an operation up there in grapetown...

No more than 200 gallons a year, I swear, officer!

 

[Texas Proud]

I love this forum - it always brings to light issues I didn't even realize I had".
I too am a bit of a food hoarder and will take this as a nudge to "work on" my freezer. Part of the problem is my DS who seems to switch tastes on a whim. He'll, for example, consume pizza pockets as if they are going out of style so he always runs out. Then, I stock up, and then they really do go out of style in his mind.. and I have to cajole him into using them them up anyway
But the other part of it is that I'm a bit of a pack rat who has trouble passing up a good sale.

It could be worse... my DD will ask me to buy something for her... and at times I do it.. I remember buying pop tarts at Sams for her and then she decided not to eat them... after a year I started to make her eat them... her response.... "I never asked you to buy them for me" .... yea, right.. it cost her when she pushed for me to buy her Smores pop tarts and I said I would not fall into that trap... she said she had them at a friends house and she knew she would eat them...


I recently made her finish a jar of dill pickles... she also claimed she did not ask me to buy and I said 'you know I like sweet pickles and not dill and there is NO way I would buy dill unless YOU asked'.... she finished the jar last week...


Right now it is mac and cheese cups... she eats as a snack when she gets home from school... but I sometimes say, finish off the macaroni shells you made me buy.... we still have them....

 

[CardsFan]

For 11 years we lived 30 minutes from the closest grocery, so we did tend to over supply the freezer and cupboard (a huge walk-in cupboard!). Now, we are 5 minutes from half a dozen stores.

So, now we can buy fresh whenever we need it. One of us usually is at the store at least every other day. Sometimes every day. In the middle of winter it is a good reason for us to get out of the house.

We still over supply, but only with sale items that we regularly use. I like to make beef jerky, so if I get a good sale, I might buy 10 lbs of meat. Usually make 2-3 lbs at a time. Started smoking meats as well. Always have some ribs and a pork butt in the freezer.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just an observation I want to throw in since it is similar to this thread...


Have any of you seen those coupon queens who can buy $1000 worth of stuff for nothing or a few dollars The few shows I watched they were showing their stash... we are talking about a BIG stash... like hundreds of bottles of washing detergent or similar... to me that has to be a life time of laundry detergent... and they are using their house etc. to store all that.... just nuts!!!

 

[gerntz]

I plan meals in advance and shop based on that. It's a lot of food, but very little is bought on impulse. We shop biweekly at the box store,

Way tool regimented a life for me. I have no desire to know what I'm having for dinner beyond tomorrow.

 

[gerntz]

I'm clearly not a survivalist. This thread freaks me out. Bye.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I'm clearly not a survivalist. This thread freaks me out. Bye.

More leftovers for me!

 

[Winemaker]

I'm clearly not a survivalist. This thread freaks me out. Bye.

Nor am I. But DW thinks we could live for a year without going to store, I say 6 months. Gotta go right now, I have to make plans for the new hot frame in garden. Nothing like fresh greens and produce out of garden!

 

[Dreamer]

Just an observation I want to throw in since it is similar to this thread...


Have any of you seen those coupon queens who can buy $1000 worth of stuff for nothing or a few dollars The few shows I watched they were showing their stash... we are talking about a BIG stash... like hundreds of bottles of washing detergent or similar... to me that has to be a life time of laundry detergent... and they are using their house etc. to store all that.... just nuts!!!

I have watched those shows several years ago. I would never be able to figure out how they got so many groceries for so little. However, if I could, I would. I would share the wealth (groceries) with my children and relatives and definitely charities. I would not stockpile the stashes in my house.

 

[NYEXPAT]

We hired a chef a few months ago and so far it is working out great! My Wife decides the menu for the week and has everything delivered on Saturday. Sunday morning the chef comes and prepares breakfast and lunch, and then all the meals for M,T,W. I usually make lunch on Thursday and we eat out on the weekend. She portion controls everything, so there are no leftovers, although sometimes my MIL stops by just as the housekeeper is about to serve lunch and it can be a bit light!

 

[EastWest Gal]

I plan dinner but flexibly, as we are often busy in the evenings. We have a perpetual white board calendar on our refrigerator. The past few months I've put tentative plans for dinner meals for 5-7 days in advance. It helps organize my shopping for the week. I also check the weekly circular for specials, but only to get regularly used things when they are on sale. Many times I've written "On our own" when there are plenty of leftovers and items in the freezer, as I am tired of shopping and cooking for everyone. I like cooking but it doesn't seem to be a family event at all most days.

One thing I haven't seen suggested is shopping from a list, and only from a list. I tape a tear off note pad inside a cupboard (something my mom did fore many years). Things get added to the list as needed. When we run out of eggs, milk, or bread, then whatever is on the list can be purchased along with those items. I like to do the shopping most of the time, but having a running list allows DH to do that chore as well. And he never buys things not on the list.

 

[harley]

DW and I have two months left in our southern house, so it's time to start eating the pantry and freezer down. That means lots of shrimp, since I bought 10 lbs from a guy I know who caught them. This time we don't really have that much, since our new eating lifestyle is weighted heavily toward fresh vegetables. Mostly shrimp, some chicken and hamburger. We still have the fudge and bagels we brought down with us in the freezer, but we'll probably give that to our neighbor when we leave, as well as the few remaining processed carb items in the pantry. We still have a full fridge/freezer up north, since we've got a generator there in case the power goes out. But down here below the 26th parallel we unplug the fridge when we leave. We do leave food in the pantry as long as it won't spoil while we're gone.

I suspect the new eating lifestyle will also result in some major downsizing in our giant fridge/freezer up north when we get there. I think we'll make a major donation to the food bank to get rid of the things we no longer eat. Get thee behind me, Pizza Rolls!

 

[exnavynuke]

I'm a big fan of sales and bulk buying to save money. Most meats, lobster, crab, etc I tend to buy in bulk and/or wait and stock up when it's on sale (preferable both on sale and in bulk for double savings). The biggest problem I have is remembering to thaw out large cuts of meat in advance so I can cook them when I have time (weekends mostly since I'm still working).

If it doesn't go bad for a long time, and I use it regularly, then I probably have a decent "stockpile" of it laying around (canned tomatoes or other vegetables, broth, pastas, etc) and there's little chance I didn't get it on sale and/or with coupons.

I still spend quite a bit on food, but I eat pretty good too.

 

[audreyh1]

We do shop from a list. We currently use a shared reminders list on out iOS devices that makes it easy to share as well as check things off while shopping.

That doesn't mean we don't get "inspired" while out grocery shopping sometimes.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Every once in a while I do a freezer purge- I usually do it in the fall before somebody kills a deer and I need the room. I take everything out of the freezer, and toss anything freezer burned, etc. Then as I put everything back in, I make a list, which I post on the fridge. I cook with the freezer contents and cross off items till they are all gone. If we get to the bottom of the freezer and we don't want to eat whatever is left, we aren't ever going to eat it- so it gets tossed.

 

[Lcountz]

I have only the freezer on my refrigerator.

On January 1, I decided to use up EVERYTHING before I bought anything new. I'd only buy fresh stuff, milk and coffee.

My Mom died and she had a small pantry full of soups and tuna and some canned veggies, so I got that too.

It took FOREVER to eat the food. I too had bought stuff on sale, froze it ( I agree with the turkeys.....) but it just still got to be too much.

So. I took it all out of the freezer, inventoried it, made a list for the door, and then made meals out of all the stuff til it was gone. It took FOREVER. Ditto for the canned stuff.

I too liked "sales" and used that as a reason to "stock up". Then the light came on. EVERY WEEK something is on sale in the three grocery stores near me. On Sunday I look at the circulars and make what's on sale.

This week strip steaks are on sale here. They've been "on sale" several times since Jan. 1. They will be on sale again. I rather have the fresh meat than the frozen stuff from the freezer. I go twice a week and only buy fresh. IT all looks so nice and fresh and good when it's in the store!!!! In your freezer at week ten, not so much.

The first challenge is getting rid of the stuff you have. I no longer find five year old packages of stuff that was a "bargain" when I bought it....it's no bargain if you have to toss it!!!!

Turkey. I partially thaw them out, cut them in half for one breast, wing and leg, then refreeze the piece I didn't cook. I don't thaw them completely, just enough to cut them in half. It stilll takes a LONG TIME for me to consume that much meat!!!!

My store recently started selling smaller size packages of meat for single people I guess. I like that. I no longer have to buy 700 chicken thighs (or 12 pounds of hamburger) when I only want 3...and I don't have to turn the ones I don't eat into frosted mystery meat!!!!

"But you can freeze the rest for later!!!!" cry my well-meaning friends. "What if there's a blizzard and you can't get out****gasp***?""

If the stores close for a day or two, or I couldn't get out ( never happened in 16 years in NW. PA)I'd eat some of the soup and/or tuna I have left from Mom, which I don't really like. We can all go a few days without 100 pounds of frozen stuff in the freezer.

I let Tops, Walmart and Aldi refrigerate, rotate and keep my food til I want it. And if the power WERE to "go out for days" it's thier loss.

My opinion only of course!!!

 

[Sue J]

My son and his GF (almost fiancee) bought me a Costco membership for my birthday. I needed a tv so we went to Costco for that and I took a trip through the grocery depts. WOW, I saw a lot of stuff I'd like to buy but we are going to have to find some room in the refrigerator and freezer and make a planned trip. All I bought in the food section was a small brisket and a beautiful side of salmon.

I've had a Foodsaver vacuum sealer for years so I can buy a big pack of something and break it down into smaller sizes. But jeesh, the sizes at Costco were HUGE!

So this month we are going to work on using up what we already have and then I'll plan a trip to Costco.

I used to cook at least four nights a week when the kids lived here. Now that it's just 2 of us I'm finding that I can cook a planned out meal twice and the other nights we use leftovers, maybe with another side dish added.

Every once in a while I like to hold off on grocery shopping and work on using up what we have. I like to see the back of the freezer and the farther back half of the cupboards. It's amazing what I can create out of what is hiding back there.

 

[audreyh1]

A lot of meat and seafood at Costco we freeze half.

 

[brewer12345]

Heh, I even buy my coffee 20# at a time (green, roasted on demand).


My BIL set up a commercial account with a malt distributor and we appear to be able to buy malt at a fraction of retail as long as we buy multiple sacks. My initial portion of the order is 6 sacks (better than 300# of malt).