Put a Dent in Your Kitchen

Wait! Before you rush to the grocery store and stock up for this weekend's snowstorm, ask yourself, "Do I really need to buy more food, or is it that I just don’t want to eat the food I have plenty of?" Most likely the answer is yes. Yet you can find nearly everyone in town raiding the shelves of their local grocer every time the weatherman calls for a major storm.

Too many people spoil themselves nowadays with their fancy organic cereals, fruits, granola and poultry. The thought of finally opening that bland box of Corn Flakes that no one wants to eat (you know the one that’s been sitting on top of the refrigerator since November) sounds terrible. And what about those cans of soup that just rest in the cupboard? No thanks.

Rather than putting a dent in your wallet this weekend shopping for groceries before the storm, try putting a dent in your kitchen pantry instead.

Get creative! Look around for those boxes of pasta you know you have shoved in the back of a shelf and whip it together with one of your 10 jars of tomato sauce. Or dig into your stash of canned tuna and make a sandwich. If you have bread and cheese, take yourself back to childhood and make a comfort food like grilled cheese and compliment it with some warm Campbell’s Soup. There’s also no rule against eating breakfast for dinner, so make use of your “just add water” pancake mix, and waffles hidden behind your pricey Lean Cuisines, and voila—another meal. And if you really want to keep it simple, you can always have a yummy peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

There are countless ways to make use of the bulk items stored in your kitchen. In fact, the foods you forget to touch in your house are sometimes the most essential ones. It’s easy to get in the habit of going to the grocery store every week and purchasing expensive meat, Kashi cereal and fruits and vegetables that often go bad before they’re even eaten.

Of course there are certain products you need to purchase often like milk, eggs and butter. I’m not telling you to drink sour milk. All that I’m just suggesting is to be more resourceful.
So go scope out your kitchen. Think up some fun ways to make use of what you already have this weekend, but more importantly enjoy the cozy indoors and beautiful snow outside with your family and friends.