Last week at The WellGrounded Life, Lisa kicked off her Getting Ready For Spring series. Her first post was on Clearing Out the Cupboards followed by Replenish A Spring Time Pantry. Such a great idea, right? So I followed Lisa’s lead and it proved to be a very worth while effort.
We, like everyone I’m sure, buy food with every intention of using it and creating a stellar dish. Yet occasionally, and despite our best intentions, some items make their way to the back of the pantry never to be seen again. As was the case with 2 tins of crab meat and a tin of green chilies in our pantry. I had every intention of making Crab Rangoon, one of Gwynn’s favorite appetizers and the chilies were to be used in a tortilla casserole of some sort. Well not so, as of yet.
Before: 
After: 
I started by taking every item out of the pantry and setting it out on the kitchen table and kitchen counters. I captured all of the items I had on a piece of paper, ready for the next step of organizing this master food list. I took the opportunity of having an empty pantry to wash down the shelves, walls and floors. I also wiped down all the containers, tins and bins so they would be clean going back in as well. OK a bit over the top for some but it makes me happy.
Next it was back into the pantry. I put everything back in according to category baking goods, pasta, tinned goods, snack items, oils and vinegars, potatoes and onions. I must say it looks MUCH better now!
As Lisa puts it “Spring is like nature’s ’New Year’ and everything about the season supports us shedding off the old and bringing in the new.” I love that! So armed with my inventory list I started brainstorming meals we could make using mainly ingredients we already have at home in order to make room for fresh, lighter ingredients. Here’s what we’ve got so far:
- Fettuccini Alfredo: Ingredients we have: fettuccini noodles, parmesan cheese, garlic, Italian seasoning, onion, butter, flour and salt. To buy: mushrooms and half and half.
- Crab Rangoon: Ingredients we have: cream cheese, crabmeat, garlic powder and paprika. To buy: Wonton wrappers.
- Curry Coconut Chicken: Ingredients we have: salt, pepper, vegetable oil, curry powder, onion, garlic, coconut milk, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce and sugar. To buy: Chicken
- Manicotti: Ingredients we have: Manicotti noodles, eggs, carrots, onions, pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese. To buy: Ricotta cheese
- Fresh baked goods: All made with ingredients we already have: breads, muffins, pancakes, cookies and cakes.
Benefits to doing the great pantry purge:
1. Keep things fresh. Take stock of what you already have in your home. Purge items that are past their best before date or are in opened packages and are now stale.
2. Try interesting recipes. If you have a tin of green chilies look in a cookbook or online for a recipe that calls for them. This is a great time to be adventurous and try something new. Our favorite online resource for recipes is allrecipes.com and if you weren’t familiar with it before check it out I’m sure you’ll love it.
3. Reduce clutter. We tend to buy a lot of our food items from the bulk food store and with that comes no pre-packaging. We had a lot of containers for items that we’ve used up and have not replenished (and likely won’t be replenishing i.e. cranberries and raisins). Going through this exercise was great because we were able to get rid of a lot of containers that were just taking up space.
4. A nice tidy pantry. Nothing pleases me more than opening the pantry door and seeing everything neat and tidy. We are not perfect and it is a constant battle to keep it this way but the great pantry purge has helped restore order, at least for now, as you can see from the before and after pictures.
5. Save money. By using what you already have at home to make meals for a week or possibly two you will be saving money at your next shop. By using what we already have in the house for this weeks’ meal planning we will save just over half on our grocery bill this week. If that’s not incentive to give this a try I don’t know what is!
So there you have it that’s where we’re at. I can’t wait to try out some new recipes and to start replenishing the food stocks with fresh light ingredients just in time for Spring. I would like to thank Lisa for suggesting this, it really is a great idea!
Are you up for the challenge? Make some time one night this week or this coming weekend take stock, plan a bit and try something new. You just might surprise yourself and add a new family fave to the dinner roster.
See also:
A Simple and Effective Meal Plan In 3 Easy Steps
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Comments
Hi Sherri, What a great job! I’m so impressed
I love the list of benefits– it is all so true!
Lisa @ WellGrounded Life’s last blog post..Rekindling Parts Of Yourself
Hi Lisa, It truly was a worth while effort and now I can use up some of the lurkers in the pantry before they go off! I can’t wait for the next post in your series…such fun!
Hi Sherri,
Excellent post. In our home, our pantry is so organized it is such a joy to know where everything is and to know it is still in excellent condition to be used. Usually before we go food shopping, my husband will check the pantry to see what needs replacing and if anything needs to be added. You right, such steps do cut down costs.
I grew up in a house where my mom was the only one who knew where everything was and it used to drive me crazy. I am laid back when it comes to living life but when it comes to my pantry, it has to be organized. One of those funny things!
Thanks again for a great post!
Nadia-Happy Lotus’s last blog post..The Call To Simplify
Hi Sherri,
) You make it sound like so much fun I’m inspired to tackle my cabinets this weekend!
Thanks for sharing – your pantry looks wonderful! (the “before” picture looked pretty good too
Acooba
@ Nadia – Happy to hear I have a fellow organized pantry lover! It’s great to check before shopping what items you have/need. Saves a lot of time and money at the shops.
@ Acooba – Hi Welcome! Glad to see you over here. I hope I have inspired you the way Lisa inspired me! I find it a lot of fun organizing cupboards (a bit weird and maybe it’s just me) but it’s so satisfying once it’s all done and everything just fits.
Gwynn said the same thing about the before and after pictures…but even though it didn’t look too bad before trust me it’s MUCH better now
Good luck with you’re cabinets this weekend I’d love to hear how it went!
Sherri, I love spring cleaning! I regularly clean out my wardrobe and workdesk, and you’re getting me itching to go clean out something today!
Daphne’s last blog post..Last Call for Personal Creeds!
@ Daphne – That’s great! Let me know how it goes and what you got cleaned you just might get us all in the mood to go all out!
Sherri,
Found you via “Love to Share”, pleased to “meet” you.
This must be a trend (a very positive one!). The local (Washington Post) food columnist started an “Eating Down the Fridge” challenge, to skip a week’s grocery shopping and use up what we already have. I started yesterday, but I have waaay too much food to skip just one week! LOL I buy things that look interesting, but then I don’t know what to do with them … so this will be a very fun cooking challenge. I got as far as inventorying my pantry & freezer, but haven’t reorganized the pantry yet. That’s for today.
Regina’s last blog post.."Eating Down the Fridge" (and pantry)
@ Regina – Welcome, I’m glad you found us through Michael’s blog. I’m glad you’re giving the “Eating Down the Fridge” a go. Gwynn and I went shopping this past Thursday and saved $165! Planning to use the food we already have in the pantry and fridge over the next couple of weeks helped with that! Good luck with reorganizing the pantry today, I always find it a lot of fun! Thanks for stopping by and posting a comment it’s great to meet you too!