Food

I don't have a refrigerator at my place so leftovers are kind of tricky. In late Autumn and early Spring it's easier because I can sit my leftover dinner outside through the day and have the rest the next night. That works in Winter, too, so long as the food will tolerate freezing. And sometimes during Summer, when I have guests over, I put ice in the cooler and cook a bigger meal and again my leftovers will keep for a bit. But usually, I cook a single meal and consume it all.

I don't have much storage either, so I don't really stock up on food. I keep some canned goods on hand, and dry goods like rice and nuts and pasta. Things that tolerate Summer's heat and Winter's cold. In the colder months I keep eggs and cheese and butter and things like that on hand, but more delicate foods, like produce, have to be bought and eaten right away.

I don't make shopping lists anymore, since I buy one meal at a time. And I just make mental notes when I run low on other consumables like toilet paper and paper towels and...well that's about it for other consumables.

My lifestyle forces me to be very deliberate about buying and storing and consuming things, especially food which has to be dealt with immediately. There's no opening the refrigerator door to see what's inside. Instead, as I begin to get a little hungry, I begin lining up my next meal.

I rarely waste food these days. I like that. I like being more in tune with my consumption and not stocking up on things. I'm not sure why that's appealing to me, but I like it. It's sort of that way with everything at my place. I know what I have, and I don't have much so I can keep track of it all. And I know where everything is. It feels good for some reason.