This Week’s Tip Sheet: Organizing the Pantry

Hello beautiful friends and welcome to Week 8 of the Simplified and Organized Home Challenge.

This week we’re organizing our spices and the pantry.

If you organized your spices when we organized the kitchen cabinets and drawers (we did too), this will give you extra time to create the pantry you’ve always envisioned.

Don’t worry if it takes you longer to get everything organized than you thought it would.

Much like the closet in your primary bedroom, the pantry is one of those spaces that helps set a foundation for the life you want live.

So, take your time and really think about your current lifestyle and what you need to make space for.

It might take a few tweaks here and there.

But in the end, you’ll create an organizational system you and your family will be able to enjoy for years to come.

Now, on to this week’s Tip Sheet!

This Week’s Tip Sheet…

Quote of the Week:

“Organization isn’t about perfection; it’s about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money and improving your overall quality of life.” ~ Christina Scalise

This Week’s Big To-Do’s:

• Organize the Pantry and Spices
• Order Decanting Supplies, Labels, Baskets, Etc., if needed
• Shop at a New Health Food Store, if possible
• Be More Intentional About Reading Food Labels
• Make a New Healthy Snack
• Sip a Café Au Lait

This Week’s Tidy Tips:

As you’re organizing the pantry and your spices, it’s important to keep the big picture in mind.

Here are a few things that have helped us continually maintain a tidy pantry for more than a decade…

• If you’re easily overwhelmed or don’t know where to start, start small and organize by category. For example, organize all the dry goods first, then move on to the canned goods, breakfast items, nuts, spreads, snacks/chips, rice/beans/pasta, root vegetables, oils, spices, etc. until your pantry is organized.
• Decant in airtight containers where possible to help cut down on food waste. Be sure to add an expiration label to the container!
• Choose the right food storage containers for the way you currently live and the amount of time you can devote to maintaining a tidy system.
• Label everything so it will be easier to put items away.
• Optimize your pantry space by using hooks, risers, baskets, turntables, crates, shelves, pull out drawers, and additional cabinets where needed.
• Consider creating pantry grab and go stations. These simple stations make packing lunches or grabbing quick snacks between after school activities (or meetings if you’re working from home) super easy.
• Depending on the size of your pantry, create a multipurpose space and maximize the benefits. For example, the right side of our pantry is for food and the left side is our dish pantry. In the middle, we have a pet feeding station where we keep all of Piper’s things organized. It’s like a one stop shop for the items we use daily!
• If you store your small appliances in your pantry, corral them together on the same shelf or in the same area. Just be mindful of the weight you’re putting on the shelf and make sure the appliances are easy to reach.
• Hang a chalkboard or a shopping list on your pantry door if possible. It will make putting your grocery list together super simple.
• Each week clean out your pantry and check expiration dates the night before your trash day is scheduled for pick up. It’s a quick way to declutter and get rid of things that are expired. It also makes putting away your groceries so much easier because there’s plenty of space.
• Keep reusable shopping bags in your trunk. That way, you’ll have them ready no matter what day you go grocery shopping.

This Week’s Wellness Tip:

Whenever I look at our pantry, I’m truly amazed at how far we’ve come.

Not only with how we keep things organized, but with healthier eating choices too.

Gone are the days our baskets are overflowing with cookies, candies and unhealthy chips.

Over the years I’ve realized we simply can’t have them in the house.

They’re just too tempting to grab on a busy or stressful day.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have anything sweet or salty in the house.

It just means we’ve gotten a lot better at shopping at health food stores, reading labels, finding healthier alternatives to our favorite snacks and reaching for items that will help keep us full without added calories or sugars.

We’ve also gotten a lot better at preparing healthy snacks in advance, which has been a game changer on busy days.

While it hasn’t always been easy, the effort has definitely been worth it.

So, keep making choices your future self will thank you for!

Other Pantry Organization Posts to Explore…

The Easiest Way to Organize Your Pantry and Refrigerator

How to Make Pantry Storage Drawers

How to Create a Pet Feeding Station

Cheering you on as you create a life you love,

CoCo

PS: You can find last week’s Tip Sheet here if you missed it.