I plan to do a lot of cooking today, so I don’t have to worry about what’s for dinner this week. Before I started cooking, though, I decided to reorganize the kitchen pantry. My pantry can only be described as a dumping ground for anything that doesn’t go in the refrigerator. I wish I had taken a “before” picture. There were bags and boxes strewn everywhere without rhyme or reason, and I honestly didn’t know what was there anymore.
I also know I’m buying items I already have at the grocery store – like taco shells. So many taco shells. I’m all set for at least a month of Taco Tuesdays.
When I took everything out, I found many expired products from the pandemic lockdown, like an enormous box of pancake mix from late 2021 and some oven-ready lasagne noodles from 2022. And then, there was a pile of random boxes that I purchased in duplicates and, in some cases, triplicates. Like, what am I doing with three different containers of granola, four boxes of Swiss Miss instant hot chocolate packets, five bags of croutons, and six cans of tomato soup?! Not to mention all of the kosher for Passover items I swore I’d make good use of and never did.
I intended to spend about half an hour going through everything and putting it back neatly. Two hours, three trash bags, and one full bin of recycling later, I now have a beautifully organized pantry.
Now, it’s time to start cooking for the week.
How are you spending your Sunday? Let me know in the comments.
XO,
Elisa
Tamara
July 25, 2023 at 2:17 am (9 months ago)Elisa, you rock! You tackled your pantry, something I should have been doing a long time ago. Once I do, it’ll be a similar thing. Probably no Taco overload though. They are meant to be wolfed down by teenagers, you know 😉
Congratulations, well done!
PS: How did we spend Sunday? We attended our very first Football game in Switzerland.
Kebba Buckley Button
July 23, 2023 at 9:46 pm (9 months ago)Elisa, we’re on the same wavelength here! I’ve been pulling pandemic-year supplies that are outdated and trashing them. I also spent an hour today purging my antique dresser, which will be donated soon. I found TWO drawers of my late husband’s dresser that were nearly empty– cleared those– expanded into that space. It’s time to move on. Thanks for speaking to this subject today! And congrats on all your clearing!
Angel Lewis
July 23, 2023 at 7:39 pm (9 months ago)I guess one good thing about living in an apartment with limited storage is that we don’t tend to buy too much extra stuff. Clothing is the thing that we regularly go through and donate. You know how fast little ones grow.
Victoria+Juster
July 23, 2023 at 6:37 pm (9 months ago)I did a purge too and found lots of unused pandemic cans. It feels great to be organized!
Martha
July 23, 2023 at 4:44 pm (9 months ago)I did that last spring and felt so good when done! Plus it’s still organized! Your pantry is so organized, I like using plastic totes too! Happy cooking now!