Revolutionary New Diet...

The beginning of a new year is a great time to make some changes in lifestyle. I've been fighting this lingering "baby fat" since Ellie was born almost 4 years ago, so I've come across this revolutionary new diet that I'm giving a try.

I'm also forcing the kids to participate, so they don't tempt me with their carefree ways of eating.

Atkins, The Zone, Weight Watchers???

No, It's the diet of not going to the store in two weeks and making do with what's in your house. Yesterday was the pancake, Spanish rice, and cucumber phase of the plan (actual contents of the kids' lunches).

The day before was applesauce, black beans, and cream of wheat day.

Of course I jest a little about this actually being an intentional diet plan, it was more a combination of serious pre-occupation with other projects and getting readjusted to the new schedule after the break. But it was an eye opening experience for me looking at my food storage.

This past year we had some pesky moths completely infest an entire cupboard of unopened, sealed grain products, which led us to some pretty drastic adjustments made to our entire food storage. After throwing away the entire cupboard of food, we then either had to freeze or place the remainder of the grains into air tight containers. We have wheat and oats in sealed buckets that are fine, but where we struggle is with the items we use every day like cereal, rice, noodles, and baking mixes. Since our freezer space is limited and good air tight containers are expensive, we need a whole new plan for keeping our food storage safe and usable.

So where do we go from here?

1. Keep track of what I already have, what I use, and what I need (maybe a spreadsheet?)

2. Don't buy more grain products than I have room to store properly.

3. Gradually continue buying the airtight containers to increase my storage capacity. I've noticed that screw top lids are much more effective and easier for the whole family to use.

4. Eventually buy another fridge/freezer just for storing grains?????

5. Stealthily place the following sign on the inside of each food cupboard.