Building a Pantry, Step 5: Check in

After your first big food shop, you really need to keep tabs on what you use up and what is extra. This will help you get a sense of what you actually need to have on hand without over or under buying. If you have a note by the fridge you can add things as they run out, and update your master list. If you find yourself avoiding certain things or notice items starting to go bad, take them off the list! This seems obvious but for many of us, food has a lot of emotional connections and it can actually be pretty difficult to think clearly about it. I know for a long time, my shopping list was basically a carbon copy of the one my mother used while I was growing up. It took me a few years to realize that I had different preferences and a different lifestyle, so that list was not most effective. 

Before you shop again it is important to evaluate everything you have that is opened, close to expiration or otherwise needs to be used and make a plan for it. This seems daunting but does not actually take long and sets you up well for your subsequent food shops. If you do this regularly it becomes second nature. One way to work this in to your schedule is to do it at a time when you would be cooking or making food anyway. If you are making a dish or a meal, you can also deal with the extra odds and end you have on hand. 

Some ways to save the random bits you have:

• Soup! If you have extra bits of veg or meat and even grains you can knock out a soup you can either eat or add to the freezer

• Cut up fruit to freeze

• Roast off veggies to eat warm or cold through the week