to think I am not the only one who has a list of fresh food in the fridge and use by dates

[chomalungma]

I haven't got a freezer - so it's fresh food only.

Me and DS - I have a mixture of fresh and cooked meat as well as vegetables. All organised in the fridge. A list of items and use by dates - including some well preserved food.

Just disappointed I couldn't get a large chicken today - I love the MN chicken.

I was tempted to do a colour coded spreadsheet - but that would have been a bit excessive.

I haven't done the tinned food yet - maybe that could go on a spreadsheet.

Am I the only one :)

Good threads for avoiding food waste/menu and baking inspiration/sensible advice on expiry dates (almost of which can be safely ignored as long as one is careful):

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3857078-Food-thread-Favourite-leftover-dishes-avoiding-waste-menu-ideas

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3863906-What-random-stuff-are-you-doing-to-avoid-wasting-food

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3864036-To-ask-you-to-show-me-your-baking-food

I'm using nest egg app and getting ideas from the preppers and anti food waste threads.

It's just me so can be hard using up before out of date and fresh easier to get hold of at the moment than already frozen, tinned etc

And this one:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3861373-calling-experienced-cooks-and-food-safety-experts-please

To be fair, I had to triple the amount of food in the house:

We are eating at home instead of all eating out for lunch.
We are eating at home every single evening when we used to be out a fair bit for diner too.
It's recommended to avoid going out as much as possible, so I am very seriously trying to avoid going every few days and have food for at least 2 weeks.

It does pile up a bit.

I respect that level of organisation, if I remember to clean my fridge once in a while I feel accomplished . We mostly keep milk, eggs, cheese, butter and veg in there and use the look and sniff test to determine whether it's good .

I always do a menu for the week anyway and then do the shopping list based on that week's menu.

If we had to self-isolate, there's enough tinned and dried food to last for a few weeks but there's only the usual amount of fresh stuff so no need to make a note of sell by or use by dates.

I do quite like a list, but couldn't be bothered to go that far.

Come to think of it I have never actually checked dates on butter. Like ever.

I keep meaning to do a spreadsheet. I might do it this afternoon as have to do some freezer jenga in advance of a meat delivery this week. We're relatively well stocked but my concern is that I'll accidentally use, for example, the last can of chickpeas that I'm saving for making falafel on a whim and therefore buggering up some of my planned meals. There is no place for whims!

I meal plan going by the dates, so before shopping I'll have a rough idea of a week's meals I want to do, and then when I bring it home I check the dates and decide what days to have what. It saves wastage and also time!

Yip, I started a list last week! I've got categories like fridge, freezer, cupboards, cleaning (which includes loo roll!). So glad to hear I'm sane

Obviously I know loo roll etc won't expire, but good to know what I have. Like many others I'm not used to being at home for all meals and usually just "pop into the shop" on way home if something takes my fancy

I just know what's in there... mostly just vegetables because we're vegan. They're divided into salad, fruit, and cooking vegetables and I can see them all from the door. Every week I have a little gander for anything on the turn.

Dd and I went through the raw meat drawer in the freezer to make a list today and I already had planned fridge meat use based on dates.

I’ve done a list of my real emergency stores, but I need to go through my regular kitchen non-perishables and also the rest of the freezer properly.

But we’ve planned dinners for the next 10 days and put that list up too. Our next food delivery is in 11 days...

I'm just wondering how much food everyone has rammed into their fridges that they need a list/spreadsheet in the first place!

I have very little in the fridge.

I have a next door neighbour who is a useful dustbin. He gets parcels of excess food from us (only 2 people in our household) and is thrilled he can stay isolated.

When you have a DH who has a habit of randoming burrowing into the fridge and choosing things for lunch that were planned for something else, and also trying to make sure that the foods that are good for lunches actually get used up before going off, yes, you kinda need it.