The holiday season is approaching. The days of comfort foods are upon us. If our kitchen is the heart of our home, our food pantry is the heart of our kitchen. Whether you store your food products in above-counter cabinet space or a walk-in pantry closet, keeping a 'smart' pantry (one that is up-to-date, practical, visible and organized) will help simplify your daily life. Here are some easy tips to help you organize a sensible, smart pantry.
• Foods selected for your home's pantry should be the foods that are consumed by your family. If that jar of artichokes is still hanging around, taking up space since last fall, it's time to remove it.
• Try going on a pantry fast this week — preparing all meals from only from pantry contents. This will help clear it out and enable you to better assess foods most commonly used by your family.
• Clean out the pantry thoroughly. Then shop for food basics that can create some of your favorite meals in a pinch.
• Check expiration dates on occasion and purge out of date foods.
• Pantry food placement rule of thumb: most used items should be placed at eye level shelves. Lesser used can be stored higher up or on lower shelves. Dog food and other big bag food sources should be dropped into a plastic floor bin (some have wheels).
• To maximize space, use stackable flat-topped containers, clearly labeled or see-thru so you know what is inside. Place cereals, pasta, dried beans, flour, and sugar into airtight containers to increase shelf life and freshness.
• Adhere a corkboard square onto the inside door of the pantry or on wall space within a walk-in pantry to hold recipes and a pantry inventory list which should become your grocery list.
• Keep a snack basket with one serving size zip lock bags of chips or pretzels so you don't have to store huge bags of snack foods.
• For full size pantry doors, consider adding a full-length spice rack.
• Add a shelf with special units that slide under existing shelves or use stacking baskets for extra storage
• Make use of label guns. Label each shelf with contents, such as canned goods, pasta, etc.
• If you have the room in your pantry, buy regularly used items in bulk to save money.
• Designate an alternate area in your home for “pantry overflow” items, using shelf space in a nearby closet, basement or garage to store any non-perishables that do not fit into the kitchen pantry.
Keeping a smart pantry will help streamline your daily life in and out of the pantry. It will be less frustrating when you open the door to an organized space, more inspirational when deciding what to make for dinner or any upcoming holiday get-together, and it will be less time-consuming for making meals when you can easily find everything. Also, because you will know exactly what’s already in there, it will help save you money at the grocery store.
