First of all, I need to give a disclaimer for this post. I have spent the last several weeks with quite a bit of work for my business. This is a good thing, however, as I mentioned in my previous post, sometimes a few things around the house will not get done when I am this busy.
Like one of my all time favorite activities........
At this time, I would like to acknowledge Suburban Correspondent who faithfully cleans out her refrigerator every week and then posts pictures of her finds. She is the brave pioneer of posting leftovers, so since I am kind of copying her idea, I will give her the all the credit for this.
I, however, will not be posting pictures.
You're welcome.
Today I cleaned out the refrigerator. I chose today because tomorrow is garbage day and it just seemed appropriate to get rid of a bunch of stuff that we won't be eating.
During this ordeal, I learned many valuable things.
#1. Somebody in our house really likes pickles, specifically the sandwich stacker variety. I found 5 jars of these in the fridge, two brand new, never been opened, two half full of pickles and one with a small half slice of pickle floating around in the pickle juice.
The thing is, I don't like pickles on sandwiches or hamburgers. If I did like them, then I'm quite sure that there wouldn't be that many jars in the fridge. Still, I don't understand why we just can't finish off one jar before purchasing another.
#2. If a bowl of lettuce is pushed to the back of the refrigerator and forgotten long enough, it will completely liquify.
#3. No matter how many times you tell a 4 year old that fuzzy things are cute, he will not fall in love with the leftover casserole that was found under the sour cream on the bottom shelf.
#4. You can most definitely tell when sour cream has gone bad.
#5. Anything left in the bottom drawers and shelf of my refrigerator will freeze. I have adjusted the temperature multiple times and I still end up with frozen celery and lettuce.
#6. For some reason, even though I know we won't eat the leftovers, I will still put them in the refrigerator anyway because I don't like wasting food. I guess that if you wait long enough for food to go bad, it can then be thrown away because throwing away bad food is not wasteful.
#7. My kids only like the top 1/3 of a bottle of water. (I didn't even count how many partially consumed bottles of water I removed from the refrigerator. I do know that three were in the bottom drawer because they were completely frozen)
#8. We have way too many condiments.
#9. Announcing to everyone that the refrigerator will be cleaned out will allow some serious quiet time for mom.
#10. I finally found where I stored all of my missing storage bowls.
Anyway, at this time, my refrigerator is all cleaned out! I now have room for more leftovers.
I guess that means that I have to cook doesn't it?
16 comments:
I love pickles too! We are bonding!
We have way too many condiments too. I bought a bottle of sesame oil way back for some recipe. Hated the recipe and have never used the oil since. But yep--still in the fridge, because it's not rancid, and it would be wasteful to throw away.
I need someone to just take it out and toss it for me.
I am seriously following Kristina P around the blogosphere this morning. Cleaning out my refrigerator is on my to do list... and it keeps getting pushed to the bottom. You've managed to inspire me (if you can do it, i can do it!)and yet discourage me (what on earth will I find in there?) all at the same time!
EVERYONE has to many condiments....they multiply in there when the light goes out.
I schedule leftover nights and make DH take them for lunch...I'm lucky, he like leftovers better than sandwiches! The Firdge is fairly organized, alas, it is filthy...BLECH
Hysterical! I even checked out the link and chuckled a little more. I don't feel bad that I don't clean out my frig but when I just checked it on Sunday there were 14 jars of jelly in all different phases. Yes, I lie you not...14!
You know, if you can not find the open jar in the fridge instantaneously, it is easier to open a new one. I kid you not, the last time I cleaned the fridge, way to long ago, I found 6 open ketchup bottles, most of them almost empty.
My 17 yr old eats all leftover carbs and weighs maybe 125 pounds. She is 5 ft 9. If there are mashed potatoes, leftover spaghetti, etc, she will eat them for a snack after school or at bedtime. Sam (3)loves pancakes, or at least he likes to help mix them up and pour them on the griddle. Mary will finish the leftover ones before they become petrified, usually that very day.
No pictures? Coward.
And I would assume that no one in your house likes pickles, since it seems that no one is eating them.
Condiment overload is a serious condition, with no known cure.
Oh, and don't forget the bright side: frozen veggies don't liquefy.
My Hubby is my left-over eater....but sometimes even he can't keep up. There are times when I have to throw the Tupperware away with the moldy food....I just can't stand the thought of cleaning it.
Cleaning out the fridge is on my too do list as I have realized that my tupperware cupboard is empty and my refrigerator is full of plastic.
I was thinking about tackling my own fridge tomorrow, but reading your post has made me decide to postpone the dreadful day - thanks.
YOu didn't find my storage containers in there did you, coz I don't want to clean mine out to see if they are in there. I figure they could just as easily been left there for when I brought you dinner when you were all sick...oh... never mind
P.S. (you are still friends with"her"?)
I cleaned my fridge out today, too! I'm going to have to stop saving leftovers. Leftovers just don't seem that appetizing when you don't have a microwave.
Our top shelf freezes our milk. It's quite the pain, since that's the only shelf the milk fits on.
I avoid that bottom drawer like the plague. Apparently spinach will liquefy as well. . .
My family HATES leftovers. Still, every week or so we have S&G (aka Snatch and Grab), in which I take EVERY leftover out of the fridge and put it on the counter - lids removed. I throw away the fuzzy ones, and then call the kids.
First one there gets first pick of the leftovers. Competition does wonders. No one is allowed to eat anything but the leftovers on the counter. I have teenagers who are always starving which helps.
Sometimes I take the leftover leftovers and combine them into something new or add them to something else - soup, casseroles... lasagna is a great use for the leftover spaghetti sauce we always seem to have because the kids like to eat their noodles plain.
I also like to take the multitude of condiments and combine them all into one jar. We love pickles so I buy a jumbo jar and restock the smaller one. I've been known to add tomato sauce to the ketchup when no one is looking (since this is a very popular condiment).
Peanut butter is a big issue in our house. Someone is always opening a new jar when there is clearly enough peanut butter around the edges for at least 3 more sandwiches. I scrape out the old one and put it in the new so we don't have "leftover" almost empty peanut butter jars.
Cleaning the fridge is a common punishment in our house. We used to have problems with puddles under the bottom drawers, but finally discovered the blocked tube. Nothing like stepping in icy cold water from someone opening one of the drawers and ignoring the resulting flood.
Mary in TX
#6 is also my killer... So I started composting. Now once the food has gone bad in the fridge I throw it in the compost bin. Haven't had to buy potting soil in months! And no, if you do it right it doesn't smell bad or draw flies.
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