Sometimes I like to think about lessons I’ve learned from moving out and being a semi-adult. I’m going to let you in on what I have been struggling with and still struggle with now.
I am constantly racing against the expiration dates of food in the fridge.
Now I know it seems like an easy fix, just buy less food. But it’s more complicated than that. I don’t have massive amounts of food in my fridge, I just genuinely forget about things like expiration dates.
Maybe it’s because I’ve never moved out before, or that I never realized expiration dates can get in the way of things because when living at home, I never really experienced that.
Milk. I always forget how soon milk is going to expire. It stresses me out. I can’t even remember how many bowls of cereal I had the week before spring break trying to finish my milk before its expiration date. It was a lot of cereal. I had to buy a second box.
Does anyone else realize that eggs expire? Well, technically they have a ‘sell by’ date. But when do they really expire? Pro tip: if you’re not sure if your eggs have gone bad or not, fill up a big bowl with cold water and put the eggs in question in the bowl. If they sink, your eggs are all good. If the eggs float, it’s probably best you don’t eat it anymore.
But what really gets under my skin? When I plan to cook something involving chicken and I forget to take it out of the freezer to thaw.
The amount of take-out I have ordered because I forgot to take chicken out of the freezer is upsetting. Now you know why your mom would get all worked up when you forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer.
Even though I've been struggling, I am slowly and somewhat surely getting the hang of keeping track of things I buy with expiration dates. I can definitely say it's helping me get better at adulting.