Condiment Clutter: Just in Case & Other Lessons

My husband and I both enjoy cooking, so it’s easy for condiments to accumulate, hot sauces, oils, Thai flavors, you name it.  I decided to go through them yet again not long ago, thinking I could make a pretty quick job of it since it hadn’t been very long.  “Very” is quite subjective though, is it not?  I think it had been about six months, which didn’t seem that long to me.

Once I got started it didn’t take long to find things to clear out.  I was actually quite surprised that I found as much as I did (six or seven things, or so).  As I shut the frig, after clearing and wiping down the door shelves, I wondered why I still had so many that either we didn’t use or had expired. 

I realized that I was living in “just in case.” What if we need or want______(fill in the blank)?  Also, so many of us have been taught that it’s a shame to waste food.  That gets in the way, too. When I was growing up, and we were putting leftovers away, my dad would say, “Shall I throw it now or later?”

But throwing it now or later – what’s the difference?  We sometimes use the crutch of wanting something to be spoiled beyond use before we give ourselves permission to get rid of it.  Let’s save ourselves the guilt and energy drain and deal with it now.  And maybe not buy any more condiments (or, fill in the blank) for awhile.

I opened that frig right back up and threw out three more things, things I just felt guilty I wasn’t using, and things that I was just going to throw out six months from now.  Who knew what oyster sauce could teach us?

---