Cleaning Out Your Cupboards and Refrigerator
In the beginning…the best tool I had was a black indelible marking pen! This is one of my favorite tips to pass along. I emptied my pantry, cupboards, and refrigerator shelf-by-shelf and searched for expiration dates. Not all in one day, but it felt so good when it was done. If I found a date, I circled it with the marker, and the items that didn’t have a date at all, I estimated when I bought it and wrote the month & year (or just the year) on it, like 7/10, and wrote it in an easy to spot place. I threw away anything that had expired, and also anything that I wouldn’t have felt comfortable eating right then. If I was nervous about it at all, I tossed it. It would just stay in there another month, another year, and I would never feel better about eating it. I did this with my spices also and was shocked at how much I threw out. I smelled each one and if there was little scent, it also meant little flavor. I couldn’t believe how many food items don’t have dates on them! I’m embarrassed to say I found three jars of capers in my refrigerator. None of them had a date on the jar! I was told “you can keep capers forever”. Well my forever is apparently a lot longer than other people’s forever. So I did the old sniff test, shook it around and looked at it, and went with my gut on which one was the freshest — wrote a year on it and tossed the other two. I don’t go through staples, condiments, or spices very quickly cooking for one, and I didn’t want to have to throw out that much food again.
The trick to this system is that it doesn’t help much if you just do it when you clean and that’s it. I keep the marker in a kitchen drawer and whenever I come home from the market, I mark the month and date on EVERYTHING as I’m unloading the bags, before putting it away. Then the marker goes back in the same spot in the drawer. It has to be in a spot that’s easy to grab and put away, so you don’t have to waste a second finding it. It’s become a habit now and takes so little time! This way, as you are cooking and using your foods, you can easily see and use, for instance, your oldest can of tuna first. It doesn’t mean it’s old, but it’s not going to get stuck in the back and not used and then next time you’re cleaning your cupboard, you toss it out because you don’t remember buying that brand, so it must be at least 15 years old (maybe an exaggeration). Anyway, it’s only developing a habit, and then it’s no big deal. I used to burn a lot of CDs and the best thing to write on them was a Sharpie (indelible marker), so I figured if a CD would take a Sharpie, then a can of soup will too. Any permanent marker will do and I’m not trying to sell Sharpies (I’m using it as a generic name, like Kleenex). It will write on glass jars, paper cartons, plastic bags, aluminum cans…anything that’s in my kitchen. Maybe everyone else already does this but no one told me!
To summarize:
- Look for dates on items.
- Circle the date or add an estimated date of purchase with a black permanent marker.
- Decide on a place to keep your marker that’s handy.
- Mark everything you bring home from the market with the current month & year before putting it away.
- Put your marker away in the same spot!