Making the Most of Your Groceries

Because rotten tomatoes are only helpful in a movie review context.

There's that stereotype that college kids are so messy or lazy or whatever that they live in a ever-growing pile of dirty laundry and rotten food. While probably true of some, this is mostly an unfair generalization. 

But that doesn't mean that we don't end up buying food that goes bad before we can use it. 

Our friend Orangina asked for our input. Since grocery shopping is actually something we're usually good at, I'll oblige. But check out our upcoming "Empty Fridge Chronicles" to see what happens when things go wrong.

1) PLANNING

We actually sit down at some point early in the week and plan out our meals days in advance. I know that's a pain, but it pretty much eliminates rot-potential, and ensures that we eat every day.

When we're planning out our weekly menu we try to avoid two things:

First, recipes that make you buy a lot of stuff that is expensive and you have no other use for. Like raw chia seeds. That stuff is for growing pets, but cool-sounding vegans think it's for everything.

Friend, not food. 

Second, ingredients that are sold in large quantities that we can only use in small amounts. Say a recipe calls for scallions. You probably only need one or two. But no one is going to sell you two scallions, so you'll end up with fifteen scallions getting all slimy and gross in the back of your fridge.

Point is, stick to versatile ingredients, or you'll end up with lots of weird leftovers.

2) FRIENDS

If you can, find someone to split groceries with. It's really hard for one person to finish a quart of milk by themselves before it goes bad, unless you really like milk.

3) LONG-LASTING STAPLES

I am so entertained that this exists.

Pretend there's a zombie apocalypse. What foods would you grab? 

Bean and I would probably grab quesadilla shells, oatmeal, some cheese, onions, cans of black beans, cans of crushed tomatoes, rice, frozen broccoli, and pasta.



These are things you can just have. You don't have to worry about using them right away, which makes them perfect emergency food for those nights when you don't know what else to make.

MORAL OF THE STORY

Don't let this happen to you.

Plan when you can. Have a stockpile of tasty, non-perishable things that you know how to cook for when you can't.

And the Salem Witch trials happened because the girls were tripping on moldy rye, so don't risk that three week old sandwich, please.