# prep fail!



## kyhoti (Nov 16, 2008)

So we decided to relocate our LTS shelves and found several cases of stores that were at or past expiration date. Rotation is easy when it's single items, but the case lots are a different story. We just kept placing stuff around the cases, because their dates were soooooo far out. Well, that was three years ago, and we fooled ourselves into having several empty shelves! Luckily, the food is still within date for this month so the soup kitchen can use it, but the other stuff went in the dumpster (it was fiber supplements, so no big loss). Bit of a wake-up call regarding logistics. On the plus side, we found some "treasures" that had migrated into the wrong shelf system. The sweetened condensed milk (hidden in with dairy and not in baking) is going in a key-lime pie tonight!


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Pictures of the KeyLime pie when you are finished bakin' it up :2thumb:


I know what you mean about rotating on the shelves. I moved into this place just under a year ago and promptly "lost" some stuff ...


----------



## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

We try to write (with a sharpy) the bought on date on every thing so that it is easier to rotate, instead of trying to decipher the best before date in the tiny cryptic lettering.still manage to miss some stuff:gaah:, but in a real emergency one might use a lot of stuff past the best before date


----------



## Sheeple_no_more (Jul 27, 2011)

I use a sharpy on the cases of products and color coded sticky's on the cans. The little round sticky's people use at yard sales. orange in 2012, blue 13, green 14 and so on.


----------



## kyhoti (Nov 16, 2008)

Y'all are right, we probably would be fine eating the foodstuffs, but my wife has this thing about expiration dates. Old sheeple brainwashing I guess. When I start talking about Army studies of canned goods, her eyes glaze over and she just tunes me out. So, for now, the soup kitchen gets the food. Heck, they need it worse than we do. But I like the Sharpie and sticker ideas. I may just use a Sharpie to cover the "best by" dates on the cans, and kill two birds with one stone


----------



## BillS (May 30, 2011)

We had to donate a bunch of dry cereal for the same reason.


----------



## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm glad someone got use out of it, but trust me the stuff is fine. We have some boxes of mashed potatoes from more than 2 years out and they cook up great.


----------



## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

If nothing is crawling on top of it and it ain't green and don't stink, I don't worry about it. everything we have is over 5 yrs now. maybe when we get 10 yrs of food ,we'll start tossing the extra.. If a family is prepped for real long term, there is no way they can eat everything to completly rotate the food every couple yrs. just erase the use by date and keep prepping.


----------



## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I started a thread here awhile back that said the same as others. Don't worry about it.

I believe the title was something like "Everything I eat is already expired".

I haven't expired from eating the stuff...


----------



## blarg (Sep 26, 2011)

I have the expiration date arguments with my wife all the time. I'm living reference that canning and the look smell taste method for food quality works. When I was a kid my grandparents moved and left us three car garage of home canned and long shelf life food they had stored. By the time I was a teenager I'd been eating stuff that was 5 to 10 years old or "expired" for 10 years. Most dry stuff I just dumped into a colander and if it was the right smell and color I shook the colander a bit and if no bugs fell out I ate it. That's my litmus test for pasta and cereals to this day.


----------



## jens_funny_farm (Apr 21, 2012)

I started to take stuff out of the "case" packaging... easier to keep an eye on dates and rotate when the cans are hidden away. It is so much more convenient to have cans in cases, easier to store, move, etc... We'll use stuff past an expiration date, but if it gets too old, most nutritional value is lost, so I don't want it to go to waste. (Horribly cheap of me!) The few things that slipped by my radar before have been able to be used either in meals or have gone to the animals (chickens eat anything).


----------



## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

jens_funny_farm said:


> The few things that slipped by my radar before have been able to be used either in meals or have gone to the animals (chickens eat anything).


You beat me to it, jens....not too much should be thrown out, as chickens & goats will usully eat it!


----------



## TimB (Nov 11, 2008)

So how did the pie turn out? Did you save me a piece?  

Tim


----------



## kyhoti (Nov 16, 2008)

The pie was lovely but I didn't think to take a picture before it disappeared! I did snap a picture of the empty spots on the new Gorilla shelves we put on the other side of the basement. I hope I attached it right.


----------



## pixieduster (Mar 28, 2012)

Like the loung chair. You can relax with your preps and peace of mind. : D


----------



## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

I just baked a batch of cookies tonight. (Bag mix) The best by date was: August 2007. Lol. Oops. Still delicious walnut and chocolate chip cookies.


----------



## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

I avoid the rotation problem by using ( for canned goods like soups) a can despenser tray(s) that came from a company called RTC. their phone # ( hope tis isn't a forum violation if so sorry) 1-800-782-1665. you just push the rear of the tray back and add newest cans. The spring keeps the cans pushed forward as you use them. They work pretty well.


----------



## Onebigelf (Sep 17, 2011)

"Expiration Date"

Translation: The absolute worst-case date by which we can be absolutely SURE that if you use it by, the taste, texture and color will be indistinguishable from the freshly purchased product, thus ensuring that we do not decrease our chances of having you buy our product again. Also, the date by which there is virtually no chance that the product will have gone bad and that you will be able to successfully sue us, because we told you that the product would be fine to this date."

Since that doesn't fit on the label, they abbreviate. A bit.

John


----------

