RESTAURANT/RANDOMRANT

Tonight I loaded up on berries at the grocery store. (Blueberries & blackberries 2/$5? Raspberries for $2.99? Insane!) While trying to load them into the refrigerator once I got home, I decided to clean the whole thing out. Three Hefty sacks later, I had a glowing fridge and a vegetable drawer soaking in hot, sudsy water. I couldn't believe some of the things I found in there, primarily in the freezer. Hamburger patties that expired in 2003, a bag of ice-encrusted chicken fillets (no date on the bag), and a tray of beef that expired last spring. Gross? You betcha. Nearly all of the really old items were lost and buried under other things so I wasn't surprised to find expired junk in there. Another thing: Does your family have ice cream caramel sauce or milk flavorings (strawberry/chocolate) lurking in your icebox? You might want to check the dates and toss them. All of the ones I had were at least a year old, with one of those caramel sauces dating back to 2002! I also noted the condiment wheel on the top shelf and wondered allowed whether one family should be allowed to have so many varieties of pickled items in their household:

Sweet Relish
Bread & Butter Pickles
Spanish Olives
Sliced Jalapenos
Tomato Relish
Dill Spears
Hot & Sweet Chips
Whole Dill Pickles
Maraschino Cherries

Does anyone eat so many pickles, olives, or jalapenos? Ridiculous. And I've always hated those nasty cherries (I realize they aren't actually "pickled," but they make sense on the Pickle Wheel).

Maybe I'll feel ambitious enough to tackle the pantries tomorrow. I've done the main pantry once before, probably two and a half years ago. It was a long, arduous process requiring several hours and piles of expired food. I honestly wish my family would buy food we are guaranteed to eat and nothing more--none of the 10 boxes of crackers/10 boxes of cereal/5 bags of chips crap. Who needs all of that stuff? It's so stupid to feel like you can't eat out of a full pantry or refrigerator because they only over-processed, preservative-packed food. I guess things would be different if someone in the house cooked every now and then. Until then, I'll try to hope that my cleaning things out might spark some sort of change. The trash can out back is going to be overflowing!