I put the Week 2 Challenge to the test. It’s funny how it seems that it wasn’t too long ago that I cleaned out the pantry and re-organized and yet wait until you see the food that I had to throw out because it was past its expiration date!
In the before photo, you can see that I have a decent closet with wire shelves to use as a pantry. The top shelf is organized with handled red baskets that I got at the dollar store. In them are baking supplies such as sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, walnuts, cocoa, etc. When I have a lot of chips I put the unopened bags on top of the baking supplies where they won’t get crushed. There isn’t as much wall space between the door and the shelves to install the paper bag clips as suggested in the challenge and so the chips get shelf space.
The second shelf holds chips and bread. In the reorganized pantry (the “after” photo), these items are moved to the third shelf and the bread has a collapsible shelf above it because we seem to have lots of bread and rolls at times.
The second shelf now holds canned foods around the perimeter, stacked when there is more than one. There are now two baskets on this shelf holding salad dressings and condiments.
In the before photo, the third shelf held crackers, snacks and cereal. Those items are now on the fourth shelf from the top.
The fourth shelf originally held cans and my gluten free and vegetarian items. Those items are now on the floor of the pantry as I am the only one who uses them.
The fifth shelf is a half shelf. It originally held a lot of baskets with things such as peanut butter, dip mixes, rice, etc. The baskets were stacked on top of each other. The baskets are now arranged so the content is seen at a glance such as pasta, rice, peanut butter.
The floor of the pantry holds items in baskets or that are in bug-proof containers, such as vinegar, seltzer water, and V8 juice. Not that my house has bugs, but don’t want to tempt them. I have bins for potatoes and onions. On the collapsible shelf to the right I now have the boxes of dip mix and marinades, almond milk, chicken broth, flour in a plastic container (but I plan on getting a glass gallon jar).
I was surprised at what had expired but in looking at the expiration dates, many were December 2018. I’ll use the Baking Soda for homemade cleaning solutions. Disappointed that we never made S’mores this summer with the graham crackers and marshmallows (the chocolate is good through this month!). The peanut butter powder is still good but it was open a year ago and so I don’t want to take a chance that it’s rancid. I didn’t think vanilla extract would have an expiration date, but again, maybe it becomes less flavorful? In any case, all the expired items were tossed.
Any suggestions for different organizing techniques? I’d like to do something different with the cans and I may invest in can holders.
I’d like to see your before and after photos if you are taking the Week 2 Challenge Food Storage!
I hope to tackle the refrigerator and freezer this week. We shall see!
