Today’s post is from contributing writer Christina over at Northern Cheapskate.
I recently spent an exciting afternoon reorganizing my pantry.
I’m not kidding about the “exciting” part. My pantry was a pit – a total chaotic mess of canned goods, boxes of cereal and too many free granola bar samples to count! I felt a huge sense of accomplishment when it my project was finished, and my husband was thrilled he could step inside our small pantry without getting attacked by a stray box of pasta.
I learned a few things from reorganizing my pantry. For one thing, I noticed an evolution of my buying habits since the last pantry clean-up. I’m buying a lot less processed dinners and meal kits and more staples like pasta, brown rice, and dried beans.
I learned how important it is not to let things disappear into the back of the pantry. There were a few things that were pretty darn old that I had forgotten about. It is very important to know what you have so that you can use it up before it goes bad.
A few other lessons learned from reorganizing my pantry:
Rotate by date. Organizing my food by expiration date should have been a no-brainer for me. I should know to use the older stuff first. But I’ll admit it – I got a little lazy and just put food away without staying on top the dates. I’ve learned my lesson now!
Containerize and label. Things like dried beans and rice are easier to organize when placed in containers and properly labeled. I’ve also learned that square containers work better than round ones.
Improvise on storage items. You don’t have to run to a store and buy fancy shelves and baskets to organize your pantry. Take a look around your home and see what things you can put toward your pantry reorganization. I used an old ice box I wasn’t using to organize my free sample snacks I’ve gotten in the mail.
When in doubt, throw it out. If there was any question as to whether a food item was good or not, I tossed it. It’s far safer to just cut your losses. With that said….
Check out Still Tasty. Still Tasty is a great website that offers information on the shelf life of all kinds of food. I don’t want to take risks with certain foods, but for many foods (like pasta), the “best by” date is not as critical.
Organize by type of food. I organized like things together: pasta, rice, and beans in one area, cereals on another shelf, snacks in one corner, condiments in another. Figure out what system works best for your family so that you’ll be able to find what you are looking for and determine what you will need to buy at your next visit to the grocery store.
Plan your meals and fill in the gaps. Once you’ve organized your pantry, you’ll have a better idea of what you have and what needs to be used up soon. You’ll have a better idea of what meals to plan and what items to stock up on during the next big sale.
A well-organized pantry can mean big savings for you – both in time and money.
I’d like to add a point to the “Containerize” note… the nice thing about containers/canisters is that it encourages you to buy in the bulk section of the store. You save money; you throw out less food; you eliminate the need for packaging; and you can use some of the money you saved to buy the organic or local variety you might not have gotten before. If you really want to go plastic-less, find or make some fabric bags for your bulk purchases. I think containers make my pantry (read: very small cabinet) look really cool!
@ Cat – Love that idea of the fabric bags. I don’t usually buy in bulk because my place is so small, but for staples, it could be a cool idea. Thanks for sharing!
Good post … which reminds me I need to write a post. :) Off topic but I haven’t dropped my sight of monthly goal meet-up. *hands slapped*
Containerize and label … and date items with label or marker so there’s no question.
I found with canned goods – if you have say 3 or 4 of the same soups or spaghetti sauces, I write 1,2,3 and last one on the top of the can. It keeps me from buying extra if I do not need it.
@Rebecca — Just to clarify, when I say “in bulk” I don’t mean in large quantities like from Costco, etc. I mean from the self-serve bins at the grocery. I often just get enough of whatever type of flour/grain/nuts/dried fruit I need for one recipe. For staples, I get enough to fill my quart-size jars and canisters. I have almost NO food storage in my kitchen, so I understand the small space!
@ Mark and Dedegurl – thanks for the tips! Appreciate the comments :)
@ Cat – Ahhh, that makes more sense now. I love that tip. I’ve seen those self-serve bins and have always been a bit nervous to check them out. Ha. Will have to next time for sure now!