Purchasing, Inventory and Waste

Buy for the next cooking day, not for the month.

A home fridge is small. The same-day rule means nothing cooked survives to tomorrow. So the whole inventory game is: buy what you will use, store it right, throw away as little as possible.

Buy for one cooking day at a time

For a two-day-a-week kitchen, shop Thursday for Friday and Saturday. Meat and produce for the week; rice, oil, sauces, and dry goods monthly. Frozen proteins can bridge the gap if your freezer allows.

Do not buy a case of anything until you have sold it for a month.

The shopping list

Work backwards from orders:

Dish

Orders

Per meal

Need

Have

Buy

Braised pork rice

5 oz pork

6.25 lb

2 lb

4.5 lb

Beef noodle soup

6 oz shank

5.6 lb

6 lb

Dumplings (12)

10 boxes

120 wrappers

120

2 packs

One sheet, every cooking day. It takes five minutes and stops both over-buying and running out.

Where to buy

Any licensed store or supplier: supermarkets, 99 Ranch, Costco, restaurant supply (Restaurant Depot needs a business license), wholesale produce. Not from a friend’s backyard, not from an unlicensed seller. The inspector can ask where your meat came from; keep the receipt.

Bringing it home

Cold and frozen last in the cart, first into the fridge. Under 30 minutes in the car, or use a cooler.
Check dates and packaging at the store, not at home.

Storing it

Raw meat, poultry, fish: bottom shelf, in a container or on a tray.
Ready-to-eat above raw. Cooked components above everything.
Label with the date. Oldest in front, used first.
Dry goods in sealed containers, 6 inches off the floor.
Do not pack the fridge full. Air needs to move or the back freezes and the front warms.
A cheap fridge thermometer on the middle shelf. Read it every cooking morning.

Waste log

A sheet on the fridge:

Date

What

How much

Why

Change

9/13

Bok choy

1 bunch

Bought too much

Buy 3 not 4

9/13

Cooked rice

6 cups

Fewer orders than planned

Cook rice in two batches

9/20

Soy milk

8 cups

Only 12 sold

Make 16, not 24

After a month you will see the pattern. Usually two or three items cause most of the waste. Fix those.

Waste is information, and money

Ten percent waste on $300 of groceries a week is $1,500 a year. The log is worth the two minutes.