Dear Readers,

The other day I was looking through my pantry, other food cupboards, freezer and fridge, trying to take stock of what I have before making a grocery list.  I’m embarrassed to admit this right now, but I may have a problem!

As I slowly took inventory, a question came to mind “am I a food hoarder?”  No, it’s just not possible, not me!  But it may be true.

The thing is that I’ve always been the type of person who takes care of others, so maybe my food hoarding is in hopes that I may have to save the world someday or something equally ridiculous.  I can’t blame it on having kids, because I don’t, so there’s no need to have so much food on hand.  Maybe I’m subconsciously worried that WWIII may happen tomorrow? 

Whatever it is, I started to feel guilty thinking about all the people who would be more than happy to get their hands on at least one package of pasta while I sat there staring at the several unopened  packages that have probably been there for several months now.  Packages of pasta that are unopened as I snub them with my “I’m so sick of spiral pasta right now” attitude.  Wow, I realized that I needed to take immediate control of this situation.

So this is what I’ve done and it’s been working wonders for me.  Every week while preparing my grocery list, I force myself to use the ingredients I have (mostly canned, dry or frozen) until most of them have been used up. 

Here’s the list I made myself for my next grocery run:

• Can of chick peas – will buy some cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and mini Bocconcini to make a healthy salad.
• Can of pasta sauce – pick up chicken breasts and make chicken parmesan and eat with much-snubbed spiral pasta.
• Cans of tuna – bring to work with bread and make sandwiches; will save money by not buying lunches.
• Rice – use veggies that are in the freezer, pick up some chicken thighs and make a healthy stir fry.
• Whole wheat flour – use it!  That’s why you bought a bread machine remember?  Just pick up some flax seeds to make it even healthier.
• Large bag of Bruschetta crackers – will put in blender to make crumbs and use for chicken parmesan.
• Also, pick up ground chicken and use crumbs to make meatloaf.

Not bad eh?  So if you are a food hoarder like me, and you also go through your kitchen looking at various items and then asking yourself questions like “why did I buy this again?” then it’s time to take charge!  I hope this has inspired you.

Regards,

The hoping-to-be-ex-food-hoarder