I've told you before that I'm an organization junkie and this pantry is no different. I have very deep shelves and things get lost so easily. I was re-buying items I already had and not buying others, simply because I couldn't find them or thought I had them. Enough! I decided to spend the money on organizing and figure I'll have it in a year.
Isn't it awesome???? I arranged things atypically. One storage area is spaghetti, another chili and a third strogonoff. That way I know if I have the ingredients for a particular meal. The gal at the store asked what I was doing with all the containers. When I told her she said, "But then you only have that many meals to choose from." Not really. This are the meals I cook over and over. These are the items in the pantry for the good old standbys.
Let's say we're going to grill. That involves meat, vegetables and some sort of salad. That's not going to be in the pantry anyway. What about chicken and stove top stuffing with potatoes (a winter meal). I have one container labeled beef and two labeled chicken. They hold broth, gravy, Shake n Bake, Cornflake crumbs, chicken soup, and various related items. A container labeled 'sides' will have the stuffing. I keep the potatoes in the frig. It works, trust me.
I used my Sissix Big Shot to create labels for the various baskets.
Aren't they darling? I cut out a circle with a Clear Die Cut in a chocolate color. Then I ran it through in an embossing folder to give it texture. The petal portion is a daffodil color and cut with a scallop die. I used mini glue dots to fix them together and my wonderful Dymo labeler (see a previous post) to tag the baskets.
This is the contact paper that I'll put under the baskets as soon as I get a chance. With all the basket work and cleaning I didn't get to the contact paper ... but I will!!
I even have a basket labeled snacks. I have Snackwell cookies, mini boxes of raisins and various other items in there. A serendipitous effect was that I could see how many healthy snacks I had versus the unhealthy junk food ones. Now I can put more healthy ones in there!
I have a couple of large baskets on the top shelf because I have more room and also I needed a place for crackers and chips. Otherwise the bags are everywhere.
Bottom line, you have to give up half a day to get this done, more if you don't have the containers. Expect to spend $100 to $150 organizing but if I don't keep re-buying or letting food expire I should make that up in a year.
Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow!
Much love and joy,
Karen
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