Yesterday, Angry Husband pulled out some ground meat from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to thaw out. We were going to make spaghetti for dinner. Angry Toddler was spending the night at my parents and we were just going to chill at home.
We got settled last night after I came home from work, and after he decompressed after a long day with the Angry Toddler. He pulled out the meat from the fridge and opened the package. He immediately said, "come here, you need to smell this, I don't think it's good." So I dragged myself to the kitchen. You would think it was far, but really it was five feet away. I agreed with him. We looked at the packaging and could not find a date/timeline on the meat. We decided to pull out another package from the freezer, and another, and another. I think we pulled out five packages of ground meat. We had stuff dated from June and July, and then there were the random dates like good until Thursday. Umm, which Thursday? Last Thursday? Thursday in May?
We pulled out the trash bag and dumped it all in there. He then pulled out a package of chicken. He says, "Julie, chicken thighs, really?" Heck, I don't know why I bought chicken thighs. I'm random sometimes.
But with all this bad meat, we were faced with a problem. You see, we live in a homeowner's association. The kind of association that drives around in golf carts stalking you for violations. One of the rules is no visible trash cans. With the way the entrance to our backyard is located, we have to keep our trash cans located in our garage. Just imagine the smell of bad meat in our garage. Our trash guy doesn't come till Thursday.
All of the sudden, I swear I got one of those cartoon lightbulbs over my head. I opened the garage. Angry Husband asked what I was doing. I was problem solving.
You see, we live near a park. A park that is policed daily by the HOA people in their golf carts. I promptly deposited our bag of bad meat in the trash can at the park, and ran back into my house. They clean the trash cans every day at the park. Can you imagine the smell that the meat would make in my garage? I passed a lady walking her dog on the way back. She was probably wondering why this barefoot girl was wandering in the park in her pajama bottoms in the dark. I didn't make eye contact.
We have a new rule that we came up with. When we buy meat now, we are going to write the date that we bought the meat on the package with a Sharpie. It will be easier to keep track of it then.
Violator...lol
ReplyDeleteOh that is funny. If I was having to deal with a nosey HOA I'd do the same exact thing. At least no one will suffer too long if they empty the trash every day.
ReplyDeleteWe totally suffer from the same thing around here. I know it sounds corny and overly crafty, but the sharpie thing never seems to work for us. We always forget when we get home from the grocery store.
ReplyDeleteBuy yourself some of those neon circle stickers you get for a garage sale, have them handy when you make your grocery list, write out that day's date on as many stickers as you intend on purchasing meats. Then, when you're at the store, bring your stickers and slap those puppies on the meat package before you even toss it in the cart.
It sounds ridiculous, but it TOTALLY works. No questions on which Thursday anymore!
xo
When I find bad meat I freeze it until trash day. I wrap it in an old grocery bag so that I know it is bad. But I like your plan better.
ReplyDeletedid you see this news story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091004/ap_on_bi_ge/us_meat_mess
ReplyDeletekinda ironic considering your post. :D
I use to be horrible for buying meat and it sitting in the freezer to long. Now when I shop I only buy 2 weeks worth , even if i buy a ton of others things. Good idea about the sharpie though. Sucks you had to toss that much meat out. Hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteLisa
Garden of Many
Ha ha...nice problem solving! We sorta had the same issue a few weeks ago when we found our milk had gone bad (on Monday) & the trash doesnt get picked up until Friday. So, I ended up getting in the car with the bad milk & driving to a dumpster & tossing it there.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way I could have dealt with that spioled milk smell in my trash can for 4 days. *gag*
we live in the same neighborhood. holy moly do dirty diaper start stinking in your garage in 107 degree weather.
ReplyDeletei usually have to throw stuff in the back of adam's truck so he can dump it in his office dumpster. so sad.
we got a violation for our boat being parked in front of our house....we don't have a boat..
old bored idiot assholes.
Thank is so funny about the date on the meat because the same thing happend to me last week. I shop at Ralphs here in the Inland Empire. I was going to cook spaghetti and the italian sausage had no date. One clue it was not good is that is was a brown color instead of pink and fresh looking. I have also experience the "day" date. What is that all about. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteYou are such a rebel! LOL That's one way to get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteYou are stinking funny! PS - I just cleaned out my fridge!
ReplyDeleteI never thought of throwing stuff out at the park, but I have driven to a nearby strip mall at night and and dumped stuff in their garbage can.
ReplyDelete