A minor irritation blew up into a fierce confrontation
yesterday.
You see…my sweet husband, who likes to “help” organize my
pantry from time-to-time (for which I am grateful), came up with a new system
about 6+ months ago. He decided to
organize the items by date, instead of type.
That may seem, at first glance, to be a genius idea. He logically suggested that, when I want to
cook, I go to the pantry, look at the items getting ready to expire, and plan
my meal. Brilliant!
Except for one thing…me!
I’m more of a free spirit when it comes to cooking and meal prep. Don’t tell me what to cook…I want to surprise
you!
When I want to cook, I want to plan my menu based on what we
want to eat, go to the pantry, straight to where a particular type of item is
supposed to be stored, and pull out the oldest one. When we’re about to have company, I enjoy
planning what to serve and then collecting the necessary ingredients for my
beautiful menu. Doing it my husband’s
way means that I would have to figure out what I can pull together for our poor
guests with cans of expiring salmon and garbanzo beans, and if I need any
additional ingredients, I need to search through the entire pantry until I get
to the location where they are stored…”sorry dinner was late…I was trying to locate
the mayo…it was hiding in the July 2014 row”.
Well, when he organized my pantry in this new way months
ago, I protested, but it landed on deaf ears.
Then, yesterday, when I needed a can of soup for the meal I had selected,
he found that his “system” had not been maintained and that some stuff had
expired. He inquired as to why I hadn’t
gone to the pantry, found what was expiring, and made meals using those
ingredients the way he had suggested.
I guess I became a little disrespectful in my tone when I
told him that my pantry was unusable and that if he was going to “help” me with
my pantry, he should help me MY way because I am the one doing all the cooking! I may have used the word “arrogant” in there
somewhere also.
BUT, we have since come up with a fun solution…if not for my
messed-up pantry, at least for the food that is threatening to expire…
When my husband comes across an item that has nearly reached
its shelf life, he pulls it out and gives it to me. Just like the “Secret Ingredient” on one of
our favorite Food Network shows, Iron Chef!
I then have to come up with some meal that uses that surprise
ingredient. Ha! What fun!
I love a challenge and I love getting creative.
My first round was this Costco-size jar of pasta sauce that
was due to expire on September 11!
I used it to make a VERY yummy 3-Cheese Chef-Style Lasagna,
with enough leftover meat-sauce to go into the freezer for next time. (I'll save freezer organization for another post. Ha!)
My cuisine reigned supreme and everyone was happy! My husband is now searching for my next
secret ingredient challenge… STAY TUNED!
So tell me: How do
you organize your pantry? How do you
keep food from going to waste? What tips
can you share?
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