Dawgluver
Chef Extraordinaire
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2011
- Messages
- 25,033
I loved it too, Janet!
Hah! Only 5 years, that's nothing. When I cleaned out my step-mom's fridge , freezer and pantry when I stayed with my dad after her accident, I found 10, 11, and even one 12 year expired things. Guess it's a good thing she never cooked much (and daddy didn't cook at all) cause who knows what might have happened to them if they had eaten some of that stuff. And I wasn't being nosy, knew I was going to be there for a long while and was trying to use what she had to make meals for me and my dad.
Since I know some of the rest of you have parents getting on up there, might be worth offering to clean out their fridge/pantry when you are visitng. I NEVER dreamed my step-mom would have not cleaned her pantry and fridge out from time to time. She kept an immaculate house and kept the fridge clean, just never bothered to check the expiration dates for some reason.
Hubby pointed out that the Red Lobster biscuit mix was 4 years expired. Oops.
And I think my ketchup has turned into ketchup wine. I never use that stuff unless my "picky" eaters come over and want hot dogs and hamburger (which I rarely make on my own volition).
I really need to do a cleanse too. Keeps me sane.
That dry mix woulda been just fine I bet.
That dry mix woulda been just fine I bet.
I have a system and it works great!!!
I keep a few permanent black markers in a kitchen drawer. When I unload my groceries I take most items and using a marker I write the month and year over the barcode. (That eliminates the decision of where to put it.)...
If you don't open that container for several months or even a year, doesn't your handwritten date become meaningless?
Theoretically, a year after you bought that item you could buy the same item again with the same sell by date but a different Greg date.
Why would the date he has put on the pkg become meaningless? He will still know which one he bought first. Choice is still his as to which to use first.
And in the laws of probability and theoreticals, if he buys the same item a year later and it has the same sell by date as the first one - it is probably a car...
Or ... he should find another grocery store.
A more useful date would be the date it was opened.
Assume you buy an item that's very well dated, perhaps two years out. You write today's month and year on the jar/can and put it away. If you don't open that container for several months or even a year, doesn't your handwritten date become meaningless?
Theoretically, a year after you bought that item you could buy the same item again with the same sell by date but a different Greg date. Both jars would be equally viable but they'd have Greg dates a year apart. The only difference is where the unopened items sat for that year.