What do y'all keep in your fridge, anyway?

questionablemethods

So, as I have moved to more and more real, whole, fresh food over the years, I find that my fridge just seems to be largely a waste of space! My freezer is full of the meat that I have purchased in bulk and stock that I have made, but besides eggs, butter, milk/kefir, a few random condiments, and whatever produce I happen to pick up that week... my fridge is pretty pathetically empty. It seems so inefficient!

When I get home from the grocery store/farmer's market, it looks a bit better because the crisper drawers are full of veggies, but by the end of the week it is a barren wasteland! I don't really buy more because I've had so many veggies just go bad on me, even though I eat them for every meal.

It's just me and my husband and we are in an apartment at the moment, so we don't have much choice in terms of appliances, but what I would really love would be some kind of appliance where the fridge was just the size of a normal freezer and the freezer was the size of a typical fridge!

I guess I don't really have a question, other than to ask: do you guys have this problem too? What is in your fridge?

mehaugen

We buy so much produce it overflows from the veg drawers into the rest of the space. Also, many containers of half-used produce and meat because when I cook I don't use the whole onion, pepper, zuch, sweet potato, etc.

questionablemethods

Yeah, I find that my crisper drawers are overflowing the day I go shopping, but the rest is pretty much unused space. I also tend to go shopping for things a couple times a week instead of making one big haul. So, I suppose that also keeps it down.

Edit to add: My husband also gets lunch catered at his work. Yahtzee! (His boss is even quasi-paleo, so the lunches are pretty dang good.) It's awesome to not have to think about what he's going to bring to work for lunch, but it sure does make for an empty fridge.

I suppose it seems like I am complaining about something that isn't really complaint-worthy. We have the means to buy food, so that isn't it. I guess it is just that a nice, full fridge makes me happy. Maybe it is some sort of nurturing instinct that I have to want to have a lot of food on hand. :happy:

ajbeans

I suppose it seems like I am complaining about something that isn't really complaint-worthy. We have the means to buy food, so that isn't it. I guess it is just that a nice, full fridge makes me happy. Maybe it is some sort of nurturing instinct that I have to want to have a lot of food on hand. :happy:

I think you've hit the nail on the head. We're used to having lots of "grab-and-go" foods around. Have you ever heard someone say, "I just went to the grocery store, and there's nothing to eat!" I have. What they really mean is there's nothing available that doesn't need to be prepared in some way. That's how we tend to think about food -- fast and easy. A full fridge means there's likely to be something in there that you don't have to cook. So then when you change the way you think about food, that barren fridge feels weird.

You said it yourself, your freezer is stocked, and your crisper drawers are full. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I keep leftovers in my fridge, and like mehaugen said, I have containers of things like half an onion, a sliced pepper, etc. I also keep a water filter pitcher in my fridge because I hate water straight from the tap, and things like V8 and a container of lemon juice. Eggs, bacon, that sort of thing. I also have other things in there that I personally don't eat, but if it were just my fridge, it would still probably be semi-full just with that stuff I listed. But I've personally always hated a fridge that's full to bursting. I can't find anything in a fridge like that.

questionablemethods

But I've personally always hated a fridge that's full to bursting. I can't find anything in a fridge like that.

Me too. My parents never had a ton of food around (but they had 4 kids, so there was definitely more than I have). I always thought it was strange when I would go to my friends' houses and they would have a "second fridge" in their basement or something just full of soda and ice cream. I've never kept a lot of snack-y foods around (at least compared with most people, it would seem) because the more I keep around, the more I eat. But, it seems to have really gotten thinned out.

monkeydharma

While my old Kenmore can look pretty sparse the day before shopping, the next day is chock full.

Top shelf is full of beverages: decaf green tea (two pitchers), caf black tea (1 pitcher), 2 or 3 cartons of almond milk, iced coffee, mineral water, coconut milk, pitcher of ice water, and a bottle or two of white wine chilling.

Meats bin has all sorts of goat/sheep cheeses. some limes and whatever fresh herbs I pick up.

Middle shelf: a couple cartons of eggs, two or three containers of yogurt, cannister of bacon fat, and the occasional leftover container.

Bottom shelf: vegetables that won't fit into the two crisper bins, and meats that are thawing for a meal.

Door shelves are full of butter, condiments, hummingbird food, etc.

And this is just for two people! But the fridge is usually full, the freezer has a couple of weeks of frozen meats (and ice cubes), and I have a chest freezer in my workshop where I keep the beef, pork and seafood I buy in bulk whenever the price is right - or my neighbor has some more pastured animals ready for butchering.

granolagrl85

Top shelf is for soft veggies and fruits like lettuce, tomatos, berries. Second shelf is for hard veggies and fruits like cabbage, apples, squash. Bottom shelf has eggs and raw meat. Drawer (we only have one) has cheese. Door has butter, yogurt, minced garlic, ginger, chiles, and flours, nuts, and other small containers of condiments.

tawnabanana

What's funny is that we bought a bigger fridge after we started eating primal! We have a very large pantry that is now pretty bare. There are four of us and after a trip for a week's worth of groceries we didn't have enough room in the fridge for all of the fresh food we brought home.

questionablemethods

While my old Kenmore can look pretty sparse the day before shopping, the next day is chock full.

Top shelf is full of beverages: decaf green tea (two pitchers), caf black tea (1 pitcher), 2 or 3 cartons of almond milk, iced coffee, mineral water, coconut milk, pitcher of ice water, and a bottle or two of white wine chilling.

Meats bin has all sorts of goat/sheep cheeses. some limes and whatever fresh herbs I pick up.

Middle shelf: a couple cartons of eggs, two or three containers of yogurt, cannister of bacon fat, and the occasional leftover container.

Bottom shelf: vegetables that won't fit into the two crisper bins, and meats that are thawing for a meal.

Door shelves are full of butter, condiments, hummingbird food, etc.

And this is just for two people! But the fridge is usually full, the freezer has a couple of weeks of frozen meats (and ice cubes), and I have a chest freezer in my workshop where I keep the beef, pork and seafood I buy in bulk whenever the price is right - or my neighbor has some more pastured animals ready for butchering.

I must not keep as much food on hand. I don't have a car, so I usually only buy what I can carry in two bags up the San Francisco hills. Right now (day after shopping), I've got:

Top shelf: sauerkraut, kefir, some random condiments like mustard and pesto, a couple lemons, half an avocado, some fresh bay leaves, a bulb of garlic

Cheese drawer: cheese, chocolate

Middle shelf: two cartons of eggs, bacon, some random leftovers

Bottom shelf: NOTHING

Crisper drawers: kale, collards, red peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce

I've got butter and milk in the door

I keep my oranges, onions, sweet potatoes, and bacon fat outside the fridge. I've also got green onions in a jar of water by my window (they will keep growing!)

But, like I said, I'll probably make another stop or two at the store this week. Especially since I'm having a party next weekend.

monkeydharma

I must not keep as much food on hand. I don't have a car, so I usually only buy what I can carry in two bags up the San Francisco hills.

Well, there you go - I'm up the hill from you (in the forest outside of Placerville). Between driving all over God's creation to get grass-fed and organic, and keeping enough on hand in case we get snowed in (we were snowed in for 4 days a couple of years ago) - it does make for a higher inventory level