Update on the tortilla soup - it is fantastic! Of course i substituted a few things here and there for my own personal taste but i will definitely make it again. She also gave us her mom's recipe for root beer cookies. Scale of 1-10 i gave them a 10! I am going to ask her if she minds if i give out the recipes - i don't think she will but some people are funny about stuff like that!

:D Hubby's never let me forget the tub of margarine in the linen cabinet (years ago...before CRS).

Glad your soup turned out great. Would love the recipe for root beer cookies.

I agree about the anti-bacterial soap, although I DO have some I keep in the kitchen. I have a friend who is very picky about that, she uses clorox wipes everywhere and keeps her house almost sterile. She does NOT want her kids getting sick. Funny thing is, her kids ALWAYS have the sniffles or a cold, they're sick twice as often as my kids are. Her youngest has had so many viruses and ear infections that he has some hearing loss from scarring on his ear drum.

Sorry, but I laughed out loud at the tampons in the freezer, lol!! I would have stuck one inside my bra to warm it up and sat on the throne until it did! :D

As long as the can is not bulging I use it, no matter how old. I hate throwing things away.

I throw out expired stuff, but that is just me. HOWEVER, you can make your own cream of chicken soup, take the chicken noodle soup, blend it, add milk (or water) and add flour, heat to make a thick soup consistency, not clotted like in can. Also, you can use broth in the soup. Make it thicker with flour or cornstarch. Either one works. You won't even be able to tell the difference. Sometimes I think of an incomplete pantry as a time for using the old noggin'. Have at it.

No way....I would have warmed the cold one with a hair dryer.. But yes I have had many of those days and cowering under a blanket works for me.

I think the key word here is "Best" if used by. I have been the food will lose some of its nutritional value but generally can be used.

OMG, that is to cute, i did that with sanitary pads, (obvisiously a long time ago)LOL

Yes- the only ones I worry about are the fresh meats- I have had several bad ones past date. Canned goods etc are fine. My mother gave me sauces she canned about 5 years ago because they now have to have a no salt diet- still good

First of all, I don't have a problem with canned goods slightly outdated, but I can afford to toss a $1 can of soup rather that risk eating something outdated by a year.
But, Botulism does not have a smell or taste, and a small amount can kill you. Yes heating the item should kill bacteria, but it should be heated to at least boiling point and boiled for ten minutes at least, meats should be pressure cooked to kill bacteria.
Next, our forefathers were not healtheir than us, they had a much shorter life span, died of simple infections such as an infected cut, had no chance of surviving any cancers and a number of other medical maladies that plague us. An infant born in the early 1900's had about a 50% chance of surviving to 5 years old. The rate of maternal death due to 'childbirth fever' was very high, a problem solved when Semmelweiss discovered that washing your hands was a good idea and maybe the barber wasn't the best person to perform surgery.