Storing Food

Every year, about the time the kids head back to school, Macey’s grocery store has a Case Lot sale where I can buy large quantities of food for reduced prices. I always stock up on the stuff that will keep for six months to a year. This kind of stocking up is often called “emergency preparedness” but really I do it because it is a way to lower my grocery bill all year long. Also it means that I don’t have to go to the store as often since I have so many staples stashed away. We have a small storage room in our basement that is devoted to this food storage. It has big shelves covering the walls so that I can stack the food in easy-to-see rows.

Last year I went shopping as usual, but I was too busy and stressed to unload all the cans from their boxes and onto the shelves. I meant to, but instead the boxes got stacked in the corner of my office. I periodically fished through the stacks of food to fish out cans, but this past year was not notable for the amount of actual cooking that I did, so mostly the stacks just sat. Today I finally made the shelves full and the boxes empty. It is wonderful to see all the food organized again. And now I can see clearly what I need to stock up on at this year’s sale (green beans, corn, chili, peaches) and what I should not bother to buy again (Mac & cheese. Only Gleek likes it anymore and we still have bunches of it.)

This year I’ll empty the boxes right away and I’ll even get back to scribbling the purchase price on the tops of the cans before I load them onto the shelves. Writing the prices on the items helps me keep fresh in my mind what a really good price for that item is. That way I don’t get fooled by those sales which seem like a good deal, but really aren’t. The sad thing is that there is not much that I need to buy. We still have plenty of almost everything. I really need to cook more this year.