I know many of you already do this but many don't so here it is - take stock of what you have.
A couple times a year (really should be more often) I do a freezer & pantry inventory. I am always surprised at the amount of food I have amassed. There are always several items I have completely forgotten about.
I did an inventory a few weeks ago - with the items I found, I came up with 29 meals. 29!
I have been grocery shopping each week and I really didn't need to be.
I have created a spread sheet listing all the food I have and the possible meal combinations - as I use something up, I scratch it off the list. At a glance I can see what we have and what my meal choices are.
I am now doing a grocery exile - I only buy what I need each week, such as milk and fresh veggies. The plan is to use up much if not all of what I have.
If you are like me - you like to stock up when prices are good - problem is you end up forgetting all the food you actually have on hand.
As of today, I still have 20 meals to chose from.
Happy inventorying! (?)
6 comments:
Great tip! I don't have that much stockpiled, mainly due to lack of space. However, it is amazing what we can come up with if we really use our resources, isn't it? I'd be interested to see your meal plans. Thanks again for the tip!
Thanks for the reminder! I still need to inventory my pantry! A couple of weeks ago, I did a freezer inventory and found that I had enough meat to last me a few weeks.
I never thought about doing a spreadsheet though with all the meal combinations available from my stock. :) Hummm something to think about!
I love this idea! I've taken inventory, but never thought to make a chart of possible meals. Brilliant!
I go through my pantry, freezer, and garden every week as I write my menu plan and shopping list. I 'shop' at home first, then write down any ingredients needed from elsewhere.
Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Kate
Kate
We were definitely on the same wavelength with this one! I like the inventory idea. My struggle is with organization...I like to be able to be creative with my meals, but tend to waste some time with my "creativity". Spreadsheets would definitely help! Thanks for visiting my blog!
I'm almost done with the inventory! Freezer list is done, pantry is almost complete. I've been doing a weekly menu on the calendar based on what we have on hand and shop for missing ingredients, but I've also been trying to save money by buying things when they're on sale and I have a coupon, which is where the overabundance has come from. Our goal for March is to eat everything down.
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