Woo hoo, week 50 of 52! I don’t know if anyone is following along here, but I decided to finish this for myself. So I’m focusing on things I need to do in my own house. Whether you’re living overseas (like me!) and stocking up on favorites when you can, or stocking up as you find deals and coupons, or simply ordering in bulk from the amazing Amazon.com or Vitacost.
My food pantry is kind of a mess right now. I did go through my kitchen cupboards and clean and straighten them, but now…my pantry and food storage shelves in the basement need serious reorganization.
Here’s how I do it:
–group like things together. In my cupboards, I have a cooking shelf (like sauces and spices) and a baking shelf (like sugar and specialty flour). That’s what it looks like in my pantry, too, but on a bigger scale: brown, white, and powdered sugars next to several kinds of flour, corn meal, etc. I have a section with treats, a section with canned goods, a toiletries section, paper section, and more. But things that are similar are near each other so they are easy to find.
-periodically go through your stores. Check dates and plan to use things as they get close to their expiration dates. See what you’ve been forgetting about! Don’t let your items go to waste.
–keep the oldest things in the front – move newer things back as you bring them in. This ensures that things don’t spoil before you can use them.
–wipe down shelves as you go. It cleans up the little bits of flour or rice that fell in the cracks and the honey that dripped on the shelf.
-and remember, completion is better than perfection! This is something that I still struggle with. But it’s true, right? Don’t let the uncertainty of how it’s all going to work out stop you from starting. You can always go back. Perfection is not required!
And that’s it. I’m off to work on my storage areas.
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