Stocktaking in the kitchen

I received a lovely gift today from Barry, flowers, chocolate cake, and a bottle of wine, what more could a girl wish for. I was most chuffed, so now I am sitting here supping the wine with chocolate all around my chops. Yummy. Pity it's so wet outside, I could have relaxed on the decking. Never mind chocolate and wine taste good anywhere.

Today I had a sort out and a tidy up of my food cupboard and freezer, I like to do a stocktake every few weeks so I know exactly what I have. It's easy to push things to the back and forget about them. Last week I fancied spaghetti on toast, but I didn't have any in so that was a bit of a disappointment.

A few months ago I ate almost everything I had and my cupboards were bare, but now they look quite full. Here is my stock list.

In the cupboard
30 tins of rice pudding. I bought a lot while it was cheap because I thought it might go up. Instead it went down 1p.
15 tins of baked beans. I buy them when I see them at 25p a tin
39 tins of evaporated milk. Tesco was selling these off cheap at 30p because they were changing the label. I was looking for a cheaper alternative to soya milk which has been steadily increasing in price
15 tins of JW tuna steaks. I bought a case of these, it worked out at 45p a tin, which is a good price, even though they are several months out of date
7 tins of chopped tomatoes
6 tins of mushy peas
2 tins of mandarin segments
2 tins of peaches
2 tins of chick peas
2 tins of spaghetti
2 tins of sweetcorn
2 tins of black eye beans
1 tin of red kidney beans

10 cartons of pineapple juice. I have been getting this from the cash and carry at three for £1. I dilute it 50/50 to make twice the amount.

2kg bag of brown rice
2 bags of 1kg porridge oats
1 packet of spaghetti
half a packet of black eye beans.

In the freezer
2 bags of Quorn fillets
2 Quorn sausages
2 big bags of frozen peas
6 portions of peas
bag of mixed summer fruits
6 Staffordshire oatcakes
2 plastic tubs of home made veggie stew
2 plastic tubs of home made soup
1 small Hovis loaf
4 potato pancakes

I like to keep track of what I have, and by constantly checking, my cupboards and freezer stay tidy. Everything is stacked in rows so if I want to use something I can easily find it and don't have to root around underneath other things. Each time I unpack my shopping I make sure I stack away it in the right place, I hate messy cupboards. It saves time in the kitchen if I know exactly where everything is, and you know I am not a fan of slaving over a hot stove for longer than I need to, ha ha. Quick meals, in and out, that's me. Toodle pip.