It’s nearly summer vacation time. There’s nothing worse than leaving a kitchen full of fresh food only to come back and find it…not fresh. Will you join in on this tip? What do you do to prep your pantry before heading out of town? Leave a comment; save a strawberry.
Here’s what we do: make banana curd with ripe bananas | make ice cream with cream and milk | wash, cut, and freeze fresh fruit | roast your veggie drawer to eat before or freeze | make pesto with leafy greens | make a greenhouse for the herbs
Planning ahead (as in: just buy what you need) makes a difference, but I’m a failure at that point. Freezing stuff is a winner. Also: I tell our friends who take care of our turtle and our plants to take a peek in the fridge and take along anything they can use. That half bottle of wine, the opened carton of milk, some forgotten lemons,…
If we head to our vacation destination by car, we also take along a cooler so we can enjoy the bits of cheese and pots of yoghurt along the way.
I chop up the last lonely fruits and veggies and throw them in the freezer for smoothies. Any leftover coconut water or milk/yogurt goes in there too! Nothing gets wasted, and I feel better knowing I have healthy options on hand when I return from my trip.
i usually cut and freeze fruits and veggies if i have alot left..milk- i try t0 make smoothies.
HA! I am with your first commenter, I eat everything. But seriously, for root veggies, I process them and then make a super hearty marinara sauce. I sauté the finely minced vegetables with garlic and fresh herbs and then boil, grind and add the tomatoes. For the cream and milk, since I don’t have an ice cream maker, I make a white sauce. Freeze both the sauces. For the yoghurt, I make popsicles! With bread, I make croutons or just serve of toasted soldiers and soft boiled eggs the morning we leave. You can freeze whole garlic cloves and I usually peel and grind ginger into a rough paste and then freeze flat in a ziplock bag. You just smash the frozen ginger when you want to use it and put it back in the freezer when you’re done and continue doing that until you’re done with the ginger. Removing it completely and letting it thaw will discolor it and water down the flavor.
Grt tip:)
I make lists for meals (a not very fancy way of saying I do a menu plan before my grocery trips) so if we are planning a trip I will just buy less. If it’s a short distance, impromptu trip I’ll bring a cooler with cold items in it. I’ve also given things to either neighbors or to my younger brother who house sits for me sometimes.
We usually eat up what we have or take a cooler with us 🙂
I’m terrible at this! Thanks for the tips. My alternative is to eat everything in the fridge before leaving on a trip. The downfall of this solution, though, is that you come home to an empty fridge!