OH!: Organizing a Pantry - Looking Beyond Cooking

Are you starving to be the hostess with the mostess? Casual supper clubs, elegant dinner parties, or child-friendly snacks; planning any of these are easier with a well-stocked, freshly organized pantry. Organizing the pantry is truly one of the most efficient ways to save money, time, and shelf space.

For this simple, done-in-a-day project follow the recipe below.

• Begin by discarding anything stale, spoiled, or expired in your pantry.
• Wipe down the shelves and walls.
• Paint the shelves and walls a bright white. I like Sherwin William’s Extra White (SW 7006) or Benjamin Moore’s Ice Mist (OC-67).
• Use sturdy plastic containers with tight fitting lids such as Tupperware’s Modular Mates containers to hold dry goods like flour, sugar, pasta, teabags, coffee beans, and cereal. Foods stay fresher longer in airtight containers and buying in bulk makes cents if you have containers made for storing the larger, more economical sizes. *Remember square containers take up less space than round ones and fit better on shelves. Tupperware’s ovals are “squared off” at each end so there is no wasted space.
• Group like items together: breakfast items, snacks, baking goods, etc. Pay attention next time you are in the grocery store; arrange your pantry in “sections” like they do in the market. Then, make groups within groups (like in the canned goods section separate the tuna from the tomatoes and the soup from the beans)
• Label the shelves (condiments, beverages, etc.) as well as the individual containers (baking chips, sweeteners, rice).
• Don’t forget to save room for your paper products—napkins, paper towels, lunch bags, etc.
• Recognize that not everyone can do everything alone all the time—none of us are wonder woman. Get help from friends, family, or a professional organizer.
• Whether your home is sleek and sophisticated or warm and traditional, there are many options for containers which can help make your kitchen pantry appear more stylish and organized. Splurge on containers; they are an investment and will last a very long time.
• Make sure your lighting is excellent; replace the bulb if necessary and in older homes adding a light may be necessary.
• Add a shelf. Always think of using as much vertical space as possible. Department stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot have expanding chrome shelves made by companies like Rubbermaid and Closet Maid.
• Don’t forget the back of the door. This is the perfect spot to hang a shelf for spices. There is a system by Elfa that lets you hang the rack over the door and adjust the shelves.
• Have a basket that your children can reach and put mom-approved snacks inside like applesauce cups, pudding, Jell-O fruit cups, fruit chews, pretzels, etc.

Restock your pantry with some of these most commonly used items:

• Broth
• Canned Soup

• Canned Beans
• Canned Tomatoes
• Tomato Paste
• Tomato Sauce
• Tuna

• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Flour
• Extracts
• Salt & Pepper
• Oils

• Pasta
• Couscous
• Potatoes
• Rice

• Soy Sauce
• Vinegar
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Mayo
• Olives & Pickles
• Peanut Butter & Jam

• Cereals
• Oatmeal
• Pancake Mix
• Dried Fruit
• Nuts & Seeds

• Syrup
• Honey
• Sweeteners
• Sugar

Starting tonight
Inventory your pantry and use what you have before buying any other grocery items. Next time you are in the grocery store, avoid the non refrigerated sections. Plan several menus around what you need to use because chances are you have foods, in your pantry, which you’ve forgotten about.

Changing the way you think is going to help organize your pantry too. Instead of asking, “What would you like to eat,” ask yourself, “What do we have in the pantry that we could use.” This is known as “looking beyond cooking”.