Organizing the Pantry

Organization is NOT my "thing".  Despite years of trying to keep everything neat and structured, it goes against my nature.  That said, I never stop trying and making an effort to keep my home tidy and less cluttered.  Having been previously married to someone who was OCD in scary ways, I think there is certainly a balance between an unkept home and glorifying tidiness to an unhealthy degree.  I am ALWAYS trying to find that balance.

When I was a child, my mom was a wonderful housekeeper, but she went into panic mode when we were having parties and/or guests over.  Feelings of tension about keeping everything "perfect" for our guests ran high.  I still struggle with that since I have had my own home.  My friends know that I get very uncomfortable and apologetic if someone drops in and my home doesn't look "perfect"...whatever that means.  This is my problem and I am continually working on giving myself grace and not losing out on laughter and joy in welcoming others into my home in all its stages of cleanliness and disarray.

Last week I tackled the pantry and the freezer.  The freezer had so many odd packages of meat and veggies that I had frozen.  Some were crusted over with thick ice and I just decided to toss them for safety concerns.  In addition, I purchased a Food Saver so that I could more effectively freeze portions and stack them neatly.  It arrived yesterday and I used it to seal some chicken thighs that I poached in stock.  They are fully cooked and ready to use for chicken salad.  I sealed them and placed in freezer.  We get so much organic produce from our CSA since we are the local pick up location; I will know be able to freeze the greens for using in winter soups and smoothies.

Here are two BEFORE pictures of my pantry.

We have a tiny home, but the kitchen is the largest room in the house with a tremendous amount of storage.  This is kind of embarrassing for me, but shows how easy it is to just toss things into the pantry after grocery shopping.  Sometimes we need to clear the table and island, so I quickly put all the pantry items on the shelves and never return to arrange them.

We use a great deal of fresh produce, but always keep canned items on hand.  I make all of our marinara from scratch, so I keep canned tomatoes on hand when fresh aren't available.  I tossed some leftover boxes of sugar cones in there in December when I bought them for a craft night at church.  The taco shells are great for standing upright in a baking dish, filling with meat and cheese and baking.  My boys love to then top with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, etc.  Not as tasty as my homemade tortillas, but they are quick and easy to hold.

Here are the AFTER photos:

So much better!  I realized that I had A LOT of tomato soup cans, too.  We make tomato soup in the Vitamix, but my boys love good old Campbell's for dipping grilled cheese sandwiches.  I had forgotten when I bought these at Meijer for 59 cents (a great price).   I love olives and they are also nice to have on hand for adding to a salad when you are bringing a meal to someone.  

I rotated out some of the baking supplies and made note of a few items that were missing.  We had a few bags of pasta that were half used, so I made some simple pasta dressed with butter for a side this week.  

If you are serious about meal planning, keeping an organized pantry is so helpful.  We generally always have the following on hand:

-canned tomatoes

-tomato sauce

-canned beans

-chipotle with adobo (freeze whatever you don't use)

-Chicken and beef stock

-tuna

-flour (white, wheat, bread flour)

-sugars

-baking soda and powder

-spices

-pasta

-rice

-1 extra ketchup and mayo

Today I am going to start another organization project: tackling rounding up our financials and doing our taxes.  2017 brought an unexpected job offer for my husband and he was able to quit driving uber as a side job and I was able to ease up on etsy.  Taxes will be "fun" this year with the first half uber in addition to the job change.  With the change came his employer reimbursing us for our health insurance which was a huge blessing, although we were locked into a high deductible plan until 2018.  This December we got the incredible news that we now have group health insurance.  With a very low deductible...at no cost to us.  I actually cried and not a day passes that I am not incredulous at God's great mercy to my family.  I know that as I do these taxes, I will be thanking God for His lavish provision and goodness.  Continue honoring Him with your money, be a wise steward and live below your means.