Wednesday, October 16, 2013

New poll up!

So here's the deal: I have not one, not two, but THREE pantries in this awesome kitchen.  The third one is a double wide, even.  They are all FULL.  Efforts have been made to toss expired food but there is still way too much stuff.

Most of it was bought for a purpose, although that purpose now escapes me.  I have a habit of finding a new recipe (or, more likely, ten new recipes) which I then gleefully buy all the ingredients for.  I organize them all (my pantries are very organized!) then promptly forget what I bought it all for.  Better record keeping might be a big help.

Anyway, as I marinate on the idea of this next year of living healthfully, I see my pantries (and fridge, and freezer) as being stumbling blocks for me.  I don't want to eat most of it but I somehow feel obligated to use it.  That would be fine except what REALLY ends up happening is that I go out and buy meals outside my home in order to avoid the whole situation.  And what does that do for me?  Makes me fatter and poorer!

So would it be insane to empty out the kitchen and start over?  I would obviously keep stuff that I see as viable meal ingredients.  But the rest?  Can I pitch it?  Donate it to a food shelf if it isn't expired?

I need a transformation in this area of my life.  Part of that transformation is simplifying things around here.  I want to cook for my family and I want to lose weight--for me I think that means creating a small rotation of meals that I really love and that are healthy.  Too much variety makes a super flexible lady like me crazy.  I can't get focused.

When I try to menu plan, I completely lose focus!  It's all too much.  I need to have food in the house for five core meals.  That's my thought.  What do you think?


4 comments:

  1. Donate, donate, toss, donate and toss! I do believe that it's next to impossible to make a major change without doing a big purge. Keep the good stuff and get rid of the stuff that's weighing you down! I promise...it will feel SO good!

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  2. I think donating some of the non-expired items to the food shelf is a great idea.

    As for helping keep yourself on track for healthy living - another way to help combat the "ugh - I don't know what I'm going to make tonight" thought is to have some meals pre-made up and in your freezer. You can test run a few recipes and those that are winners - prep up into ziplock bags (maybe dedicate a saturday afternoon to this or something) and just write the instructions on the bag and throw them in. During a crazy week - grab any meal in the freezer and get it started. Or even better - prep crock pot meals and throw them in the pot before you leave for work and when you get home, you dinner is almost ready.

    I have done this with some friends - we do a meal exchange of sorts - everyone makes up 4 or 5 versions of the same meal, puts the instructions on the bag and then we meet up, have a cocktail, catch up and everyone swaps meals. So fun and a great way to have meals ready on the fly...

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  3. Great ideas, Mindy!

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