Cleaning the Pantry

Before

After

After

 

I know you are laughing at my before & after photos because they don't look that different. But they are!

For my first organization & cleaning project I started small.  Baby steps…to give me confidence! I cleaned out and reorganized the pantry cabinet. The pantry is now emptier with all the items pulled to the front of the shelves. And clean is good too.

I took out every single thing and wiped down the shelves and entire inside of the cabinet. I threw out things that were outdated and/or half consumed but long forgotten.  By threw out…I mean that I emptied and cleaned every glass and metal container for recycling and put what I could in the compost container…important steps.

I am not proud that I tossed 25 containers in that recycling bag. I am guilty of receiving gifts of or buying specialty foods and “saving” them for a special occasion that never comes (at least before I forget!) I was seeing dollar signs going down the drain but it at this point it couldn't be helped. There was a jar of sauce that had expired in April 2007 and a couple other things with expiration dates of 2008---but most were not that bad! Still I was surprised to find the really old things because I thought I had done this more recently!

Did you know that 5 year old yellow mustard turns really quite brown?

Why did I have 2 bottles of Grapeseed Oil – something I’ve never used? How did I get 3 bottles of Sesame Oil when I rarely cook Asian recipes?  And, Fish Sauce?  What the heck? I’m not cooking recipes that would call for it and I am not a fan of fish! I probably ended up with 3 bottles of Almond Extract because I couldn’t remember if I had any so I bought more…and the same goes for 2 bottles of Peppermint Extract plus a Crème de Menthe.

Now I know what I have, it’s better organized…and clean too.

Morning weather: 52 degrees, fog & rain
Morning steps: 5602