Update on goals from earlier this summer

Goal #1: reduce electric usage

Pretty pitiful actually. I suspect the pet sitter may have turned up the a.c. way more than the damned cat needed. We were gone most of July and yet we used the same amount of electricity as the year before, when we were gone only half of July. Hmph.

The kids still don't turn out lights. I haven't been cooking... er, preparing cold foods for meals often. We leave our computers on a lot. Hubby leaves the phone charger plugged in all the time. And we still haven't installed a programmable thermostat.

Must be nice still living in the pre-Peak Oil world. Ahhhhhhh.

Goal #2: improve food storage

This is going well. I cleared out three large shelves in the laundry room for food storage. We are getting things rearranged in the garage to even more improve storage out there, so more non-perishable things can get out of the laundry room, and we can acquire more if we feel necessary.

Working on actually using some of this food -- like the giant bags of rice my husband bought. I still need to get some extra-large containers to keep that in after I open a bag.

Goal #3: Acquire some stuff

We've bought a few things. Need to get more. I have a list for Home Depot for after I get a gift card from there I am expecting as a rebate.

Goal #4: Start a compost bin

Still a work in progress. I did get a rain barrel. And I have a small bin in the kitchen that we can put scraps in during the day to later take out to the compost bin, once we have that. And we bagged up 2 large garbage bags of pine needles that will start up the compost bin. They are probably already decomposing in those black bags sitting out there in the sun...

I also labeled a large food container with "Soup Dump Bowl" and put that in the freezer. Now when we have leftover veggies or boneless meat, we can throw it in there, and every once in awhile make a big pot of soup.

If Hurricane Gustav hits us, we'll be seeing how well we did on goals 2 and 3.

Update on Goal #2: improved food storage and system

Today I moved more non-food stuff out to the garage, out of the utility room. I made room on 2 1/2 shelves for foodstuffs. I was then able to clear out our very overstuffed, disorganized little kitchen pantry. I put "deeper storage" stuff into the utility room, and left already-opened boxes and such int he pantry, along with stuff with an upcoming (i.e. this year) sell-by date.

There is plenty of room in the utility room for lots more food, but at least now the structure is in place. In the kitchen I have a half shelf in a cabinet devoted just to flour. And the other half shelf devoted just to sugar. Rather than having them all crammed together with everything else.

I went through each and every item from the pantry, and wrote in large numbers with permanent marker, the sell-by date. I discovered food that must've gotten lost in our little pantry that "expired" in 2006! Eeeek! When you aren't doing any sort of "first in, first out" system, it's easy for items to get missed, forgotten,... and old. I threw those out. And found a few things that I knew we didn't need, and I will donate those to a food pantry.

And I wrote up a list of a few things we definitely need sooner than later.

I made charts for both the kitchen pantry (stuff to use soon) and the utility room, so we can remember where to put new items. There's room to put new items in the back. And both the husband and I have vowed to write the sell-by date in larger numbers on the package, so we can be sure to use things in the proper order.

I also discussed with the husband that we need to change the way we eat a little bit. If we are going to start stocking canned goods, then we need to start eating canned goods more often. So we can rotate through the stock and keep it fresh. And so -- god forbid -- some shortage or disaster happens, then it won't be a huge adjustment to eating canned goods. And if we are going to stock up on flour and sugar and powdered milk and corn meal... well, then I should make bread more often than twice a year. So that I remember how... and so that we rotate through the stock and not let it go bad.

I am super psyched by the tidy shelves, and all the space now in the kitchen. It'll be so much easier to plan a meal, I think. Over time, we'll have MORE food in the house, but if we are focusing on eating what's "running out" of time, then our choices will be narrowed to the items that have moved into the "current" pantry.

For example, when going through baking supplies, I found some marshmallows bordering on getting old. And was reminded we had a nearly full, open box of rice krispie cereal. So the kids and I made rice krispie treats today. I also discovered two unopened containers of oatmeal that are getting close to the sell by date. Egad, how long ago did I buy this... and then never get around to making oatmeal cookies. So that's what I'll be baking up next week, a huge batch of oatmeal cookies. Freeze some up and we are set for sweets for the summer.

I probably won't get too serious about starting to stock up until August, since we'll be out of town a lot this summer. But then I'll pay attention to sales and coupons, and start filling in those back rows.

And continuing to clean out old spaghetti sauce and pickle jars, to reuse later for my own canning experiments! But that's a later goal...

Goal #2: Improve food storage

Husband and I already did a major overhaul of the garage. We are still just so happy to walk into our garage. Yes, it's that much of an improvement. Part of the reason for clearing junk out is to make room for junk from our tiny laundry room that can live in the hot garage -- extra wine glasses, paper towels, platters, etc.

So that's started, and a couple boxes have moved to the garage. I want to complete moving appropriate things to the garage, then clear two large shelves in the pantry for canned goods and flour and such. And hit sales and start stocking up in a frugal way.