What do you over-buy?

[LindaWhit]

I'm not talking condiments (although I'm seriously guilty of LOVING various mustards and buying many of them when I'm in a new area and seeing something new I can't get in my own area).

I'm talking about fresh food items. My most recent "WTH?" moment when I got home today from the supermarket is carrots. CARROTS. I have three loose packages of carrots as of this morning's shop. And I'm a shopping list maker and usually don't buy anything that's not on my list.

I'm at a local stupidmarket today and I know I'm making chicken stock in the crockpot today for overnight, so I'll need carrots for a mirepoix, and I know I need carrots for the dinner I'm making tomorrow. I *think* "OK, I've got about 5 carrots at home; I should get more." So at Roche Bros., which sells them loose, I pick up about 7 more.

So how many carrots did I have when I got home? TWENTY LARGE carrots. WTH????? Only 1 large carrot was used for the mirepoix. I'll probably use 3, *maybe* 4, for tomorrow's dinner (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas & carrots). That means I still have about 13 left.

WHY am I buying so many carrots? Am I a bunny? LOL

So what do you buy thinking you need it and thinking you really know what's in your fridge?

[I used to know how to cook...]

Hi all,

I have a sort-of shopping list in my head in addition to the written one. Stuff like butter, OJ, bread, etc. I think we all do to some extent. Don't know how many times I picked up butter, got home and found 2-3 pounds in the fridge...

The written one is from the wipe-off board on the fridge. I discovered if I write, for example, no butter, on the fridge board it reminds me I don't need any.

Lucy

[Sensuous]

I will have to buy a board and write "no cereal" on it!

[I used to know how to cook...]

Love the wipe-off board...

No more grocery shopping, coming home with stuff I DIDN''T need and later on realizing I didn't buy something I DID need!

The instant I realize I need something it gets written on that board.

Lucy

[tracylee]

My parents tend to overbuy things that are on sale - and they've got plenty of space. At Christmas, my Mom brought out a bag of frozen cranberries and asked me to make the sauce. I asked for an orange to zest and juice. The one she pulled out of the fridge was rotten at the top. I had to use a paring knife to get any zest at all. So she pulled a can of frozen orange juice out of the freezer and opened it - it was brown on top. I ended up using drained mandarin slices in the sauce. Turned out pretty good!

[Sensuous]

Funny!

[beachmouse]

I'm overbuying fresh tomatoes right now because ugli ripes have been running $1.49-$1.99 a pound instead of their usual $4.99. Granted part of their charm is that you don't really have to peel or seed them to get a nice tomato sauce from them, but there's only so many times I can make a quick tomato sauce in a week.

[GraceW]

This wasn't me.. but my mother thought Y2K was going to happen and filled a giant Rubbermaid bin with jars of Skippy peanut butter. There must have been 20+ jars.

Come to think of it; she still overbuys it. Yet she doesn't eat it, and she does not even have children at home. I think it is so that she can sleep and know that her children never went without food (even though it is the Skippy HFCS kind.. which hardly constitutes as food). (Furthermore, I really try to avoid it soo it's pretty hard when I visit and I see the HFCS poison calling to me... solution: if I get close enough to almost eating it, then just feed it to the dog.)

[Sensuous]

I blame Pat Robertson for the Y2k panic. He fearmongered his fans into such a tizzy.

[buttertart]

LindaWhit, if you ARE a bunny, you might be interested in this bad boy:
http://www.ina.fr/pub/alimentation-bo...
"I started out on carrots..."

[LindaWhit]

butter, dear, you're just NOT going to let me live this down, are you? ;-)

[buttertart]

But it's so cute! And this ad bunny is too adorable.

[LindaWhit]

I totally agree the ad bunny is adorable. But cats + bunnies = a mix that rarely happens. So LindaWhit must stem the overwhelming tide of her bunnyness. :-)

[buttertart]

That is a problem indeed. I can't help it, it still makes me smile whenever I see it. Hugs.

[LindaWhit]

Hey, I love the nickname Bunny. It makes me smile every time you slyly use it. Although Kitty would work as well. :-)

[sunshine842]

I *love* the Cassegrain bunny...when we first moved to France, I confess that when faced with a shelf full of brands with which I was unfamiliar, I bought Cassegrain veggies just because of the bunny.

(Now Le Geant Vert, ho ho ho, has made an appearance alongside the bunny)

[buttertart]

I saw him in an ad in a French food magazine I got earlier this year and thought he was just irresistable.

[sunshine842]

(their tinned veggies are very, very good, by the way...I might have bought them for the bunny at first, but now I buy them because I like 'em!)

[buttertart]

Good to know - I haven't seen them over here, I don't think.

[tracylee]

I've seen cats and bunnies get along - housepet bunnies aren't afraid, so it throws the cat off balance. It does get awkward when there's a litter box involved, though. (My parents bunny-sat for my sister's best friend while I was living at home for a short while with a cat).

[Querencia]

Make Curried Carrots: Cook them, drain, and reheat with butter, dark brown sugar, and curry powder. Also you can freeze this for future reference.

[DoobieWah]

Pasta, rice, beans, canned goods.

(I didn't live through the last depression, but I'm gonna be ready for the next one!)

;-)

[iL Divo]

2 weeks agi you'd have all said I overbought butter (20 lbs) giant bag of sour cherries, gianter <(???) bag semi sweet morsels. Ok I got a new Costco card, had to use it right?

[LindaWhit]

TWENTY POUNDS of butter? Were you in baking mode? Or you just had to buy all of that butter? LOL

[buttertart]

You're a one to talk, Bunny! ;-)

[LindaWhit]

No bunny knows......the carrots I've seeeeennnnnnn..........

[buttertart]

chortle...You're nobunny till somebunny loves yoooo...

[alkapal]

yeah! 20 pounds????

[iL Divo]

I've been bugged (I'm winking here, they're adorable) for a year by these two women at work. I made cookies at Christmas 2009 and took several tins in and dropped them off in the office as a free for all. The same two young lady's have hinted or downright asked for just 3 kinds (of cookies for themselves) ever since. Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and Scottish Shortbread.

God forbid I sit in wonder of whether or not I have enough butter to bake so the conclusion was to just make sure I did. I never did use the sour cherries or even open the giganzo bag for snacking but the sour chocolate cherry chews (cookies) are not far behind getting the dough done at least.

Anyway yesterday before work I baked off the remainder of cookie doughs that I'd made the day
before for the girls and took them each a huge tin. Guess who wasn't at work yesterday? Aaargh and they were still warm, dang.

It's been over a year that I've promised them and I finally managed.
They're both at work tomorrow so I hope they're hungry and have sweet tooths.

*Triple chocolate chocolate chip bittersweet raspberry chip cookies
Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies
**My version of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies
Ultimate peanut butter cookies supreme
Worlds best oatmeal raisin cookies

* chocolate cookie recipe that I added semi sweet chocolate chips and bittersweet dark chocolate raspberry chips to along with Scottish Shortbread dough chunks too

** I added coconut&glazed mixed nuts to the dough after concocting a recipe from reading the
ingredient list from the back of the FA cookie tin

[LindaWhit]

Wow. Lucky coworkers - but you didn't *leave* the cookies there for them for tomorrow, did you? I'd daresay they won't be there. ;-)

[alliegator]

Angel hair pasta. I love it as a quick lunch for myself with a melted butter with some fresh black pepper and parm. So whenever I go to the store, I always feel that I don't have enough, buy more, then go home to find I have like 3 full boxes, a couple of 3/4 used old ones. It's a mess.

[Basiorana]

Don't have enough money to stockpile (I use EVERYTHING, so it's not really stockpiling because I'll use it-- even bulk spices, which are great when you really need to flavor frozen, bland foods) but my mother always has a strategic turkey supply in her chest freezer. She will buy turkeys whenever they are on sale and as a result usually has about 4, though this year she had so many she had no space for her Christmas bread stockpile so she gave all of us kids free turkeys and made about 3 turkey dinners in one month. Normally she only makes them for Tgiving so it's not like she has an excuse. She does this to a lesser extent with corned beef but not like turkeys-- usually only 2 corned beefs.

My fiance's dad had a vinegar stockpile. Not just assorted interesting vinegars (he had 15 varieties) but many bottles of the same kind of vinegar. He could have pickled ensete. He dumped them on me when he moved and didn't want to pack 30 bottles of vinegars.

[MinkeyMonkey]

Hah!! My grandmother always had at least 3 or 4 turkeys and several corned beef packages on hand in the freezer. I wonder if it had to do with her being a depression era gal or just because freezers were still a new concept for her? Fun to see that other grams did the same thing!

[alkapal]

that is one heckuva lot of turkey!

[tracylee]

I'm sure it was depression era mentality. My ex-boyfriends elderly mother had an extra fridge and two freezers in the garage and shopped with coupons and sales at 3 different grocery stores in their small town every week. Every 6 months or so, he'd go through and clean things out, and she never noticed. Just kept stockpiling.

[MinkeyMonkey]

Hahaha, yes, mine had two fridges but no extra freezers. We used to go through and filter things out too, my brother and I. We'd filter out the canned goods, with labels from I don't know when. We started the project when we found an exploded can in her pantry. "Hey, who knew this was back here?" She never knew.

[chefathome]

lemons
butter
exotic spices

[iL Divo]

butter
white lily flour

[iL Divo]

Well today it'll be a kouing aman (pronunciation&spelling) I'm in Salt Lake City.
So I'll buy 3.
But if here don't bother with the pommes frites, the full order @5.95 is the ultra "small" ripoff of the day. Spent $6 for about 18 fries aaaaarrrgh

[grayelf]

Apparently, it's basmati rice for me. I bought an 8-lb bag today, only to discover another 8-lb bag lurking in my pantry. And it's not a big pantry. Starches in general bring out the hoarder in me. I always have enough pasta in multiple varieties to feed an army.

[Breadcrumbs]

I hear you grayelf! I'm still get ribbed about the bounty of rice I purchase last year when I heard there might be a world rice shortage!! Even after donating to food banks, I'm still working through the pile!

[MinkeyMonkey]

Hilarious! I'm a grain and starch hoarder too. That 15lb bag of sushi rice that I ended up donating. I don't really like sushi rice the way I like short grain brown rice but I really wanted it...

[iL Divo]

where do you get sushi rice? in an Asian store or supermarket?
if Asian store, is it the stuff that says sweet rice?

[MinkeyMonkey]

It was an Asian store and I'm pretty sure it said sushi rice but it was a while back now.

[jeanmarieok]

I buy too much greek yogurt. It often spoils before I can eat it all. But I hate running out, and every time I buy just enough, someone else eats it, and I am sorry I didn't buy extra!

[somervilleoldtimer]

Pasta. I have mesozoic pasta on my pantry shelves.

[buttertart]

Trilobite- or brachiopod-shaped, I hope.

[somervilleoldtimer]

I wish! Maybe then I'd eat it. This is just decades-old macaroni and shells. And angel hair, which I don't like, so why did I buy it? I have replaced the long-pasta-category many times over with linguini and spaghetti because I don't want to use up the angel hair. Any thoughts about how to use it where I don't have to deal with its texture?

[sunshine842]

with most pastas running at not much more than a dollar at today's prices, it's fairly easy to guess that you're agonizing over maybe $2 worth of pasta...which has been taking up room in your cupboards and you've been moving it around for how long?

Let it go...the trash can is over there.

[LindaWhit]

Have to agree with sunshine re: the angel hair pasta you don't want. Toss it.

[buttertart]

With the shells or elbows you could make a pastitsio, meat sauce and béchamel would cover all ills.
http://www.lerios.org/recipes/pastits... is a nice-looking recipe from a very homey blog (I've seen it with cinnamon in the meat sauce too but am not keen on cinnamon.
Not a fan of angel hair, that I'd pitch, but Depression-era mom training would not allow me to throw the others out.

[alkapal]

too late maybe, but angel hair works with asian peanut sauce or some dirty version thereof. throw in lots of fresh cilantro, some red pepper sauce, lime juice, ginger, garlic, and fresh roasted peanuts. ta-daaaaa.

~~~~~~~~
or, break it up, throw it in some water, then drain after a little while and give it to the raccoons in the back yard. they like all kinds of cuisine.

[Querencia]

Not to mention squirrels, whether suburban ones or city park-dwellers. This is a hard time of year for them and they will appreciate your surplus crackers, stale cereal, and ratty out-of-date nuts.

[fourunder]

Any produce item purchased at Costco would fit the bill.......but especially the bananas @ $1.32 for four pounds....extended, that's 0.33/lb. The major supermarkets are rarely below 0.59/lb, and more often @ .0.69 or higher.

Purchasing them at Costco allows me not to feel so bad if I forget to eat them...since they are less than half the price of others.

[goodhealthgourmet]

if you're a baker, bananas are actually a good thing to over-buy, because you can keep a stash of overripe ones in the freezer...very handy when you have a hankering for banana bread or the like :)

[fourunder]

Not a baker, but I do save them for smoothies or hot oatmeal....;-)

[goodhealthgourmet]

yes, great for smoothies too! ever use frozen avocado chunks? that's one of my favorites, since i do have a tendency to over-buy avocados...

[Barbara76137]

I'll throw bananas in the fridge if I have too many to extend their life a little, I don't care if the skin turns black, the inside is still good. Do you just throw them whole into the freezer? I didn't know if freezing would affect the taste or consistency.

[goodhealthgourmet]

well, if you're blending them into a smoothie or baking with them, changes in consistency aren't really an issue. but for eating straight i wouldn't freeze them, they get really mushy when defrosted. if i just want to eat them straight, i do the same as you - just refrigerate them in the skin until i'm ready to use them. but bananas don't really agree with my digestive system, so i tend to buy them mostly just for baking goodies for other people!

anyway, to freeze them, i let them get super-ripe, remove the skin, break them into 2 or 3 pieces depending on the size, and store them either in a tightly closed glass jar or a plastic snap-top container inside a ziploc bag.

[fourunder]

I like to freeze bananas just as they ripen enough to see some spots. Not too sweet and no green taste. I insert a popsicle stick into them and freeze them on a wax sheet lined tray. When they get frozen solid hard, I dip them into melted chocolate.....Frozen chocolate covered bananas taste just like an ice cream treat and they are dirt cheap when you make them yourself.

[sunshine842]

you have to remove the skin -- I tried that once, and the dumb things were melted before I managed to pry the skins off them.

then wrap them in Saran wrap individually, and you can use them as needed.

[iL Divo]

guilty.
mustards
mayonnaises
pepper
salts
spices [consistently buy same 4 for my 'house spice' [which I use on almost everything in one way or the other] since I make batches for the kids at their houses too]
chocolate [bars for baking with, bars for eating, candy for using however, nibs/bits for baking or cooking with]
in the meat market, if it's on sale, I'm scouring the aisle and buy it then take home and freeze it.
oh and don't even get me started on olive oil, if it's special, if it's on sale, if I've never heard of it or seen it before, if it's on the shelf and I like the bottle, I buy it

[LindaWhit]

oh and don't even get me started on olive oil, if it's special, if it's on sale, if I've never heard of it or seen it before, if it's on the shelf and I like the bottle, I buy it
~~~~~~~
LOL! That's often how I buy wine as well - if I like the label, and it "reads" like I'll like it, I'll buy a bottle!

And pssst.....iL Divo....having a lot of chocolate is most certainly NOT a bad thing. ;-)

[kpaxonite]

celery and cauliflower and poutine sauce

and sometimes onions and potatoes (they smell like death when you forget about them in the back of the cupbpoard)

[HillJ]

I buy alot of carrots too; especially the pencil thin ones they sell in small bags now. I remember being on a flight to LA and rec'ing them for the first time on my (so called) meal plate and being so grateful I could eat something fresh....hoping I could buy them at home.

Over the summer while avocados were ..88 each I def. over bought.
Bananas always wind up in my food cart no matter how many I have on the counter at home.
Lettuce greens of any kind, I can't seem to resist fresh salad greens..

[HillJ]

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/20...

A seriously unique use for carrots!

[LindaWhit]

I seriously think I'd try this - especially if it had nutmeg and ginger in it! LOL

[HillJ]

I made one batch for myself and loved it. Next batch I'm sandwiching the ice cream between large gingersnap cookies.

[goodhealthgourmet]

YUM.

[HillJ]

I made the 2nd batch this evening and will tackle the cookies early this week. I love the flavor combo.

[coney with everything]

Not what but where: farmer's market during summer (two people can't eat all that produce before next Saturday!) and the typical Costco thing: it's so cheap, even if you throw out half the baby spinach--pesto--milk you think you are coming out ahead.

Buying an energy efficient fridge last year pushed us into a smaller fridge...so I have to be very aware of what kind of room the food will take up.

[mamueller]

For me, it's flour. Rye flour, spelt flour, pizza flour, semolina, potato flour, barley flour, white whole wheat, whole wheat, bread flour, AP flour. And then there is the wheat germ, the vital gluten, the flaxseeds... and on and on. This collection takes up an entire pantry shelf and then some. I really should bake more.

[MinkeyMonkey]

Same here. I don't usually over-buy but the BF won't put flour bags (we buy in bulk) in the canisters that have lids. I come around, put the flours away and then he can't find anything and goes out to buy more!

I used to buy way to many mustards but, really, can you have too many? I don't think so. I almost only ever buy the no-salt one so that means one kind of mustard. Now, I just buy two at a time and always have about three on hand.

My dad survived a stroke so he sometimes forgets to think of the obvious. If he is looking at his spice rack, a bottle that cannot be read doesn't really exist. So, he is often "out of" his most used spices and has three or four bottles of black pepper, red chili, cayenne and cumin. "Oh, who knew we had so many bottles of ___ on hand?" When I visit, we go to market once a day and I have to remind him that he already has ___ at home. I guess he has an excuse!

I sometimes buy too much pasta because when the whole wheat stuff is on sale, I've gotta have five boxes of each kind! If I really over do it, I'll give some to the food bank but I like having lots of pasta on hand. Plus, it is fun to make special shopping trips for food banks. I had a friend who always gave old cans of lima beans away and that kind of bugged me. Although, beans are a good source of protein, but still.

I do overstock on soap now that I think of it. I need all the soaps that are out there that I like using or smelling. I don't have that much room to store all that soap but I manage.

[buttertart]

Giving cans of lima beans isn't donating, it's getting rid of.

[LindaWhit]

Which begs the question, why would you have cans of lima beans anyway? ;-)

[buttertart]

They have never "graced" my kitchen, they're one of the very few things that I will not eat.

[LindaWhit]

Exactly. :-)

[MinkeyMonkey]

Yeah, it is just basically "getting rid of" and it made me so mad! I wanted to tell her that she was not doing anyone any favours or helping in any way. Somehow, I kept my mouth shut and when it came time next year, I told her all the things I was getting for the bag before she had the chance to bring it up. I can't remember it all but I do remember the organic cocoa powder and the jars of nutella. I rushed over to tell her about how important it was to me to give the things I think someone would not only like but would truly enjoy. I think she got the picture. But, huh, what WAS she doing with a cabinet full of canned limas?

[goodhealthgourmet]

BT & LW, i need clarification from you two...are you anti-lima bean period, or just the icky canned ones?

[buttertart]

Categorically anti-lima bean, in whatever form. Even organically-grown ones from a friend's garden. No thanks.

[HillJ]

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/si...

Not even this delish dish?

[buttertart]

That flavor combo would be good on anything BUT lima beans.

[goodhealthgourmet]

~drool~

that looks amazing. i have everything but the mint in the house - just used that up yesterday and i'm too lazy to go back out now.

i know what's on the menu for dinner tomorrow...

[HillJ]

ghg, you def. need the mint! hey btw, when is your site going to be up & running?

[goodhealthgourmet]

@BT, that's a bummer. the canned ones are gross, but i love fresh or frozen when prepared well.

[HillJ]

One summer I was the Lima Bean Queen for a day! I know my limas...and I'm kinda sad for my CH pals that shutter at the thought :)

[LindaWhit]

Anti-limas for me, ghg. Have just never liked them. Perhaps, like brussels sprouts, I've not had them cooked correctly. But I just think they're bland.

[goodhealthgourmet]

they are somewhat bland, but that makes them a great vehicle for other flavors! they take *really* well to garlic, and they make a delicious alternative to garbanzos for a hummus-like dip, particularly with a healthy dose of toasted cumin and fresh mint or dill.

[MinkeyMonkey]

I must say I love lima beans but her point was to get rid of the things she didn't want and that had been sitting in her cabinets for ages. I don't like them in cans tho...

I have made terrific hummus-like dishes with limas and even favas!

Yum

[lisavf]

Butter. Thyme. Mushrooms. Onions. Yeah, they go great together, but do I really need another pack of each? I always think I do, then get home and find out... there's a full pack in the fridge. Or a full basket of onions. Poor DH, he finally very politely asked me if it's possible for us to have a meal without mushrooms. Of course, it's possible. I just have to stop buying them.

Brown sugar. I'm not much of a baker, but I do use brown sugar in marinades, etc. quite often, and when I'm at the store and know I want to use it in something, I always think I'm running out. So I almost always have two boxes in the cupboard.

Dried pasta. Always buy another box "just in case" though "just in case" never really seems to happen.

And I'm with you on the carrots, Linda. I buy these humongous really super thick carrots at the farm stand (great for stews and roasting), and I always think, ooooh, they might not have these next time (they don't always have them) so I buy a bunch. Then next time I'm there and I see them, I think, ooooh, they might not have these next time... and so it goes, on and on. Except I never seem to really use them up. I always have two or three bunches

Which brings up a question: does anyone still use carrots that have sprouted roots? I did use a couple on Sunday when I was making chicken broth (peeled them first, of course). They don't get rubbery, just grow roots. After peeling one, I smelled and tasted it, and it seemed fine (for making broth) but I wasn't sure if there was a reason not to eat them. Thoughts, anyone?

[LindaWhit]

And I'm with you on the carrots, Linda. I buy these humongous really super thick carrots at the farm stand (great for stews and roasting), and I always think, ooooh, they might not have these next time (they don't always have them) so I buy a bunch. Then next time I'm there and I see them, I think, ooooh, they might not have these next time... and so it goes, on and on
~~~~~~~~~

It's Carrot Groundhog Day, lisavf! :-)

[buttertart]

Maybe you ARE a bunny and no one's told you yet! ;-)

[LindaWhit]

Thankfully, I'm not reproducing like bunnies do. ;-)

(OK, we've teetered WAY off-topic here, Linda! LOL)

[buttertart]

I cracked up at your first "Am I a bunny?". I could imagine you saying it.

[LindaWhit]

Well, I do like head massages. I guess that's similar enough to scritch-scratches behind long floppy ears. ;-)

[lisavf]

Funny! One of my favorite movies. Although I would hope that if I did get stuck doing the day over and over again, it wouldn't involve buying carrots :)

[goodhealthgourmet]

@lisavf, use up those mushrooms in a rich ragu, and store it in the freezer. it comes in handy when you want a comforting cold-weather meal in a pinch. just heat and serve over polenta..or one of those "just in case" boxes of pasta ;)

[OldDog]

"Butter. Thyme. Mushrooms. Onions. Yeah, they go great together, but do I really need another pack of each? I always think I do, then get home and find out... there's a full pack in the fridge. Or a full basket of onions."

If you have freezer space, all of the above are great candidates to find a home in there.

It's just SO nice to be able to reach into the freezer for a handful or more of pan ready chopped onion and sliced or chopped 'shrooms. I prep and freeze on cookie sheets in (more of less) single layers for a couple of hours, then into gallon freezer bags. This works with chopped peppers and celery as well.

The butter just gets tossed in 'as is' and I've never had a problem with off flavors or anything.

As for thyme, I've messed with drying it, freezing whole stems, etc., but never really been happy with the results...we hate the 'twiggyness' thing in finished dishes. So I let some root in water on the counter and plunked it in a little patch of dirt in a rock garden-ish area near the kitchen where it's happily gone native. Now, when I want thyme, my scissors and I go a-harvesting. Whole stems get washed, plunked into whatever and fished out (like bay leaves) when the dish is done.

My own latest over-buy thing is tortillas...I dunno what this is all about, but if I didn't buy more for two years, I'd prolly still have some in the freezer.

[Sooeygun]

Here's what happens to me (and my sister and my mom). I run out of something and it sticks in my head as being 'out'. So I buy some and then it's still stuck in my head that I need it and I buy some more next trip and usually one more time before I finally get it out of my head.

Often happens with dry goods...cornstarch, cocoa, baking powder.

[sunshine842]

that's me -- I have enough lentils to feed the entire town for a month.

[coll]

Toothpaste.....

[Kitchen Queen]

Butter and coffee. Tons of coffee... in my freezer, at work (private office) and, recently bought a Kuerig single - pods, coffee pods tons of them! I even have those single packs that Starbucks sell-keep those in my purse! Butter... cubes in the freezer, cubes in the fridge, small restaurant pats in the dairy box, in the fridge. Crazy!

[Barbara76137]

When I'm trying to cook for off and on bf, I buy a lot of chicken, pork and steak. When I'm just cooking for myself I somehow buy a lot of eggplant. I mean, I love eggplant, but I always buy too much.

I thought I was buying too much pasta, but all I have right now is various long pasta like angel hair, spaghetti, spaghettini, linguini and then stuff like lasagna. NO short, thick pasta. No penne, no ziti, no fusilli. Slap me upside with a wet noodle!!!!!

[Barbara76137]

With two horses, you can NEVER have too many carrots! My horses love carrots and watermelon.

On the other hand, I always have too much celery. I buy some for a mirepoix and still have a year's worth.

[Cherylptw]

Celery freezes well; just slice or dice it up and put it into a ziploc then you can pull it out to add to a soup, sauce, stir fry, etc.

[somervilleoldtimer]

Actually, you can do all the parts of the mirepoix (carrots, onion, celery, maybe parsley) all at once and freeze it in soup-portioned batches so next time you want to make soup, it's all done!

[jenscats5]

Glad I saw this! I typically overbuy....everything! It's not so bad now with the new house as there isn't as much storage room & no basement....old house had 2 freezers, fridge, pantry, basement pantry....I'm now trying to not buy so much as I just won't use it & hate throwing things out....

Now only have a pantry, 1 shelf unit and got rid of 1 freezer....

[DGresh]

oh my your old house is my current house! Basement freezer, Basement fridge, kitchen fridge and garage freezer..... I know-- but they are all full! I do work on using things up, mainly when I go on a trip and my DH has to "cook", but right now it's getting filled with roasted tomatoes and tons of pesto. But I have to make both veggie stock and chicken stock since my daughter is veg--- and we drink a ton of milk so the cabinet depth fridge just doesn't cut it in the kitchen. And we belong to a CSA so need space for a week's worth of veggies. What I overbuy is typically ingredients for baked goods (I more of a cook than a baker)-- so I'm never sure whether I've got enough flour/sugar/brown sugar so I'm always buying more.

[babybat]

Salad leaves, fresh herbs and celery - although it's not so much that I buy more when I've already got them, just that my fridge is perversely cold, no matter which setting it's technically on. So whenever I get them out of the fridge, they're frozen or turning to slime.

Canned sardines and dried lentils and beans, on the other hand, seem to end up in the trolley regardless of how much I've already got in the cupboard. After all, they're cheap, healthy and tasty, and you can't have too many, right? WRONG - five different kinds of sardine in the cupboard probably signifies a compulsive disorder...

[onceadaylily]

Canned sea creatures are a whole other discussion. Early summer, the boyfriend 'gifted' me with a half dozen cans of oyster of various quality and preservation. "You know what to do with these, right?" he said. "They were on sale." No, I didn't, having only eaten them raw on the half-shell, but I gave it a shot. Tinned oysters in oil? Good. Canned oysters in water? *Bad*. Oh, so bad. I still have two cans of those mushy bastards left.

But I can't fault him. We have two cans of very bad canned salmon, that I plucked off the shelf, because they were on sale. They are so bad that I think I would be going negative in the karma section if I tossed them into a canned food drive.

[weewah]

CATFOOD!

[Kitchen Queen]

Yep!!! :) They need variety..

[LindaWhit]

That's an insult to the cats. :-) I say just TOSS them oadl - both the oysters AND canned salmon. Don't even give them to the food drive either - that's cruel. :-)

[alkapal]

the raccoons won't care. give the stuff to them; they're unlike "mikey" -- they eat *anything*. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEXzx...

they also like moldy bread for the penicillin! ;-).

[LindaWhit]

Raccoons are pesky animals - I wouldn't put stuff out for them, regardless of how cute they are!

[alkapal]

oh, they pass through the yard anyway. i am well aware of how naughty they are, though; they tore up a friend's kitchen.

if the raccoons don't eat it, then the foxes or crows will. ;-).

funnily enough, none likes mushrooms!

[Querencia]

If the food is spoiled or far past its date, obviously don't donate it. But I work with four different church feeding programs serving the urban poor and I guarantee that clients of our programs would not be persnikckety about gastronomic perfection when it's a choice of "is there something to eat tonight" vs"no, there isn't". Just keep an open paper grocery bag in your pantry and when there's something you know you're not going to use, drop it into the bag. Check with whatever church is convenient for you---if they don't have a grocery distribution program they will know who does. Also some supermarkets keep an open barrel to receive donations.

[Barbara76137]

Only use I could see for some of that would be to let it sit out in the hot sun for a day or two and then use it as lobster bait! My ex-bf was obsessed with spiny lobster season in Southern California, so we'd spend the evenings out in his dinghy checking traps. The stinkier the bait, the better the catch.

[onceadaylily]

Throwing bad after good then. Now, all I need is a boat. And an ocean.

[sunshine842]

and a pony -- so you could ride upon your pony on your boat. (Lyle Lovett)

[Terrieltr]

I live alone, so for me it's generally produce. I simply can't eat it fast enough to avoid it going bad. And lettuce is, of course, the worst. I love loose-leaf lettuce, but it goes bad before I've eaten even a third of it.

[sheilal]

I complete agree with you Terrieltr . I'm single too and used to throw stuff out all of the time, especially bags of specialty lettuces and avocados. A couple of years back I bought a hand-held vacuum sealer. Best purchase I ever made. And it was only about 20 bucks. It paid for itself within a couple of weeks. Literally, I could put half an avocado in one of those bags and it would still be fresh after 4 days in the fridge.

[bagelman01]

Bread.
Always getting rid of partial loaves gone green.
Family insists on having a variety in the house and doesn't like bread that's been in the fridge.

I'd prefer to buy a loaf of what I'll know I'll use, but the shopping list always, has: White, wheat, rye, english muffins, cinnamon raison, etc.
A big waste, but the birds and animals in the ravine out back enjoy it.

[Jen76]

What about frozen bread? I buy sandwich bread at a bread outlet store and freeze the extra loaves. When thawed, I can't tell the difference as long as it doesn't get freezer burned. I tend to freeze entire loaves in their own packaging, but I've also split some out and frozen slices in Ziploc bags.

[bagelman01]

Tried it, the wife and daughter can tell the difference.
I don't care, because I always toast my bread

[evewitch]

Oddly, Hamburger Helper. I know, I know... I don't like the stuff either. But on sale with a coupon it is cheaper than other skillet dishes I can make with ground beef. Like $.75 a box or something. So now they are taking up every square inch of my pantry and I still don't like them. Bleh! I have to discipline myself to just not cut out the damn coupons anymore!

Anything that "seemed like a good idea at the time." Like the extra can of chickpeas to make another batch of hummus. Six months later it's still in there. Wasabi powder, rum extract, Betty Boop dijon mustard. All bought from the markdown rack or from Big Lots. Actually, just keep me away from Big Lots period. I am finally using the mustard but it isn't very good.

Butter. For a while I was buying 2 lb. every time I went to the store. Even when I was highly disorganized and going to the store nearly every day. They were literally falling out of my freezer. I finally quit, and now I am almost running out. I can see the pendulum swinging the other direction soon.

Family packs of chicken parts. Even though most of my family members do not like chicken on the bone, I will buy it when it goes on sale and stick it in the freezer. Just like that, in the package it came home from the store in. Yes, I know. Finally this week I disciplined myself to roast the breasts instead of freezing them. (They still sat for 2 days uncooked and then 2 days cooked before I cut them up and used them, but I still think it's an improvement. Perhaps except for the 1c. of cooked meat that is in the freezer.) I did take a package of thighs out to make chicken and rice today.

[Jen76]

You could donate the HH to a food pantry. Or, just don't use the seasoning packet (that's where much of the "evil" lies). Doctor it with canned tomatoes, fresh herbs, and your own dried seasonings.

[susancinsf]

here's a great recipe that will use both those garbanzo beans and chicken parts. You can use it with legs, thighs, drumsticks, breasts, whatever. On the regular rotation at my house:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[smartie]

I also did the carrots thing this week. And onions. Did I need them? No, got home and a full bag of carrots and 3 large onions were already in the veg drawer. Now I have 2 bags and 6 onions staring at me when I open the fridge. Oh well I guess it's carrot soup this week.
Ditto cocoa powder, seasoned breadcrumbs (why I don't know I only use them rarely), and of course bananas.
Glad you did not go to condiments - at least 3 cinnamons, cumin ................

[LindaWhit]

When I go nuts with buying onions, I caramelize them. Three large onions will cook down to about 1-1/2 or 2 cups of caramelized onions (and the mandoline makes quick work of the onions, creating perfectly thin slices with no tears!). Portion them into small 1/2 cup containers for freezing.

Then I just need to remember to add that to my freezer list so I know it's in there. :-)

[smartie]

ah the freezer - I am so bad at putting things into unmarked ziplocks or tupperware that I have no clue what some of it is after a few months. I guess that's also overstockingcity.com. I also always have too many frozen peas.

[LindaWhit]

One can never have too many packages of frozen peas. Although my pea-hating younger sister would vehemently disagree. :-)

[smartie]

one of my coworkers hates hates hates peas, it kills me to see her eat a packaged tuna casserole that SHE buys and spends ten minutes picking out the peas. Logic tells me to tell her to make her own pea-less lunch but no she would rather eat that stuff and pick em out.

[Barbara76137]

Frozen peas are GREAT icepacks, but you just have to label which ones are still for human consumption after you've used one on a sprained ankle or wrist or on your horse. My former BF was a big foodie and was thrilled when he opened my freezer and found all of my frozen peas........they were all icepacks for various equine and human injuries :)

[weewah]

Or frozen spinach!

[Harters]

Used to be profligate with our shopping. Since we retired and have a reduced income, if it ain't on the list, it ain't in the trolley (BOGOF's and other "deals" excepted of course) . There's very little gets tossed at Chateau Harters these days .

[Midlife]

It's not often that you see someone use "profligate" and "ain't" in the same paragraph. :o)))))))

[alkapal]

harters is an eclectic englishman!

[Harters]

I'll take that to be a compliment, alkapal. :-))

[alkapal]

indeed!

[Breadcrumbs]

Great question Linda! This is sort of like a self-help group!!! LOL! I'm glad I'm not alone.

Here's what I over-buy:

Spices and herbs: Despite knowing I should buy small quantities from a bulk shop, I don't seem to be able to resist the bags at the supermarket or, those beautiful tins at the gourmet shops. And then, there's the unusual spices that I see and think....hey, I can't believe I just found this, I'm sure saw this in an "insert country name" recipe! Yesterday I bought a 300g bag of Ajwain seeds, confident I must have seen them in a recipe from Arabesque. Got home, pulled out book, huh, not so much!!

Mushrooms: We have a mushroom farmer at the market this year and I can't resist his fabulous fungi. I come home, heaps of brown paper bags in hand and squirrel them away into the depths of the fridge only to realize I really don't need mushrooms with every meal of the day/week!!

Lettuce, Micro-greens: I see those lovely looking fresh little leaves and I'm filled with good intentions. I imagine piling the baby arugula over home made pizza, scrumptious salads before each meal, stirring them into pasta sauce. Then, inevitably, I'm trying to shove a ....well, frankly, another bag of mushrooms!! into the fridge and what do I find? I clear plastic box filled with a gooey, green sludge that was formerly some form of lettuce.

Radishes: This isn't my fault. Who needs a whole bunch of radishes? I usually need one, maybe 2. I scrub them, I clean them, I toss them into the crisper then I don't see them again until they've melted into nasty little brown puddles of mush that I find dripping from some other vegetable I pull from the drawer.

Glad you excluded condiments....don't get me started here!!!

[alkapal]

yeah, i'm there with the baby arugula, too. i love it, but sometimes after i'm enthusiastic in the store, i just don't feel like making a salad with it "today." got some in the fridge now. MUST. EAT. TODAY.

[LindaWhit]

Lettuce is always an issue with me as well. I have all good intentions of using it; I just go in another direction with what I'm making for lunch or dinner, and it get forgotten....although I do usually throw it out before it's turned into gooey, green sludge. It's usually only partially gooey. :-)

[weewah]

My own recipe for pickled radishes!

http://www.food.com/recipe/garbage-pi...

Unbelievable. I have posted this recipe twice on this thread in response to other's comments.
It's a great way to preserve your veggies

[alkapal]

i went crazy a while back when harris teeter ran a 25% off deal on all of their "specialty" (read "upscale") cheeses.

i also went crazy recently stocking up on duke's mayo on sale. what can i say? i need them for dip for the holidays --er --or something like that! LOL!

i AM a depression-era child-by-proxy.

[ipsedixit]

broccoli, bananas, and Fuji apples

[goodhealthgourmet]

herbs, hot sauce & vinegar. fortunately the latter two aren't going to spoil on me any time soon :)

Linda, if you want a great way to use up some of that rabbit food, make a roasted carrot dip.

[baseballfan]

Everything! If we have a natural disaster, just come to my house. i have 2 stuffed freezers and fridges as well as a full pantry. I have been trying to cut down on what I buy, but I seem to have a depression era mentality where i always think that I need to stock up just in case.

I buy on sale with coupons whenever possible but really there is only so much you can eat even with teenagers in the house. I find that I really overbuy on fresh fruit which can go bad quickly as well as things that go stale like crackers etc.

[Cherylptw]

You sound like me; if I didn't buy anything else for the next six months, I wouldn't starve. I have a large chest freezer that most times I'm unable to close completely unless I put something heavy on top. I have just about every seasoning blend or dried herb, about 8 varieties of dried chiles, three types of fresh hot peppers in my freezer and so much dried pasta & canned goods, I could open up my own market. People are always asking me what's with the stockpile of food...I have to admit, though, 80% of the time I buy only when there is a sale...

But I have a weakness for fresh produce & cheeses and currently have so much of those, stuff falls out of the fridge when I open it. And, I'm going shopping tomorrow....there's a sale on meat...I can't help it....LOL!

[baseballfan]

Glad to know I am not alone! I forgot about the cheese issue...I always have a lot of variety on hand and it drives me crazy when it goes bad and I have to throw it away.

My husband always jokes that we should take out a separate insurance policy on the pantry and fridge/freezer items!

[weewah]

I am the same way!
There's a side by side freezer/ fridge in the kitchen, a large upright and a chest freezer in the basement and I have another upright and a restaurant reach-in that is 5 feet wide in the garage -which are currently empty, thank God. (and in the last few years I have given away an upright & had a huge chest freezer 'die').
So I guess I stock pile freezers! They are so cheap at auctions.
I buy lambs whole (butchered out) and raise my own hogs. Dad hunts deer and elk, so there's that meat too. There are only the two of us at this residence!
I buy butter in massive quantities when it goes on sale in the summer and freeze it. Same with corned beef after St. Pat's and Turkey after Thanksgiving.
The pantry is the same story. Full.

And does anyone else buy rice and popcorn by the 30 lb bag? Jesus. I have 3 kinds of rice. Sushi, basmati and parboiled.

BUT! I lost my job 3 months ago and aside from purely necessary fresh foods like eggs, milk, fruits/veg & pet foods I have not bought groceries in all that time. And that is really cool.
I could do another 3 months easy...

[alkapal]

it's good to use up all those frozen things periodically anyhow. good luck with a job search, weewah.

[baseballfan]

Sorry to hear about your job situation but this exactly the type of situation that is always in the back of my mind. I feel more secure knowing that we can eat from the freezer and pantry during hard times whether it be a job loss, natural disaster etc. Good luck with the job hunt but at least you won't be hunting hungry :).

[Barbara76137]

weewah, I was unemployed for almost an entire year and even prior to that finances were extremely difficult for quite a few years. I remember siting over a bowl of popcorn and reading my great cookbooks dreaming of all the wonderful recipes but knowing I couldn't afford any ingredients.

My cat and horses will have food before I worry about myself. I have a good stockpile of frozen and pantry items and can live without meat. Meat really ups the food budget. I have frozen chicken and fish but if it was gone I could still live without it.

[Beckyleach]

Been on too much of a rice kick, myself...and my dd has gotten too fond of cooking Asian food, as well. AND the fact that we drive right past an Asian grocery store nearly every week hasn't helped: those beautiful, HUGE bags at rock-bottom prices...

Currently, have: basmati, brown basmati, sushi, sticky, jasmine, arborio, short grain, wild (not really a rice, I know.;-), Lundberg mixed, and some "Forbidden" blackish purple stuff.

[The 1st and only KSyrahSyrah]

I love this thread!!! I'm the same way, baseballfan, but I have a reason (excuse!) When I first moved East, we had a HUGE blizzard, and literally could not open the storm door because the snow was so high. I couldn't get out for three days. So now.....I hoard. (Not like I'll end up on A&E or anything,) but an empty spot in the freezers or the pantry sends me into panic. And coupons and BOGO's do me in. However, I recently got Living Cookbook and it has an inventory feature on it, so I'm hoping I will know what I have, and not buy duplicates, or at least so much. The one thing I seem to have the most of is pasta.......

[Bill Hunt]

OK, if we ignore the mustards, then my answer would be "nothing edible."

Mustards included - then it would definitely be mustards!

Hunt

[alkapal]

one needs a nice variety of mustards; they're very specialized creations.

[LindaWhit]

Yes, that's why I exempted them from over-buy status. :-)

[Chemicalkinetics]

herbs

[onceadaylily]

Enough that I don't like to clean out the fridge in front of the boyfriend. Who buys cabbage because it's on sale? It's ALWAYS on sale. I have two large bags of carrots in the fridge as of Thursday. They were on sale, a buy-one get-one in a store that means exactly that.

Fresh produce is always what turns me into a bag-grabbing dervish, but especially chiles and peppers. I wind up either drying them in the oven or roasting them because I just can't seem to get it through my head that I don't need four kinds of each *just in case*, and then they get all wrinkled, or moldy. I had to toss one of my four green bells yesterday.

Fresh herbs. I can get a packet of herbs for ninety-nine cents, or even cheaper, if it's parsley or cilantro (thirty-nine cents a bunch). I have parsley, thyme, sage, basil, and tarragon just, you know, hanging out. Who buys sage without *planning* to use it? Me. I do. I have got to start freezing herbs in ice cubes, or start infusing things. I did just read about a tarragon-infused vodka . . . .

My freezer is also problematic. It's small, and the rails for the shelves on the door are long gone. which I manage to forget when my favorite meats are on sale. Until I replace them, I have to wrestle my sale meats in among the frozen odds and ends that makes me grateful I was such a Testris champion (even so, we sometimes have to eat Eggos and Popsicles for dinner after a trip to the market).

I also have three containers of cocoa powder in the pantry, and I don't know how, when, or why. That's a lot of cocoa.

Also, despite the fact that we have a dozen types of seasoned or gourmet salts, we always think we're out of Morton's iodized. We never are. Never even close.

The boyfriend only has one: cereal. He never believes me that he has unopened cereal, until he tries to fit the new box into the pantry. "Huh," he'll say, staring at the four boxes lined up (three unopened, one impossibly stale. If anyone has any recipes that use a gluttonous amount of shredded wheat (sweetened on one side), I would love to hear them.

[Jen76]

Dill pickled green peppers are tasty. My grandmother always put some green bell pepper slices into her jars of pickles. I loved them when I was a kid.

[onceadaylily]

Pickles are on my list! I've never canned anything, and have begun buying jars for a first (deep breath--don't think of poisoning the man you love--no, stop, he'll be okay) foray into the venture. I can get green peppers for a remarkable price here. I love this idea!

[weewah]

Here's a link to a good brine recipe I got from my Grandma Jennings:

http://www.food.com/recipe/garbage-pi...

Unsealed pickles are quite safe in the fridge. They are in salt and vinegar!
Seal them if they are going to be stored long term before eating. You can use up scraps of leftover fresh veggies making pickles w/ this brine recipe. The spice choices are up to you : )

[onceadaylily]

Thanks. I bookmarked it. I've made bread and butter pickles before, but I've never properly canned for preservation.

Those are some interesting-looking radishes.

[Sensuous]

We have serious cereal buying/wasting issues and soon I'll be buying more for Chex Mix, which requires jars and jars of seasoning that won't be used up either.

[onceadaylily]

I thought I was on a Chex Mix making binge last winter (you can season them however *you* want), and I stocked up on the cereal for that venture. I was bored, and bloated, after two batches (one spicy, one garlic). The rest went to the birds.

[weewah]

Damn.
I would've taken that off your hands

[susancinsf]

if you like having sage around, (and I do, I find it goes well in lots of savory dishes)...consider growing it. We have a sage plant in our (small) herb garden, but you could easily keep it in a pot (doesn't grow that fast). It does very well, at least in our (Central California) climate. Believe me, anything I can grow, is EASY to grow!

[onceadaylily]

I've been looking at potted herbs lately. I killed a basil plant last year (slowly, and painfully, bringing it back from the edge so many times that I started to feel a bit sadistic), but I think I'm ready to try again. And sometimes the plants are cheap enough that six month's use is actually a bargain.

Do you have one of those lights for indoor gardening, or is whatever comes through the window sufficient?

[MinkeyMonkey]

Not sure how your basil died but, just in case, if you water them, try watering the tray rather than the soil. That way, you'll get water soaked up to the roots rather than getting it on the leaves. Water on basil leaves is like water on African violet leaves--sure death. Plus, it might be good to know that basil plants are NOT that easy, especially when kept inside. They can blacken and die just like that and for no apparent reason.

My basil plant does not love it inside even though I keep it in a window with southern exposure and constant, direct sunlight. It was an outdoor-from-seed plant but frost came early for us so now it is my please-don't-die plant!

If you buy a new plant and it was inside, give it a chance outside during the warm part of the day for twenty minutes, then 40 minutes the next day, then an hour etc until it has gotten used to the air and temps. Then, depending on the weather, you can leave it out for the sunlight and bring it in to keep it from getting to cold at night. I'm not sure what your temps are or what your winters are like (we are having snow today, wheee) but if it is nice out, go ahead and try it outside during the days while it is still warm.

I hope that helps.

[Pandarina]

Cilantro is my big one. It comes in such large bunches and I use it so infrequently that I will often buy a new bunch when I still have an older one in the fridge...and both turn to lovely green mush after that one bowl of guacamole!

[Midlife]

Bananas and limes at Costco. There are just two of us but I can't resist the prices. I wind up freezing leftover bananas for smoothies and juicing limes to freeze as cubes. Lately I've noticed that the limes start to harden when they get older....... that seems odd. Anyway................. the crop of limes on our tree is just starting to ripen (not much summer in South OC this year) so one of the two is not a problem now.

[onceadaylily]

I just tucked away a coupon for a pound of bananas with any produce purchase. "Who doesn't want free bananas?" I said. Me, that's who. I eat one, and then I'm over it. Between the coupon and the gallon of milk that's always cheaper than the half-gallon, I see a cream pie in my future.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Banana is great forremedying potassium deficiency

[onceadaylily]

That's why I force myself to eat them at all. The dreaded dark of night leg cramps brought on by the mere stretch of a leg. I've never even thought to research if the potassium in bananas is lost through cooking. Any thoughts?

[Chemicalkinetics]

Hi,

Yeah, I sort of "force" myself to buy bananas for similar reasons as you. Bananas are also great for "on the go breakfast".

Anyhow, I don't believe potassium in bananas can be lost from cooking. Not 100% sure, but pretty sure. The reason is that potassium is an element, so it is in a very fundamental form which cooking cannot destroy. Similarly sodium chloride (table salt) cannot be removed by cooking.

http://education.jlab.org/itselementa...

Now, vitamins are different. They are organic compounds and they can partially lost/degrade in cooking.

P.S.: I read somewhere that plantains have even more potassium than bananas, so if you are into cooking them. :)

[onceadaylily]

Thanks. I can see myself over-buying plantains in the near future.

[Midlife]

Hysterical and true. Sometimes I'll feel a keg cramp coming on while I'm still in bed and will go to the kitchen and eat a banana right then. I don't know if it's the banana or the walk downstairs and back, but the cramp always goes away. :o)))))

[Chemicalkinetics]

"Sometimes I'll feel a keg cramp coming on while I'm still in bed and will go to the kitchen and eat a banana right then"

I don't think it works that fast :)

You made me feel like I need to put a banana in my emergency medical case, ya know?

[alkapal]

i know it's a typo, but i got a kick out of thinking of this: >>"""Sometimes I'll feel a keg cramp coming on while I'm still in bed and will go to the kitchen ...."""<<

~~~
in college, we had keg cramps, but then went to a frat house party! LOL!

[onceadaylily]

Maybe I should try your plan sometime, instead of just laying there in the dark, whispering, "nononononono". Because that doesn't work at all.

[goodhealthgourmet]

skip the bananas - there are plenty of other foods that are higher in potassium...cantaloupe, winter squash, fennel, spinach, chard...even broccoli. or find a way to sneak a spoonful of blackstrap molasses into your daily diet.

[Jen76]

My aunt used to take a spoonful of blackstrap molasses daily. She loved it.

[goodhealthgourmet]

i add it to my protein smoothies - it's a nutritional powerhouse. anyway, i just figured it's a better solution to onceadaylily's leg cramp problem than over-buying bananas, particularly since she doesn't even like them!

[Jen76]

That's a great idea. My aunt didn't like bananas either. Funny.

[onceadaylily]

That is a very good point. I've little use for molasses in my type of cooking, but that's half the fun of cooking, the purchasing of an ingredient that requires some research and a will to use it. And the seeming rigor (sloooow rigor) of a limb in the middle of the night does provide a certain amount of willingness, on my part.

But let me clarify, it's only raw bananas I've a distaste for (they seem so sweet for the first few bites, and then bitter after I've acclimated to the sugar). A girl can cure leg cramps with pudding only so many times before she has a new problem.

I buy one new thing every market trip, so this discussion fills a dance spot on the card for the next.

[alkapal]

potassium imbalance is a very, very tricky area, and some "home remedies" like banana and molasses have potassium levels that may interfere with some medications. i know this from my older sister's experience.

i just say, this needs to be discussed with your physician.

[onceadaylily]

I'm not on any medication, but will keep that in mind. That's interesting, though. I would have never thought of either as being able to contradict any medications. Who ever think to tell their doctor that they 'on' bananas?

[goodhealthgourmet]

otherwise healthy people who eat potassium-rich foods and don't abuse diuretics or alcohol don't have to worry much about hyper- or hypokalemia...your body is designed to excrete the excess. it's only really a concern when certain medications, health conditions or severe dehydration come into play.

[nvcook]

point your toes up towards you and not down (like a ballerina). I can almost always stave off a leg cramp that way.

[susancinsf]

for some reason, scuba training places great emphasis on what to do if you get a leg cramp underwater (I've been diving for years, never had one while diving)...but I do use what we were taught when I get them above water: get in a more or less 'sitting position', stretch out legs, flex ankle so that fin is upright, pull fin towards you with ankle flexed and toes upright.. as I say, I do the same thing, minus fin, above water, and it does work, And a darn good thing it works too, because I HATE bananas!

On the topic of limes: just got some Costco limes, and they were fine. Worked well in my margarita. and the price is ridiculously cheap compared to what limes are costing at my grocery store right now (works out to about ten cents a lime, vs three or four for a dollar at my local grocery store.

[sunshine842]

some anti-hypertension meds rob the body of potassium, so doctors frequently recommend a daily banana to counteract it.

== freeze bananas and use them in place of ice in a smoothie. Delicious, thick creamy texture, banana flavor, and doesn't water down the smoothie. Yum.

== banana bread. 'nuff said!

[tracylee]

I was told that the diuretics I'm taking would flush out potassium, so I'm on an Rx potassium supplement. Far more than I could possibly down in bananas a day.

[sunshine842]

I don't think there was an edict there.
Depends on the medicine and depends on what your doctor says.

Actual mileage may vary.

[alkapal]

i've found the lime-hardening to be the case, too.

[Midlife]

Interesting because the ones from our lime tree get soft as they get older. Probably has something to do with when the commercial limes are picked and how they are handled from that point.

[alkapal]

i think you are right. they are probably picked green (as in unripe). i grew up in florida with key limes and other citrus, and my sister has a key lime now. that hardening never happens with those. they get yellow, then they rot.

[sunshine842]

Heh. No, I had one fall out of my fruit basket and on to a lower shelf a few years ago (I used to have a key lime)

You could have busted a window with that thing.

[GraydonCarter]

>>Bananas and limes at Costco

Anything at Costco... Beer by the case. Cookies by the case. Crackers by the case.

[c oliver]

I've been so disappointed with Costco limes, I won't buy them again. Not juicy at all.

[Midlife]

Funny.. The ones we bought this last time were really juicy................ except for the last few that dried up and hardened.

[Babyducks]

I have a probalem with Costco fruit. Just last week I had to take back the box of peaches I purchased. They look like a picture of beauty, but were so dry and tastless on the inside. I've also had a problem with their apples not being mushy..

[Barbara76137]

I never had a problem with any Costco produce at any of the CA Costco's, or the one in Memphis, TN for that matter. But I've had problems at the Southlake, TX (Fort Worth) Costco. Most recently bought fruit on a Saturday afternoon and it was inedible on Sunday morning. They were fine with refunding my money, but it ruined my breakfast.

[divadmas]

microwave limes for v15 or 30 seconds to make juicy. or roll them on counter, but microwave is more effective, but heats up.

[EAH]

The lime ice cubes idea is brilliant!