15-square fridge

Today I noticed that my refrigerator strongly resembles one of those old 15-square games where you have to repeatedly move pieces into the one empty slot in order to rearrange the other pieces. I was trying to find the leftover breakfast sausage, and there was no room to move things around; forget about actually spotting it from the front. This drives my husband crazy, and I actually hate it too though I don’t seem to be able to stop myself from creating it. I then started to plan dinner, and found that I have the same problem with my pantry cabinet. And my chest freezer. Hmmm, a pattern emerges?

I’m not sure why I do this. No-one who doesn’t eat that many carbs actually needs 5 large packages of different sizes of rice noodles in their cabinet. (Ironically, this is what I was going to purchase when a niggling thought reminded me that there might just be the right size, waaaay in the back, and hence started my 15-square battle with my cabinet). Nor several types of prepackaged asian noodles on top of that, plus 3 different brands of the Nori seaweed that goes around sushi (one is almost gone, I promise), or 4 different kinds of rice. Let’s not even focus on the bulk cous-cous that I never use because I’m not sure if it is too old, but still neglect to throw out.

I don’t know why I continually come home with more food than we can possibly eat and then cram it into every nook and cranny I can find. I wasn’t born during the depression, nor did my family starve me. But I’m beginning to have an idea of what to do about it.

A recently book club discussed, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver (an excellent book). The general idea was that their family of four decided to live as locavores – eating almost everything either home-grown or within a few miles of their home and while it was in season.

It’s a radical change in perspective for most Americans to eat what the land provides rather than what is imported at high cost from another country. In more than one sense, it is eating from the ground up rather than from the recipe book down. It involves designing meals around what is available.

Well, let’s just say that’s too ambitious for me. I like the idea, I’m just not ready or even close. But I got to thinking – I could almost feed my family of three for a year (ok, perhaps a month), just on what is in my fridge, cabinet, and freezer. That would assume of course that my child would actually eat any of the things in there, which may be unlikely and downright ludicrous in some cases….ok, well, Barbara Kingsolver’s family did pick a few things they purchased non-locally, so I could do the same – milk, orange juice, a few fresh vegetables (though I have quite the stash of frozen) – I’m sure my list will be much longer than hers. But, looking over my last grocery receipt (which is underneath the receipt for yet more kitchen organizing supplies). there are a lot of things I didn’t really need.

Some people think of April as the perfect month for resolutions as change is easier in the spring than the dead of winter. I am going to resolve to start cooking more from what I have, and bringing less into the house. Beware, family. It might get strange.

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