If You Love Some Broccoli, Set Them Free (from Plastic) - (#ctww)

It came to pass that a great Census of All The Food In The House was ordered, in response to this week's Change the World Wednesday Challenge:

This week, use what is in your cupboards, pantry, freezers, etc. before buying new food items.

This was, in itself, an interesting challenge but then...

"Harold Shaw is stepping up this challenge.  In his words "I would like to challenge the #CTWW group to take the time (I know that this is a busy time of year - most of us are harvesting some sort of crop or other) to do a written/computer inventory of the food stuffs you have, which will force you to actually look at what you have and then use up the stuff that should be used up this next week or soon, but if you discover food that is bad dispose of it properly before you buy new food. Remember the food you have designated for emergencies, doesn't count in this challenge.  To make it a little more interesting - that includes buying food to eat out for the next week".

This is truly a worthy challenge, both for environmental AND for economic reasons. What could be more thrifty, sensible AND forethoughtful than figuring out what you HAVE before you go looking for more?

The Plastic Decomposive
That Blew Up Our Veggies!

I decided to start with the fridge. I wanted a salad anyway, so I opened the salad drawers and took inventory.
Oops! We had multiple instances of veggies in plastic bags (clearly purchased before July's "no-plastics" challenge) that were now reverting to the primordial slime. It was sad to see such fine veggies were going to waste because of simple neglect, but the plastic sped up the damage by holding in moisture and making it harder to see what was inside.

I emptied the drawers, removed the plastic, composted what needed it and chopped much of the rest. What didn't go into the salad went back into the drawer, denuded of plastic bags.

What does it matter, really, if the radishes and celery roll together? As long as they're happy together and harming no-one, let's have some diversity!

The good news is that the quest was successful, with the addition of mixed greens from our garden, the chopped and rescued veggies made a great salad!
Tomorrow I tackle the pantry. If you don't hear from me in a week, call the police ... or possibly the National Guard!