Kitchen Inventory Time

It’s that time of the month where you should inventory your pantry, freezer and refrigerator to see what you have on hand.  This should be your guide as you create your monthly menu.  This is what I will be doing this weekend after my talk today on living gluten free (shameless plug).  It usually takes me about 15 minutes to inventory everything because I’ve created a list on my computer.  This way I don’t need to keep writing down the same things.  I also try to add anything that I freeze from leftovers and cross things off as I use them during the month.  This doesn’t always happen, but having the list to start with is a big help.  If I’m out of something that I usually have on hand I don’t delete it from my list, I just make the print grey so it doesn’t stand out.  I know it will be back soon.
old-fashion-refrig How do you get ready to create your monthly menu?  Have you figured out how much money you are saving by using foods you already have on hand?  I heard a great line the other day:  the most expensive food you’ll buy is the food you throw out.  Oh, this is so true and so painful to me.  Immediately label and freeze your leftovers. If you need them in a few days you can always thaw them out but we often get busy and forget to save them.

Share your tips for how you use the food you have and save money.  I’m always ready for more ideas and I love learning from you.  You all always have great ideas.