Part of my pre-New Year activities is taking an inventory of the food on hand and planning meals. Between the weird work hours I have now and the steadily increasing food prices, meal planning is more important than ever. So here's my inventory and the meals for the next week.
In the freezer:
6 whole chickens
5 lbs ground beef
10 lb ground turkey
3.5 lb chuck roast
2 packages of Gorton's fish fillets (the grilled kind, 2 fillets in each package)
3 lb turkey ham
2 lb turkey bacon
several varieties of shredded cheese
20 lb whole tomatoes
green beans, lima beans
mustard greens, collard greens, and spinach
broccoli and cauliflower
In the refrigerator:
eggs
1/2 gallon of milk
butter and margarine
country bob's sauce
worcestershire sauce
salad dressing and mayonnaise
baby carrots
green onions
several kinds of cheese, shredded, sliced and block
In the cupboard:
numerous cans of the vegetables we eat
a few cans of fruit
black and green olives
marinated artichoke hearts
canned marinated mushrooms and plain mushrooms
chopped garlic
cream of whatever soups and the ingredients to make homemade versions
chili (which I prefer for chili corn chip pie)
brown, white, and wild rices
dried beans and peas
plenty of spices and condiments
I also have 5 avocadoes and 4 bananas
Tonight we ended up getting a smoked chicken from the local grocery deli. There's enough left to use later in the week so it will get eaten quickly.
Tomorrow I'm preparing the Gorton's fish fillets and black eyed peas. Not so much because it's New Year's Day as because I like that combination. 
The rest of the week we'll have, in no particular order:
Chicken & dressing casserole (made with the leftover chicken from tonight), tossed salad, and green beans
Leftover black eyed peas with tossed salad
Chili made with 1/2 lb ground turkey and Ranch Style Beans and served with tossed salad
Hamburger skillet dish (homemade) with broccoli and green beans
Super salads with several leaf lettuces, tomato, green onions, bean sprouts, and shredded cheese
Current food inventory and meals for the next week
January 1st, 2008 at 04:53 am
January 1st, 2008 at 11:30 am 1199187010
I see the Track My Food Storage site must be what you use for this? That sounds good to me versus Excel, probably much easier to maintain and more flexible. So thanks, I think I'll give their free basic service a try!
January 1st, 2008 at 02:05 pm 1199196329
Lots of BLTs?
I've sooooo been missing you and looking for your blogname in the blog summaries. Glad to hear in your other post that you and your spouse are trying to work things out.
And congratulations on the new business & job(s) - let us know how the newest ones works out.
January 1st, 2008 at 02:14 pm 1199196856
It really helps so give it a shot. It also helps if you print a list of what's in the freezer and tape
it to the door. When you use something from the freezer, mark it off.
My list is something like this:
whole chickens, 6 (when I use one, the 6 will be marked through and I will put a 5 there)
It really helps!
Lux, thanks for the very warm welcome back! I miss you all when I don't read your blogs but man,
I got depressed and basically hid for awhile. Then I decided that all the things that came before
my marriage needed to go so I wasn't online much at all. Priorities, ya know!
As for the tomatoes, well they were given to me by someone and are in two huge bags.
I haven't figured out yet how to use them but will more than likely make soup, chili,
spaghetti sauce, etc. I just haven't figured out *how* to do that since they are
frozen solid and, like I said, in only 2 bags! So if I thaw one, that's 10 lbs of tomatoes
to use quickly! I'll use them and put what I made with them back in the freezer, I think.
Hopefully that will work.
Thanks also for the congrats. I really think the new business will succeed.
Expenses for it are low, it's paying the bills right now already, and the potential
is very good.
January 1st, 2008 at 04:41 pm 1199205660
January 1st, 2008 at 05:26 pm 1199208373
Great list! As for all those tomatoes...perhaps like you said make spaghetti sauce, soup, chili and then you can freeze those in individual/family sizes. I didn't even know you could freeze whole tomatoes!
January 1st, 2008 at 05:50 pm 1199209857
January 2nd, 2008 at 03:25 am 1199244356
Meal planning helps tremendously and having plenty of food stocked is vital!
January 3rd, 2008 at 02:12 pm 1199369576