Pantry Project

Last night my husband and I began an experiment. We have vowed to "eat down" the existing food and staples in our pantry and freezer, until we're forced to do a major grocery shop.
It occurred to me that our shelves don't change much, and some things stay on the shelf for long periods of time. Witness the bottle of rose water I bought some years ago for some long-forgotten recipe. How often can you possibly use rose water???
We usually keep 5-6 boxes of different types of pasta in the pantry. When we go through all the vermicelli, say, I buy another box or two - ignoring the 4-5 boxes of ziti, rigatoni, and shells.
Surely everyone has partial bags of veg in the freezer? We're no exception, but you know how they migrate to the back and underneath the bigger stuff. They get freezer burn or become unrecognizable, and out they go. They DO end up in the compost bin, so I can pat myself on the back for that, at least.
We're determined to do this and will keep you posted on our eat down journey. Last night we had a delicious dinner of corn tortilla quesadillas with fat-free refried beans and cheese. Adding a tomato chopped up to some of them before cooking, and a salad of the last of the lettuce, a cuke and a couple of chopped olives rounded out the meal. It was yummy!
I'll certainly be buying what are staples in our house: milk, orange juice, olive oil, cheese - that sort of thing. I am envisioning some dinners coming up this week, all made with what we have on hand: carrot soup, a curried lentil and sweet potato dish my niece told me about, homemade pizza with a few shrimp and homemade pizza sauce - that's what's in store for us this week.
Maybe you'd like to try this too - let me know how you do, and I'll fill you in on how we do.