National Clean-Your-What Day???

I saw it on CNN.   This past Tuesday (2 days ago) was National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  I suppose it’s a great effort.  Way to go, People-who-think-of-these-rather-obscure-things.  

What I find especially disturbing is that we are encouraged to perform this task… once a year.  Maybe some people need this sort of yearly reminder, but I am pretty vigilant about thoroughly cleaning out the fridge very week or two, right before I make my big grocery trip.  (Can’t stand the thought of putting fresh food that just cost me an arm and a leg into a grimy fridge).  

I am not saying my fridge is always pristine (believe me, a week or two is all some things need to cause trouble in there).  And there is occasionally the thing that falls down behind the other thing that I completely forget about until it has gone all  “science experiment” on me.

I guess I’ll embrace this occasion to think about food safety.

Hubby and I are entirely obsessive about food safety…  especially leftovers.  (When in doubt, throw it out!)  I also really can’t stand being wasteful, so there has to be a healthy balance.  When it comes to leftovers, I never make more than what we will eat in the next two days.  Any prepared food older than two days gets tossed.  (Most experts say 3-4 days, but I use the two-day rule to play it safe.)  Generally, I am pretty good about making sure our leftovers get eaten so we don’t waste anything.  If I make a big batch of something, I freeze a portion of it right away to save for another time.  (Really, most everything can be frozen.)

I have a couple of trusty friends that help me out:  “Masking Tape” & “Sharpie.”  Everything in my fridge gets a dated label.  Everything.  Ketchup.  Mayo.  Leftovers.  Nothing is exempt from the treatment.  I used to think I could remember when I prepared everything, but when life gets busy (which is pretty much always), time rolls by like a steam locomotive and before I know it, I have no earthly idea if I hard-boiled those eggs yesterday or last week.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I can’t help but think of all that food coming my way.  More than probably any of us can handle.  

Freeze what you can.  Be safe.  And happy eating to all.