As you know by now, FHBGirl and I have been working really hard to save money. We are in the home-buying process (for a variety of reasons) and want to be able to make a down-payment, cover closing costs, and everything else associated with a move. A few months ago we decided that the best way to do this was to make a decree to stop eating out and to manage our food better. This has led to some interesting concoctions coming out of the fridge; I do all of the cooking in our home so I’ve really had to improvise a few times.
A few nights ago, we had a ‘clean out the fridge’ special. We were low on supplies and our scheduled grocery store visit wasn’t for another day, so we had to make do. We pulled almost everything we had out of the refrigerator and took a look. In the end, we made what I’ve now dubbed ‘kitchen sink omelets.’
Here’s what we found in the fridge and freezer:
- Some old frozen stewing beef
- Half of a yellow squash
- A red bell pepper
- Some bleu cheese crumbles
- Half a dozen eggs
- Half of an onion
- A clove of garlic
And so on….
I think you can all see where this is going.
The basic principle is that you shouldn’t be afraid to mix and match odd things together. It turns out that a steak-pepper-squash-onion-garlic-cheese-and-the-kitchen-sink-omelet is pretty tasty!
Look into your refrigerator, your freezer, and the back of your cupboards. Take an inventory of what you have on hand and put some thought into what you can make with it. We’ve been finding all sorts of things we forgot we had or haven’t thought about in a while, and need to use up before they go bad. Though spring cleaning omelets were the most recent foray, not too long ago I made kung pao chicken and beef over linguine noodles with what we had left over (some peanuts, celery, peppers, and spices) and it was delicious.
If you have a decent feel for what flavors go together, you’ve got a pretty good chance at making a palatable meal out of whatever you can find on hand. If you don’t have a clue, you’ve still got a good chance! Just mix things you think might work. A word of advice: don’t mix ketchup, coffee, or peanuts together. None of those work. At. All. Trust me.
Even if it is something simple like a sandwich or pasta salad, think about what you’ve just done:
- You didn’t pay someone else $15 for a meal,
- You didn’t drive around looking for a place to eat,
- You didn’t throw away food that went bad,
- You probably had a healthier meal than you would have gotten otherwise,
- You got to spend some time with your family (or you developed a new skill!), and
- You tried out a new recipe, and have a better idea of what to do or not to do next time.
Not bad for a few minutes spent rummaging around in the back of that cupboard! Do a spring cleaning meal once a week or so and you’ll be surprised how the savings accumulate.
Tags: budget activities, experiences, food, grocery store, life, waste
