Start 2015 off with a clean pantry and the food you actually use. I assure you, if you purge your pantry (and fridge, if you dare), you will have a refreshed feeling for spending time in your kitchen and be rejuvenated to cook and eat at home more often.

1. Take everything out of your pantry (or primary food cupboards) so you can see what you have. Helps to set up a card table to set everything on to give you extra surface to work and minimizes walking back and forth to the counter.

2. Wipe down the empty shelves and vacuum up the crumbs.

3. Sort the food products that have expired and that you never use, to donate or throw away. Some things that you think you’ll ‘”need” someday, you should consider getting rid of….ie cake decorating items. They are easy to accumulate, but if you never decorate cakes, why do you keep a box full of sprinkles and expired frosting? (I know I’m not the only one!)

4. Categorize the items based on how they are used: baking, oils, spices, snacks, pastas, cans, etc.

5. Put the items back in the pantry based on those categories. It may be a puzzle where you have to move things around a few times to see how they best fit, but I promise it will all fit back in nicely.

6. Label shelves and bins, if needed. If kids or husbands tend not to put things back in the right place, labeling is a helpful idea to maintain order long term. Also, getting clear bins, tubs, or trays to store items in can help maintain order long term.

Click to view some of my favorites.

Now, you know what food you actually have and can enjoy it!

We’ve been celebrating GO Month (get organized) with 5 challenges to start 2015 off a bit more organized. If you missed the previous ones:

Mission 1 – Clearing the Kitchen Counter
Mission 2 – Purging Annual Files
Mission 3 – Clearing Digital Clutter

Posted January 23, 2015