How often do you clean your cupboards?

[JulieDB]

Several years ago I made a vow to keep on top of things, not overbuy and not have to throw out expired food. But I keep failing.

I thought I cleaned all the cupboards out at the start of school but apparently not!

I have one cupboard that contains rice, pasta, canned meat/tuna, instant potatoes and currently some powdered cheese sauce.

I know how things got out of control. Well mostly.

The cupboard was well stocked but we went to Central Market to buy some pasta for my mom. She wanted a certain kind. We have to eat gluten free and my daughter found all this fancy gluten free pasta. She begged for it. I reminded her that we didn't need any but... It did look really good. I bought some. We ate it. It was really good! I know we should have eaten what we already had first. But... It was so good! I bought some more. Not a lot because it is very expensive. I told her we could have this stuff maybe 2 or 3 times a year and the rest of the time we have to eat the cheap stuff.

Around the same time frame we went to Big Lots and they had the DeBoles for $1.00 a box. An unheard of price! I bought two boxes and didn't check the expiration date. Apparently they were close to expiring.

Around the start of school, My daughter was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. So she has to eat a low carb diet. Which means not too much rice or pasta. So we are not eating it like we were.

However... I found a few things that expired in 2010! There was a box of Life Cereal in there. I thought I had gotten rid of all the cereal. I had been buying it for my husband but he quit eating it. Granted there was less than a handful of cereal in the box. But it was still there. Some weird rice bowl that I don't remember buying. And a box of penne. All expired in 2010.

There was a bag of chicken that expired in July of 2011. It got mixed into the rice pouches. And the rice pouches weren't being eaten because I prefer freshly cooked rice so was eating that. There was also a bag of brown rice with no date on it. Daughter and husband won't eat that so not even sure why I bought it. I thought of donating it to the food bank but opted not to which is a good thing because it smelled bad. There was a small packet of instant mashed potatoes that expired back in July of 2011. A few packets of pre-cooked rice and a few boxes/bags of pasta.

It could have been worse and it has been worse. Far worse. There have been times when I threw out 2 or 3 black trash bags full of food! I can't do that now. I have to buy biobags and all food must be composted in my yard waste bin. So getting rid of stuff is a pain. I can't just toss it. Which is one reason why I don't want to get rid of it. That and it's wasting money.

I do try to go through the cupboards at least yearly and put the old stuff forward. Which I just did. But how often do you go through yours?

[TheatreMama]

I always put my new purchases at the back of the shelf, pull things forward when I use an item, and check my expiration dates once every month or two. Honestly, I think we have finally found our stride and we seem to be consuming items at about the same rate as I am purchasing them. So we haven't had to get rid of much. I have made some interesting meals at the last minute when I found out something was close to expiring!!!

[gem7]

Maybe this is disgusting to others, but we eat stuff like rice and instant mashed potatoes, hamburger helper, and other boxed foods that is expired. As long as it tastes fine, smells fine. I go through the cupboards about once a season and rotate everything, so usually the expy dates aren't that bad. Now medicine is another story. We don't use a lot of it, but I always want to be prepared because so many times I have had to go out and buy something at a ridiculous price b/c someone's sick and needs it. I end up throwing out some.

[JulieDB]

I always put my new purchases at the back of the shelf, pull things forward when I use an item, and check my expiration dates once every month or two. Honestly, I think we have finally found our stride and we seem to be consuming items at about the same rate as I am purchasing them. So we haven't had to get rid of much. I have made some interesting meals at the last minute when I found out something was close to expiring!!!

I learned not to put the new things in the back because the new things could expire sooner than what I already had.

I do think I have a problem with buying too much. I do feel it is necessary to keep extra through the winter and for lean times but I have waaaay too much pasta and rice.

[XUfan]

Maybe this is disgusting to others, but we eat stuff like rice and instant mashed potatoes, hamburger helper, and other boxed foods that is expired. As long as it tastes fine, smells fine. I go through the cupboards about once a season and rotate everything, so usually the expy dates aren't that bad. Now medicine is another story. We don't use a lot of it, but I always want to be prepared because so many times I have had to go out and buy something at a ridiculous price b/c someone's sick and needs it. I end up throwing out some.

As for the medicine, I'm in the same boat as you. I like to keep cough and cold meds, along with "bad belly" meds around, just in case. But, we are a very healthy household, so we rarely use it. It's a good thing I find it on sale. I won't use meds that are outdated, though. I think it comes from my 18 years of working in a hospital pharmacy.

I learned not to put the new things in the back because the new things could expire sooner than what I already had.

I do think I have a problem with buying too much. I do feel it is necessary to keep extra through the winter and for lean times but I have waaaay too much pasta and rice.

I rotate my stock too, but...like you...I've found that the exp dates aren't always longer with newer items. So, the newest doesn't always go in the back. I just check the date, and put it in the right order in my cabinet. It takes longer to put away the groceries, but it works for me.

I do find that I overbuy sometimes. Right now, I have an overstock of Luna Bars. I got so many of them when they were free with the coupon, but I'm the only one who eats them...and I was only eating one a day. I've cut back on them (got bored with them, I guess), and I still have around 30 or so left. I guess I should put them in the snack drawer, so the grandkids can eat some of them up when they come over!

[Doryjane]

I try once a month, maybe twice!

[CouponQueen23]

Not as often as I should.. I have been guilty of things expiring and I kick myself for allowing it to happen. Like a pp now I try to do it as I buy and put away yes it does take longer. I feel that at least I know it will get used in order that way.

Also like pp I have been known to use certain thing that just went out of date too as long as it look smells, and tastes fine. Typically it is a boxed item so I feel it is o.k. I have been known to eat and out dated box of cereal. I usually rotate cereal pretty regularly I know last year I was buying Kelloggs corn flakes because they were the cheapest and a part of the rebate promo going on I ate so many I got burned out on them, My kids are not corn flake eaters so I stumbled across and outdated box that I ate. They were still fine. I hate seen food go to waste. Medicine is another thing I get it when it is free after rebate but we are a pretty healthy family so most times it never gets used just tossed after it expires. I do like to keep the belly stuff on hand as well as a fever reducer as well I have been known to toss them but I get them pretty cheap so I try to keep them in the cupboard regularly and won't use out dated medication.

I just did the cupboard shuffle I found some boxes of dishwasher tablets from last years stock pile, I wrote Jan 11 on them. I opened all of the tablets and only a few in the box were crumbling I am assuming from age but somethings are still a trial and error I have gotten better about keeping things from expiring. Last year I bough a ton of dishwasher soap so now I know about how much we will go through in a years time. It has all been working fine so I think I know. I did also have a bottle of fabric softener turn in to jelly once on me. Not sure why. It really wasn't old but when I poured it out it was globs. I do my Hba shampoos and stuff about twice a year. I have noticed certain shampoos will loose that fresh smell sooner than others. I typical buy when I get thing at the rock bottom price. I have learned not to be so brand loyal so most things are a go.

[Jen1]

I am surely guilty of letting items in the food panty expire. I try to do it once/twice a year, but I always find something that is 1-2 years expired. Ugh, gross. I know.

In my cabinet, it is hard to rotate the stock because it is an enclosed cabinet. Will have to look into changing that system

[foodie]

Twice a month and every 2 or 3 months I rotate my homemade canned foods and other pantry items. I have an 8' x 10' walk-in pantry and full daylight basement so I have alot of storage space.

Foodie (Katie)

[MizMoneyPenny]

I don't have a huge stash, but a pretty full pantry, and freezer. I clean out and reorganize about every six months.

I have My Pantry 2 app, and it has an inventory feature, so I keep pretty good track of what I have and need to use.

Strangely, I had just read this (and had also heard about ti from some professional chefs,) so I think it's worth reading. You might be relieved.

Do Food Expiration Dates Really Matter?