When I read in Cynthia's book about moratoriums, it really clicked with me, I know that I am a hoarder and we had quite a bit of food in our pantry that was just sitting there not getting used. I decided right then and there we were going to go on a moratorium without really consulting my husband. Now he was not terribly against the idea but he is very picky about what he eats, so he was not very excited about me being creative with what we had and therefore our first moratorium was short lived.
I have since learned that to make a moratorium successful for you, four things should be considered...
1. You really should discuss it with your spouse before making your decision, it will greatly affect your success.
2. Determine how strict you want it to be, for example do you want to stop buying desserts from the store for 2 weeks and only make them with what you have at home (your body will thank you for that one).
3. Decide how long you need or want to do this, having a goal date helps you stay focused.
4. Stick with it, don't be ashamed to purchase a few fresh ingredients or spices to make your meals more enjoyable, it's still less expensive than purchasing a whole weeks work of groceries!
Here is a picture of my pantry right now...time for a moratorium ;-)
School is about to start and with it comes all those lovely items we need to purchase for our children, so I can safely say my husband is with me all the way on this one, he's even agreed to not buy any of his favorite junk foods from the grocery store for two weeks. I've assured him we have plenty that I can make that will keep his sweet tooth happy.
Have you ever practiced the principle of moratorium in your home? I'd love to hear your stories!
Steph
No, we eat too much fresh food to be able to live very long on pantry food. However, I have tried to make an effort to once a week make food from the pantry so we don't waste things by letting them expire.
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