Pantry Purge

by Mandy Weger on June 20, 2011

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately throwing things away.  It started with my bi-annual closet sweep where I got rid of 4 full trashbags worth of old clothes, shoes, and general crap we had in the bedroom (yes, we’re donating some of it!).

Then this weekend, I decided to do a pantry purge.  I got rid of chips and cookies and pre-packaged “heat & eat” items.  We really haven’t been eating those items for months and months, but I never threw them away, so it was time for that.

I also went through our spice cabinet and baking cabinet to reorganize and pare down to the essentials.

Obviously, we have quite a few bare essentials.  But I really did throw a ton away!!

One thing I have no idea what to do with…

Someone gifted Mike 6 pounds of Emeril’s Essence.  Seriously??  I never use the stuff but didn’t throw this away…it’s just…a ridiculous amount of Emeril’s Essence!

Finally, I took an inventory of our kitchen and nearly everything we had in our refrigerator and pantry.  Here’s where the shame started to kick in.  We are typically a “no-list” shopping couple.  We’ll make lists if we absolutely need to, but for the most part, we would head to the grocery store and buy things we thought we needed.  And then we brought them home, shoved them in the freezer, and forgot about them.  The next week, we’d do the same.  Then we switched over to mostly farmer’s market items, and REALLY started to ignore those items we bought so long ago because we were excited about fresh foods.

So after I made the inventory list, I came up with meals to actually USE these ingredients that we bought so long ago.  I came up with 14 solid meals with what we currently have in our kitchen.  Factor in leftovers and an occasional night-out, we’re probably looking at 3 weeks of meals.  Three weeks!!  We’ll of course still pick up veggies at the market and other items to supplement the meals, but I can’t believe we have so many meals right at our fingertips, yet would still head out to buy more chicken or beans, ground hamburger or pasta.

Do you stock your kitchen up and then forget to eat what you bought?  Do you enjoy purging your house of things you don’t need, or do you dread it?  Also, do you need Emeril’s Essence?  I got plenty to go around.

 

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  • http://lazykitchenette.com Jess

    I can’t wait to see what you make with all those ingredients! Chris and I are very much “list people.” We even have an app on our phones where we can share a grocery list and calendar. I tend to plan my meals on Sunday for the upcoming week (usually using the weather as my guide), and I’ll make a list of what we need and put in each meal on the calendar so we know which veggies to buy on each day. The only downside is that I’m often not diligent with re-stocking low-inventory items, and so I’ll forget that we only have 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs left for a dish that calls for 2 cups. I’ll just look in the cabinet on Sunday, see that there is a can of breadcrumbs there, and assume there’s enough. Haha! Living so close to a grocery store makes remedying that easy, but Chris still complains as if I’m sending him cross-country in search of the Holy Grail when I ask him to go to the store last minute.

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  • http://www.loveandrenovations.com Amanda

    I’m big on making lists for the grocery store! I always plan out our meals for a week or so, then I’ll make a list. I do always try to challenge myself to find meals with what we already have in the house, though. Right now we need to go grocery shopping but we haven’t had time, so my meals have been getting very, um, creative lately!

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  • http://www.gatorhannah.com Hannah

    We coupon so we have to make lists. I also am happy donating the food that we don’t end up eating (like getting a few too many cheap boxes of rice) after a few weeks of sitting in the pantry.

    I’d really suggest couponing because not only does it help you save money but it helps you make an easy shopping list!

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  • http://www.winecheeseplease.com Laura

    I make lists, but I tend to pick up “extra” things when they are on sale–it’s getting to a “hoarders” level though! For example, we eat a lot of black beans. They’ve been on sale recently, and I bought another can today. When I got home, I realized we already had 4 cans. GroceryFAIL.

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  • http://fromscratchblog.wordpress.com Abby

    I try to make lists for things that I need, but sometimes I forget and think I need to get more pasta and will get home and see that I have three boxes. :) I guess I need to get better at making lists!

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