Clearing out the fridge before you go on holiday...

[OooohLaLa]

Is this a thing in your house?

My husband was baffled when I mentioned that "I had to drink that bottle of bucks fizz because we're going on holiday tomorrow!"

😂
Well that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

😂

no but I try to make sure the shop I get before I go means Iv meal planned properly to use what will go off before I go and don’t have loads of milk left

It's not a holiday unless I'm frantically shoving cherry tomatoes into a tub and promising myself I'll eat them at the airport. And oh, I'll just pour the rest of the orange juice into a water bottle and take that too.

I usually spend the night before cooking and freezing vegetables.

I only clear out the stuff that will go off while we're away.

The opposite, I don't shop in preparation and then spend the lead up cobbling together meals from the back of the tin cupboard.

Oh this is totally me. Just the lonely margarine and sauces left with an online shop to be delivered the day after we get back. Pop to the shop on return for milk, bread and sausages and a take away for the evening.

Depends how long you are away for- a night, a weekend, or weeks? I always remove/eat/use up anything that would go off whilst away though.

Surely you take a quarter of an onion with you on holiday and or force it on your hosts?

Only stuff that will go off! Better put something in the fridge to enjoy when you get back!

I do the opposite. I fill up my fridge because my youngest son will move back into my house.e whilst I'm on holiday to look after my cats and dogs. I make him a tin of homemade cakes and a homemade lasagne too. I put several homemade meals into the freezer to coax him back to care for pets.

Yes but mainly things that will go off and Meats etc.

When I was younger I remember coming home and our fridge broke/went off and the house smelt so bad as we were gone for 2 weeks and had a pretty decent amount of food in it and being spring it was warm/hot so that didn't help.

So everything we go on hoilday the week before we don't buy anything new unless absolutely needed and eat/drink everything or take what we can.

Oh yeah I do this

Try and make soup to freeze with the last of the veg, etc

I do this.

Helps with the last minute panic dieting too.

Also do a couple of extra dishwasher loads as shelves and door shelves empty.

We have a chest freezer so I usually gradually empty it out in advance of a 2 week holiday and switch it off while away. We keep a few small bits in fridge freezer. I sadly get a real sense of achievement when it's off and cleaned.

Yes I tell myself its not essential but I'd hate to come back to rotten veg. I don't throw out anything that will keep. I also clean it whilst it's empty.

Of course. Isn't it common sense? You are aware of bin day before you go too? So clearing out on last bin day is one aspect, then disposing of anything from the fridge just before you go is the serving part. Do as not to leave anything 'decaying' whilst you are away. Then bleach the toilets ..... then off you go.

Who wouldn't do this?

Who wouldn't do this

Men. There's probably not a man alive who's thought about this shit. It's just another task on the 'mental load on women' list.

I've probably done all the things mentioned, but now am more about 'buy less on the week running up to the holiday and use up what we have in'.

We'll quite often have takeaway pizza the night before and take the leftovers wrapped in foil to eat at the airport/on the plane, but once (it might have been towards the tail end of COVID when things were still often out of stock) that this plan was scuppered because we got to the pizza shop (we don't do delivery or apps etc) and found that they'd run out of pizza dough so couldn't sell us any. DP suggested curry, but obviously that's unsuitable for airport leftovers. I think we went to the Co-op and bought pizzas to cook at home.

We also carefully time milk purchasing so there's some in the fridge for when we get home - we never go away for more than a week, often return home very late at night/in the early hours and you can usually find it with 9/10 days date on it.

I do the same - to the extent that in the last few days prior to holiday - I'm eating randomly scrambled meals or takeaways
I also clean like the King is visiting , don't want the burglars to think I'm a manky cow
Nothing beats coming back to a clean house , fresh bed and clean fridge

I came back from our last holiday with a tub of olives and a bit of cheese that were leftover. Which was good as all the food outlets in the airport were crap, overpriced and I didn't want food from any of them.

We obviously try to eat as. Much fresh stuff before we go but we always want milk/fruit up to the last minute so there'll be some left.
My mum lives round the corner so she pops round to take it all when we've gone (to use) and then kindly does the reverse and replenishes the essentials for our return

No. I would throw out any salad or fresh stuff that's likely to go off when we are away, but anything else stays put.

I definitely try to eat up anything fresh that will expire while I'm away.

A lot of people don't though; I've done a lot of cat feeding for friends and neighbours over the years and am privately appalled at the state many leave their fridges in - uncovered leftovers, half drunk bottles of formula - you name it! 🤢

On the other hand, others will sling all sorts of good food in the bin - apples, potatoes, things which would probably be fine in the fridge for a week or more.

Yes, I do this. Sometimes empty out the whole thing and leave it switched off; one less thing to potentially catch fire.

I’ll quite often make soup or at least chop the veg into soup size pieces and put in freezer…dh doesn’t do much….