My husband has been asking when I am going to unleash a tip that approaches “unhinged” territory on the Lift Meter and today is the day, my friends. ;-)
The Problem:
You had intended to check the freezer and pantry before you left the house so that you could get a baseline of what ingredients you already have in, but life inevitably happened and you got sidetracked. Now, you’re standing in a grocery store aisle holding a bottle of toasted sesame oil needed for tonight’s recipe and willing it to tell you if it senses any brethren already back at your house. It’s too much to ask of an inanimate object and you get home to realize that you… very much already had toasted sesame oil.
The Move:
Let’s try a reverse grocery list! Basically, instead of a list of what you need, it’s an inventory of what you already have.
Practically speaking, these are most realistic for freezer and specialty pantry items, as maintaining a list for everyday fridge or pantry items that you go through more quickly would require a lot of upkeep.
We first dabbled with a reverse grocery list when we were expecting our daughter in early 2021. Anticipating that having some extra food on hand could make postpartum life a bit easier, we stocked up our bench freezer with lots of meal and snack options.
As anyone who has stocked a freezer to the brim knows, you can pretty quickly lose track of what you have. So my husband and I created a shared note in the Notes app of our phones and started an inventory, categorized by types of food.
When we used one of the items, we just deleted it from the list or updated the corresponding quantity if there was still some remaining. It was SO helpful to be able to reference the list from anywhere to easily know what we had on hand and inform our meal planning.
Reverse grocery lists have been on our mind again recently as our bench freezer is finally back in action after our move this past year and we are looking forward to stocking it. (I never thought that *checks notes* STOCKING A BENCH FREEZER is something that I would genuinely be excited about, but your mid-thirties come at you fast. lol)
Some categories of food items for which maintaining a reverse grocery list could be a helpful fit:
spices
oils, vinegars, and sauces
canned items
freezer items
I’d love to hear: Would you ever try out a reverse grocery list or is this a bit too unhinged for you?
Anyway, I’m off to go bake some freezer cookies. :-)
