I guess it depends on how cold your refrigerator is? Maybe it last longer than a few weeks but I don’t count on it. Once I open a sour cream it usually gets used in a few weeks anyway. I guess just be careful of mold.
Also, if a larger container is cheaper than a smaller container, although it is waste, I wouldn’t worry very much about some of it going bad. Really.
Haha, our fridge regularly freezes things so maybe that is why. I haven’t had frozen sour cream yet though.
I just hate tossing stuff; you can’t compost dairy. Oh well. There are worse things for the environment, I guess.
Already messed this up and ended up paying for lunch for three people today. Not mad about it, since one paid for lunch for me yesterday and one will pay for dinner tomorrow, just unexpected. At least it was pho and not too expensive.
I already messed up too… I thought telling myself not to buy chips would work but at midnight I went to the 24 hr grocery store for … Chips! If you’re hungry you’re hungry . Apparently I still need to eat chips so I’m hoping I could make some at home? I don’t have a deep fryer but maybe baked or pan fried
Beef stew made, but I think I am off red meat again. Which is poor timing, because there a 3 cups of beef coconut curry and 5 cups of pulled pork in the fridge.
Plus I defrosted a package of bacon and we bought two whole chickens because it was a good sale. This is much too much meat for two people.
I’ve already found four more perishable things to add to my list (edited above). Have finished the party cheese.
I’m trying to produce less plastic waste and use up some stuff already in my kitchen (I have so much tea that has been given to me as gifts).
Eat down freezer
Eat that Trader Joe’s lentil soup that’s been in my cupboard for 6+ months
Buy snacks from bulk section with reusable containers
Drink 1 cup of tea a day
Make pitcher of iced tea
Bring lunch and snacks to work, and bring utensils, reusable napkins, reusable containers, etc when doing so
Avoid buying from cafeteria and vending machines at work (I put a container of oatmeal in my desk in case I run out of packed food. I will bring a spoon and jar tomorrow to leave at my desk so I don’t use single use cups or plastic).
Bring my own mug and tea to work
If anyone in Portland is interested in making their own kombucha, I have a ton of spare SCOBYs. Just started a half gallon batch yesterday.
I’m using up cherries that I cannot possibly eat before they go bad in pies. Yum.
The timing of this challenge is perfect. I’m in.
I moved in October, November was hell, December was better but busy and stressful. All this to say that my food budget has suffered immensely.
Goals:
The “eat more fruit” means literally any fruit at this point - I’ve been really bad about eating any at all. Veggies are suffering massively too, which means I’ve really only been eating meat and starchy processed foods for the past several months.
Eating out “if necessary” means if I’m caught spending more time away from work/home than planned and I get hunger nausea or cranky. It doesn’t happen often, but I live very far from work and the town I usually spend time in, so it’s possible and I want to give myself a little grace.
Last weekend I batch prepped oven roasted asparagus, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, all tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper; Fresh green beans that were boiled, tossed in butter, salt and pepper; oven roasted chicken thighs.
My dad’s oven is ancient, poor quality in the first place, and filthy. Like it keep setting off the smoke detector. And he swears you need to turn it to 25 degrees less than “heating instructions,” but for veggies and chicken that meant more like 50 degrees. I hate it.
I’m going to try to prep at my sister’s place or my BFF’s place - it’s a win/win. They desperately want to save money/eat better too, and I need an actually functioning kitchen to work in.
The asparagus ended up slightly too done for reheating, so while they’ve been delicious, they’ve been limpppppp and mildly slimy. Green beans held up well. Chicken is always good. Sweet potatoes could have used more flavor, and I’m going to leave the skins on next time. But I’ve been eating that meal every day this week and have not been tempted to buy lunch at work.
I’m also adding to mine that I’m going to attempt to stay as much out of the supermarkets as possible. I say this every month and then I get slack but I’ve got to be better about this. Only the local European grocer, farmers market and as absolute last resort, supermarket if it’s something not available elsewhere.
Welcome to the challenge!
If everyone could update in alphabetical order that would be swell. (KIDDING. Carry on as you are, I love the anarchy)
A vegan donut shop opened DIRECTLY UNDER my apartment and omg this month has officially become a real challenge.
Cherries freeze really well too!
Since January 1 I have eaten down without replacement:
So far I have spent $8.61 on groceries and only on necessities and produce (milk, lemon juice, cucumber, and avocados). I still have enough produce (carrots, onions, potatoes, cabbage, frozen beans, frozen zucchini) for this week. I still have some frozen fish. I baked sourdough crackers last night and a loaf of bread this morning. I learned how to make flour tortillas and I think I might be able to use all that self-rising flour I have to make them. I made yogurt on Wednesday and used some of it to make tzatziki last night. I have not added to my stock of bulk or staple items, so I am net negative (which is good and the goal of this exercise for me). I had to throw away a small heel of bread because I let it sit too long and it got moldy (my bad). I forgot to get AP flour, and I will need tahini very soon.
You know, I should really join in; the chest freezer needs defrosted and we have to eat a bunch from it before we can do that. Started in on that tonight with some burgers (I really don’t like red meat and like home cooked burgers less than that).
But I’m going to make a goal to eat something from that freezer at least five times a week, and another to add nothing to that freezer except chicken if we run out or leftovers from other things we’ve cooked from our stocks.
Hmm. Should I remove the pits first?
The cherry pies were delicious, and I now have bread rolls to use up.
I typically do, though I’ve heard you can freeze with pits and then when you thaw them out, the cherries are softened so you can pit them with your bare hands. I have not tried it, though.
One caveat: if you plan to dry the cherries, apparently you’re not supposed to freeze them first.
I have a bag of tart cherries and 2 bags of sweet cherries in my freezer right now. Yun!
It’s early, but I got a lot of meal prep done Wednesday: rice, split pea soup, and carrot muffins. Yesterday I got one of my allotted coffees out: it was a long planned meetup, with a friend but almost more of a business meeting.
Today I did grab snacks while I was at work, but I’m PMSing and had an unexpectedly rotten day, and I only spent about $3:50, and I didn’t make a rule against angst snacks… though perhaps I ought to have!