I had an abysmal week as far as food waste goes. Earlier in the week I made a chicken pot pie using pre-made (but homemade) components. When I made chicken pot pie two weeks ago, I made extra pie dough and put it in my fridge. I froze extra chicken and veggie mix for the pie so when I needed a quick dinner, I would be able to pull out those ingredients and make a healthy, yummy dinner with little effort.
Well, I should have frozen the pie dough too. When I took it out to use it, I thought it smelled a little off. Just a tad. I wondered, what the heck is in this dough that would make it smell bad: flour, water, vodka, butter? None of those ingredients should have gone bad after being in the fridge for two weeks (I think). So I made the pie and we ate it. It tasted just fine.
That night, my youngest got sick. Of course, I immediately blamed myself. I always blame myself. I shouldn’t have made them eat that pot pie. I was anxious all night that the other three would be sick. And me. I ate the pie too. Only my husband would be spared because he had not been home for dinner that night. At least someone would be alive to take care of the rest of us…
The next morning, my son was ill. But no one else. I’m now convinced that I did NOT poison my family; rather it was just really bad timing. I figure if it had been food poisoning, we would all have been sick. (And if you know that’s not the case, please don’t tell me!)
But after that, I threw out the rest of the chicken pot pie (didn’t think to take the picture while it at least still looked pretty) and I went through my fridge with a very skeptical eye. My 2/3 full box of organic spring mix smelled funny and some of the leaves were looking a little slimy. So they’re out of here.
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I got a good chuckle from this.
Rest assured that the dough was probably fermented harmlessly like sourdough. When you baked the pie, you would have brought the crust to a high enough temperature to kill off any potential pathogens if they were present.
Have a good weekend!
Always happy to make someone laugh! 😉 Thanks for commenting!
Me, my husband and daughter all got a stomach bug in the beginning of December. I had it first so I thought it was some soup I made that had been in the fridge too long so I threw it out. Then when they got sick too I knew it wasnt that since they didnt eat it. Then I ended up throwing out even more stuff b/c we had no appetite for what was in the fridge. So I’ve been there, not worth the guilt even though it is very annoying!!
I think you did the smart thing. I think you should always err on the side of caution when questioning if something is too old to eat.
We could be better, could be worse. Composting and making homemade stock really helps!