Cate in NZ Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 With a day off work today I decided to use my time doing some of those household jobs that are all too easy to put off. To that end I've just finished emptying, sorting and cleaning my kitchen cupboards, they do look good now, so I feel quite self-satisfied . But I was horrified to find a packet of Supermarket own brand hot oat style breakfast cereal.................. with a use by date of Jan 04 . I can't believe it's really that long since I last cleaned out my cupboards .......... I'm sure I must have overlooked it last time Has anyone else ever found some really badly expired foods still lurking in the back of their cupboards, or am I the only slovenly housewife around here Now I'm going to sort out the summer clothes, we seem to have retrieved the winter ones and every wardrobe in the house is now bursting at the seams with loads of clothes that we're unlikely to be able to wear again for at least 6 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paola Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 When OH moved into the house we first shared, his mum packed all the food in his cupboards inc the out of date stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 No...you are not the only slovenly housewife. I'll happily admit to similar experiences over the years. I'm not quite as bad as my elderly former neighbour who had tins of salmon in her larder with 2/6d on the labels. The tins were a very odd shape. Kind of bulging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I have been a very slovenly housewife recently but we've just put in a new kitchen which meant a major clean out. My most embarrassing find was a bottle of Tabasco - Use by August '94 . The cupboards are all beautifully tidy and organised now..........but for how long, I don't know. The novelty will wear off soon, I'm sure . I must do the summer/winter clothes too. My out of season ones all live in a suitcase under the bed. I've got far more summer clothes than winter ones and it's a case of sitting on the suitcase to try and get the zip to close . I'm not looking forward to it but, like yours, Kate, the wardrobe can't take much more . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Re the winter/summer clothes problem. I recently bought in Dyas some of those bags that you pack full of clothes, bedding etc. then you stick the hoover in it and vaccum out all the air. They are brilliant and end up nearly flat. I also bought in Dyas two Turtle door mats which magically stop leaves, mud, grass, chicken poo being trodden into the house, also brilliant tho' a bit pricey at £20 each. I recently offered a friend, suffering from indigestion, a packet of Rennies I found in the medicine cupboard, she was horrified that the sell by date was 1999 and said she would rather have indigestion Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 My dad took a bag of plain flour from Addlestone in Surrey, to my house when he lodged here for a while, then to Lancashire where he bought a house, back to Addlestone again then finally to his house in Bisley and never used it once. I made him throw it out - had a use by date of 1987!! (we don't go round there for dinner very often - we have a takeaway if he invites us! ) Mrs B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I had friends round for Sunday lunch recently, one asked for mustard so I got the Colmans out ... and she said 'Ooh, you're as bad as me - it says 2005 on this!' She still had some! I'm afraid I am of the 'sniff it ... smells ok, looks alright to me' tendency, even though I have done a food hygiene certificate and I know you can't always tell that way. I've never had food poisoning though! I also suspect that sell-by dates are sometimes deliberately set short by manufacturers, to make you throw it away and buy some more. Or am I just cynical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 My brother in law is famous or should it be infamous for having very out of date food in his cupboard and his fridge isn't much better. We tend to cater for ourselves when we go there Also my grandad has some seriously old stuff in his garage, tins,jars of homemade jam etc, and his cupboards are a bit of a minefield. I had to warn my now husband the first time he went there not to accept any ketchup, salad cream etc, he was glad of my advise when he saw the bottles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 it's a case of sitting on the suitcase to try and get the zip to close I have something similar Kate, only my problem is taking last years Winter clothes out of the suitcase and seeing if I can do the zip up once they're on! Our cupboards desperately need doing. And the wardrobes. And the garage and the shed.......oh, and the chest freezer......... oh, there's the phone......saved by the bell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I do a regular sweep of the kitchen cupboards & always find heaps of out of date stuff. In fact I did mine last week, to make room for the Christmas stuff I am stockpiling ,& I am ashamed to say I chucked out nearly a bin bag full of rubbish (although I did recycle the packets ) Well done for taking a precious day off to do a mundane job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I was forced into doing my cupboards regularly by an infestation of ants in the last three years. Now the kitchen floor has been tiled and hopefully there is nowhere for the little blighters to come in I will be back to my slovenly habits again I did find a load of unused cleaning products under the sink though Just think of the damage I'm NOT doing to the planet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkleeeeee Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 heeehee i am on here when i should be washing up, the dishwasher has broken and i have a kitchen full of cups from the builders and a dishwasher bursting with dirty plates. the floor needs a scrub because its covered in mud from the building site outside. i avoided it this morning as the builders have borrowed my mop and bowl and i cant find them and the drainer has dissapeared as well. i have just been shopping and now i need a rest. now i feel bad for sitting on here as i have to start cooking in 40mins, ....right i am off o do some washing..................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 don't be silly, you'll never see that mop and bowl again! Builders always seem to need to borrow brooms, dustpans etc (why do they not have their own?) and, if returned at all, they are always coated in plaster or cement. Usually they make a mysterious appearance in the skip, having apparently been jumped on from a great height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 don't be silly, you'll never see that mop and bowl again! Builders always seem to need to borrow brooms, dustpans etc (why do they not have their own?) and, if returned at all, they are always coated in plaster or cement. Usually they make a mysterious appearance in the skip, having apparently been jumped on from a great height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkleeeeee Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 unfortunately hubbie is their boss so they think its fair game. i am looking for some nice pink ones. anyway, nice dishwasher man came, said it was the pump then tweeked it and it works fine yipee. its a great firm that charges £42.50 + cost of spares which are the same price as the internet (as i had checked first) you dont get many good companies like that, and same day callout. i had managed to do 4 loads of hand washing up before he came but he was a bit shocked at the mud on the floor. i am now going to wash it. unfortunately its real limestone, which is lovely, but they were never fully grouted and only half completed, (men start everywhere and end nowhere) so the only way to get it really clean is with a toothpick and scrubbing brush. and i shouldnt moan but its a big kitchen and a 2 hour job. its going to be a 10min mop job today the mud will have to stay in the 1000s of tiny holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Man Banned Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 if you've got a steam cleaner you could try that on the holes in the tiles, should shift it a bit quicker We had a massive tidy out last year of all the rubbish in the cupboards, and we too threw in the bin a sack full of stuff we'd never eat or at its date. We recycled all the packaging too! It's a bit of a pain with Joe tho, his routine at work is to check the date on anything before it is dispensed (I cant imagine the potential problems should someone be given OOD drugs ) - so he checks everything every time he uses it at home too!! It drives me to despair! A xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...