I could cry......refrigerator door left open -

[Minnie_me]

I went grocery shopping yesterday, and noticed that the fridge was a little "full" when I shut the door. Well, either one of the kids or I didn't shut it all the way last night and I came down this morning to find the door ajar, and absolutely everything inside lukewarm.

Really, I could throw up. I'm a teacher, and I haven't gotten paid since June 28th. My next paycheck isn't until September 13th. I did a "big shop" yesterday, hoping to tide us over with dinners until then.

And now it's all ruined. I can't even bring myself to get in there and throw it all away. And I don't know how/if I'll ever begin to replace it.

 

[DLgal]

Do you have a credit card? Or an emergency fund? Food is a necessity so I'd treat this as an emergency situation.

 

[eliza61]

Big hugs for you minnie.
I did the same thing many years ago with my meat freezer. Stocked it up and told the kids there were ice pops in it. one went in to get an ice pop nad left the lid up. problem was, it's in the basement and so no one noticed it for 2 days. freezer full of meats ruined.

feel free to cry. also don't think in terms of "replacing" it. simply figure out what you need for the immediate future and keep your eye out for supermarket sales.

 

[NancyIL]

Unless your refrigerator turned off when the door was ajar, I doubt everything (if anything) was ruined. Certainly fruits and vegetables are fine...even dairy. The only iffy thing for me would be meat.

 

[Minnie_me]

Unless your refrigerator turned off when the door was ajar, I doubt everything (if anything) was ruined. Certainly fruits and vegetables are fine...even dairy. The only iffy thing for me would be meat.

Right........I'm going through it now. I had steak (a rare treat for my younger DD and I -- I splurged!), chicken breasts, cold cuts, and an rotisserie chicken.

The milk is room temperature. I had to toss 2 gallons.

 

[MSSANDRA]

How sad!!! I however would toss meats, dairy...that sort of thing. Produce should be fine as well as things like mustard, pickles etc.

 

[bearloch]

take the temp of the food to be sure and look up what the sfe temps are!! fruit and veggies are find as is some dairy!! Sorry hope most of it can be saved!

 

[pat fan]

So sorry! I know how you feel, I'm counting the days til my first paycheck as well!

I know it's not ideal, but can you mac & cheese it til you get paid? Is there someone (mom & dad, sister) that you could borrow a few dollars from to pay back once you get paid? I hate that knot in your stomach when a financial slam hits you

 

[texasroni75]

I was near tears over just ONE gallon of milk someone in my house left out on the counter overnight last week. I work hard to budget our meals and try to do grocery shopping just 2 days a week so I'm not driving back and forth all the time wasting gas just to pick up a loaf of bread, etc. The loss of an entire shopping trip's worth of groceries would put me into crisis mode. I'm usually a big-time worry-wart with potentially expired food (no matter how much a food cost, it's not worth it to try saving it if my family might get sick eating it!). So, I'd likely throw the bulk of it away, except for things near the back of the shelves that might still be salvageable. It's not going to be fun, but you can eat the items from your pantry until your next paycheck if you do not have any access to funds to replace the lost items (canned instead of fresh veggies, cereal with no milk, and pasta, pasta, pasta). But you can bet, my kids and I would be learning a lesson to be more careful about shutting the refrigerator by having ramen noodles, green beans, and pasta with canned sauce for dinner for every night.

 

[MineMail]

So sorry; what a shame. I agree - you have to use your emergency funds or go to your pantry. Room temp milk has to go, but juice is probably okay. The produce is kept at room temperature in the store, condiments, pickles, olives, etc. have vinegar or salt as a preservative, so those things should be fine.

If the steak/chicken are still cool and look/smell okay, cook them right away. Most cooks bring meat to room temperature before cooking anyway. They should be fine - it's not like it was left on the counter for a day; it probably took 4-5 hours before they started to lose their cool.

I like the previous poster's point about turning this into a learning experience for the kids, but not to the point of ramen noodles every day. As the pp said, make healthy meals with vegetables and pasta. Then again, it may not have been your family's mistake. I've found the contents shift if I overfill the spare freezer after a shopping trip. The seal isn't strong enough to resist the pressure against the door and it just opens by itself. (I saw it happen one day.) That could have been what happened. I put a piece of bright-blue painter's tape across the side of the freezer and I tape it shut when it's full like that. The kids and dh are good about putting it back on if they do undo the tape/open the freezer for something.

Still, it's a shame and I understand why you're upset. Have something for breakfast (not cereal and milk) and then tackle the task. Think of it as a chance to clean out the fridge. (Sorry, j/k)

My best tip: make sure the fridge is working right before you restock! While it's most likely the open-door that let it get warm, put a thermometer inside and let it come back up to the correct temperature and stay cool for an hour or two. It would be awful to fill the fridge again and find that it wasn't working properly.

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

It has happened to me also. Hugs for you.

 

[ceemys]

I've been there. I'm so sorry! Hope you can salvage some stuff. I left the freezer door opened when my little one was a baby. Ruined a ton of frozen pumped milk. I did cry.

 

[Ruthie5671]

I hate that for you and totally understand having to be a teacher and waiting for the first check of the new school year.

Since funds appear to be very tight, let me suggest for you to find a community food bank - some churches offer that. You can get what you need for now and then when your paychecks are consistent again, you can make a donation back to where you borrowed from.

I hope it all works out for you!

 

[Pooh2]

I feel your pain OP!
My milk and juice were warm one morning this week, turns out the compressor is not working so I am on the hunt for a replacement fridge and lost alot of food.

Borrowed a dorm size fridge for the very basics until we get our backordered fridge 10 days from now. Fridges these days all look so cheaply made! But that is another post altogether..

 

[RookieLady]

How old are your children and do they have money savings (birthday presents, allowance, etc.)? If one of my boys did that (12 and 9), they would be forking over some amounts to "replace." I wouldn't take all their money, but for example, my 12 year old hoards money and has about $100. If he did it, I would take about $25 or $30 of that and go by some meat. Hamburger, especially on sale, can go a long way in spaghetti, tacos, etc.

 

[DawnM]

That is only fair if you know who left it open. OP said she didn't know who did it and it may have been her.

How old are your children and do they have money savings (birthday presents, allowance, etc.)? If one of my boys did that (12 and 9), they would be forking over some amounts to "replace." I wouldn't take all their money, but for example, my 12 year old hoards money and has about $100. If he did it, I would take about $25 or $30 of that and go by some meat. Hamburger, especially on sale, can go a long way in spaghetti, tacos, etc.

 

[RookieLady]

That is only fair if you know who left it open. OP said she didn't know who did it and it may have been her.

Which is why I used the word "if". I missed she didn't know who it was.

 

[DawnM]

I would not toss everything but inspect first. If meats are near the back of the fridge they may be ok. Milk left out for a while is fine. My boys leave milk out for a few hours regularly (they are told not to but they do!) and we still drink it.

We have never gotten sick from food.

Dawn

 

[3boymthr]

I totally feel your pain. We lost power a few years ago and I had to throw away about $500 worth of food. Take heart though...some items will definitely still be good. Butter, ketchup, mustard, jelly, pickles, etc. can all be stored at room temp if absolutely necessary so don't throw those unless they smell or taste off.

 

[shortbun]

I would have cooked all the meats right away and used it for salads, tacos or pasta meals for the next week. For years, and some still do, people would thaw all day on their counters then cook the meat in the evening. Sorry you lost all that food. Sniff the milk and make pudding if it's good. Skim spoils really slowly.