Cleaning out & organizing the pantry

Wow, is it really November already, with only 20 days to go till Thanksgiving? Ouch, time to break out the Holiday Planning Checklist & get going. In that checklist, we included a point about “inventorying your pantry, refrigerator and freezer and stocking up on non-perishables”, which leads to a few interesting questions. Namely, how long will these items last & are there any tips on making sure something gets used before it expires? In this article, we are going to cover the pantry, while in another one we will tackle the dreaded refrigerator & freezer.

Seven Tips for organizing your pantry:

• Start with a clean slate; seriously, if you need to organize the pantry, you should pull it all out, clean it, and organize the stuff on the kitchen table or counters before putting it back away. Unless your pantry is the size of a room, it should not take more than an hour or two to accomplish. Make sure you toss any expired items, send any items you know you will never use to the food bank, etc…
• FIFO – First In First Out; i.e. if you buy some more soup, crackers, cereal, etc… it gets placed below or behind the existing cans, bags or boxes
• Keep like items together; (Yes, that unfortunetly is mine above – cramped huh?) Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get mine cleaned out yet, but you can still see some of the organization with baking goods on one shelf, condiments all in one area, etc… Not only does this make it easier to find items but allows us to (generally) look in there and see what is needed /and in some cases take advantage of supermarket sales.
• Use a Sharpie; Many items now use “specialty expiration codes”, so it is best to write the date it was purchased or opened on it – this will help you avoid throwing out items that are fine, and hopefully allow you to make sure something is used before it loses flavor, or…
• Labels Forward; sure something might be in the right area, but if you can’t see the label or what it is, you will most likely miss it & go buy new when you didn’t need to
• Big boxes vs. Small items; unless you have a huge pantry, you will not be able to give every item its own little row, etc… In many cases, I will put larger items in the back & smaller items in front. For spices, or packets, it may be best to buy a specialty rack, or a basket to keep them all in
• Commonly Used vs. Rarely Used; Many people like putting their commonly used products where they are easily grabbed & items that may never again see the light of day at the top in a hard to reach area – if that works for you, that’s great, it is all about finding a system that works for you

Bonus Tip: The Specialty Shelf aka Guest Shelf aka Party Shelf aka Holiday Shelf; you might consider leaving one or more shelves open as a specialty shelf. (in case you are wondering, ours is about 2 shelves up – Holiday Item’s)

• For those that occasionally like to throw parties, have guests over for entertainment reasons, etc… having a shelf with Drink mixers, Dip, that can of Spam that doesn’t fit anywhere else, etc… is a great idea so you are not looking in three different areas and realizing you are out of something.
• Got Kids – keeping all their lunch & snack items on one shelf or area, cuts down on the getting out the door & I’m hungry issues.
• Trying to plan that Thanksgiving meal – if all the stuffing, cranberries, and other items are all located on one shelf that makes it easier to see what you still might need.

Common Expiration Dates & Freshness:

Before we get to the list, please note that for many of these products, it is not that they will go bad, it generally revolves around a loss of flavor / freshness. If you have an issue with bugs occasionally getting into your flour or cornmeal, you can not only try the old-fashioned trick on using a bay leaf, but also store them in airtight plastic containers. Instead of storing the food in the laundry area, it is best to store it in a dark area (not exposed to UV light) without major changes in temperature or humidity – this will help keep most items fresher for a longer period of time. (i.e. read cool, dry & dark)

We are hoping to have our other article dealing with Holiday Organization tips & tricks related to the Refigerator & Freezer out by Tuesday morning, to hopefully help you eliminate some stress during the upcoming Holidays. As always please feel free to leave a comment, a helpful tip for others, or even show off your fully organized pantry.