This Week's Chore: Spring Cleaning the Pantry and Freezer

There was no time to do the grocery shopping this weekend unless you count the staples bought using the few dollars left from the previous week's grocery budget. That got me thinking. I wonder if I have enough food on hand to feed us this week? I wouldn't mind saving the money. And as an added bonus I could clean the freezers and shelves.

Sounded like a plan. And yes, I know it isn't original with me. But right now I'm in the mood for spring cleaning and this opportunity just naturally presented itself.

So far I have managed to clean out the upstairs cabinets and the small freezer (the one attached to the refrigerator). The chest freezer and the downstairs pantry shelves still remain (and are the ones that make me groan just thinking about them). Here are the meals that have resulted from my current efforts:

• A single can of tuna made a nice lunch yesterday after we returned from co-op. Since we had no sliced bread thawed (at that time, anyway) we ate tuna salad on a tube of Ritz crackers.
• Last night The Bear fixed a "found" box of macaroni and cheese as a side dish for leftover spare ribs and mixed vegetables.
• This morning I used the last of a box of baking mix to whip up waffles which were topped with the dregs of an almost empty syrup bottle. The last few slices of bacon were microwaved also. (Since we sleep in on Tuesdays this was brunch.)
• This afternoon we had an improvised version of "Hawaiian pork chops" using a can of pineapple chunks, some brown sugar, and a bit of flour for thickening the sauce. A package of brussel sprouts that was unearthed from the back of the freezer provided veggies. (Pastor Dad has an evening appointment so we ate an early meal.)
• The breakfast bacon drippings were combined with remnants of corn meal and rye flour and added to the meat fats saved for making bird suet. See my recipe here. We are out of peanut butter but the woodpeckers don't seem to mind. The basket has been empty for a couple of weeks but it took mere minutes for them to discover that I'd refilled it. They must have quite the advertising system!

So far, so good! No one - not The Bear or the birds - are in any danger of starvation.