Putting those food stockpiles to use (Part 2)

I know that I said that I was going to do a post on non-food stockpiles next, but I got a few additional ideas after posting the first Putting those food stockpiles to use so I thought I would share those ideas first.

My fellow blogger and internet friend Laura of Happily Ever After suggested rotating your stockpile to make sure you are using the oldest items first. This way nothing goes to waste due to expiring. I have to admit that I just got around to doing this the other day. My husband usually puts the groceries away and he tends to just shove and pile things where ever they fit. Since I have started to increase my couponing I have been bringing home more stockpile items, so I decided to heed Laura's advice and organize my cupboards. Not only are they now more organized and neat, making it easy to see what I have, I made sure to order things according to the use by dates so they won't expire without me knowing. Thanks for the tip Laura!

I also got to thinking about trying to make meals based on what you have on hand. Some people are good at this naturally. Confident enough in their culinary skills to add a handful of this and a can of that and know it will turn out edible. I feel like I am getting better at that after a handful of years of cooking regularly for my family. But if the thought of trying to go it alone in the kitchen scares you, there is help! Try a site like Supercook.com where you can put in the ingredients you have on hand and they will show you what recipes you can make. I think this is such a great way to stretch your budget and utilize every last bit of food in your kitchen.

I think that's all I got (for now at least!). I would love to hear any more tips you have as I am sure there are lots of great ideas I have missed that we could all learn from.