Thursday, June 4, 2009

FRUGAL FRIDAY

I have been thinking about shopping in my own kitchen pantry and freezer lately. By that I mean that I need to use up what I have on my shelves and in my freezer before I run to the grocery store for ingredients to fix a meal.

We only live about 4 blocks from a grocery store, so it would have been mighty easy to run over there to get things for fixing breakfast for company this week. Instead of going to the store for breakfast tacos or ingredients for some fancy breakfast dish, I decided to use what I had. The night before I checked and saw that I had more than a dozen eggs, plenty of milk and some cheese for scrambled eggs. I rummaged in my freezer and found some turkey sausage links that I put out to thaw. I also had a can of biscuits that I needed to use before the expiration date ran out. I also had butter, two kinds of preserves, salsa and catsup for the eggs and orange juice, coffee or tea to drink. Voila! Breakfast without even leaving the house for a run to the grocery store--and it did not cost me anything except some pre-planning time.

Thinking ahead might be the key to using what I have rather than doing the last-minute run to the grocery store for whatever pops into my head to fix for a meal. This use of what I have also prevents having to throw things out because they have spoiled or gone past their expiration date. And, this evening I did find some spinach leaves in the bottom of my vegetable drawer that had seen better days. A little pre-planning would have allowed me to toss them in a salad a couple of days ago. What a shame!

4 comments:

  1. Pat - I love your comments about shopping in your cupboard. What a "green" thing to do. That is said very tongue-in-cheek. Yet I love the idea. Waste is not good at all and creativity is always a plus.
    I have used the same technique of shopping in my clothes closet, making new matches instead of buying something new.
    I'm sure your guests were thrilled.

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  2. This is great. I need to clean out my pantry this afternoon with the girls and make it a game of what we can have for meals this week!

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  3. I've been doing a lot of the same of late. I don't know why it is, but all too often I stock up on bargains and then they get lost in the black hole of freezer or pantry. Then, when I do go to fish something out, it's way past the pull date or has freezer burn, and into the garbage it goes! So much for my bargain ...

    Anyway, I'm trying to do better. I'm just relieved I'm not the ONLY one.

    Be blessed,
    Kathleen

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  4. I hate to waste a thing anymore and try to make myself use up everything. I make a pot of soup every week or so with all the leftover veggies.

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