Cleaning tips.

I was in the process of making dinner tonight and I reached into the freezer to pull something out. It was then I took the plunge and decided a few long term residents were long overdue for eviction.

In the process, I realized there are a couple of simple rules you should apply to food storage:

If you can’t remember when you bought something, it is probably time to throw it out.

If you can’t tell what something is by looking at it, it is probably time to throw it out.

True story... I looked into the freezer compartment and there was a white block of something, it easily flaked off the main mass. There was a bit of freezer burn on it and when I opened it it smelled vaguely like cheese (which I think it was) but I won’t take a chance and I tossed it.

I also had some hot dogs (which I couldn’t quite remember how long ago I had bought) and some chicken breasts (which seemed as if they had been transformed into some kind of igneous-like rock) and some other cold cut meat. How long can you keep stuff in the freezer anyway? I’m kind of at a loss to figure out how long things can be in the freezer without going bad. If anyone has the answer to what the time frame is I would appreciate it.

Still, tonight a few things got tossed. Like I said, I just won’t take a chance (especially after having a really nasty bout of something a few years back).

While we’re on the subject, how long can you keep canned stuff around? I don’t have anything around here dating back to the Great Depression but that’s a question I wouldn’t mind the answer to as well.