Oh, you've heard this one before. I'm crazy busy, I've spread myself too thin, I've got a packed calendar, I'm running around like a mad woman.
Guess what?
Nothing has changed.
This time around in particular I'm well aware of the fact I'm skating through my insane schedule by the skin of my teeth. Honestly, I won't be terribly surprised when it all comes crashing down around me and I have to force myself into hibernation for several days. I mean, I like to think I know busy, and lately even I don't recognize this schedule.
This, however, is not a complaint. All of this busy? Is good. Great. Wonderful.
I'm just thinking I could use an assistant.
Or...perhaps a few more hours in the day. Because maybe then I'd get around to those life details like laundry and grocery shopping.
Speaking of groceries, (wait, we weren't?) I have a question. How many of you faithful readers strictly adhere to expiration dates on food packaging?
Here's the back story: My beloved father is notorious for keeping salad dressings and the like in his fridge for months - ahem, years - after the expiration date. My brother and I never fail to give him a hard time about this when we visit. If you were to come look at my fridge I believe you'd find everything falling into at least this decade expiration date-wise. However. On Friday night, I was sitting with my friend having dinner and I mentioned something about eating my left-overs a few days after they packaged them up. She balked. Which prompted a long, lengthy discussion about when is the right time to toss unopened food. The more we talked, the more I thought that maybe I am my father's daughter after all...
Here's how I see it - most of the time I take expiration dates for the sell-by date. So if I have a yogurt that, say, expired April 9th? I'd eat it today, April 12th. No question, no fear. (It goes without saying this theory does not apply to anything with obvious mold issues or sushi. Duh.) With most things I rely on the sniff and/or eye test. If it passes both, I'll eat it. I figure food companies are extremely conservative with their dating system and a few extra days won't kill me. (Months? Years? Yes. A day or three? Nope.) However. I explained this all to my friend on Friday and you would have thought I was telling her about the time I slaughtered 10 million innocent kittens without batting an eye. She was appalled and went on to explain that sometimes she'll even throw out food the day before it expires just to be safe.
At first, I thought maybe I was just talking to my (one) neurotic friend. Turns out though, the more friends I poll? The more I seem like the odd woman out for not panicking about half & half in my fridge that's two days old. So, I'm turning to the interwebs. Am I crazy? Not cautious enough? Or am I the only person that's on to this money-making scheme of food corporations who bump up their dates by a few days?
Here, you tell me:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I'm with you, lady! The only thing I get dodgy about is dairy, but that issue is usually solved by the see/smell test. It's funny, because this is definitely a trait I share with MY dad. :)
The only thing I'm neurotic about is that I have to smell milk before I drink it. I don't care what the expiration says or when I bought it. Smell first. This is why I won't drink milk at a friend's house, for fear of insulting them.
I was once burned by bad milk at a place we both used to work at. Never again. Ever.
I rely on the see/smell test as well. However, once you've had a really bad case of food poisoning (like I have), you kind of move to a better safe than sorry mentality.
I hate hate HATE the smell of spoily milk, so I toss that the day it expires. But, to be honest, I should really start buying milk in pints instead of half gallons, I never finish a half gallon before it's time to toss it.
Everything else? Meh, can't be all that bad, right?
xox
Tell your friends to get smart like YOU. The more you throw out good food, the more you have to buy to replace it. Expiration dates on many products only mean that the flavor or nutritional content may be diminished. Using the smell and vision test for leftovers and products is good. And the rule of thumb,"When in doubt, throw it out" always applies. I agree that if something has been in my frig awhile and I haven't used it (like condiments, salad dressings, etc.) then it's just taking up space and should be discarded. I would not use those products because they aren't fresh, not because they'll kill me!
Marketers have done a great job of scaring people into spending more money than necessary and thinking one day past the expiration date will land you in the hospital...or cemetery. Wake up and smell the coffee...fresh, of course.
Post a Comment