Photo:SXC

First up was going through every item and sorting it into one of three piles:

• Expired
• What was I thinking when I bought that?
• Keep

The keep pile was neatly boxed up and labeled and then placed in a dry area out of the way. The What was I thinking pile was sorted into “Doesn’t Alice eat refried beans?” and “Maybe someone at the mission likes canned okra.” sections.
Then, the food was packaged up to be carted off to different locations. The expired pile, which was thankfully on the small side, was tossed.

After this, we took out all the old shelf paper. Now, the pantry is ready for demolition.

A few quick tips:

• Pack things with lids right side up so the lids don’t leak.
• Use newspaper or another type of padding to keep jars and bottles from clinking against each other.
• Make liberal use of right side up arrows and clear labels on the boxes.
• Really think about whether something you bought will be used before you hold onto it. You need that valuable space for things you will eat, especially if you are planning to put together an emergency stockpile.

Post from: Blisstree

Tidy Tuesday – Clean the Pantry for a Move

Here are a few tips for making your pantry the best it can be:

Alphabetize spices.
This isn’t an anal retentive thing, it actually saves loads of time when cooking. Purchase a lazy susan and place your spices neatly along the edge in alphabetical order. When you’re looking for a particular spice, it will be easily at your fingertips.

Check expiration dates.
Spices and condiments have expiration dates. Many spices are only good for about a year, but check the bottle or tin it came in to see how long it’s good for. Get rid of anything old and out of date. (I was surprised to see an unopened package of marshmallows past the expiration date yesterday.)

Throw out old cereal.
We all love cereal in my house, which means we have several different types. Sometimes this means that certain boxes don’t get used to the very end. Toss whatever is open and has been sitting there awhile.

Organize foods by type.
Put your pastas in one place, baking goods in another, cereal in another, etc. This way you can easily see what you have available before you go to the store and buy some more.

Use baskets and plastic bins.
Small baskets and plastic containers are great to hold smaller items, such as yeast packets, extract bottles, and chocolate chips. Baskets are nice to hold pasta and rice.

Image: sxc.hu.

Post from: Blisstree

Tips for Cleaning Out Your Pantry

What would make my haven perfect is if I had a walk-in pantry like this one:

I saw this baby in IKEA in Melbourne, Australia. I’d love to have a bigger pantry, a walk-in one if at all possible. Can’t do this with the current house we’re in at the moment. This is what my pantry looks like:

What about yours? What’s your ideal pantry size and configuration?

Image: mrsgooding

Post from: Blisstree

Walk-in Pantry

However, Slate recently researched the same idea and came back with a few pantry staples that might just be best to make yourself, and not just because it will save you money but because the quality and taste are so much better than store bought.

They tried out bagels (conclusion: make your own), cream cheese (buy it), yogurt (make it), jam (make it), crackers (buy it), and granola (specifically Alton Brown’s granola) — which gets the “make it” not because it’s cheaper but because it tastes a lot better.

I’ve made bagels before and while they turned out fine the time I spent on them, just to have them devoured within minutes, kind of put me off them (I know, that’s the point, at least everyone enjoyed them, but it only made six!).

I don’t think I’d dare make cream cheese myself, but I’ve always been intrigued with making my own yogurt, so I might be giving that one a try soon. I don’t have access to cheap fruit (everything’s flown in since nothing grows here, so I don’t have neighbors dumping bags off on my porch) so jam is cheaper for me to buy, but I would like to try making crackers sometime just to see how it turns out. And as soon as I get some cashews you bet I’m going to be trying Alton’s granola!

What pantry staples do you make yourself?

[image: flickr]

Post from: Blisstree

Should You Make It or Buy It?

Here’s a photo of what’s in my pantry. What is in yours? Care to share with me? If you’d like to share what’s in your kitchen pantry, send a photo via email on christine(at)b5media(dot)com and I’ll be sure to feature it here on Bliss Tree

There is order in this seeming chaos of a pantry. All my baking stuff are in one shelf. The heavy stuff like soy sauce, vinegar and the like are on the bottom shelf.

Can you see the blue tub at the bottom of the pantry? That’s our rice container! Big eh? Well, I’m asian…what do you expect? LOL

As you can see, my pantry is sandwiched between our fridge and our double oven. How about yours? Where is your pantry placed in your kitchen? Have you got double doors too? Do you find your pantry space too small? In our old house, I had a walk-in pantry. That was pure bliss! Perhaps in our next house, I’d definitely make sure we have a bigger pantry, a walk-in one if possible. It’s just so good to store food stuff in there!

Here’s a close-up photo of my spices and sauces. Not much here really. I wasn’t able to take a photo of all my herb bottles. There’s heaps of them!

How do your organize your pantry? Have you got a system?

Post from: Blisstree

What’s in your pantry?