After the roommate moved out, my mini and I have cleaned, organized, and decorated the space to make it look more like our home. The latest project is organizing the kitchen for better flow, putting the baking supplies together, purging, and making it easy to find what we need.
This week, we are tackling the pantry. The goal is to put the baking and cooking ingredients into mason jars with labels and reorganize everything so it makes sense.
Get Ready
Before you get started, gather some supplies to help you get organized.
- Post-its
- Notebook
- Labels
- Pen
- Marker
Step 1: Take Everything Out
Take everything out of the pantry, it’s easier to organize when you can see everything out in the open. Post-it’s are my favorite! Use post-it’s to mark areas on the kitchen island, you can have your kids help you take things and group them in the right spots on the kitchen island. Suggestions are: coffee/tea, baking, snacks, cans, grains, pasta, and supplements.
Step 2: Toss Expired Items
As I cleaned out the pantry, I realized the almond flour and coconut flour were passed the expiration dates. I’ve had several keto baking recipes fail and thought the trickiness of cooking with alternative flours was the culprit, when it was likely the expired ingredients.
You can get rid of a lot of junk in the kitchen by tossing expired items and anything that’s gone stale, looks gunky, or no longer fits your current diet or lifestyle.
Step 3: Make a List
As you put the items on the kitchen counter, make a list of what you are keeping in your notebook. Take note of the number of ounces and the expiration dates. You can transfer this list into an app for meal planning, pantry inventory tracking, and grocery list creation. I recently discovered a new meal planning and grocery list app that I’ll be sharing in a future blog post.
- Number of ounces
- Item (include the brand name so it’s easier to restock)
- Expiration date (month/year)
Step 4: Organize
As I was stalking Pinterest boards, I saw a lot of kitchens cabinets looking super organized with mason jars. They are inexpensive, pretty, and airtight so it will keep your ingredients fresh longer.
I ordered 32 oz wide mouth mason jars with white plastic lids, and labels from Target. It had the best pricing, however, you can find it on Amazon.
If you purchase from the links below, I could get a small commission, at no additional cost to you. The commission will go towards buying more ingredients to experiment with recipes. Thanks!
Lastly, you can go to the dollar store to buy small plastic bins to organize your coffees and teas, power bars, and snacks for the littles. You can create a separate bin for the kids school snacks so it’s easier to pack their lunches for the week.
Next Post
I’ll show you how the pantry looks after the mason jars arrive and everything is organized.
How do you organize your kitchen?
Comment below or get connected on Instagram.
What are your thoughts?