A few weeks ago, I organized the food pantry and cleaned out the refrigerator. The food pantry still looks great, but the refrigerator needs a good cleaning out once a week. As part of cleaning out the pantry, here are a few things I do:
*Since I shop sales, and buy things in large quantities, (all in the name of saving some $$), we usually have a 6 month-to-a-year supply of food.
In order to keep it rotating so that you don't end up with a bunch of expired boxes of food, we write the expiration date on the side of the box with a marker. (When I cleaned out the food pantry this time, I only found 3 cans of food w/ past expiration dates...so not so bad :))
*I always put the new food in the back of the pantry, and move the older food to the front.
*I keep a "grab-n-go" snack basket as seen above. This way, when we are in a hurry to go somewhere, (and we always take snacks), I can just grab a few items and stick them in the diaper bag.
*Categorize and use containers: I have everything in baskets according to category. For example: for baking, I have a basket w/ baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, salt, etc. So if I am baking, I just pull out the basket, use it, and put it all back. This way I don't have to dig through a shelf to find something. I keep all the crackers together, the tomato canned products, etc. etc.
What things do you do to organize your food pantry?
My hubby organizes our pantry every month when we buy groceries. All the veggies together, box food together, chips on the bottom shelf...he has a system! I just pull out what I want for dinner! :)
ReplyDeletegreat idea with the baskets!
Until I started couponing It rotated itself by running out!! Now I notice that I still end up having empty shelves, but move things to the left and buy new things to replace and put on the right... Ideally I would like to be able to move my selves away from the walls and load from the back...
ReplyDeleteMy girls helped me label our shelves and we put sugar and treats on the top shelves (to discourage munching.) and regular meal Items closer to the bottom so kids can more easily run down and get it for me.
love your blog!
Debi
I love Tupperware modulars to help keep me organized.
ReplyDeleteYes I buy Tupperware to help organize and keep the food from going bad, but mainly to save the food from this NY moisture.
ReplyDeleteI love your baking items basket. What a time saver. I'm going to find an abandoned basket and make your idea work for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharla.
oooh i just reorganized my pantry a few months ago. it is a lot like yours sounds. i splurged and bought some of those rotating canned food shelving (the small ones that fit right on the shelves) and i love them! they freed up TONS of room. when i finally did organize it, i also emptied 2 cabinets into the pantry too! it feels so good to have an organized space...
ReplyDelete