31 Day Challenge: Pantry

Step 12 was the pantry, which followed after the kitchen cupboards quite nicely, as I filled a laundry basket with unopened staples that belonged "not in the kitchen". We designated two three full bookshelves in the basement office for storage of unopened staples and off-season or rarely used cooking canning equipment. I ended up using one of them for the home-canned foods I made over the summer, and one for empty jars, gear, and other supplies.

The other has more store-bought things that it just didn't make sense to store in the kitchen proper. One issue we have with Sam is that he gets a little obsessive of his snack foods, and will pester us relentlessly if he can see that we have one of his favorites and we aren't allowing him to have it right at that moment. For example, chips and cookies have to be stored out of sight, since otherwise he will eat a whole bag over the course of a day and nothing else. Or, worse, he dumps things out on the floor or the furniture and we end up wasting a lot of food, making a mess, and possibly attracting pests! Ugh!

Pictures! [Please note that once again, the office is a work in progress. Home office is step 22 and craft supplies are step 27. We'll get there!]

Before: Canned foods shelf, with two bags of lids and Certo and Sure Jell.

Before: Pantry shelf with empty jars and a lot of things that don't belong!

Before: Food removed from the kitchen

After: Canned foods shelf with nothing on it but canned food! I couldn't quite get far back enough to see the whole thing, but top of the shelf is whole fruit in syrup, relishes, mustards, and some of the applesauce; first shelf is tomatoes and a couple of stray applesauces; next is syrups, next is pickles, next is jams, jellies, and more applesauces, and the bottom shelf is a quart jar holder with tomatoes, pickles, and possibly even more applesauce. You can tell what I canned last and didn't leave room for. I might use some small risers to make room for applesauces on the syrup shelf.

After: Canning equipment with food mill and other straining gear up top, lids and staple ingredients on first shelf, two shelves of jars, and bottom shelf with quart jar box with empty jars and the canner with tools stored inside it.

After: Food pantry with surplus food storage bags and wrap up top; pastas and rice; chips and bagged snacks; cereals, bars, and boxed snacks; baking stuff ingredients; and jars, cans, and bottles.

I had to kick Dan out of the office for awhile to finish this up and write this post, so I better give it back. Onward! #LWSLClutterFree