Last week I had a few moments to sit down and relax around lunch time, which is when “The Chew” airs in Chicago.
Now I love Mario Batali, but not so much the others on the show. Whenever Mario speaks or cooks anything and I have The Chew on in the background, I usually stop what I am doing and watch him create something fantastic without regard to calories.
On this particular day, the chefs were discussing the shelf life of food in their refrigerators…now this is always an item of discussion in our house as refrigerated foods tend to disappear for days and then make an appearance again only to be thrown away.
Generally, my rule of thumb about refrigerated food has always been…if it has green on it or anything fuzzy…definitely throw it away. Look at the labels as well and make your choices as to whether to eat or not.
I was totally taken back when that was more or less the consensus on “The Chew“. Many items can indeed be eaten as leftovers longer than we actually think they can…we are so ready to throw food items away. Maybe we are just not a “leftover” kind of society.
Later in the same week I came across an article about food expiration dates…something right up my alley after watching the sniff and fuzzy tests on The Chew.
I am sharing this with all of you to get your take on when foods should be tossed…and when are foods actually tossed in your house?
It is literally a “bone of contention” in my house. What about in yours?
We’ve all had our moments of incredulity regarding expiration dates. We sniff open milk cartons, swishing around their contents in search of any strange scents or inconsistencies. When none can be found, some of us declare the milk (or wine, or butter, or eggs — the list goes on) fine to consume. And it usually is. But this haphazard method of determining how safe our food products are to eat could have dangerous side effects, or, at the very least, the occasional upset stomach.
Oh yes, the “sniff” test – – guilty as charged! We are totally a “leftover culture” in my household and my husband especially HATES to waste food. I’ll have to find a replay of that episode of The Chew — it sounds interesting. And I agree that Batali is by far the most interesting one on that show. I’d stop what I’m doing, too, to hear what he has to say (or what he’s whipping up!)