Kitchen Cruft -- Going, Going, Gone!

[poltr1]

Yesterday, R went on a cleaning "binge" and threw out my "collection" of sauce packets -- ketchup, mustard, hot sauce from Taco Bell, soy sauce from take-out sushi and Chinese restaurants, etc. I don't remember how long I've had them; I do know they don't last forever.

Yeah, I was upset when she threw them out, and took them to the neighboring apartment complex's dumpster. But I'm over it now. And I'm starting to feel a little better about throwing things out that have little or no intrinsic value or importance. It's like a spell has been broken, or a little bit of the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders.


So why do I keep these things? I'm not so hard up that I take home these free packets and fill up bottles while nobody's looking. I just hate wasting food, and wasting money. But if I got these things for free, am I wasting my money? No. I just think they can be used, mostly by me. Even though we have enough sauces in the fridge, outside of the packets.

I also threw out some marinara sauce cups that have been sitting in the kitchen for months. And now I don't feel so bad about throwing out some French's mustard I've had in the fridge for several years. R prefer's Gulden's, and I like Weber's Horseradish Mustard on my hot dogs and brats, and I've not used French's at home for years.

As for things like Speedway plastic drink cups, cottage cheese and yogurt containers, I could use them again, but I don't. (Or what I do use, I have enough.) Maybe I'll give them to M's day care center to use for crafts, or the free store for teachers in the Cincinnati area.

Let the de-crufting begin.

Comments

[supurrkitten.livejournal.com]

The other week when BC had the week off work and we had to pay rent and were kinda broke... I mad a mean chineese chicken with several sauce pakets. I think I had like four soys, a mcDonalds BBQ mcNugget sauce, a chinese spicy mustard and two duck sauce packs. I also threw in a can of mandarin oranges. All in all it made a good impersionation of a General Tso's chicken. Plus that week made us eat all the usless cans of stuff in our cabinet. It was the same week I found a vaccum pack of salmon in the cabinet. I understand her need to clean and your sadness. Good thing is you won't miss any of it in a week and it doesn't take long to accumulate more. Have a good week.

[poltr1]

Yeah, we definitely need to clean house. It's been a stressor in our relationship.

I'm honestly not sure if it's obsessive-compulsive disorder (or tendencies) I have (hoarder syndrome is a manifestation of OCD) or if it's something I learned from watching my parents. My parents grew up during the Great Depression, so they've always had the mindset of scarcity, even now. My dad's workshop area has glass baby food jars and coffee jars that hold screws, nails, and other odds and ends. Mom clips recipes from the newspaper and never tries them out. I once asked her, "Why bother clipping them?" Her response: "It gives me something to do."

I should do what you suggest -- eat the stuff I have at home, and not go out and buy more food. However, I'd be the only one in the house eating the old stuff. R doesn't touch leftovers if they're one week old.

I also know that the soy sauce packets that many Chinese restaurants give out are filled with an inferior sauce. Essentially, it's liquid salt with caramel color. It's not naturally brewed, like Kikkoman.