This article on quaran-cleaning the pantry won’t give you tips and shortcuts, but I’m hoping it might inspire some of you! The moral of the story? If I could get through my pigsty-of-a-pantry, so can you:)
Good Grief… When did I last do this??!!
Well, it’s a bad sign when I can’t remember when I last cleaned out my pantry. I’ve done little sections, but this is the first time in several years (I know, gross) that I literally took EVERYTHING out, cleaned it from top to bottom and then put everything back. There was so much stuff in there that I was piling overflow on the floor!
How long did it take?
I would say 16-18 man hours went into this project. Thankfully I had some help or I might have lost my mind. The reason it took so long was because it isn’t always easy to find the expiration dates on items, especially with aging eyes. Sadly we had to toss more than I expected.
What did I learn?
- I will never let my pantry get as out of hand again. Wasteful in every way;
- BOGOs (buy one, get one free) at Publix aren’t smart for items you don’t use often. I learned this when I had to throw away unopened mayonnaise and salad dressing;
- I have no idea how I ended up with 13 bags of chocolate chips (none expired);
- Planning and making a list before you go to the grocery makes sense. Once you’re in the grocery and you try to remember if you have something, you often needlessly buy another one; and
- No need to hoard the fancy olive oils and vinegars. Enjoy them while they’re fresh!
It felt great to finish!
While I can’t say I thoroughly enjoyed the process, the end result was worth it and very satisfying. It’s clean. It’s organized. Sections have been labeled to encourage everyone to put items in the right place. I actually don’t think the photos accurately depict the difference! With four of us in quarantine, eating all of our meals here, we’ll see if the pantry stays organized!
Bonus
I got through the spice cabinet and I actually had three bottles of spices from Dorothy Lane Market. You might wonder why that would be odd… well, those would have been acquired when I lived in Ohio. We moved 13 years ago. Yikes. I keep everyday things like salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, basil and oregano in a different cabinet, but as you can see, I have some replenishing to do!
What are you quaran-cleaning? Stay safe and healthy:)
