Food Challenge #2 - Preparation: Grocery Shopping and Fridge/Freezer Organization
I went "big" grocery shopping yesterday, because I had a ride, and came home with a lot of meat that has to go into the freezer, and some fruits and veggies, since I'm going to try to eat five fruits and veggies a day in the new challenge. The one thing I didn't get was dried beans, so I'll be going out next week to get those.
Aldi did not have a great selection of fresh veggies and they have a tiny selection of frozen veggies, so I'll hit WalMart next week to get my dried beans and more veggies (fresh and frozen). I miss Save-a-lot because they have the best frozen food section, and really cheap. I also got a 10-lb. bag of potatoes for $2.29, which will last me at least a month. I usually get my eggs from Dollar General, because they are cheaper than any place around here.
Dividing Up The Meat
I spent about $75 yesterday, mostly because I got meat. I got 5 lbs. of ground beef (not on sale, but only 2.29/lb.), a large pack of chicken legs (on sale for .79/lb.) and a 10 lb. spiral-sliced honey-cured ham for 95 cents a pound. I have ribs in the freezer, so that should be enough meat for the month, and probably beyond, since I'm only feeding myself..
I break up the hamburger into 1-lb. and 1/2 lb. bags, the chicken legs into 4-packs and the ham gets eaten on for a few days, then the rest is cut up in chunks and slices and put in the freezer for later use. Ham and eggs are going to be really good for breakfast this morning!
Eliminating Food Waste
One goal of the challenge is to stop wasting food. I went through my fridge and freezer to make room, and found a disaster. In the freezer was a container of soup, several containers of chicken broth and one of pork roast broth that had been in there so long, they were freezer burned, so I put them in the sink to defrost overnight so I can toss them. My freezer is so disorganized, so I have to get into it today to fix that so I can put all the meat in.
In the fridge I found several "science experiments" in plastic containers that have to be tossed. This is what I'm saying about wasting food. I tend to make too much of something, put it in the fridge to "eat tomorrow" and never eat it. THIS MUST STOP! I don't have a ton of money to spend on food, so one of my main goals in this challenge is to make smaller portions and eat up all leftovers before they spoil.
Purging Plastics
What a mess! Today, I'll be dumping and washing all containers, and while I'm at it, I'm going to start purging plastics. I started hoarding plastics way back when I was a single mom and couldn't afford good plastic containers, so I saved every plastic I got something in that could be reused. I used some for food, some for gardening, but I ended up with way too many. I can't seem to break that habit.
So today, I'm going to purge all the ones that I don't need, and only keep the ones that are going to be used. I have one set that stacks nicely in the cabinet, so I'm going to use those to store things like beans, pastas, grains, etc. just to make more room. The old deli meat containers will be relegated to gardening supplies, and the old cottage cheese, cream cheese and others will be recycled.
I've done this purging once in the last 3 years, so it's time. I knew it was time when I could find no place to put all the extra containers, but kept putting it off because "I might need them one day." NO, I won't. They have to go!
Tomorrow, I'll be making a menu plan, so stay tuned! The challenge starts on April 1. No, it's not an April Fools joke, it really is going to start then.
Aldi did not have a great selection of fresh veggies and they have a tiny selection of frozen veggies, so I'll hit WalMart next week to get my dried beans and more veggies (fresh and frozen). I miss Save-a-lot because they have the best frozen food section, and really cheap. I also got a 10-lb. bag of potatoes for $2.29, which will last me at least a month. I usually get my eggs from Dollar General, because they are cheaper than any place around here.
Dividing Up The Meat
I spent about $75 yesterday, mostly because I got meat. I got 5 lbs. of ground beef (not on sale, but only 2.29/lb.), a large pack of chicken legs (on sale for .79/lb.) and a 10 lb. spiral-sliced honey-cured ham for 95 cents a pound. I have ribs in the freezer, so that should be enough meat for the month, and probably beyond, since I'm only feeding myself..
I break up the hamburger into 1-lb. and 1/2 lb. bags, the chicken legs into 4-packs and the ham gets eaten on for a few days, then the rest is cut up in chunks and slices and put in the freezer for later use. Ham and eggs are going to be really good for breakfast this morning!
Eliminating Food Waste
One goal of the challenge is to stop wasting food. I went through my fridge and freezer to make room, and found a disaster. In the freezer was a container of soup, several containers of chicken broth and one of pork roast broth that had been in there so long, they were freezer burned, so I put them in the sink to defrost overnight so I can toss them. My freezer is so disorganized, so I have to get into it today to fix that so I can put all the meat in.
In the fridge I found several "science experiments" in plastic containers that have to be tossed. This is what I'm saying about wasting food. I tend to make too much of something, put it in the fridge to "eat tomorrow" and never eat it. THIS MUST STOP! I don't have a ton of money to spend on food, so one of my main goals in this challenge is to make smaller portions and eat up all leftovers before they spoil.
Purging Plastics
What a mess! Today, I'll be dumping and washing all containers, and while I'm at it, I'm going to start purging plastics. I started hoarding plastics way back when I was a single mom and couldn't afford good plastic containers, so I saved every plastic I got something in that could be reused. I used some for food, some for gardening, but I ended up with way too many. I can't seem to break that habit.
So today, I'm going to purge all the ones that I don't need, and only keep the ones that are going to be used. I have one set that stacks nicely in the cabinet, so I'm going to use those to store things like beans, pastas, grains, etc. just to make more room. The old deli meat containers will be relegated to gardening supplies, and the old cottage cheese, cream cheese and others will be recycled.
I've done this purging once in the last 3 years, so it's time. I knew it was time when I could find no place to put all the extra containers, but kept putting it off because "I might need them one day." NO, I won't. They have to go!
Tomorrow, I'll be making a menu plan, so stay tuned! The challenge starts on April 1. No, it's not an April Fools joke, it really is going to start then.
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