You walk up to your pantry, you open the door and scan the shelves for their contents. What’s the most absurd thing you find? Why is it still there?

My brain wanted to explode every time you mentioned the dates on foods as “expired”. They are “best by” dates. Most are bogus and mean nothing. Just fulfilling a legal requirement. Those of us who practice food preservation see so much unnecessary food waste because of this marketing ploy to force replacement purchases.  The majority of items are good for YEARS beyond those dates.

My pantry was a nightmare! I have a large walk-in pantry with two-feet deep boards. During the pandemic I started hoarding, because I got caught in a scarcity-cycle. Beside the basics like canned beans and tomatoes, pasta, rice, etc. there  are many aspirational items. I wanted to cook like a chef and collecting extraordinary recipes was a kind of hobby. And indeed, I did a lot of exotic cooking, Asian, Carrabean, Turkish, Levante, North African and others. The more exotic, the better. Of course I was a sucker of recipes by Ottolenghi and tried so many. But, alas, as a full-time nurse, doing 3 shifts, I did not have much time for cooking and many things like barberries and za'atar went bad. Now I am a pensioner and have lots of time but little money. So I said goodbye to the exotic and welcomed a  plain mediterranean way of cooking. A high quality olive oil is essential, the rest is quite simple and cheap. The most absurd things that I decluttered were a pineapple-slicer and a so called "Nicer-Dicer", both completely redundant. I do better and faster with my two or three high-quality knives. I love your podcasts! You are giving me so much insights and inspirations! Thank you ❤

Love TK reflexions as always.❤

Emily said she has trouble finding the ingredients when she is cooking.  She could take out the ones she uses regularly and designate a spot in the kitchen for her stuff, maybe one shelf or bin or basket.  Her chef boyfriend could then keep all the ingredients he wants without them causing a problem for Emily.

You guys ALWAYS make me laugh out loud!  "Go back to bed" 😂😂😂

I have 2 absurd cans of chopped clams (best used before 7/30/2016). I always wanted to make the clam dip that my Mom (dec'd. 2001) used to make with clams, cream cheese, garlic, & a little clam juice. Of course it would be risky to use these, but I guess I'm just keeping them for the memories?!

Loved this episode.

FYI “Best Before” & “Expiration Dates” are not used interchangeably, as they are NOT the same thing!

Love this episode!! 😀

I've never owned or rented a place with a pantry.

I could not deal with cleaning up after pets pooping everywhere in my house. I don't care if the poop is different, at least my cat generally knows to poop in his box and only rarely misses lol.

Because some people take things too seriously, I am saying up front, the next line is humor!  Don't be dissing on my Folgers! 😂😂 As with everything, we all have different tastes . For me, I've had regular Starbucks coffee once, took two sips and threw it in the trash can.  I will say too that "Folgers in my cup" is not the best part of waking up. It has to rank at least 3rd. First is literally being thankful that I woke up and was given another day to enjoy on this earth, in this life. Second, of course, is a stop in the bathroom, because I rarely wake up during the night to go. THEN comes brewing that first pot of Folgers! Ahhhhh 😊
I'm not a serious expression date watcher. One caveat, do be careful with box mixes, especially ones like Mac'n' Cheese. Made a box once and realized after mixing it all up that the cheese in the sealed packet was rancid. Pulled the box out of the trash and it had an expiration date from 4 years previously. 😂

I had two rabbits for 10 years, and I agree. But LITTER TRAIN them, it's not hard! No more poop around.

These toys ain’t loyal 😂

The perfect ex ~rabbits running around pooping and having to many pantry items~take away ~do what makes you happy!!!!