Time's A Tickin' in My Kitchen!

Ok, so that title was a horrible attempt at a rhyme.  It's 4 am...gimme a break!  I'm having some horrible anxiety about this upcoming move.  I've been trying to use up all my frozen items and fridge goodies since its just impossible to take them along on the journey.  Its making for some creative meal planning, let me tell ya.  Tonight we did shredded steak quesadillas with bacon, sauteed onions, bbq sauce and cheddar.  *SO* good for something I've never made before.  lol

We cleaned out the fridge two days ago and I kid you not, tossed away TWO garbage bags full of stuff out.  Its so depressing realizing how much money that is.  This will be my second move in 9 months time, I've learned a few things.  Mainly that I will never again buy bottled salad dressing.  I cannot believe how many half empty bottles I pitched out.  Same with glazes, sauces and marinades.  They've sat there for months doing nothing.  I know they are ridiculously simple to make too.  I never really calculated how much we pay for convenience sake.  Yes, it is faster to grab a bottle from the fridge door but if you don't use it all, its a waste. 

My husband is a HUGE Asian food fanatic and he loves trying all these glazes, marinades and dip sauces from the store.  His eyes take on this weird gleam when he walks down the import aisle and sees all these yakitori sauces, nori and glass noodles.  I should leave him in the car.  You know that saying about how if you take your kids to the grocery store with you, you spend at least $15 more than what you had intended?  Yeah.  With Jon, I can easily double that.  While I balk at prices on things and will pass them up for a sale or when I have a coupon, this yahoo just chucks stuff in the cart blindly.  And forget about sending him to grab something you forgot b/c instead of coming back with your item, he comes back with an armful and giggles as he dumps it in the cart.  LOL  My point is over this 9 month period, he's accumulated alot of jars and bottles of stuff we pitched out.  I think I saw him shed a tear. 

So from this point on, I'm making it my mission to find recipes to make my own sauces and dressings.  I'll buy some more Mason jars and squeeze bottles if it means savings in the end.  And....knowing I'm not using preservatives makes me happy.  Makes me more motivated to make more salads that week to use up the dressings if I know it has a short shelf life as opposed to the store bought variety.  Hmm - healthier, money savings and satisfaction.  Yeah, that's a bargain I can live with.  I hate moving...did I mention that?