One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to eat healthier and smarter. I was reading in this magazine:

(Because I always read the Clutter Advice, even if I don’t always take it…)

And I found this guide:

I’d never seen this information laid out so clearly before, so I decided to use it as my blueprint to tackling my fridge in advance of filling it with healthier food.

Here was what I found this morning. What a mess, right? Who could find anything in there?

First task, clear a space to sort:

Bonus! Stove top got clean. 🙂

But…turned out, I didn’t really need a sort space, because when I started checking dates, 98% of what was in the fridge went straight into the trash!

It was a disaster.

First bag full:

I have a habit of buying what I think is good for me and then eating out until it goes bad. Not this time!

I thought I had a winner for oldest expiration date:

But it turned out, I was wrong…

Pro Tip: Don’t give people food as a gift unless you know they will actually enjoy it.

I kept meaning to try this Mesquite Bean Jelly, but I never got around to it. So it sat in my fridge for over a decade past its USE BY date unopened. What a waste.

Finally, the refrigerator side is done!

Yeah. That is EVERYTHING that was still good. You can believe I will be keeping a closer eye on dates going forward.

This is criminal:

I was going to tackle the freezer too before a trip to the grocery store, but that plumb wore me out. I think I’ll just buy the perishables today and we’ll save the freezer for next week’s edition.

Till then, Keep it Clean!

Bonus Pic: After a trip to the grocery store. 🙂