Shopping, the fridge and the freezer

Why do I do what I know I shouldn't?

We are eating leftovers for dinner again tonight, which is OK, if a little boring. But there are other leftovers to be used as well as vegetables in the vegetable drawer which should be used before long, not to mention the legion of jars of condiments on the top shelf.

The real problem however is the freezer which is stuffed to the gills and I don't really know half of what is in there. So, having been brave and used up a couple of things lurking in there the other day, I have decided that I shall dedicate the month of June to clearing out the freezer. A week is not long enough.

So let me first explain my problem and then consider how I got there, and how I can prevent it happening again.

Let's begin with the door. I don't feel too bad about the top shelf. In there are balls of pastry, ready to be turned into quiche or pasties, or something similar. When I make pastry, unless it's for something really special involving a non-standard recipe for the pastry, I make a big batch, divide it into quiche sized balls and use it. They get used regularly, so yes that shelf is a demonstration of how a freezer should be used.

The next shelf down has odds and ends. Butter bought on a special, Parmesan rinds, and depleted corn cobs for adding to stocks. All of these things too do indeed get used, although less regularly than the pastry.

Then we descend into dodgier territory. Fish I bought on a whim and then decided against cooking, packets of sausages bought on a whim as well, or else, because - like the packed of Coles Finest chorizo sausages - they were much reduced in price because they were approaching their use by date. All good decisions, but alas, they generally stay there for rather longer than they should. Oh and the Bulla choc icecreams that David eats. Well that's David and they do get eaten.

So on the whole - not too awful a guilt trip.

The upper shelves of the freezer. On the top shelf packages of frozen vegetables and fruits, although behind them is a container of mango icecream - bought vanilla with mango purée stirred through - which I totally forget about - you can see why - and which really should just be thrown out. It is probably almost a couple of years old. Maybe that will be my first clean-up decision tomorrow. I'm putting this all off until tomorrow.

The frozen fruit does not get used as often as it should but it's just OK and the vegetables - spinach, corn and peas - do get used on a regular basis.

On the centre shelf below the ice making section, is a chicken bought just this week, because it was on a special - let's hope it doesn't get forgetten, because I could fancy a roast chicken sometme soon; mysterious frozen pale green cream thing, which I should thaw and find out what it is and some frozen almost butter - we buy a few tubs on special, freeze them and use them fairly quickly. The large package at the front is frozen plums, which I actually think are left here accidentally by my daughter-in-law after their summer holiday trip. They left the contents of their freezer with us whilst away. There are a lot of plums in there, so it's a bit of a problem. At the back is a kipper and two tubs of frozen home-made chicken stock, which does get used.

On the bottom shelf shown here, are frozen puff pastry - a useful standby; a tub of icecream which is needed when the grandchildren visit, and some leftover frozen meals, plus a container of home-made plum compote and half leg of lamb - a recent purchase. So so in terms of guilt.

So far, so almost good, and relatively easily cleared, if I focus on eating those frozen meals.

At the bottom, however, are the real problems. The really guilty part of the freezer. Above the enclosed drawers are - another half leg of lamb, balls of mince, sitting on yet another half quiche or something similar. At the back are three containers of other pre-cooked meals. One I have actually labelled - chickpea meatballs with an actual date - the other two - well I don't know - but one is soup I think. Surprise dinners coming up. I actually used to use the minced meat on a regular basis, but I don't seem to have done so of late, so I shall have to investigate something other than spaghetti and meatballs to use it up. It's fortunately not too old.

Below that are two meat drawers - the top theoretically for chicken and pork, the lower for beef and lamb. But I think they have become confused. I dread to think what might be in them. There will be some chicken breasts, I know, and they do indeed get used regularly - but the rest? Really I don't know. When I pluck up the courage to check I suspect there will be some that will be for the green bin. One thing I do know is in there is a poussin - a very small chicken - which is literally years old. Also a chunk of brisket which I bought on a whim because I had seen a lot of stuff about brisket and it was on a special. I thought I would try it out - but have yet to do so - I hope not so long ago bought that it will have to be thrown out. Some of it - rump steak, pork steaks and chops - are probably not very old, but others are.

It's a challenge and one that I must tackle.

But how did I allow this to happen? I know the rules. Batch cook, label carefully, package properly, and then use in the allotted time-frame. Regularly inspect and move the old to the front. None of which I do of course.

And why are some of those things there at all? Which brings me to shopping and which probably deserves a proper post of its own.

The major mistake of my shopping habits is concentrating on specials and reduced prices. This is all down to my relatively poor childhood, and young life. Money was short and so shopping was careful in the sense that one bought in the cheapest stores and markets. When I was a young wife, living in Hampstead and working in Hackney I would do my shopping in Hackney because of the price differential. And I never bought too much because I just didn't have the money - or the storage space. No freezer and a tiny fridge.

When I came to Australia I discovered Specials. I don't think they had them in England at the time and they were in their early days here as well - and only in specific supermarkets that no longer exist and whose names I can no longer remember. At the same time we invested in an Australian fridge/freezer which was huge to our eyes. And our first home came with a kitchen with lots of cupboards. Well I thought they were lots at the time. That thrifty upbringing hung around, and so from then until now, I/we always are conscious of specials. Sometimes we use them as we should - waiting until the basics we always use come on to a special price; buying fresh food when it's in season - but sometimes it's just too hard to resist a particularly tempting offer, particularly in the fresh section. LIke the fennel I bought just the other day. It looked lovely, it was relatively cheap - remembering that we are living in expensive times - and I do like fennel. But I'm guessing that it probably won't get used until it's past it's beautiful fresh best. Hopefully by the end of next week, but maybe not. Like the last zucchini that I had to throw out because I had been suckered into buying a large container of I'm Perfect or maybe The Odd Bunch, seconds, and this last one had gone off. There are only two of us. I don't need to buy a large quantity just because it's cheaper to do it that way. The problem is that I have the money and the space, and it's a bargain! Big mistake.

Ditto for the leftover meals. Somehow I just cannot make something for two people rather than four. Particularly when it comes to things like quiches. And I do have small quiche tins. So why don't I make small ones?

Of late I have been a little bit better on the oversize meals in that the non eaten part is frozen - the danger being that it will be forgotten. And maybe that's because I love cooking so much that it's boring to just reheat something, or take it out of the freezer and reheat.

Anyway - vow taken. It's the first day of June and the first day of winter too, and so it will be a month of clearing the freezer of all the old stuff, and the fridge of the stuff that's going off - including reducing the number of all those jars on the top shelf. So I should also vow not to buy anything more until I have used everything I already have. It's a fasting day tomorrow, and on Tuesday I need to tackle the leftovers in the fridge, but then I shall tackle one of those meat drawers. I'll let you know how I go.

YEARS GONE BY

June 1

2024 - Beans, toast - an expanding world

2023 - Three moments in time - gnocchi

2022 - A tale of two Junes

2021 - Making your own cheese

2020 - Deleted

2019 - Nothing

2018 - Poppies - beauty and death

2017 - Nothing - the entire month of June is absent - because we were on holiday in France