Getting The Kitchen Ready For Vacation

We have been gone visiting family for the past 5 days.  I should have a Menu Plan post up some time tomorrow, but for now, here are some tips for getting your kitchen ready for a vacation.

One of the things I always try to do before leaving for several days is use up or store the perishable food items we have.  In this case, it was a 32oz. container of yogurt, 4 carrots and 4 apples, 2 tortillas, a bit of feta, and a few other random things.

First I made yogurt cubes (the white things in the bag in the picture above).  I spooned yogurt into ice cube trays and stuck them in the freezer for a few hours.  Then I put them in a bag, and now I can add them to smoothies.  I've done this before with muffin tins, but the ice cube size is a lot easier for the blender to handle.

I also made juice the morning we left with the leftover apples and carrots, and then made a big batch of Morning Glory Muffins from the juice pulp.  These will make a great easy breakfast/snack for the first day or so we're back.  We have some noodles and a jar of alfredo sauce on the shelf, and broccoli and mushrooms in the freezer, so we'll have an easy dinner tonight that is already nearly ready to go.

Lunch the day we left included cheese tortillas, the last of a can of pineapple, and some baby carrots with hummus that were in the fridge.  It was kind of a random assortment of stuff, but it was what needed to be eaten. 

And, after all that fun, I got to do the dishes and take out the garbage.  Here's what my fridge looked like when we left:

Very empty!  But at least I get to come home to a clean kitchen, with enough ready to eat until we can get to shopping again!  How do you plan for a vacation?