This week, we started the Waste Not Want Not Challenge to avoid food (and money) waste. In order to begin the challenge, I thought it was important to understand expiration dates and clean out your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry to get a fresh start.
If you tossed any food, I would encourage you to snap pictures and either load them to our Facebook group or the Meet Penny Facebook page in order to maintain accountability.
And now comes the embarrassing part.
Just remember that I already confessed that my kitchen habits had grown terrible.
I started by cleaning out the refrigerator. I went through condiments and all the shelves (from top to bottom) cleaning as I went.
What did I discover? Oh boy…
I knew those strawberries needed to be frozen. I knew they were getting to bad to eat. But I was lazy and did not take the time to wash and core them and now look… they are a putrid mess!
And I have no idea where the McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets came from nor how long they had been in the refrigerator. They were probably a treat for the kids while I was out of town two weeks ago.
The chicken breast… Yikes. I buy these packs to put on salads for my lunch but then I grow tired of salads. This one had expired over a month ago.
As for the sauerkraut, I wanted it for a hotdog. One hotdog. I am the only one who will eat it and I will only eat ONE hotdog because I hate them. So WHY did I buy the dumb stuff to begin with?
I honestly have no idea how old the yeast is since I bought it in bulk and we have not had a Sam’s Club membership in over a year.
The chopped salad kit was supposed to be lunch but I went out of town and then forgot about it… until a yellow sludge formed in the package. Disgusting!
Next up, the hotdog chili sauce that went with the sauerkraut. A little more of this was eaten since my hubby had some too but the rest was placed in the back of the refrigerator and forgotten until it had separated and turned colors.
How blue is blue cheese supposed to be? Thank goodness there wasn’t much left in this container!
The red pepper jelly was (cough) green. The salad dressings all had various expirations dates from about a year ago. And the grape tomatoes that had shriveled away to raisins? (Do tomatoes become raisins? They aren’t sun-dried since they were on top of my microwave. Microwave-dried tomatoes?)
After the refrigerator, I turned to the pantry and thank goodness! Nothing was looking terrible except…
Those poor potatoes.
Food Waste = Money Waste
- Strawberries – approximately $0.75
- 6 McD’s Chicken Nuggets – approximately $2.00
- Chicken Breast – $2.50
- Sauerkraut – approximately $1.00
- Yeast – $4.00
- Chopped Salad Kit – $2.50
- Hotdog Chili Sauce – $0.50
- Blue Cheese – approximately $1.00
- Ken’s Salad Dressing – approximately $2.00
- Poppy Seed Dressing – approximately $1.00
- Cocktail Sauce – approximately $1.00
- Red Pepper Jelly – approximately $1.00
- Grape Tomatoes – approximately $0.50
- 5 pound bag Russet Potatoes – $3.50
Total food waste value? Approximately $23.25.
{{blush}}
As if what I am about to tell you were any better… On Sunday, I will show you what I discovered in my stockpile.
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