Re: Pantry List?
I keep all my dry ingredents that I use mainly for baking in the same cabinet-flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder...then, I have a small mini clothes basket I keep all my baking spices in-cinammon (can't spell today, sorry), vanilla, cream of tarter, flavorings, lemon oil....
Some foods I do have in more than one place. I have salt in with my baking and also in with the seasonings. 2 different ends of my kitchen-that way I can reach up and grab it from where I am.
Another mini basket holds all my various peppers, seasonings, rib rubs....
One shelf is all canned veggies, in rows--all corn is in a line, one behind the other, then all the green beans.....
One shelf is all canned fruits, in rows...
One shelf is tuna, boxed items, sauces, soups, stocks and odd things.
One shelf is all clear rubbermade containers of dried foods--beans, marshmellows, pastas...
All my cereals are in clear cereal keepers. (When they are empty, I save the crumbs in a jar-all crumbs from cookies, crackers, cereals--makes great home made shake and bake coatings!)
I restock this pantry (upstairs) from my bigger pantry downstairs. I buy most of mine at Aldi's by the case, so the majority of the case stays downstairs. In the big pantry downstairs (basement), it is stored at a cooler temp, rotated, and has everything-light bulbs, food, shampoo--all of it.
Upstairs I keep a list of what I need to restock, on the inside of my pantry door. When I have several items I go downstairs and get them. Downstairs, I keep a small dry erase whiteboard. When I am low on something, I write it on there for my next shopping trip.
I have a small corkboard next to my baking area. (handy to put my receipe card on while baking or cooking). On it I keep my grocery list. I pull it off when I clip & sort coupons, and if I find a match, I staple the coupon to the list. (Sometimes I recycle an envelope-list on the outside and coupons on the inside).
Using this system, I have run out of items very few times.
To keep my family on track, and to add little future cooks/organizers of the house, I have labled several of the shelves. In fact, when you open my cabinets, there are masking tape labels where stuff goes, even for my dishes. I got tired of everyone empting out the dishwasher and putting stuff in a different place. Same with people unloading groceries and putting it in different places. My mom or mother n law can come over and know where stuff goes and where to find it by my notes.
Don't automatically put the new staples behind the old. Instead, look at the expiration dates and keep them in order that way. If they have no date, write on the container the date you bought it with magic marker. If you keep some food extras in odd or a different storage place, put a note there--ie: more bread in freezer, more soup under guest room bed in box, frozen peas in freezer. That prevents you from buying more canned corn when you have 5 bags of frozen corn in the freezer.
I keep a refrigerator downstairs also. So, I keep a note on my upstairs kitchen one labeled "downstairs fridge" Right now, on that note I have written potato salad, eggs, butter, chicken and cake. That will be a reminder those foods are there so we don't forget about them and have them go bad on us.
A lot of my staples do not stay in the orginal containers, but go into clear rubbermade, tupperware or glass jars to keep them fresher (sugar, baking soda, flour...) I cut the label off the orginal container and tape in onto the storage one, so I know what it is and what brand.
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