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Post by dtesposito on Nov 2, 2015 22:16:48 GMT -5
Oh, I forgot to report--as I was leaving my senior client's house today she handed me a bag with 2 mini-whole wheat rolls in it. At this rate, I won't have to buy ANY groceries! Diane
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Post by Unswamping on Nov 2, 2015 23:28:47 GMT -5
Diane, that great your get free food. I buy groceries at different places, target, walmart, giant, redners, etc. What i did was writen down the things i like to buy at these stores, looking at old receipts can help. Then on the computer i set up a page, landscape with four columns. In the first column i labeled target and then listed all the items i like to buy there. The next column was walmart and i did the same. Each store has its column and a list of the items i like to buy. I printed one out and put it on the frig next to the frig inventory white board. When i need something. I mark the box on the list or write in if its not one of the typed items. When i go shopping, i bring the whole page with me. I fold it in fourths so its not so bulky. Having the whole page with me, helps if i see a sale on something i usually buy at another store (like target sometimes puts the coffee i like on sale, the grocery is cheaper unless its on sale). So i can check if i need it, buy the sale item and cross it off the other stores list. After ive done my monthly grocery shopping, i print a new list and stick it on the frig. I make any edits before i print, like if the store discontinues a product, ill put it in another column. Ill add new items. Sometimes i will put quantities like litter (2), to remind myself that i need two bags to get through the month. Another thing i try to do, and have slipped from this lately, is to cook and/or freeze food within 24 hours of it coming in the house. If i buy meat i either cook something like a big batch of baked ziti with chicken and then freeze it in individual portions or i will repackage the meat into individual portions and then freeze. I get produce delivered every two weeks ( , its cheaper than the grocery store). I know ahead of time, what i will be getting. I plan some things to cook using the produce. This week is spinach pie and chicken stew. I will make a big batch and freeze the individual portions. Then i can just reheat stuff in the microwave. It doesnt take much more effort to make a bigger batch and its the same amount of dishes. So if i have to cook, i want more than one meal out of it. Eventually if i do this consistently, i wind up with some variety in the freezer. By putting everything in the freezer right away, i dont have to worry about how long something has been in the frig, the quality is also better too. If i get things like squash that keep for a decent amount of time, (i have three on the counter right now), i can cook them at a later time. I need to really start doing this again regularly. In the meantime, i need to work on whats in the pantry.
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Post by angela on Nov 3, 2015 0:21:34 GMT -5
dtesposito, yes I get free food too. Recently I have gotten a whole box of broccoli, a box of onions, cauliflower, apples, smoked salmon, hamburger, duck, berries...I am very lucky, I live in a food basket/agriculture area with plentiful food, and I have people that know me who are happy to share their excess with me. When I helped my friend move back in January, boxes and boxes of food came to my house from her broker sample stock. I spent a lot of time parsing and sorting out what I would use (maybe) what could go here, what could go there, etc. I think ultimately with this category of stuff, as with any of my acquisition issues, I need to tell the truth about what I actually do, right now, not what I think I'll do in some ideal future. And then stop acquisitions that are for wishful thinking. Just an example, at the local surplus grocery store (sometimes called ding 'n dent), they have set up an organic foods section. I got all excited and bought a lot of food that my fantasy self would be cooking all the time. Millet, hemp seed, almond flour, etc. My today self doesn't know how to cook those things or use them. My today self eats the same thing for breakfast every day, no lunch lately, and for dinner, a protein, a carb, and some vegetable. None of which requires chopping, seasoning, or any cooking technique except baking, boiling or sauté. Best of all, open a can, use the microwave, toast something, etc.
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Post by stevie on Nov 3, 2015 1:59:00 GMT -5
I'm another one with a "vintage" fridge...I bought mine used ten years ago when I was broke and need an emergency fridge RIGHT NOW. I'm pretty sure it dates back to the 1980s. I kept figuring I'd update it but it's a humungous side-by-side, still looks good, and simply hasn't quit yet. Still on fridges: my best friend has a thing for '50s appliances. Her fridge is a true vintage, all chrome and rounded corners. She found it on craiglist and it's awesome. I, too, am guilty at times of buying too much fresh food and then not getting around to eating it. Or cooking something nummy, eating some of it, then leaving the rest to turn into a science experiment in the fridge. Confession: I made something in my crock pot some time in early summer, ate some of whatever it was, put the crock pot in the fridge intending to portion out and freeze whatever it was, and never got around to it. Some six months later that crock pot is still in my fridge and I am now very afraid of it. Anyhow, my issues aren't over-acquiring or hoarding, but just generally not staying on top of day-to-day things and being horribly disorganized and messy. As far as food goes, I do love to cook and since I'm now single that can lead to lots of scary refrigerator science experiments! Several things help: I have two good friends (one single, one married) who also enjoy food and cooking. We've set up a loose, small food-sharing network so we give containers of food to each other. Also my across-the-street neighbor had a bad stroke last spring and no longer does much cooking for himself so we share with him too. Remembering to label anything I put in the freezer! Otherwise I'm finding containers and ziplocks of unrecognizable glop in there, which I never get around to eating. If it has a dated label (I use a magic marker) I'm way more likely to eat it. I have on hand a base of easy, flexible recipes that use pantry staples such as beans, rice and pasta that with the addition of whatever fresh veggies I have on hand, plus cheese or some sort of sauce (tomato, peanut) I can make something nutritious and edible in a pinch. Sausages! Keep them on hand, they'll survive an apocalypse and never go bad. Same for bacon. About every 4-6 weeks, when my vegetable bin is too full, I make a big batch of vegetable soup with whatever is on hand, and add sausage slices. Can't go wrong and freezes wonderfully for work-day lunches. And I know not everyone can do this, but I have a vegetable garden every year. Being Michigan, it's a short growing season but still...it makes me feel good to be able to wander out to my garden, pick something ripe, and make it into a meal. Green beans stir-fried with canned anchovies. (Not everyone's cup of tea I realise!) Oven-roasted eggplants, or corn, or a mess of greens with sausage, or squash and tomatoes.
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Nov 3, 2015 3:40:37 GMT -5
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Post by ohblondie on Nov 3, 2015 10:12:05 GMT -5
Diane - I shop every sunday with all the good intentions of bringing a lunch to work. Weekends have been so hectic lately that I have not been cooking like I want to. If I do have leftovers I do try to bring them to work.
I can buy a slice of pizza, a small bag of chips and a beverage for $3.33 in the little shop in my building. I usually get the vegetable pizza or the broccoli pizza.
I am also trying to bring a bagel to work every day. I have a container of butter and of cream cheese in the fridge at work. I bring 2-3 bagels at a time, toast them and enjoy. I have brought bagels and cans of soup in as well.
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Post by dtesposito on Nov 3, 2015 10:43:10 GMT -5
Swamped, you sound very organized and disciplined with your shopping lists! I have tried various grocery lists/inventories on the computer, and I've always failed at them--it's one of those things that sounds great in theory but I am not able to follow through and update them. My shopping list is usually not that long, because I eat a lot of the same things, and when I go to the produce store, what I buy depends on what looks like good quality for a good price, so for that store I don't even make a list. I was thinking that maybe I could write my reminder list of what products come from each store on a small index card, and keep that in my wallet--that way I will never be out shopping without it. I just have to remember to add anything new that comes up, which is where it was handy having it right there on my fridge. Then I could use that half of the dry erase board for a regular weekly shopping list. I have a report on my grocery shopping. I give myself a grade of B on this trip--it would be a C, but since it's my first trip after deciding to STOP buying anything extra, I think I did good. I bought the items I was thinking about that are staples for me and that will be eaten along with all the other food I have waiting--frozen veggies and brown rice. The brown rice is going right into a canning jar into the freezer, since I know it's a banquet for pantry moths! I bought 2 junk food items that I didn't need right now--unsalted potato chips, even though I already have one bag--but no other store anywhere around here sells them, AND about half the time, they are out of stock. So I got one. And, I bought some half-price Halloween candy even though I already have sweets in the house--because it was half price and most of the chocolate kind was already gone. BUT, I lingered for a while in the grain aisle and considered buying some flavored quinoa, dry beans for the slow cooker (which I don't need yet because I have several cans) and even looked at the frozen dinner aisle, but resisted all of those. I got my cat litter, toilet paper, soda (which is already on the good holiday sale price) and water. So even with the extra junk food, I did way better than I would normally have done. I'm still battling with the idea that the store is a long way away, and without a car, I feel like I should stock up on EVERYTHING. But I'm hoping that will get better as time goes on and I see that I'm managing just fine without having every possible grocery item in the house at any given moment! Diane
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Post by ohblondie on Nov 3, 2015 12:48:37 GMT -5
Diane - I also struggle with the smae way of thinking...."this store is far away, I should grab extra while I am here"
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Post by dtesposito on Nov 3, 2015 22:32:15 GMT -5
I had a very productive day for this particular goal. For lunch I used the mini-rolls my client gave me to make little grilled cheese sandwiches, using the cheese I brought home from the party. For dinner, I ate a disconnected variety of leftovers from the fridge--a few potato wedges, the rest of the party cheese with some Triscuit crackers, and a salad that was made with a small container of pre-made chopped tomato-cucumber salad with dressing that I got from a deli. I added a shredded zucchini to the pre-made salad, and the dressing was strong enough so that adding the zucchini didn't seem to dilute the dressing at all. So I ate half of that container of salad, I'll have the other half tomorrow. Then I made a huge crock pot dish tonight--I used some veggies that have been in the fridge for a while--2 carrots and half a tomato, then added from my pantry a small can of tomato soup, half a can of garbanzo beans, a can of mixed veggies that my sister gave me a while ago, brown rice that I made today, and about a third of a pound bag of frozen veggies just to get more variety in there. Oh, and the rest of the squash I steamed the other day. I added some chopped onion and some salt-free "all purpose seasoning" as flavorings. It came out remarkably well--I was actually pretty surprised at how good it tastes. There's enough there for several meals, so I'm going to have to somehow fit some more containers into my freezer. But I used up lots of odds and ends, so I'm happy about that. Diane
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Post by dtesposito on Nov 3, 2015 22:33:58 GMT -5
I forgot to say that I cleaned out the entire fridge today, and was amazed at how much food was packed in there. I really need to get this under control.
Diane
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Post by angela on Nov 4, 2015 0:31:49 GMT -5
Sounds like you did pretty good today dtesposito. I've got to go through my freezer too. I have a large upright in the pump house and the small one under the fridge. I don't know what's in the small one but I know it's stuffed. I ate up some leftovers tonight. Was given some potato salad and some cookies from my Great Aunt. I had lunch with her today. I may need to throw out the potato salad. It gave me the burps. Fortunately, with chickens, waste is rarely really waste. Over this last month, some of the things that used to taste good to me don't anymore. I think because of my medication changing. Next week I hope to get the kitchen back under control and see what I have.
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Post by dtesposito on Nov 4, 2015 21:53:48 GMT -5
Another good day. For lunch I had some of the crockpot dish I made yesterday. For dinner I had the mostaccioli I brought home from the open house, and some of the combo salad from last night. I didn't finish the salad, there's still a little left. I rewrote my white board tonight, taking the store specific item lists off and putting them on an index card in my wallet. Now I have half of it for items to use up in my fridge, and the other half to use as a shopping list. My "use up from fridge" list has 3 meal type items on it, 2 veggie items, plus 4 kinds of bread that are in the fridge bread basket. My shopping list currently has nothing on it, because I don't need one single thing! Diane
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Post by angela on Nov 5, 2015 0:40:52 GMT -5
That's a great idea dtesposito to put those things on an index card. Today I ate out with a friend and ate half a sandwich and kept the rest for tomorrow. Tonight I finished up some leftover noodles. I won't make much progress on this issue until I get things put away so I can actually move around and cook in my kitchen. I have stuff all over. It's terrible.
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Post by shellsncheese on Nov 5, 2015 5:40:59 GMT -5
I cleaned the fridge today. So much wasted food, yet again. I'm going to bookmark this thread and see how little waste I can have in November. I really need to focus on eating things in my fridge. I've done really well with no take out lately, so I need to continue this.
Today I also portion and froze chicken that I had purchased. Last time I bought chicken this way I let it sit in my fridge too long and it went to waste, not to mention smelled.
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Post by imamess on Nov 5, 2015 8:14:37 GMT -5
I have leftover celery, 2/3 of a green pepper and a half an onion in the fridge. This week I have made cornbread twice and after I ate and the bread cooled, I crumbled it up into a big ziplock bag and popped it in the freezer. I will take the leftover veggies, chop and cook in a little bit of water and use with the crumbled cornbread and some home canned squash to make squash dressing. The last time I made this, I had way too much and wound up throwing some out after too long in the fridge. This time, I'm going to portion the mixture out into small Corning ware dishes and freeze some. Then I can thaw and put into the oven later.
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