NO MORE FOOD SHOPPING! | Taking Stock Of Food Already In Our House (Eating Only Leftovers) Part 1

NO MORE FOOD SHOPPING! | Taking Stock Of Food Already In Our House (Eating Only Leftovers) Part 1
Elo! The Eating only leftovers food series of 2023 has begun! I am taking stock of what I have stored in my freezer today (SO MUCH FOOD OMG!) and I am listing it out! No more weekly food shopping! Grocery shopping at Aldi is on hold until I use up and eat the food already in my house! I will still be going to Aldi each week to collect essentials (fruit, fresh veg, milk etc) but otherwise, no more huge weekly food shop hauls from Aldi for a while! Use this series as inspiration for saving money on our food shops! There will be loads of videos in this series, budget meal plans, budget meal ideas, family meal ideas, cooking on a tight budget. Soooo excited to start this series, it's going to be a good one kids!
⇢ Meals We Ate This Week (Chicken Stew recipe): • MEALS WE ATE THIS WEEK...
⇢ Eating Food Leftover Series 1 2022: • Does Eating This Way S...
⇢ Get In Touch: [e-mail]

[@Sopherina]

Helloooooo! It is the start of a new saving money with food series.. I literally cannot believe the AMOUNT of food that came out of that freezer! Are you going to join me on this challenge? Xxxx

[@katiescarlett2694]

I love these kind of videos can’t wait to see all the lovely meals you make!

[@hippychicken82]

I've been doing this this last week anyways ! 😁 but did do it about 6 months ago so definitely don't have as much as I thought actually!

[@sandrajune1172]

I always use a permanent marker to write on the plastic bag I put leftovers in or my own frozen veg what it is because many times I just don't know what's in them so doing that saves the guess work 😊

[@wendymcbridemarinecorpscom8811]

I do have much in the freezer but I promise to use (and not toss out) my fruit and veggies in my frig! 😀

[@gemmamurray9817]

I love a pantry clear out challenge video! I've been missing a week shopping every month to help stop the build up, but I've not bitten the bullet to do a full clear out challenge myself yet!

[@xxxKittyCattyxxx]

Series name: Sophie Stops Shopping

[@johnneladderley03]

Maybe you could call the series "Food Low Buy/No Buy"👍🏾. It's such a brilliant idea to take inventory of the food in your, it makes it so much easier to keep track of all the food you have in the house. Sophe I have one suggestion, you might already do this, but when you put items in freezer bags or containers, label them and put the date on them so you can keep track of how long you've had the item. Great start to the No More Food Shopping series. Thank you so very much for sharing my friend 💙. Take care and have a good night 🤗💜.

[@carolineharry6605]

Home Stop and Shop. 😊 I’m doing this at the moment. My husband was paid a week before Christmas, so payday seems a long way to go. I freeze spinach too, great in cooking. I keep a list in a plastic sleeve in top of the chest freezer and jot down what’s in there. I tick items off when I used them up. I freeze celery, peppers, herbs, chives, leeks, spring onions chopped up. I can’t tolerate onions so leek greens, spring onion greens and chives get chopped up and frozen. I’ve started a menu planner on my phone to use up what I have. If you could tot up what all that food would cost if you were to buy it all in one shop you’d no doubt be shocked. I buy gluten free bread when it’s reduced and freeze that too (I’m gluten intolerant) so I always have bread in the freezer. 😊

[@carmenn5609]

I sooooo agree with you, when I use up leftovers in the fridge/freezer it feels so good that I didn't have to keep purchasing and shoving foods into the fridge, when the fridge is empty it makes me happy, looking forward to your ideas!

[@lizpring1003]

What you're doing is called Shelf Cooking. It's a thing and there are lots if groups out there dedicated to it. There's even a thing in September called shelftember and then October is Stocktober. I do a lot of this and it saves so much!

[@tiffanygoudie6863]

You have inspired me so much! I ran out of muffin snacks for my son that I buy at Aldi, and rather than go buy more I knew I had everything to make them so I actually saved money buy using what I have and not have frozen other items so I don’t let them spoil!

[@Sopherina]

Absolutely love this, so rewarding using what you've got and making do! ♥

[@twinkletoes8099]

Just coming to the end of my freezer clear it out/use it up and so excited. We are now down to the very random combination dinners and I cannot wait to clean it out ready for for refilling. I do a drawer each - biggest is for meat, next is veggies, wide skinny drawer is for breads/rolls/baked goods, narrow skinny drawer is for fruits, next drawer is potato products and quick cook junk foods (chips, waffles stuff like that) small bottom drawer is pastry/yeast/random ingredients and the big flap opening compartment at the top is for cat food, frozen portions of sauces and anything I have made/batch booked. Have to say my freezer is over 7ft tall so it holds a ton of food!

[@elizabethmcnamara6548]

I need to do this myself. Waste not want not. You appreciate what you actually like.

[@loldale8475]

Great video, I've a chest freezer outside in one of our outhouses only the top layer gets rotated I'm sure, everything in there is unopened and is basically where things are stored before being opened. I've a upright fridge freezer inside, that freezer is my day to day opened items, and I know what's in there due to using it alot. However I've not a clue what's at the bottom of the chest freezer and this video has truly made me think I need to set some time when it's warmer outside to do a full overhaul of that freezer as I already know I want to downsize that freezer anyway it used to be ok, but it way too big for us now.

[@xX12jay21xX]

Luv this it's, so true freezer full cupboards, full fridge full.. I bet you'll last a good month or so without a big shop 🏪💈😊👍

[@ceciliafairy88]

Mine is stop the convenience lunches and fast food trips. Costing an absolute fortune

[@mariellahinde7696]

Fantastic idea! TY- I am going to do this - prices in supermarkets are depressing me like crazy 😢

[@Sopherina]

Same, it's rough!! ♥

[@kathrynhutchinson4838]

I’ve been doing this since last year and it’s saved me so much money and cut down on my food waste! Such a good idea x

[@Sopherina]

That's brilliant! Food waste and money saving, more important than ever right now! X

[@janeknight3597]

Lots of this inspiring stuff going on at the moment. It’s really encouraging me to keep going into Feb. I think there must be a #pantrychallenge tag out there but I am to old for tags and take what comes. Looking forward to the series.

[@moirainstance2685]

This was brilliant, thank you xx

[@Sopherina]

Thank you ♥️

[@Georgiameetslife]

I LOVED this video! Can’t wait to see what you make!! Also I find your voice, tone and manor really calming 😂 x

[@thefarfromperfectmum]

I really loved this video. It really does add up and sometimes you don't realise just how much you have! I have cut my shopping budget down by about £30 a week since Christmas and one of the main ways I'm doing it is only buying fresh and essential things we need and by using the food we already have! I have so much in my freezers, I have a full sized freezer then a fridge freezer too. So we have a lot plus cupboards are full of food. We are a family of 5, basically all adult portions, so that's a lot of food needed but I am getting all my meat out of the freezer which is saving money but I have most ingredients I need for our dinners at home already so I'm not needing to buy anywhere near so much which has been lovely as I've had to start saving money properly. Obviously once I run the freezers and cupboards down I will have to start replacing but I want to get more home cooked meals in there anyway and I'll build it back up slowly x

[@Sopherina]

Love this! I only have a small freezer space, but hoping to move in the near future and the plan is to have more freezer/fridge space, to store more. I think buying in bulk, storing, and then generally only purchasing essentials like fresh veg etc as and when really does save money and stop food waste. It is also a big adjustment having a small mouth to feed, on lazy days before little man, it was easy to throw something non-substantial together, but now I need to make sure there is a good sorce of iron, protein and fibre served each day so having a better fridge/freezer situation will help! Xxx

[@thefarfromperfectmum]

@Sopherina I totally agree. I hope you find what you're looking for soon and can start making the use of extra freezer space. May I suggest thinking very clearly about the type of storage freezer you get, I bought a chest one as I thought it would hold more and would fit in my space better but actually being short, I couldn't reach the bottom lol and it became unorganised everytime anyone went looking for something in there and I couldn't stand it so bought a very tall freezer I stead with separate drawers and shelves so I could organise properly. I think once we become parents we want to feed our children properly and that pushes us to really think about what we're doing and then the meals we then want to store afterwards etc. I wasted a lot of food before I had my second freezer as I didn't have the space to chop it up and store it and actually it was before I really got into prepping food and trying to avoid food waste. I feel like I've come a long way in the last few years!! And I'm still learning x

[@loveconnection1118]

Loved this and I'm so excited and on board either this x

[@rachele4323]

I do this every now and then and it's so surprising what you can manage to put together for meals! Xx

[@gemmaparsons399]

Love this vlog. I love doing this going through our freezer and cupboards. Alway's surprises me with what we got in.

[@peterandsarah_doing_lifePlot37]

I'm in! I Need to start proper meal planning. You need a sharpie for Lawrence to label what he puts in the freezer ;) and we are looking at purchasing a food saver machine, specifically for breaking down large purchases and as you say the marked down veg etc for longer freezer life xx

[@paulahughes6031]

Oh my ! My son an I have been doing the same thing since New year. After me not being able to fit all the food in a large chest freezer 🤔. And our neighbour coming to the rescue 🤣😂. Not done any shopping other than fresh bread an milk. I’ve saved the money on one side ! To do a freezer an big shop once we have used up all we have. I’m only just starting to make a dint in what we have, We bagged up six large Aldi bags🥵. It’s been a Hugh eye opener.. But most importantly no waste 👍👍. I’m all in on this one 👏👏

[@janparry6344]

I've done same with my freezers. Listed everything in 3 drawer inside freezer and we have a small chest freezer in shed where everything was put in on top of each other and I had to get everything out to find/look for stuff. I've now put in different carrier bags and listed so can just pull out the bag I need. Loving your 'series' xx

[@carolscammell3592]

Loved this vlog I done that last week and had freezer meals and tins in the cupboards and we survived on that and saved me some money ,I am like you there go to the shops and come back with a bag full and stuff I didn't need can't wait for this series ,and can't wait for the meals you are going to do to give me some ideas take care xx

[@martina92216]

this is what i need!

[@lisahoskins503]

I love doing this. My freezer is empty at the moment I've cleaned the drawers, luckily it's shopping day today. I find it handy to have boxes in one drawer and packets in another and open things in another. You could name it shop our freezer

[@donnafew1296]

Such a good idea!! I’m not going food shopping this weekend I’m going to eat from the freezer!! I’d love to see another video on what you have in your cupboards etc!

[@tanyamarie149]

These are my favourite videos of yours! 🌸

[@Sopherina]

Thank you ♥️

[@tswizzle4eva578]

Thank you for this, I really needed to see this because I struggle so much with impulse buying and have way too much food in the fridge and freezer too, especially at Xmas when all the supermarkets bring out so many new things!

[@wendymcbridemarinecorpscom8811]

Thanks so much for the education and information you share with us all! You're a wonderful educator!! 🦋❤️

[@janetford5188]

Hi, we started this at the beginning of January 2023 and we have eaten from the freezer all month. Biggest shock is that we still have enough in the freezer for meals until the end of February! Bread, eggs, fruit and veg have been our only outlay and it feels amazing. Well done for starting and good luck.

[@mydiyphd8576]

We have a dry wipe board up in the kitchen displaying the contents of the freezer drawers. Probably OTT but it does work.

[@cherylverber7672]

Will be doing exactly the same at the end of the month. I'm sure there are things in there I've forgotten about. Great vlog today as we all rush and find 7 great meals in our freezer 😀

[@joanneniven342]

Great video. I do this regular after watching your video's last year really inspired me and everything helps at the moment 😊🤗🙌😘

[@cactuskatee]

I've found doing my food shops online has massively helped in saving money and cutting down food waste. I'll check what's in the cupboards,fridge and freezer and then write a meal plan from there. Any additional meals I want to make ill write down what ingredients I'm missing and then do the food shop online. Seeing how much the basket is before I order stops me chucking in extra items just because, and now our food cupboard has about a quarter of what it did before. My food shop today was 40.36 for two people and some of the stuff I'll be able to roll into next week too!

[@aimewiltshire2278]

So excited for this series I am definitely going to be doing the same!!!!!

[@Sopherina]

Thank you ♥️

[@minkgin3370]

I’ll bet we all have more in our freezers than we know. Best I go & look in mine.

[@hillarygroundwell2807]

Just cone across you and our freezer looks similar to yours so thanks for the incentive to sort it and make meals this week as well

[@Sopherina]

Yay!! Enjoy your freezer foraging 🥰

[@NumptyNetsky]

😍I really need to do this. Brilliant idea . Looking forward to series . Love the “what’s this?” moments 🤣.

[@Sopherina]

♥

[@janicegagnon2294]

I started Jan 3 by eating the freezer and pantry, I have had minimal shop for the month and will be even into Feb eating off what I had. I am surprised with how long I have been able to last. I have saved so much money this month I allocated to travel

[@gretelwhite8088]

I did this at new year, trying to work out the best way to use the freezer. Must get around to labelling things better, including dates.

[@Sopherina]

Same, with dates especially!

[@IsobelCeline]

I’ve been doing this since your last one and definitely saves you SO much money!❤

[@Sopherina]

♥♥

[@emblogslife]

Love love this idea! I need to start freezing things more often, I always get to the end of a pack of wraps and need to chuck them 🙄 I agree that you probs make more interesting meals from doing this! Well done ❤❤

[@maggiepeers8675]

Love your videos.x

[@Sopherina]

Thank you ♥️

[@keningram7936]

Three rivers homsteed challenge x lol doing for a few years only on a bigger scale x Mandy

[@gurbeto5298]

What I do is take stuff that I can fry or put in the oven in one bag so I can save space aswell. Also take all packages of chicken into freezer bags save so much space.

[@annavicary8530]

Oddly enjoyable to watch. Really need to do my freezer 🫢

[@natashapeddle2810]

Omg! I love the dark green jumper you have on. Wheres it from? 😍 Love this video. So easy to keep buying things coz they look good and then you forget. I love a meal plan!

[@sarahmortimer1294]

I so want to know where this jumper is from too!

[@kat7777]

Series idea - Soph's survival meal feels

[@maureencraven4688]

Thank you so much beautiful girl I'm definitely going to do this take care lovely 🥰 xxx

[@Sopherina]

Thank you ♥️

[@lizziegfunk]

Ah perfect timing. Freezer foraging and cupboard clear out.

[@lorim5774]

I did this in December and January - but now my freezer looks so sad and empty ;-) But it felt wonderful and such an accomplishment to see the food stock dwindle down, and save money! I will start buying (freezer food) again in February. But I am going to keep the list going so that I know what is in there and not overbuy.

[@hayleychapman3236]

Going to join you on this starting tomorrow going through freezer and cupboards and making a list, doesn't help I work in one of the main supermarkets so you just end up picking bits up every shift 🙄 x

[@Sopherina]

HONESTLY working in a supermarket would be the ruin of me, I would have absolutely no willpower!!!! xx

[@josmith4173]

I’m doing this at the moment x

[@Sopherina]

Hope it's going well!! Xx

[@juliespencer1164]

yes, it is a good way to save money, I am only getting the bare essentials this week. my freezer is quite full too. love to you all xxx

[@Sopherina]

Good luck! Thank you ♥️

[@kat7777]

Write on your freezer bags with a sharpie what's in it and the date you froze it..... I had to start doing it to stop the confusion of the mystery frozen homemade stuff 😂

[@glitterfingerprints]

Wow I have never frozen wraps or naan bread but definitely will be now!

[@DM-np4jj]

I did this before Christmas, the list was like a menu that we picked from, was unreal the amount of food we had & i was going to to the shop every week too 😅

[@milissawigglesworth9777]

Shopping my cupboards xx

[@Sopherina]

Ooooooh...I love this! Thank you ♥️

[@fann6498]

Hello x

[@That_one_summergirl]

I’ve seen some KZbinrs call it a “Pantry Challenge”. Eating through pantry/freezer/cupboards/fridge : )

[@emdobz]

We always call whatever meal comes out the freezer "Freezer Surprise" cos who knows what it is, spag bol.. chilli... curry hahah

[@sabrinacoolest]

You can also label your food

[@12missmolly]

To save yourself time you could put what you have in to categories straight away when doing your lists xxx can you sort your cupboards and do the same video? Xx

[@samanthacameron7278]

Jordan page on youtube does this she calls it shelf cooking 🙂👍

[@sue2149]

I'm just currently working my way through the contents of my freezer too, and rather co-incidentally I also found a single rogue veggie sausage!!😀

[@bessiejones5432]

I still have some beef Wellington leftovers.

[@pammasheppard1338]

I really need to do this. I wanted to have a pumpkin bagel for breakfast today. I went to the spot I saw them last in the freezer but they weren't there. I didn't have the energy to search. I am the only person in the house that would eat them so I know there are at least 3. I also hate finding something that's been there too long and it needs to be tossed. What a waste😒

[@amandagreen438]

Living off my freezer food starts day 😁

[@amandadavis665]

Three Rivers Homestead does this every year. Great tips and recipes on #threerivershomestead. I do the same Jan & Feb

[@debbiemackley576]

Do you have the recipe for veggie rice and halloumi from your Instagram please?

[@Sopherina]

Making that and filming it, very soon. Xxx

[@janereeves4482]

Series name suggestion: come unstock with me.

[@thebestwillow]

Seems like you ended up in this situation last spring too. Maybe it's worth thinking about if there's anything you can be doing differently when you ARE doing big food shops to break the cycle, so you don't end up doing this again next year? Xxx

[@Sopherina]

I think however I/someone else shops, doing this at least once a year is necessary. There are always meals tucked away that you don't think of (something as simple as rice and roasted veg, to use up extras is a substantial meal that requires just rooting around the cupboards/fridge/freezer!). But each time I do do this, I learn some new things and have better habits when shopping so it's beneficial in lots of ways. Xx

[@thebestwillow]

@@Sopherina cool.

[@waynedoz]

Pantry/larder/ cupboard challenge?

[@Sopherina]

Yes! I like this!

[@shiningstar7775]

"Shop your Stash"

[@toniallen4786]

Series name: FBR. (Finish before replenish)

[@toniallen4786]

I try to do this every so often. Sometimes end up with some random concoctions. These are sometimes the best though lol x

[@bookwurmlibrary3064]

This Is me a couple of years ago. Now everything that goes in the freezer, fidge and cupboard goes in my inventory app with dates and all. Every week I go through the app.

[@bearclaire]

Which ap do you use?

[@bookwurmlibrary3064]

@@bearclaire Freezer. And I made different collections. I have: Pantry, fridge, freezer and kitchen cabinet. :-) If you enter dates, the app even sends a notification when something is going to go off date.

[@tinagillhamevans667]

Not straight, never been straight, but not your fault.

[@suejohns7788]

You only did this just before Christmas 😅 do you think you have a food problem like hoarding 😊

[@kaygodden6330]

Try 7 or 8 months ago

[@Sopherina]

Sue I did this in April last year lol! I think it’s pretty normal to accumulate stuff in your freezer ✌️

[@loveconnection1118]

Random question... are you a cancerian x

[@teammeteamus.8315]

That was fascinating! I cleared out my cupboards recently and it was full of expired speciality flours. I’d wasted so much money by getting them on a whim, without having a real plan on how to use them.

[@Sopherina]

I have fallen for this before, buying things on a whim and promising myself I will make use of the items. Such a shame but its good to clear it out!