Out with the Old Food, In with the New

[canyonwalker]

May Family Visit Travelog #4
At the house · Tue 19 May 2026. 9pm.

We did a few errands today with my inlaws. One was visiting MIL at the rehab center. She's coming home tomorrow, and we went to see her today, too. The good news is that even though she's in a medical facility right now she has way more energy than when she was at home during our last visit.

Before we left the house to visit her we did some more cleaning up. Earlier today Hawk cleared— well, tamed— the mess on the table. This afternoon we tackled the fridge.

Before We go Food Shopping, We go Food Trashing

This chore grew out of Hawk and I deciding what we need to shop for. For years in the past we'd come to visit her parents and the fridge (and pantry, and other fridge, and basement freezer) would be well stocked through the whole visit. That's because MIL is a compulsive grocery shopper. But with MIL in the hospital/rehab for several weeks the fridge has been left to rot. In some cases... literally.

What was rotting in the fridge? Among other things, a lot of fresh food that we bought (or was bought for us, or defrosted for us) during our last visit, 7-8 weeks ago. The sandwich meat we didn't eat? Still in there. All the cheese that was in there (some of it already months old even then)? Still in there, untouched. Smoked salmon and smoked tuna? Still in there. Oh, and tons of leftovers that were in there 7-8 weeks ago already getting hairy were now... green and hairy. 🤢 I filled a trash bag with stuff to throw out. And that was after Hawk already filled a trash bag without even looking in the meat-and-cheese drawer.

BTW, this rot is just from the last 7 weeks since our previous visit. On our previous visit we filled 4 trash bags cleaning out food that had expired months before.

Time for Food Shopping. ...Almost.

So, we did the clean-out in the afternoon, then visited MIL at the rehab center, then went to eat dinner out at a restaurant before shopping for groceries. It's like that old saying, "Don't go food shopping on an empty stomach," right? So clearly the solution is to dine out first. 🤣 But seriously, nothing was ready to make, and FIL was at his wits' end and needed a break, so the three of us (Hawk, FIL, and I) went to Chili's. Then we went grocery shopping.

Part of the point of going grocery shopping together tonight was to help educate FIL on how to do it. It's not that he doesn't know how to buy groceries at all. It's more that he doesn't know how to buy groceries that match the situation, "We're two 80+ year olds who eat very little and don't have a lot of energy for preparing complex meals."

That means, among other things:

1. Not buying meat in 4+ pound valu-paks. Yes, they can parcel them out into small portions, but that's a) more work to do up front and b) more crap that occupies their multiple freezers and could get buried for a year or more.


2. Not buying more than one loaf of bread at a time. FIL was all set to buy as many as three loaves "So people can have a choice." I countered that we should just pick one that looks good and people can eat it. And if it runs out in 2 days, we can buy more. And it'll be fresh. I also showed FIL where this store sells half loaves of delicious-looking fresh bread for when there isn't company coming. (We chose the store specifically because we know it does bougie things like this.)


3. Buying quality ready-to-cook or pre-cooked dishes to simplify meal prep. For tomorrow night's dinner we grabbed a tray of pulled chicken— a small tray of pulled chicken— that can be heated quickly and dressed up with barbecue sauce. Again, we chose the store because we know it has a wide selection of good pre-cooked and ready-to-cook dishes. We'll pair it with frozen vegetables, instant mashed potatoes, and frozen rolls already in the house.