Tag Archives: fridge

CLEANING HOUSE – Results

A Big Mess

A Big Mess

It has been a month since I challenged myself to only buy produce and bread products (to see my original challenge post click here). I am sooo happy I did this.  My pantry feels so much more manageable and it really forced me to get creative with my meals and use things that I already had in the pantry, freezer, and fridge.

I did end-up buying some things that I was not supposed to, but let me explain… while on this challenge my meat-loving husband decided to try living plant based for a month (with the occasional bit of seafood).  He was not ready to jump into eating plant based AND eating all whole foods, so I did buy him some mock meats.  I am so proud to say that he has been sticking with it and doing really well! 

What is clear to me is that even after completing this challenge I still have a lot of food in my pantry.  I also still have a bunch of food in my freezers, but a lot of the food in there is food I always use (I am a big fan of making big batches of meals and freezing them for another night).  I also still have a bit of meat and seafood in my fridge that I plan to share with others because I don’t see the point in throwing away food (Although I’s LOVE to throw away the chicken wings…no one’s heart needs that!). 

I really think this challenge has changed me.  I am going to try much harder to plan out my meals and not impulse buy.  I don’t need to have so much on hand.  Fresher is better!

So, here are the pantry results…

Pantry BEFORE

Pantry BEFORE

Pantry AFTER

Pantry AFTER

Pantry BEFORE

Pantry BEFORE

Pantry AFTER

Pantry AFTER

And the freezers…
Freezer BEFORE

Freezer BEFORE

Freezer AFTER

Freezer AFTER

Garage Freezer BEFORE

Garage Freezer BEFORE

Garage Freezer AFTER

Garage Freezer AFTER

3 Comments

Filed under Cleaning, Vegan, Vegetarian

CLEANING HOUSE

Suffocating Beans
Suffocating Beans

I have a problem…

Some people have a show addiction, some people have a substance addiction, I have a pantry and freezer stockpiling issue.  I think I could run a neighborhood bomb shelter for an entire month and we would all eat like kings and queens!!!  I am putting myself into rehab.  I have now made the commitment to ONLY BUY PRODUCE, BREAD, or DAIRY ALTERNATIVES for the next month.  Yikes!  Putting my goal out there in the cosmos is going to help me stay accountable. 

I took a trip to Mother’s Market today (where my husband likes to say I am amongst “my people.”) and I have to be honest, I actually had to put three things back on the shelves.  My daughter who has a gluten allergy ran out of her box of flavored gluten free (GF) oatmeal, so I absent mindedly put its replacement in the cart.  I had to stop myself and realize, “Nope, Gretchen you have plain old GF oatmeal at home.”  I am perfectly capable of flavoring plain old oatmeal for her.  My second boo boo came when I saw some vegan hamburger patties I just read about in Kris Carr’s new book (more on that later this month) and again, they went into the cart.  Ugh…back onto the freezer shelf they went.

So, here goes.  Here are the pictures of my pantry:   

More Clutter
More Clutter
More and More
More and More

And my freezers:

Kitchen Freezer
Kitchen Freezer
Outside Freezer
Outside Freezer

I’ll check back at the beginning of February and show my progress.

What are your addictions???

3 Comments

Filed under Cleaning