A Revamped Ref

So i finished my weekend project today, and it isn't even sunday yet, yipee!  you will be proud of what i've accomplished.  plus, i've also managed to replenish my inventory which i think will be enough to last us a week.  i used to hoard food, thinking it would be better than going back to the supermarket all the time to restock.  but i realized that i still ended up going to the supermarket weekly for one thing or the other, once per week at the very least, so now i just buy what is urgently needed[read: needed within the week].  this strategy alone has slashed a few thousand pesos off my monthly supermarket bill.

my goal now is to produce zero-waste or at least keep it to the barest minimum.  i so hate to be wasteful.  money should be spent wisely and not thrown into the trashcan. =P

so this is what i did:

i cleaned out the ref and freezer in increments just in case i couldn't finish it in one go.  i did the freezer first, emptied it and washed all the removable shelves and noted down items that needed to be used first.  i had to throw out some old root beer popsicles that had been sitting there for far too long.

the freezer looks almost empty because i refused to buy any uncooked meat until i use up what i already have, this resolve forces me to be creative in my recipes, and is a nifty money-saver trick too.  oh, and that is not ice cream in the big brown box over there, it's raw marinated tilapia.  ice cream containers are made for freezers, so keep one or two of them for uses like these.

i also put the same things together, like pre-marinated meat in one tray, unseasoned meat in the other, and ice-cream and frozen sweets at the corners.  i put all the deli meats, as well as the nuts and the ginger. on the freezer door.

Rachel Ray said that it is best to keep ginger in the freezer, where they will keep indefinitely,  i've been doing this for a while now and i love how they sort of just soften up as they melt,  you don't have to mash it, it easily infuses into whatever you are cooking with aromatic spice!
side note:  i know it doesn't seem to look organized but in this way i can just take a look and i'll have a mental picture of what i already have so i don't unnecessarily buy the same things when i go to the supermarket.

with the freezer done, i tackled the ref door on my next free time.  i found plenty of gunk to get rid of.  i had probably a shelf-full of expired opened, half-used bottles, soup packets, and unopened sauces.  i've amassed quite a bit of them mostly from take-outs.  i promise never to take home unopened packets of ketchup, mayo or chili sauce ever again.

i also put the chocolate milk and juice bottles on the door for easier access, this way my kids don't have to go through all the breakables just to get at them.  i took note of all the half-used condiments, fruit preserves and relishes so i can plan recipes where i can use them up by next week.

i read somewhere that you are not supposed to keep eggs on the egg tray at the ref door, and that to keep them fresh longer, you store them in their original packaging in one of the shelves.  but i always put them on the egg tray as there is no need to store them for long.  we are an egg-loving family, so we consume eggs as fast as we buy them.

i did the main ref last when i did not have to hurry while doing it as it had many parts which were detachable and therefore washable.  i decided to experiment by removing a shelf to give the adult beverages more room to stand tall, lol.  i figured i didn't need the extra shelf because it used to hold junk i've been keeping for years! [you read that right!]  i got rid of the junk, took note of the ones which were usable so i can include them in my recipes next week. 

the chiller holds the cheeses, butter and opened deli meats.  i keep the kiddie vitamins and medicines in a tray in the ref and keep a list of the expiry dates in their babybooks.  the bread go into the veggie crisper, it's quite roomy now because unless i'm going to cook it on the same day, i don't buy leafy greens.  left over food and 'reheatables' ALL stay TOGETHER on the bottom shelf for easy reference.  i made a new rule that we don't cook anything new unless there is room on the bottom shelf to take in new arrivals.

i'm devising a new way to plan weekly recipes which will enable me to save on my food expenses and more importantly, help me not let anything go to waste.  i will post them as soon as i finish.  now, why don't you go check your ref out for possible monsters hiding in it. =P