My chest freezer and most of my pantry space is in my basement. I needed a way to easily keep track of what was in the freezer and pantry, so I developed an inventory on an excel spreadsheet that I print and keep in the kitchen. When I take a package of hamburger out of the freezer, or two cans of tuna off the shelf, I just change the number by hand on my inventory sheet.
When I'm planning meals for the week, I can consult the inventory and see how much chicken is in the freezer, how many cans of tomatoes I have, etc. and I then know what I have to buy that week. It also enables me to shop wisely - I won't buy more cans of mushrooms when I know I have 6 on the shelf.
I keep the spreadsheet saved on the computer and about once a quarter I inventory the freezer and shelves and update the sheet, keeping it current, and easier to read! Because it's saved on the computer, I don't have to retype much. I can just change "4" green beans to "2" or delete the chocolate cake mix if I've run out.
I use categories like vegetables, fruits, baking, ethnic and condiments, but you can adapt this easily to your needs.
For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy at Tammy's Recipes.
Great idea! You sound very organized :)
ReplyDeleteI do the exact same thing - posted about ti last year - reminds me...it's time to update:D
ReplyDeletehttp://therandomramblingsofaworkingmom.blogspot.com/2008/01/kitchen-tip-tuesday-freezerpantry.html
Great post. If I ever get a large freezer, I'll probably do something like this.
ReplyDeleteI have doing this for over a year is great :O).
ReplyDeletePlus I do this before going shopping to update that way when I go I know if I need something.