Taking Stock

So, here's something I hadn't thought about before - the freezer in our basement. You know, it's just been down there quietly humming away since we moved it in two years ago, keeping all of our 'extra' stuff nice and cold for us. 

The problem is, we don't need any 'extra' stuff anymore. In fact, soon we're not going to need any stuff at all. At least, not any food.

That's a strange feeling. 

Usually when you move you just unload the cupboards, fridge and freezer into boxes, take them to the new place, and put them away there. (Ditto laundray stuff, cleaners, the things in your medicine cabinet, etc.. But, I digress.) 

Just to be sure that I wasn't going to be wasting food and/or wasting money, I decided to take an inventory of what we have left for food in the house, and do menus to ensure that we use it all up.

Turns out, I've got all of my suppers planned from now until the day we leave. (I guess I had more food on hand than I realized!) 

Don't get me wrong - we'll still have to do some shopping for side dishes, snacks, and perishables. But, we're bound to save a lot of money on groceries (especially since I won't be stocking up on the things on sale, like I usually do). And - we're going to eat like kings! That turkey I was saving for a special occasion? It's supper next Tuesday night. The giant pork roast I figured I'd use for a family dinner? It'll taste great the Monday after next, and the leftovers will be the perfect pairing for that bag of dried black beans I found in the back of the cupboard. 

Oh, and did I mention that I had lots of steaks left that I intended to last us a whole grilling season? Yummm!

The only things I wasn't able to figure out how to use up were a whole bottle of Karo syrup (?), the dill and mustard seed I'd bought to make pickles this summer, and a couple of boxes of hot cocoa mix. Wonder how they'd all taste together as a barbeque sauce to go on all that delicious meat. Hmm....