apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Thanks for this. I may be due for a pre-spring party fridge cleaning.

We are working in the fridge right now, and I checked the article about condiments/dates.

So I may crosspost this question:

A container of Premium Organic Barley Miso, that I bought a year ago. Used half of it, then it got pushed to the back, and I just didn't use it, unfortunately.

The date on the bottom, however, says
Sell By 071009

I can't buy this in our little town.....
the guilt of not using and now tossing...
and now really craving a bowl of miso soup
does anyone have a verdict?
Toss or okay to consume?

Thanks....
this cure is going to be fun!

@LGT, wouldn't that be July 10, 2009? If so, then you are still OK! Also, I have been known to keep a tub of miso for a long, long time. It doesn't seem to ever go bad, especially if it's well-covered and it doesn't dry out.

Trash day tomorrow so today all of my expired foods hit the can!

I should send you my before photos, shouldn't I?


http://embritadesign.blogspot.com

Bookmarked this page!

I'd use the miso- if it smells/tastes ok.

I'm also having fun- I didn't expect to actually like this cure, I just really needed to do it. But already I've increased my pantry space, and now I actually know what I have in there. :)

LGT - i believe that true live culture miso doesn't go bad - it just keeps fermenting (slowly when refrigerated). which means that it may eventually not tsate great, but still isn't bad for you. even if you get a little mold (which probably won't happen if it's in the fridge), you're supposed to be able to just scrape off the top and eat the good stuff underneath.

I’m encountering two issues so far while cleaning my fridge. Looking for any ideas that might work in my quest for refrigerator organization…

Veggies – We eat a lot of veggies, so we often have more than will fit in the crisper bins (especially since our bins are smallish, and a lot of our veggies are heads of lettuces and cabbage and broccoli and such). So once the bins are full, the rest of the veggies lie on the bottom shelf. That’s fine, except that it looks like a mess. If you take the veggies out of the bags, they wilt quicker (thus leaving me with rotten veggies) and leaving them in the plastic bags might prolong the life, but it gets messy with all those billowy bags, and it’s harder to find what I’m looking for (a bag of cilantro looks very similar to a bag of parsley). How does everyone deal with this?

Freezer – I emptied the freezer last night, added an extra shelf, threw out whatever was mostly used up or freezer burnt, then restocked, trying to sort by like items. Fine, except it’s still packed. Definitely looks better, and if I remove one item, I no longer have to dodge an avalanche of frozen food, but I don’t have room to spare. I think the biggest culprit is half used bags of food – frozen veggies, fruits and pastas. Once they’re half used, I just twist-tie the bag and put it back in the freezer. But it’s messy and isn’t really stackable. I’m thinking of putting stackable glass containers in there - one for peas, one for corn, etc, but I’m not sure if this will add more hassle or make things more manageable.

Tackling this project on Saturday. I'm actually looking forward to it although I DO hate throwing foot out...

@ woodnymph - we have this problem a lot, too. Our friday CSA box makes our drawers overflow. I inadvertently discovered in an attempt to quell the chaos that if you trim down your carrots/celery and then put them in opaque tupperware and store them in the fridge, they stay fresh for several weeks. Just make sure you label so you don't forget. And don't wash them, first. The moisture will cause mold. Similarly, unwashed mushrooms can also go into an airtight opaque container.

The stackable glass will make things more manageable, if only because it'll save your toes from the cascade that bags often have. Pyrex makes *great* ones. Especially since you can dish the hot stuff in, let it come to room temp, and then freeze it, thaw it, and throw it in the oven - all in one dish. Yay for less dishes!

We also buy large quantities of fish at a time and I divy these up into individual portions, wrap them in press-n-seal (which gives an airtight seal) and then stash them in ziplocs. No freezer burn, there!



http://embritadesign.blogspot.com

Thank you Faith and and Hannah! Yes, the date is July, but I wasn't sure since it had been opened. There's no mold and it actually smells pretty good.......
so miso soup for me!

WoodNymph~I can't offer any advice, except my first thought is maybe a small dishpan, other smaller bins to separate out the different items?

Rosebud~I hate to throw out food too, but I'll have some happy hens, and worms, and feed the compost pile.

I'm a bit confused about the main discussion spot for the cure as we go along?
And pictures.....has anyone posted any yet?

I'm going to take ours now, before we get any further along.

LGT

Thank you EmmieB....

I'd already started a shopping list for the food items.
Looks like I may be shopping around for more storage items here too.

Ditto WoodNymph and EmmieB.

Plus we have the "renter size" fridge, like the one pictured, and some of the longer CSA stuff (like fennel or green garlic) wouldn't fit in the drawers anyway. It can be a disaster in there.

I have found relief mainly by processing a lot of it right away. Blanching greens to shrink them, pre-chopping the long items, storing like items in Pyrex containers.

Downsides are that it takes time and I have to assume I'm surrendering a lot of nutrients by prepping in advance. But a fridge stacked full with containers looks tidier than a less-full mess of bags, and it does make cooking later in the week a couple of steps easier.

I don't have a good freezer solution. I tried bins for a while, but they seemed to take up extra room rather than consolidating, and I'd forget what was in the bottom. So now I put squishy bags and awkward shapes (like jars of stock) in the door.

A word about date formats. Most countries use day/month/year, not month/day/year. So depending on where the miso is from it could either be July 10th or October 7th. If it's imported I'd bet on the October date. Either way it's still safe to use now.

LGT - I did upload some pics, but I think we just submit them instead of posting them. then they may get posted in the weekly roundup. something like that?