Today I have a goal to clean out our too-stuffed freezer. The garbage truck comes tomorrow, so timing is everything.It's something I dread doing on one level because I know I will simply have to toss out a lot of stuff that used to be good food. Carefully packaged-up left-overs! It wouldn't surprise me if some of it goes back to 3 or 4 years ago. All down the drain simply because our eating habits have changed by no longer eating our big meal at night.
When I was awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night thinking about this, I even cringed about having to throw out brand-new Ziploc bags. Or can I save them by transferring the stuff to plastic bags?! You need to understand that I'm the epitome of Miss Conservationist! I can throw out some things, okay, but this is wrenching.
Now, segue to our Hannover apartment in Germany where the typical refrigerator is like the dorm-style one we have in our basement kitchenette here (which we don't use). Look at the size of that freezer! You know what--it works in Germany! You know why? Because grocery-life is so much more simple. You walk a block or two to the market every day, or as needed, to buy just enough (fresh) groceries for a day or two. IF you have left-overs that aren't gonna be eaten in the next couple days, you put them in the freezer and get them out within a week. S-I-M-P-L-E!Arrgh! Can you tell that I hate wasting food! Freezer burn is right! It totally burns me up to have to do what I have to do. But maybe the upside is that Germany is giving me new habits I can transfer to here. And that would be good, yes!
In case anyone wonders, I was able to salvage 40 Ziploc bags. That's the good news. Imagine how much food was in those 40 bags. That's the bad news!
ReplyDelete